Blog Post 2: News Review 

Mindfulness During Lockdown:

 Taking Care of Our Psychological and Emotional Health 

We are all dealing through this pandemic in our own way. Some may think that we are all in the same boat and others may not. Reality wise, we’re floating on the same boat when it comes to the virus itself because we are all human beings and each and every one of us can be hit by this invisible monster. However, when it comes to our psychological, physical, and emotional health, every individual is definitely struggling in his/her own way due to our personal experiences that we are being faced with in present times. 

For those that are trying to find some sort of normalcy by creating your own psychological and emotional balance, whilst the storm keeps hitting on a daily basis, The Telegraph news posted an online article of ten tips and activities for us to try during this lockdown. 

The guide introduces a list of activities that can help us enjoy as much as possible a stress-free lockdown and find some serenity during these strange times. What’s different about this list is that it does not focus on issues like eating healthy, exercising at home, getting a goodnight's sleep, etc. which are of course vital and beneficial to our health and well-being. However, this is an interesting list that can be truly beneficial as a daily routine which I would preferably call them as tools.

The first one is rather interesting. It's something that we do on a daily basis but never think about how much time we waste and how much stress we accumulate by reading and writing e-mails. This tool helps us to reduce the time we spend on e-mails, therefore we are also reducing our stress levels and time. 

EMBRACE YOUR INFINITY BOX

Studies show the average person sends and receives over 100 emails a day, checks their inbox 77 times, and spends 3.2 hours of their working day on emails. Which is a whole lot of time wasted.

What’s the answer? Step forward, ‘inbox infinity’, which is the exact opposite of striving for ‘inbox zero’. While the latter is the never-ending quest for a clean inbox, the former is simply accepting the number of emails in your inbox will always be infinite. Or else, only check your emails at set times rather than every five minutes; never hit ‘reply to all’ unless necessary; hide your inbox so you can’t see emails pop up while you’re working, and know it’s OK to ignore some emails.

Another tool that we can use is by finding some time to disassociate ourselves from our own thoughts and enhance our focus by using breathing techniques. 

CHANNEL YOUT INNER TIGER WITH THE 3-4-5 BREATHING TECHNIQUE 

“No matter what situation we are in, if we can learn to dissociate ourselves from the thoughts and the tricks that our minds can play on us, that's where success lies. “The simple way to anchor yourself in the present is the 3-4-5 breath, which is just breathing in for three seconds, holding it for four seconds, and breathing out for five seconds,” says Britton. “That enables a lovely flow, with your diaphragm expanding and the deep breaths coming in. It grounds you at the moment.

An endless strain for many is money and through these harsh times we are encountering, money can is clearly an issue especially for many who lost their jobs. 

KEEP A SPENDING LOG 

If there’s one thing that drives us all to distraction it’s money. Whether you have too much or too little, planning our financial matters can send even the most rational person into despair. But the Japanese have created the perfect way to stop money matters from causing you too much strain. Kakeibo is the Japanese art of saving – and being more mindful of – money, and it involves running a five-step process money journal. 

On the first page of your journal, start by writing down your money goals and how much you’d like to save. You’ll be reviewing this each week and month to check your progress, so make sure whatever your goal is, it's achievable. Next up, calculate how much money is available to you each week and month after bills. Then keep a weekly spending log. Write down everything from that daily flat white to the payday shopping spree. By forcing yourself to write it down and confront your spending, you may find yourself less willing to shop ‘til you drop in the first place. In other words, you'll become more mindful of your money. At the end of every week and month, come back to your journal and review your purchases. Finally, having reviewed your spending, compare it to your overall money goal. What could you be doing to improve and help make it towards the goal? Once you’ve figured out a plan, write that down too. 

Above are only mentioned three of the most interesting tools that I found beneficial to many not only during this stressful period but also for our daily lives when normalcy is back on track. However, if you are interested in reading all the tools, please find the URL link below.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/coronavirus-tips-mindfulness/