3 Strategies During Social Distancing

From a Therapist’s Perspective

 During this isolated time, you feel alone. You have never felt so alone having to distance beyond measure. You never imagined being in this world, in this way! Being separated from loved ones at a time when all you want is to be close to them. You may not be able to see family members or friends because they are still working, or coming in contact with others or exposing themselves to the virus whether it is because of work, or needing to go to the store for groceries or just needing to get into the elevator to get to your apartment! The unknown in scary, but you are not alone. 

You Are Not Alone

I know I have said, ” I don’t have time to exercise.” We all know that is not the truth now; and you will feel refreshed and energized after the experience.  Try it out. See if it feels right for you.

Perhaps you have always wanted to paint; now is the perfect time to give it a shot! Painting can be very relaxing and take your mind off of everything.  Let your feelings out on paper or canvas.

What about cooking?  If you never had time to make meals at home, now you can! Pinterest has lots of different recipes. Try a different way of eating. Sometimes the food you are eating can affect the way you feel as well. Try eating plant based, or keto, or Whole30. Experiment and see what you like. You have heard of these things, but never actually looked into it. Now you can! And the best way to try new ways of eating like this is by preparing and cooking your meals at home.  Make it a family activity.

What about reading? I love to read and can recommend endless books that I have enjoyed over the years.  Enjoy fiction.  Escape into a whole new world through a good book.  Or, learn something new.  Read about a new topic, learn a new skill or read a good biography or autobiography.  
Use This Time To Grow Your Brain!

2.) Better yourself.

Look into your future.  It can be a scary time if you are laid off and you don’t know where you are going from here.  It may not feel like it now, but now may be the time for you to think, plan and make new goals for the future. Were you happy with your last employer?   I mean really happy or did it just put food on the table? Was your job just a pay check to pay your bills?   Maybe now is the time to learn a new skill, make yourself more marketable, update your resume and really assess your skills. You may be scared, but this can be a blessing in disguise.

 Learn something new.  Develop new skills.  We spend most of our lives at work. Think about learning more about something you LOVE to do. Something that makes you PROUD.

Use This Time To Grow Your Brain!

For the first time ever in my lifetime, literally everyone can relate. You are bored, and you are frustrated not to mentioned scared. I get it; trust me I really do. Again we are all in this together. You finally have the time that you have always wanted and now you don’t know what to do with it! The only freedom we have right now is time. Cherish it and make it work for you.

Do you realize that you have the opportunity to actually change your routine through all of this. You may not want to. If you loved the way life was before Covid 19 and you want your old life back, then stick to that routine. Go to bed and wake up as if nothing changed. Keep the same patterns; shower and get dressed and go about your daily routines but in your home.  But if you weren’t happy with your life, you have the time to consider changing your lifestyle!

Let me help by giving you three suggestions to consider now that you have all this time:

1.) Pick up a new hobby.  

Whether cooking or crafting or exercising or reading, there are so many great hobbies out there that people don’t have the time for through the hustle and bustle of the everyday rat race. People get caught up and say, “I don’t have time.”

Learn Something New That is Fun.

Something you look forward to doing.  Would you feel better about your job if you were helping people? Would you love to go to work if you were working with animals or if you were traveling? The way I see it, this tragedy has wiped the slate clean clean,giving us more level grounding. Everyone will be looking for jobs at the end of this, and although there may be great deal of competition for hiring, at the same time more opportunity opens up. 

 Use this time to prepare yourself for the competition and the demand.  Remember as one door closes another door opens. Prepare yourself.  In this day of technology, you can learn almost anything online.   So, learn and prepare.  And again, don’t forget that you are not in this alone! 

Stay In Touch

And my last suggestion:  
3.) Zoom, Facetime, Skype, Connect

Stay connected with your loved ones that you can’t see every day. You have all of this time and you can keep in touch. You may even rekindle old relationships with awesome technologies such as facetime and zoom.  Take advantage of this time.  Perhaps TIME is your gift through this pandemic. 

My daughter had her first son on March 13th, my first grandson.   Scary, YES! Living in New York, the epicenter of the Covid 19 outbreak. Yes, very scary. He was due April 2^nd but had to be induced for medical issues.  Scary indeed.  Then we were told no visitors at the hospital.  She had him early enough that her husband was allowed to be at the birth, which was another gift. I couldn’t imagine her having to give birth now or even just days after she did.   We were so blessed. 

Although I was only able to meet him once, before the lock down in NYC happened, I see him every day through our video chats and I still feel extremely connected.  I’ve watched him fill out, gain weight, open his eyes and become so much more alert through our daily zoom sessions.  And, I’m GRATEFUL for the lock down because that is keeping them safe and us healthy during this critical time in history. 

In addition, I have reconnected with friends and family that
I haven’t spoken to in a while because we often feel there just is not enough time. This time has given me opportunity to think about who and what is important in my life and has led to my reaching out to some that I have not made time for in years. We are all in this together and we all need one another to get through this together. Reach out, connect and let people know they are important to you.

I am very grateful that I am able to still see my clients and offer people services that can help them get through this stressful time. If you are interested in meeting me over the phone, through zoom or skype, and want to talk through some of your fears and emotions, I would love to meet you as well. I am here to offer strategies, techniques, advice, or simply to connect with someone through this time,  I am here. Yes, this is an awful and scary time, nothing I ever could have imagined happening in my lifetime. The severity of it is real and the unknown can be terrifying. Now is the time to change yourself for the better and to gain the strength you need to get through this crisis.

Just like you, I have time to help you develop skills and strategies to be ready for the future and of course, from behind a computer screen, while social distancing. Stay safe. Remember you are not in this alone! Join me on facebook today!     ReplyForwar