My Top 5 Tips For Staying Present In Lockdown 3.0

Meditate, Meditate, Meditate

If someone had told me a year ago that fast forward to January 2021, I would be mediating twice a day, I would have laughed at them and carried on my every day habitual burning of the candle at both ends. Now, I couldn’t imagine surviving a day of my life without it. My number one tip for staying present is to meditate, specifically first thing in the morning before you even reach for your phone. (Before your mind is engulfed with articles about COVID-19, Trump and a plethora of Instagram perfection that can send us into a scrolling spiral before 7am).

If the thought of this horrifies you, I understand. Trust me. I couldn’t even sit still for five minutes a year ago, so the thought of meditating, sat in one position with only my thoughts for company, was daunting to say the least.

I found that moving a little before I began really helped, even just a few stretches to open up the side body made sitting in meditation so much more comfortable for me. There are also meditations that allow you to lay down (you don’t even have to get out of bed), this is a good place to start especially if you tend to love the snooze button in this morning, this will allow you to start your morning slowly, and I promise, leave you smiling for the day ahead.

YouTube is full of incredible meditation sources and there are some amazing apps out there like ‘Headspace’ and ‘The Mindfulness App’. Start off slow, even just three minutes, you will reap the rewards.

Affirmations

Music has always been my medicine, whether I am walking, working, cleaning or crying; it always manages to raise my vibration. Even though this is still the case, over the last year I have discovered a newfound love, affirmations.

There is something so powerful about having words of self-love, encouragement and support softly (or sometimes strongly) spoken through your earphones. This can be done in the background as you go about your daily life, or, you can make a conscious effort to take time out of your day to listen to some affirmations and repeat them with conviction. Having to focus on the words being spoken to you is a good way of staying present as you have to concentrate and listen in order to repeat them to yourself.

Affirmations changed the game for me, we often hear people say ‘you are your thoughts’, and this couldn’t be closer to the truth. Our brain doesn’t know the difference between real life and our imagination, whatever we think of with intent, our brain puts into action. Just think, the same way that our physical health is determined by the foods we consume, our mental health is determined by what we allow ourselves to think about. Affirmations filter out the negative conversation that we often have with ourselves and replaces them with soul nourishing words that remind us to give ourselves a break, be grateful for the little things and have confidence and belief in our power.

MOVE

I whole heartedly believe that there is magic in movement. Whether that’s a long walk, a yoga class, a HIIT workout or a dance around your bedroom (personal favourite), movement is good for your body and mind. I find that the most effective type of movement in this situation is something that requires a certain level of focus to prevent the mind from wondering. This is one of the many reasons I fell in love with yoga and then went on to begin my teacher training; I became addicted to being on my mat, just me and my breath. That time is invaluable.

Managing a work life balance, keeping up a healthy lifestyle and overcoming obstacles that life unexpectedly throws at you is overwhelming for the best of us. Ironically, the things that we need the most, we make the least time for. The best decision I ever made was putting all my responsibilities on the back burner for an hour a day, to just move and breathe.

Accept your thoughts

Know that your thoughts are okay, both good and bad. No matter how present you are, it is unrealistic to expect to feel like you are on cloud nine, 24/7 (if you have mastered this, let me know your secret)! We have to endure the bad days to appreciate the magic of the good ones and acknowledging and accepting out thoughts is a part of this.

In order to process and release your emotions, you must sit with them. Often, we suppress our emotions because they bring up uncomfortable or upsetting memories. Unfortunately, this just causes us to suffer for longer as each time we come up against a trigger – we feel the same emotions bubble up inside of us.

These emotions become trapped inside our body, and can often show up in the form of pain; varying between headaches, back pain, shoulder tension and so many more that affect the quality of our life. Once we begin to acknowledge our suppressed emotions and accept them without judgement, we can then begin to respond to these emotions and process them (journaling is amazing for this) allowing the trapped energy to move up and out of the body, once you are ready to let it go. This process will begin to heal the trauma of past events which may have caused these trapped emotions in the first place, and once it does, just watch the physical pain you may have been experiencing fade away.

Cook your favourite meal

Too often, we forget to enjoy our food. The purpose of eating isn’t just to provide our bodies with energy and nutrients, its also a chance for us to take a breather and enjoy savouring our favourite meals.

Next time you are thinking of what to make for dinner, instead of grabbing a pot noodle which can be over and done with in ten minutes so you can get back to replying to emails, make dinner time fun. Plan an evening out of the week that you are going to give yourself some extra time, decide which one of your favourite meals you’re going to cook, light some candles and enjoy the process.

You can even turn this into a lockdown date night if you want to cook dinner with your partner, or involve the kids for some family time. And of course, depending on schedules, this same concept applies for breakfast and lunch too. Most importantly, when it’s time to eat; no phones and no distractions. Just quality time with yourself, your company and your hearty home cooked meal.