Today I want to share with you how i have manged to Stay happy in corona lockdown. Its been more than a month many of saw the business as usual. Its very easy to get depressed and anxious about these unpridictable times. Lately, I have been using a few zen tips to help myself stay mindful and have helped to focus on the right things.
1. Early to bed and early to rise
Though a very old adage, this has always helps to stay on track in life. There is a plenty of research on circadian rhthms and biological clock which proves how this basic habit can give a great boost to our overall productivity and well being. I choose 6:00 am as my early time. You can comfortable choose what early time suits you (prefer to keep it on or before 7:00 am). Also ensure that you are having enough sleep. There is a lot of research on sleep cycles which proves our REM sleep cycle is in multiple of 1.5 hours. What this means is that we get into a deep sleep state every 1.5 hours. This is that healing time when our beady heals from the cosmic energy. Four or Five of such cycles are appropriate (translating to 6 or7.5 hours of sleep respectively). You may use Sleepyti.me for helping you find the appropruiate sleep and wake up time.
2. A Meditation routine
While we may have not found time earlier to get into that meditation mode but now we can’t complain about the time issue. Even if you are working from home, you are already saving plenty of time on travel. Use 30 minutes from that to boost your inner body . There are plenty of resources to start with you meditation practice, though my best ones are:
- Headspace App :There are plenty of awesome meditations out there which help us understand the process of meditation in pretty lucid manner. They are even running a Covid-19 free program at this point.
- Mindfulness in Plain English: A perfect book to start in these tough time. There is a youtube version audiobook available for same here
- The Art of Living: Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now: Another awesome audiobook by the father of Mindfulness Ven Thich Nhat Hanh
3. Few minutes of Excercise
A few minutes of spot jogging or a few sit-ups/ push-ups will keep our body energized and alert. Without a sound and alert body none of the other intellectual endeavours would ever be possible.
4. The Attitude of Gratitude
This time is also beautiful to reflect upon the great wealth of things we have always taken for granted. In this moment we can truly appreciate how even something as simple as having sound mind and sound body means. Look around your room. You will find plenty of things to be grateful for. Look through the window and you will find how grateful you are for the chirupping birlds, the cool breeze and the lush green gardens. There is so much the world has provided to us. This is the time to express gratitude to these and maybe jot a few lines in your gratitude journal
5. Breathe – that’s the best form of meditation
Breath is a tool we all have been using for whole of our lives. But do you know it is the most effective tool for meditation as well. Let me tell you how.
Our aim in meditation is get back to the present moment moment and get rid of all our anxiety and worries. Breath can not be a past or future breath. It has to be in the present. So as we focus on our in-breath and out-breath, we consciously bring ourselves to the present and free ourselves from shackles of past and future.
Summary
Let use start using these tips and Stay happy in corona lockdown