5 Healthy Ways to Make the Most of Your COVID-19 Quarantine Days

Here am I, three and a half weeks into quarantining myself as much as possible, and with the exception of two grocery store runs and a trip to the pharmacy, I haven’t been in close proximity of anyone besides my little family. During this surreal time, as I watch endless news stories about what it’s like the on the front lines of this virus and get updates about my family members who have gotten sick with COVID-19 (3 so far), I’ve been reflecting a lot about life.

With most of us sheltering at home around America and the world, it’s easy to feel like we’ve pressed the pause button on life (and that’s if you’re fortunate enough to be healthy). A lot of people are probably spending all of their free time binge watching on Netflix, and while there’s time for that too, this forced quarantine time could be a great time to align your mind, body and spirit, if you allow it to be.

To do things you never feel like you have time for.

To be cozy at home and not have FOMO, because everyone else is doing the same.

To finally get your health on track and work towards whatever healthy living goal you’ve had in the back of your head.

If not now, when?

I’m trying to look at this as a time to recenter myself and a reminder of the true, core values of my life. Having had a baby last summer, newborn life has been crazy, and at times, very stressful for me. Now that my little one is a bit older (she’ll be 8 months next week), life is more calm than it was a couple months back. She’s now at an adorable, smiley phase where she’s making all of these fun strides, and it’s giving me the ability to reflect that I quite frankly have had no mental space for.

While you’re staying safe and sound at home, I encourage you to take advantage of this rare, unprecedented time. Here are 5 healthy ways to make the most of your quarantine days:

Spend more quality time with the people you love.

Personally, I’ve gotten to see my husband more during this time than ever before. He normally gets to see our daughter for just half an hour in the evenings during the week, and nowadays working from our home office, he gets to pop in and play with her often. He’s also been watching her a bit for me each day so that I can get work done or have “me” time. It’s been nice to hang out more all together!

A pandemic has a way of making you want to check in with your loved ones a lot, and I’ve been FaceTiming and Skyping with family and friends often. We are fortunate to live in a time when we can feel like we’re “spending time” with people without being with them in person. Take this opportunity to reach out to people you always mean to catch up with. After all, our schedules aren’t looking quite so packed these days (although working parents, I feel for you having to home school your kids AND work right now. Hang in there!).

Get back to the healthy living basics.

This time is a great reminder that our health is precious. If you’ve been wanting to lose that extra weight, start a workout regimen, begin meditating every morning, etc… what better time than now?

You don’t need fancy fitness studios to get in shape, and you don’t have the option to go to them right now anyways. Just because you’re sheltering at home doesn’t mean you have a new workout excuse… now’s the time to start moving! There are endless free YouTube workouts out there to choose from, or you can support a local studio by participating in live stream classes.

Now is also a perfect time to spend more time in the kitchen. Try out new healthy recipes and you’ll wind up finding favorites that you can rely on once life gets back to normal.

Get in touch with nature by going for walks.

If you’re COVID-19 free, make the commitment to get outside to get your steps in around your neighborhood. It’s great for your health, will help you from going stir crazy at home, and will give you a chance to connect with nature and enjoy the little things outside – like spring flowers blooming (the above tree is in my front yard!).

I typically go for walks every day with my dog and baby, but it’s been even more of a priority to me during these quarantine days. Since we are restricted from going to any parks right now, we’ve been going for long walks around the neighborhood on the daily.

Do the things at home that you never have the time for normally.

Paint that bathroom, put together that scrap book, reorganize your closet, do some spring cleaning. Anything that you’d like to do but never seem to quite get to? Do it now. It’ll help you feel accomplished at home.

It doesn’t even have to be something that you see as productive; it could something just relaxing and good for the soul. For instance, I’ve taken a bath for the first time since becoming a mother – complete with bubbles, Epsom salts, a bath bomb and face mask.

Begin a daily mindfulness and gratitude practice.

Many of us are feeling stressed lately. Stressed about COVID-19, stressed about our schedules being different, stressed about our kids being out of school, and the list goes on. Stressful times are the best time to focus on mental health, and two ways to do that are to begin a daily gratitude practice and to focus on mindfulness.

By setting the intention to be here in the now, you’re helping to prevent fear and worry about what may or may not happen. A great time to begin practicing mindfulness is when you’re out for a walk. Spend a few minutes just walking in silence – no podcast, no audiobook, no phone calls – and noticing what’s around you. Take a deep breath, look at the natural elements around you, notice how your body feels. Where are you holding tightness? What is actually going well for you?

By focusing on what you’re thankful for, you are reminding yourself that you have a lot of good in your life. Start by naming 5 things you’re grateful for when you wake up.  Or another idea is to do your daily gratitude exercise while you’re on your walk, before you do your mindfulness meditation.

Stay safe and healthy my friends! We will get through this together.