Got your Dalgona coffee frothed to perfection? Did your sourdough bread turn out just the way you saw it on your Instagram feed? Kudos, you’ve cracked the quarantine code! Or have you, really? Is that what the #QuarantineLiving is trying to teach us?
Look around and chances are that most of us are inadvertently trying too hard — to stay positive and make the most of the government-ordered stay-at-home memo. Everyone’s trying to re-affirm that all is well, put up a good fight, and “choose positivity”. More often than not, there’s such an overdose that the whole positive thinking begins to feel claustrophobic.
Identify the void
“Redefining the new normal and changing the gears of the mind with gratitude can really keep the emotional well-being of the person on track than merely chasing social media lockdown to-dos. Maintaining a gratitude journal really helps,” says Jankie JK Thakar, a tarot card reader and healer at SMB Mystiixx.
“My first advice to avoid pseudo-positivity would be to be aware of who you follow on social media. Avoid filling up the voids with anything and everything, it could also be going back to a toxic relationship. Identify the void, vent out, talk out, and find a way to channelise it. This is a great time to discuss things in detail with a friend and release the pent up energy,” she suggests.
Choose wisely
For those feeling overwhelmed about how to deal with quarantine, acceptance is key. “Acknowledging and accepting our emotional state and appreciating that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour are interlinked can help us to adapt to stressful situations and times like these,” begins Dr Neeraj Raj B, consultant psychiatrist, Aster RV Hospital. He adds, “Some may find that showing compassion and altruism may help. Some may find solace in spirituality. Point is, choose what feels good for you. That’s the key to maintaining good mental condition.”
“Breathe,” suggests Meghna Pant, author, journalist and speaker, adding, “Re-programming our mind to stop wanting what society tells us we want, and seeking what it is that we need, is one way to combat falling into the trap of pseudo-positivity during times like these. All this free time on your hands is actually a great time to know yourself. Seek what it is that will make you happy, not defined by anybody else’s expectations or desires.”
Live with imperfections
Stressing upon the two underrated life tools as the quick-fixes to get through this quarantine, Ainara Kaur, co-founder, Belora Cosmetics & Canvilicious Marketing Agency, suggests, “Live in the moment. Remember if you have a lot to thank, you are in a great place. If at all you wish to put up a good fight, then get started by fighting the Indian social norm of showing Insta-perfection. We are not perfect, we never will be, and that’s ok. It’s fine to be an imperfect employer or employee, imperfect mother or daughter, have an imperfect home. We are all a work-in-progress to become our better versions. The time is to switch off, reset, and look within. If there’s one thing we must strive towards, it is being conscious of consumption and control — curb the urge to overstock, or overdo someone else in terms of productivity,” adds Ainara.
Stressing on the three pillars of mental health to look out for, Priyanka Varma, clinical psychologist & founder of The Thought Co, says, “Emotional well-being begins with your three pillars of mental health — eating three healthy meals every
day, seven hours of continuous sleep, and at least 20 minutes of exercise. It also refers to identifying the things you can and cannot control. This helps reduce anxiety and distress.”
Happiness burnout
Warning people against a ‘happiness burnout’, wellness consultant Shashi Kalyanpur says, “This is true, with the lockdown and pandemic, as everyone is forcing themselves to stay positive and bombarding social media with messages on life’s true meaning, relationships, etc, but fail to understand that just putting
out these messages without actually feeling it will only make matters worse. Over time, it is best to accept all the emotions you are facing and handle them without negating them with a balm of positivity, we would be foolish to expect to be positive all the time.”
Uncalled for obsession
Enthusing how the obsession towards positivity is uncalled for, Shashi adds, “Happiness is our true and natural state and you get obsessed with it when you know the feeling is not there inside you, that is the reason we are always doing things which we assume will give us happiness, life is a journey with 90% of it being challenges you are sorting and 10% is smooth, so accept this truth and start loving this journey as every challenge brings a lot with it and helps you grows.
Be your natural self and don’t beat yourself if you are going through a bad phase emotionally and mentally, accept it, express it, and look at how you can overcome it. Remember to recharge, rewire, and reset, because that’s what the lockdown teaches you.”
Deepayan Roy, a self-taught artist and communications professional believes being individualistic is key to self-contentment during the lockdown, and steering away from blindly following social media fads, “The most important fact is not being influenced. Social media has made people compete to show who has the
best life and who is the happiest. This is like quicksand, it sucks you in even
before you know it. We should fix our own priorities and work towards our goal — things we always wanted to do but couldn’t, without bothering about what others might think of it,” he says.
Thinking along similar lines is Aparna Ghildiyal, a registered yoga teacher who has completed 500 hours of training under the World Yoga Alliance certified school. She maintains that the time is now to go inwards. “People tend to get emotional whenever we focus too much on the outside — with yoga and meditation, you can take your mind inwards and dip into your own inner strength. Find an artistic outlet for expression. It can be a sketch, a poem, a new recipe, or even reorganising your own home. Creativity and happiness go hand in hand. Whenever you are applying yourself completely in creating something new, the end result will not just bring you a sense of achievement but will also feel great,” she adds.
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