Let’s start this one with a fun little story. During my first contract on DCL, whenever I’d be up early for a greeter shift I would only ever have a protein bar and a coffee. After greeting I would usually end up at my friend/ship-wife, Beda’s room, energized by caffeine and hunger. I would enter her room with the same question, “Beda, have you seen the sun today?” She was either barely awake, getting ready to greet or watching Bridesmaids. I swear this is important and somewhat pertinent to the rest of this post. The sun gives you Vitamin D (ha), lowers blood pressure and combats SAD. The ship becomes a home and it’s easy to develop cabin fever. There are rules on rules, I won’t write out details but this is all you need to know - certain places are only open for limited hours, you have to dress a certain way depending on the time of day and some places are just completely off limits. But we made it work and I made sure we always saw the sun. Sounds pretty familiar right now - grocery stores reserving hours for Seniors and Frontline Workers, mandatory masks and shutting down of establishments.
Click through to see full post on IG
Why are you telling us this? Simple. Quarantine is draining. It’s daunting to be limited and only have a limited group of people to see. I read a carousel of tweets around the first week I came back home describing why quarantine feels so different and why a lot of people feel creatively blocked, physically fatigued and mentally drained. I’m sharing this at a time, almost 4 months later and I still feel like there’s no mastering quarantine. This pandemic triggers a flight or flight response almost daily for most of us. Our brains are processing so much information while trying to keep us alive. With the future up in the air, I’ve gone from moving to Toronto in September to putting my move off indefinitely. I went from a contract that I adored to coming back home and feeling defeated. But in the words of Dr. Bonnie Henry “this is not forever, it is only temporary.” And with that, let’s get to 3 stand out things that have helped my mind and body during quarantine.
no. 1 - Let’s Get Physical
Whether it’s a standing desk, a post dinner walk, an Instagram workout, whatever gets you on your feet and out of your head. Physical activity is known to reduce stress and anxiety. I’m not saying you need to overhaul your life completely and start a strict training regiment. For me, it’s different week to week sometimes day to day. Nike Training Club and Nike Running Club have been absolute wonders during this time for me. There are 4-6 week plans that you can tailor to suit your needs and guided runs that have pushed me beyond barriers. There’s literally a Headspace guided run called “Breaking Through Barriers,” which got me through my first non stop 5km since getting into running in April. There are days where I end up laying down on my yoga mat and that’s okay too. Just try moving around, give your body what it needs, I can almost guarantee you won’t regret it. Who doesn’t want a stronger immune system, boost in self confidence or that runner’s high? Finding motivation can be one of the hardest things, so ask a friend to hold you accountable or make it an activity you can do together or do on your own and discuss how you felt afterwards. There are so many apps, YouTube videos and free workouts floating around that working out from home has become a community much like spin and boxing devotees. If you get lost in the sea of fitness, I'm more than happy to help you find something that works for your lifestyle needs! (Find me on Nike nike.com/ca/ntc-app)
no. 2 - Screens Can Wait
Alyssa Limperis wrote it best on Twitter - I’m guilty of it, I will not lie to you. You find yourself with a screen in front of you for hours - doom scrolling, mindlessly looking at whatever happens to roll onto your screen. And like me, you end up in the worst positions and now everything hurts. When quarantine started after returning to Vancouver, my phone, switch and laptop became extra limbs. I understood that these devices were my connection to friends I left abruptly and to loved ones I can’t visit right now. Even now I constantly remind myself that just because I could be on my devices, does not mean I have to be on my devices. Start small, try turning Do Not Disturb on throughout the day, put time limits on when you can access certain apps or put your phone to bed in a different room. It takes a lot of discipline and I constantly struggle due studying and the fact that I am easily distracted. If screen time is constant during work hours - having blue light blocking lenses on my glasses has been a major help in reducing headaches and eye strain. Here’s two options for you lucky perfect vision people:
https://www.mvmtwatches.com/blogs/the-mvmt/the-everscroll-lens
https://grymattr.com/collections/joe-mimran-blue-light-glasses
Being active and limiting screen time almost always work together. I think about how often I’ve been scrolling away and ignored things like the book I haven’t touched in days, little unfinished projects around the house and if I should really do that workout or not. Take that walk without your phone, notice the sights and sounds of wherever you might be. Notice how during a workout you shift your attention toward yourself and not notifications. If you’re worried you might miss something, I can almost guarantee you it will still be there when you come back. You owe it to yourself to sift through things on your mind aside from the time you decide to put your phone down at the end of the day and attempt to fall asleep before 3AM.
@tobicheung after we hiked Norvan Falls Trail
no. 3 - Do/Pause by Robert Poynton
After consistent workouts and attempting to lower my screen time average per day, I hit a plateau. I started having difficulty sleeping, I couldn’t be bothered to stick to daily routines, complete to do lists on time or even read more than a few pages. That’s when I knew it was time to finally read a book I received for Christmas from my friend Lillian. I absolutely adored this book for several reasons. It’s a simple concept but often something very difficult for someone to do. Without giving too much away, this self help book explores the duration of pausing throughout a day or various periods of time and techniques used by people in multiple fields of work. The book cover reads, Do/Pause: You are Not a To Do List, and as mentioned in the first chapter - you could stop reading that book and start pausing that day. I never knew how much I needed a pause until this year. Before starting a Zoom call these days, I’ll take a pause before sending the invite link or joining a meeting. If I notice that Groundhog Day feeling return, I force myself to take time off. At first, there’s usually anxiety over all the to-dos left behind. Again, they’re going to be there when you come back but they’ll feel a lot smaller and probably easier after a break. As a performer, a pause, in many ways has been forced onto us. Of course I miss my job, I miss performing but I’ve been able to work on things I normally wouldn’t have had the time to (hey fresh website and somewhat consistent posting!) And I’ve been able to truly pause and work through the anxiety of not having multiple things “I have to do.” A lot of my non-performer friends are still working during this time and I implore them to take time off to be able to pause and reflect as well. Break up a heavy work day with a walk or two (see what I did here? See no. 1), take a breather between tasks and at the end of the day, reflect. There are so many methods out there like Bullet Journaling, Pulse Journaling, Pomodoro timer. Just because we spend a lot of time on machines does not mean we are machines ourselves - water, feed and care for yourself first!
These 3 things aren’t exact sciences and might not always work. I’ve made minor adjustments along the way and will continue to look for different ways to keep my mind and body balanced during this pandemic. Let me know if any of these work for you or if you want to share things that have been working for you during this time. And one last time before we part, have you seen the sun today?
