With the CDC continuing to recommend social distancing and staying home as much as possible, there still seems to be no end in sight to our quarantining. Unfortunately, most of us have discovered that while time spent relaxing on the couch sounds good in theory, quarantine can be detrimental to both our physical and mental health.
Luckily, there are plenty of things you can do at home to minimize these effects. Keep reading to learn three simple ways to prioritize your self-care while stuck at home.
1. Keep a Routine
When your days are all spent at home, it can be easy to lose your usual routines. This includes self-care routines you used to keep, like taking your vitamins, brushing your teeth, or getting in your daily exercise.
Whether you’re currently working from home or just passing the time until you can go back to your usual schedules, do your best to keep your same healthy routines at home. If you didn’t have a healthy routine before, now is a great time to start one. Include things like daily exercise, stretching, brushing your teeth, or getting in a healthy meal or two.
You should also make sure that you’re still getting regular consultations with a physician and a dental expert. With today’s technology, some clinics already provide online checkups. If you don’t have doctors yet, you can search for terms like “dentist near me greenville” or “physician near me” and it should give you options that you can reach out to.
2. Rethink Your Insurance Coverage
The spread of the coronavirus is yet another reminder of how important it is to take measures to protect our health. If you’ve found yourself with some downtime at home, now is a great time to take a look at your current insurance coverage, and ask yourself whether you need more.
In particular, if you’ve been skimping on “extra” insurance coverage beyond medical, like eye or dental, now may be the time to add it.
If you think that the dentist is just there to keep your teeth white, think again. Your oral health is crucial to keeping the rest of your body healthy. Poor oral health can lead to a variety of conditions and illnesses.
Adding Medicare dental insurance coverage is an affordable way to care for your oral health, and make sure that your body is healthy during quarantine and beyond. Besides encouraging you to take care of yourself, adding this coverage can also help eliminate even more stress, as you won’t be left worrying about how to pay for bills for your dental care.
3. De-stress Daily
It’s no secret that quarantine, and the spread of the coronavirus, has had a negative effect on our mental health.
In one study, 45 percent of American adults reported that their mental health was suffering as a result of COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders, reports the Kaiser Family Foundation. While there may not be a lot that we can do to ease all of the stressors that come with the virus, like losing your job or having to quarantine from friends and family, we can still take care of our mental health from home.
Make an effort every day to do things that help you relax and de-stress. Whether you choose to do yoga, take a walk, or video chat with friends, taking time out of your day to give your brain a break and a boost can go a long way toward keeping you healthy and happy.
Mastering Self-Care During Quarantine
Making time for self-care is always important. But now that many of us are spending more time at home and dealing with additional stress as a result of COVID-19, it’s even more so. Keeping a routine, adding insurance coverage, and taking time to de-stress daily can help.
De-stressing is perhaps the most important thing one can do during this time. There are many ways that people do this, too. For me, exercise has become the main stress relief method. Others rely on their hobbies, arts and crafts, etc. Regardless, these activities help combat stress and make quarantine easier.