How I healed myself during the Pandemic

Have you ever experienced the different stages of hunger? First stage: The subtle feeling of hunger begins and you begin to crave something to eat or drink, Intermediate stage: Suppose the food isn’t ready or you haven’t had time to eat yet, the hunger reaches its peak during this stage, Final stage: The extreme moment has passed, you still haven’t had anything to eat and your hunger has begun to die by now. This is when you feel like, “Ahh whatever…will eat later”.

Well, this is how I felt during the Pandemic. In the beginning, while I stayed in most of the time, I had the hope that soon things will normalize. “I’ll be back in college soon”, I thought very often. I told myself “Just hold out a bit more”. My active and outdoorsy nature was totally being suppressed and I tried to engage in other stuff to stop myself from getting frustrated. I was on Netflix literally the whole day. One of my college friends had introduced me to K-dramas and I had really begun to enjoy it. I felt like I don’t have to get bored anymore. I had vague ideas in my head about how I’ll spend a new day. It usually went like this:

Sleep, eat, binge watch+binge-eat, repeat.

1 month just went like this, me lying in bed all day with my laptop glued to me.

But this was very short-lived, I soon reached the intermediate phase. By the 3rd month, I had begun to completely freak out. I was having a hard time accepting that it might take much longer for the lockdown to be relieved. I was running out of stuff to engage myself with. I had read novels, watched countless shows and I had also begun sleeping a lot.

It was around the 4th month when I realised that I might be suffering from depression. It was really difficult to wake up every day, I had no appetite whatsoever. I had gained weight too and that added to my lethargy. I didn’t like how I felt, I didn’t like how I looked.

Most importantly I did not like how my mind felt. I was very aware that this is NOT ME, but still, somehow I felt trapped in these shackles of despair. I didn’t feel like waking up in the mornings. I used to sit in my verandah, stare blankly at the road and cry. I would cry for no reason and lose my temper very often. My mind felt hollow and lost. It felt devoid of any goals or targets.

Then one day I got a call from my Uncle, he was calling from The UK. He asked me how have I been and how did I utilize this golden period that I got. I remember flinching when he called this house arrest experience a “golden period”. While I was busy complaining about my issues incessantly, he listened calmly. Then he asked me, “Are you kidding me?”. I was taken aback again, but then the conversation that followed was a real eye-opener for me.

And what I am about to share with you are few golden rules of self-healing, especially during this unusual pandemic situation.

• Mindfulness: We feel lost during difficult situations, especially in the situations that we are not used to being in, because we lack Mindfulness. Now, what is Mindfulness? Carmen Mayes, spiritual wellness coach, explains it like this, “When we experience these emotions (anxiety, depression, frustration, anger and fear), we are usually focusing on the future or the past, both of which we have no control over. Mindfulness brings our attention to where we are right now and the things we can control at the moment”.
• Time for yourself: Focusing on how to make the best of the current situation might sound too orthodox and limiting, but you will be surprised at how powerful your mind is in engaging in various challenging activities, especially the ones you have never done before. You require time, and it must be a part of your everyday routine. Exploring these moments will help you learn more about yourself.

• Find your creative outlet: Find your guilty pleasure, now this can be tricky because one such activity might be one you already like or you might discover a new one. For me my self-customised therapy was Baking. It was such a liberating feeling for me. I forgot everything else while baking. I learned it perfectly, I tried new flavours, new colours, beautiful frosting. I just loved it.
• Light exercise: Now this particularly is not for maintaining shape, but for mental health. It might sound surprising but exercises have a good connection with mental health. Regular exercise has been shown to help those with depression, anxiety, and ADHD. It also helps you relax, improves your memory, sleep better, and improves your general mood. You don't have to be a fitness enthusiast to experience the results. Physical activity helps to relax the muscles and reduce tension in the body by releasing endorphins in the brain. Because the body and mind are so intertwined, when your body feels better, your mind will as well.
• Climbing up the ladder: Some things make us feel really good about ourselves, they give us confidence and motivation. We should try to master the things that we like or we have some idea about. It need not be something high profile in the beginning. Positive results, in the beginning, motivate our brain to produce better results for tougher tasks. High performing individuals should also keep in mind that they should set easy initial goals. Finish that book you wanted to read for so long, do that course that adds value to your professional profile, take some creative classes and maximize your range of skills. Even small things with positive outcomes will put you in a great mood.

Although the initial stages of the pandemic were emotionally draining for me, I am glad that I was able to recover from that slump after a while. Now when I look back I find it really surprising how I managed to add so many things to my daily life. When I thought I was in a paused time, my life actually went a lot forward than it would have been under normal conditions. I am still at home, I still miss my friends and college life, but I have discovered way more about myself, I have climbed multiple ladders and completed some very important levels. Lots of ambiguous decisions are clear now, a lot of pending wishes have been fulfilled. Most importantly I have learned about myself even more deeply.

I tried my best to share my entire personal experience and also the ideas that help me overcome the tough period. Human beings have been made to survive and it is in our instincts to find all ways possible to keep ourselves up and running. We just need to let our bodies open their boundaries to various possibilities and unexpected happenings.

Hope you find this piece helpful and relatable friends. If this appealed to you in any way please let me know by liking my article. Wishing you all the happiness and peace :) <3