5 tips for self care in COVID-19
Here's another self care post for the weekend. The first one is here. Stay safe everyone. Look after yourself!
Self care has become an important topic for me in the midst of COVID-19 isolation. The lockdown has caused me to struggle in ways I didn't anticipate. I've been feeling trapped and this has triggered memories of the past. It's particularly triggered memories of feeling helpless when being forced down. Feeling out of control when my perpetrators assaulted and abused me. I've been remembering those feelings and it's been horrible. I've been waking up feeling those feelings that I felt when I was assaulted at aged 20. The horror. The shock. The hopelessness. The betrayal.
This has made self care all the more important. I've had to recognise that this period of isolation is going to cause these feelings and so consider how I can best survive through them.
Here are my tips:
Remembering the truth that I'm valuable and loved is so important in these days. When I'm tempted to believe the lies that I'm worthless and have no hope, I come back to the truth that it wasn't my fault. I remember that I'm not to blame and my identity is as a loved, valued child of God. Not a worthless nobody. This helps to ground my thoughts and prevents the spiral of self hate and lies that I believe about myself.
I have lots of posts that focus on important truths that I need to remember in these days. They are here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
I find that when I feel at my worst, my temptation is to neglect myself. But, having a lovely shower or bath, moisturising, applying make up, choosing a nice set of clothes, helps me to remember that I'm valuable. Even just getting dressed and getting ready for the day is important. It's tempting to stay in pjs. Now, I'm not saying that's not a nice thing to do sometimes, but on a day to day basis, getting up and dressed and into a new routine is important.
The routine might be different for you. Other things may help you to feel valuable. But, take the time to care for yourself. Remember you are worth it. You are valuable.
I said this in my previous self care post. But I think it's so important to create a new routine to give shape and focus to the day: to give a reason to get up in the morning.
Here are some daily things that you could aim to do. I don't find assigning exact timings to them to be very helpful as it causes me to feel guilty if I don't do them on time. But, I place one or two things in a morning slot and another one or two things in an afternoon slot and then something to look forward to in the evening. Some ideas:
MORNING: Get dressed and showered / Read a book / Phone someone / Do some washing / Work on... /
LUNCH
AFTERNOON: Make dinner / Bake / Read a book / Phone someone /
EVENING: Eat dinner / Watch something / Have a bath / Read a book /
If you don't do the things you set out to, don't worry. Put them on tomorrow's list. But, this has helped me to have a shape to the day and stop the feeling of directionlessness leading to worthlessness.
One of the things that I've found hardest about the lockdown, is the disappearance of my everyday routine. The structure of my day to day life disappeared in a moment. This caused me to feel quite directionless. So, I found that if I could find something to look forward to on a day to day basis and put it in the diary, it really helped. It could be a T.V episode or film.
Here are some of my favourites that I've rewatched and others that are more recent...
T.V episodes:
- Designated Survivor season 1 and season 2.
Films:
- A Beautiful Mind
- The Age of Adeline
- The Choir
- The Devil Wears Prada (there's also a version with 27 dresses here)
- Paddington 1 and Paddington 2
- The Imitation Game
Maybe choose a film every other night or so and make a night of it. Buy some popcorn or bake before it starts and enjoy your culinary delight!
Look after yourself,
Julia xx
Self care has become an important topic for me in the midst of COVID-19 isolation. The lockdown has caused me to struggle in ways I didn't anticipate. I've been feeling trapped and this has triggered memories of the past. It's particularly triggered memories of feeling helpless when being forced down. Feeling out of control when my perpetrators assaulted and abused me. I've been remembering those feelings and it's been horrible. I've been waking up feeling those feelings that I felt when I was assaulted at aged 20. The horror. The shock. The hopelessness. The betrayal.
This has made self care all the more important. I've had to recognise that this period of isolation is going to cause these feelings and so consider how I can best survive through them.
Here are my tips:
1. Remember the truth
Remembering the truth that I'm valuable and loved is so important in these days. When I'm tempted to believe the lies that I'm worthless and have no hope, I come back to the truth that it wasn't my fault. I remember that I'm not to blame and my identity is as a loved, valued child of God. Not a worthless nobody. This helps to ground my thoughts and prevents the spiral of self hate and lies that I believe about myself.
I have lots of posts that focus on important truths that I need to remember in these days. They are here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
2. Care for yourself
I find that when I feel at my worst, my temptation is to neglect myself. But, having a lovely shower or bath, moisturising, applying make up, choosing a nice set of clothes, helps me to remember that I'm valuable. Even just getting dressed and getting ready for the day is important. It's tempting to stay in pjs. Now, I'm not saying that's not a nice thing to do sometimes, but on a day to day basis, getting up and dressed and into a new routine is important.
The routine might be different for you. Other things may help you to feel valuable. But, take the time to care for yourself. Remember you are worth it. You are valuable.
3. Set up a new routine
I said this in my previous self care post. But I think it's so important to create a new routine to give shape and focus to the day: to give a reason to get up in the morning.
Here are some daily things that you could aim to do. I don't find assigning exact timings to them to be very helpful as it causes me to feel guilty if I don't do them on time. But, I place one or two things in a morning slot and another one or two things in an afternoon slot and then something to look forward to in the evening. Some ideas:
MORNING: Get dressed and showered / Read a book / Phone someone / Do some washing / Work on... /
LUNCH
AFTERNOON: Make dinner / Bake / Read a book / Phone someone /
EVENING: Eat dinner / Watch something / Have a bath / Read a book /
If you don't do the things you set out to, don't worry. Put them on tomorrow's list. But, this has helped me to have a shape to the day and stop the feeling of directionlessness leading to worthlessness.
4. Stay connected
I've found it really easy to lose contact with friends and family as my routines have changed. I don't love speaking on the phone, but doing it day by day is building my confidence. I've vowed to focus on a few friendships that I want to continue over video or phone while the lockdown is going on. I set regular days and times to 'see' these people which helps to set a routine and gives me a reason to get up in the morning too!
The Twitter Community has also been invaluable in helping. So if you have regular blogs that you read and people that you contact, keep doing it. Stay connected. You matter and your voice needs to be heard.
5. Have something to look forward to
One of the things that I've found hardest about the lockdown, is the disappearance of my everyday routine. The structure of my day to day life disappeared in a moment. This caused me to feel quite directionless. So, I found that if I could find something to look forward to on a day to day basis and put it in the diary, it really helped. It could be a T.V episode or film.
Here are some of my favourites that I've rewatched and others that are more recent...
T.V episodes:
- Designated Survivor season 1 and season 2.
Films:
- A Beautiful Mind
- The Age of Adeline
- The Choir
- The Devil Wears Prada (there's also a version with 27 dresses here)
- Paddington 1 and Paddington 2
- The Imitation Game
Maybe choose a film every other night or so and make a night of it. Buy some popcorn or bake before it starts and enjoy your culinary delight!
Look after yourself,
Julia xx
Thank you for this post! I love it! The Paddington movies are 2 of my favorite films of all time.
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