Lock down lessons….

I quite like change and challenges so when we were put into lock down I was a little concerned but generally more focused on how I would adapt and what would I need to put in place to get through this period of time.

The first couple of weeks I was certainly running on adrenaline! There was lots of dancing around my room, some highs, some lows , some hula hooping videos got put on Instagram and a routine of who I was going to talk to on what day and time was put into place immediately.

At the beginning I found I needed to chat to one person a day to help me stay balance and after a few weeks some of those chats stayed and some of them went and everything found a natural flow. The more time I spent alone the easier it got. The bigger the emotions that came up the easier they were to ride.

Loosing my work was not an issue there has been so much change over the years with regards to my career it was the loss of social contact that was more a concern.

I decided to start a podcast to keep myself entertained and I have been interviewing two people a week. It’s been a lovely way of keeping some sort of normality and having ‘normal’ conversations. What I have learned is that doing interviews from home is really handy and as I am a bit of home bird it works quite well for me. This is certainly something I will carry on. I discovered I had to try different places in my room to sit to find where I felt mist comfy! It’s the sofa! I can relax there, the desk makes me feel stuffy and to upright. I need to be able to chill when I’m interviewing.

It was also suggested to me that I run a creative group, I faffed around for a bit, over thought it but then decided to give it a go. I roped a few people in to be my guinea pigs and it’s turned out to be a success! We meet once a weekly for some lovely conversation and a creative challenge is set each week which we discuss the following week. I hope to make this into a membership. It was a reminder that we are always adapting and changing. There doesn’t come an point in life where you get a rest (which I hoped there might be! Darn)

Meditation had become an essential part to my life, I’ve been pretty good over the years but during lock down I got serious! I have done 30 mins to 1 hour each morning. I have had a morning routine that has looked a little like this… I get up, make my bed, grab a hot drink then meditate. After this I get my breakfast and eat that whilst I write in my diary. That includes and recount of the day before, a list of what I achieved, what I am grateful for, a stand out moment and a kind message to myself. Over the last 10 weeks I have missed two days, that how serious I got! I also had a daily check list of things I wanted to improve.

I found myself doing larger food shops than usual so I didn’t need to go to the shop as much. This resulted in me doing large bilk cooking session at the beginning of the week so I didn’t have to do anymore cooking throughout the week. It suited me wonderfully as I hate cooking everyday and I hate food shopping. This is something I will continue.

Pilates is something I used to do but got bored. Early on in lockdown I treated myself to a nice mat and I have done pilates three times a week on the decking outside. It been wonderful, I play beautiful relaxing music and it such a feel good thing to do, especially outside, I feels so novel.

Dance parties have also been a regular thing. Usually around 5 or 6 each day before my shower. I have found dancing to be one of the most beneficial things to do if I am feeling restless or a bit down in the dumps.

When the tears have needed to come I have learnt to really let them. I grab a blanket and curl up on the floor and just go for it and give myself a great big hug. Grief from my past relationship came up and I knew I needed to go with it and let it out. There were also a couple of days of anger which I had to let out too! I ranted to a mate and hit a pillow and burnt a few things. It helped at the time anyway 😉 ha ha

I have read several books mainly about the human mind and I have watched my own mind like a hawk determined to use this space to really look at any unhelpful thought patterns and traumas. I’ve had quite a few break trough’s which have been liberating! I mean liberating. I continued to see a counsellor once a month and with his help and a few good friends I have been able to air stuff that I’ve not shared before. Once things are said out loud it takes the edge off and there have been a lot of edges taken off!

One of the biggest breakthroughs is the relationship that has developed between me and my landlady! We have chatted and got to know each other more than we have in the whole time I have been here and there are so many similarities between us! Its been really nice and we both love our own space so we just have 10 mins chats here and there is we both end up in the garden or kitchen at the same time.

Although I felt I lived a slow paced life before I now realise there was still quite a lot of running about meeting mates, driving here and there etc. Although that was all lovely I realised that I don’t want quite so much of that and some weekends it’s just nice to be at home for the entire weekend.

My outlook and life has changed a lot from this, it made me take a look at what I really value in greater depth. Less is definitely more and quality over quality. These are things I have always stood for, but I have just upped them a level and for that I am grateful.