As I promised last week, I’m listing 5 creative ways to ease our days during the quarantine. Whether we live in a spacious home or small apartment, we can all use anything that can help us navigate this uncertain time in a more pleasant way. This upending of our world is inflicting a lot of emotional and mental strain on many of us and it’s important to keep in mind that this will pass and will be behind us one day, hopefully, sooner than we all hope.
5 Creative Ways To Ease The Quarantine
Stretch Daily
I try to exercise as often as I can, but I have to admit that I don’t enjoy working out at home and the circumstances we are living doesn’t exactly motivate us. The pressure of exercising in order to stay healthy is always in the back of our heads. We can relieve some of the guilt while also achieving relaxation by stretching whenever possible. Stretching is something we can all do a lot easier and can be done at any moment without needing prior planning. Stretching can improve flexibility and helps us age more graciously. Some benefits of stretching are:
- Improve your performance in physical activities
- Decrease your risk of injuries
- Help your joints move through their full range of motion
- Enable your muscles to work most effectively. Source: Mayo Clinic
Play Nature Sounds
It’s a fact that nature has healing benefits. The more connected to nature we are the calmer and in sync we feel. “… or even a sound machine that plays recordings from nature—can affect heart rate and alter connections in the brain, say researchers.” Health. The journal of Scientific Reports published research indicating the benefits of listening to nature sounds and how it can have a positive effect on our autonomic nervous systems- the system of organs involved in involuntary processes such as breathing, blood pressure, temperature, metabolism, and digestion.
Take A Virtual Tour Of Beauty
Many museums are offering interactive, 360-degree videos and full “walk-around” tours. I just took one of Van Gough Museum with my son and it was very fun and educational. Here is a list of 6 museums that are offering virtual tours. Just click on the little circular icon with a silhouette in it.
6 Best Virtual Museum Tours
Natural History Museum, London
National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City
Go To The Opera from Your Sofa
The Met is offering a different encore presentation every night for free this week. You can watch the performance by visiting the Met’s website at 7:30 pm. So pour yourself some wine and watch the Opera from the comfort of your home. I can’t think of a better way to enjoy an opera.
Take Some Sun
Going outside once a day for the sake of our own mental health is not prohibited as long as we maintain social distancing. Now more than ever we need to make sure we absorb our vitamin D through the most effective vehicle possible, the sun. If you have a balcony as many lucky ones in Europe do, or a patio or even a window, if you prefer to not go outside, take advantage of the sunlight and take your Vit D time. “Scientists have uncovered fresh insights into how vitamin D affects the immune system and might influence susceptibility to diseases such as multiple sclerosis.” Science Daily.
