Wellbeing in the times of COVID-19 lockdown

The unexpected COVID-19 pandemic has caught us unawares. None of the living generations have experienced in their lifetime a general lockdown of the kind we are experiencing today. The state initiated lockdown measures to control the pandemic through social distancing appears harsh but probably is a measure of last resort given the rapid explosion in number of cases, the high density of population in the country and our precarious healthcare infrastructure that may be completely inadequate to handle further escalation in the number of cases tested positive for COVID-19. The situation looks scary when we find that even the advanced countries with their top class healthcare and medical infrastructure are struggling to deal with the havoc being spread by the pandemic. Top of all this, the science of COVID-19 is changing every day. The uncertainty and sense of fear and panic is relentless.

Add to that the compulsion to lock ourselves inside our houses, an imposed mandate to avoid meeting and interacting with others, our sense of helplessness that things are spiraling far beyond our control, something that we have rarely experienced in our lives, something that is new even to the senior citizens amongst us. The situation guarantees that stress and extreme anxiety will get triggered among the general population – if not all, most. The whole situation is further compounded by the social media (WhatsApp and facebook) forwards. It is like pouring oil on fire. Every moment of the day we are being bombarded with messages and videos – about is going wrong, what caused it, the suffering experienced by the dying, the increasing number of cases of infection and death, and no signs of this carnage coming to an end anytime soon.

Quite unexpectedly, the situation is only redeemed by the mainstream media that is doing a commendable job of being responsible and carefully avoiding sensationalizing the whole situation and sticking to facts and not misguiding the common man. Even while we were penning this article, a couple of times an ambulance stopped by our apartment. In ordinary times, we would have viewed this with a sense of curiosity, assuming that someone around in our community must be unwell. But now, the very sight of an ambulance with medical / para-medical personnel, all covered up with masks and gowns, struck fear deep in our hearts. In our panicked and paranoid perspective, every neighbour became a suspect. We struggled to put our focus in completing this article.

Given our profession as teachers and plenty of experience in guiding and mentoring young college going students, we tended to think of ourselves as mentally quite strong and capable of handling these adverse circumstances with a sense of calm and fortitude. And it surprised us that, it took a bit of time for us to share our feeling with each other and restore some sense of calm in our minds. Such is the fear this situation of pandemic induced isolation has created. The important question the orforeis – in this VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) circumstances how and what do we do to maintain our sense of wellbeing – physical and psychological. How do we not panic?

We share here a few things that we can incorporate in our daily lives – while being locked up in our own houses –we can practice to prevent ourselves from being overtaken by all the negativity surrounding us and work towards maintaining a positive outlook. There is no doubt that our patience will be tested. But this is the time to nourish ourselves without feeling very confined. Our suggestions include

(a) seeing this time on hand as ‘me’ time and ‘our time’ with the family;

(b) reduce and minimize consumption of negative social media content;

(c) maintaining the regular indoor routine or create new one to make best use of the available time

(d) continue to maintain social relationship, but through use of technology

(e) spend time on exercise or hobbies or taking up things you always wanted to do if you had time on hand

(f) living mindfully, in the present moment.

This is an opportunity to make the most of the very fact that we are now locked up in our house with our family members. Now is the best family time – the time to have endless normal conversations, eating together and sharing our feelings. It is okay to be quarrelling and having shouting matches and then making up. And the best part of this is nobody is walking away from the table or the house, because we simply cannot! This lockdown period is that ‘me’ time or ‘our’ time that we always talked about but never dared to take because of compulsions of earning a livelihood, because the world would never stop to accommodate our ‘me’ time. But magically, now the unexpected has come to happen. The world has stopped and we have the space and time to have that ‘me’ time and ‘our’ time.

The second suggestion is to minimize our social media consumption. While it is important to keep track of important updates surrounding our own neighborhood, it may be equally important for us to be selective about which WhatsApp or Facebook forwards we consume and which we delete straightaway. And more importantly be choosy about the content you forward. The question to ask oneself is – will this forward add any value to those you are forwarding or will it only circulate rumors and fear.

Continue the daily routine as you normally do, other than stepping out of home. Keep up the regular meal times, sharing and eating snacks, doing small chores at home. Now is the time to pull out that list of favorite shows and movies that you wanted to watch if you had time. Well you have it now! Now is the best time to subscribe to the Netflixes and Amazon Primes. And your favorite YouTube channels. Pull out those interesting books that you bought but never got time to read. Or maybe access online resources for your favorite ones.

Find time to exercise within the home. It is well enough evidence that fitness is important for positive mental health. If you have a back yard, do some walking there. If your house offers the scope, do some walking inside the house. A half hour of walking is good enough to release some feel good harmones. If you feel the urge to travel, develop the habit of travelling within – through meditation. Or do some suryanamaskaras or any simple yoga posture that you feel comfortable doing. Or you want to test your culinary skills now is the time. Get all those unused food items in your freezers out. Its time to experiment those ‘exotic’ dishes that you always wanted to. And given the fear of food scarcity, you may find your family more inclined than at other times to consume whatever concoction you came up with to avoid food wastage.

If you are the gardening type, you may be luckier than most in that, you have a hobby that will keep you sane in these testing times. If you have an outdoor garden in your backyard nothing like it. If you don’t, now maybe the time to test your indoor gardening skills. There are plenty of ways to do that. There is no doubt that we are social beings. And it is very anguishing that we need to consider even shaking hands with our neighbors a threat in times of pandemics. But as far as our social interactions go, all is not lost. This is the time to make best use of the convenience technology offers to us – to talk to our long last friends and acquaintances. To catch up with them and update ourselves with what is happening in their lives.

Above all, the focus during these times is to live in the present moment – look out the window and listen to the silence that now surrounds, a rare and unexpected delight. Listen to the early morning chirping of the birds. In our regular rushed world, we never had the time for this. The lockdown seems to have magically reduced the noise and dust. The air looks cleaner, the roads, if we have a view from our windows – look wider. Being mindful of the present is the key to tide over this uncertainty.

What the world will bring tomorrow we cannot say. What happens tomorrow to the world out there – we don’t control. But what we do control is the live in the present, to do all that we can to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe and healthy. And that focus in the present will help us to avoid thinking negatively and tide over this difficult period. There is evidence that positive thoughts enhance immunity. Let us focus on keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe inside our homes and the world will take care of itself.