The Importance of Self-Care over the Summer
Typically over the summer we’d be able to go outside, go on vacation, etc. And of course this is only human, that need to go outside and interact is natural. But you know this song and dance, now we can’t go outside and can’t get this interaction due to quarantine. It’s important to take this into consideration, as quarantine may last for most of or all of this Summer break. This being the case it’s more important than ever to focus on self-care and keeping yourself sane, and so here are some suggestions and tips.
Firstly, be sure to stay in contact with others. One of the worst things you can do right now is to go full hermit mode and cut off all communication with the outside world. You can’t live entirely off of Animal Crossing, you need human interaction. Use social media to your advantage to keep in contact with friends that you know physically and through the internet. I’ve personally been using way more Discord than usual to interact with friends. People have been trying to do movie nights and such to keep spirits up, even just gathering and chatting helps.
Secondly, put the effort into cleaning yourself and where you live. You’re worth it, just because nobody may be seeing you during this time doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put effort into feeling good. When you’re clean and you feel good about your appearance, your mental state benefits greatly. Be sure to clean up, dress comfortably, and clean up your room and living space in general. It’s easy to neglect your appearance but doing so would only hurt you in the long run.
Lastly, try to do some physical activity while keeping yourself safe. It’s difficult to go outside and take walks, especially in more populated areas. Even if it does seem safe to go outside and walk it’s still a large risk, and can be replaced by indoor activity. Trying to develop a daily exercise routine to do inside would be ideal. There are many resources available nowadays to assist with exercise, such as exercise video games and software and indoor exercise equipment. Now more than ever is the time to break out the old treadmill in the basement, or to look for that old copy of Wii Fit, or invest in a newer exercise video game.
No matter what over summer break, do everything you can to focus on self-care. These are trying times I know, and the urge to go outside and go on vacation is great and will only get worse as time goes on. However, you have to think about keeping both yourself and those around you safe. You can’t afford to catch anything and spread it around, it’s best just to hunker down this summer and keep yourself safe and healthy.