Coping with the Lockdown Funk: Our Top 10 Tips
There are a variety of ways you can cope with lockdown funk! Taking some much-needed time out for self-care during this difficult time is imperative for your mental health. We all need to be selfish with our time and happiness sometimes!
At Boutique Lux, our guests have exclusive access to their own private sauna and Jacuzzi at our gorgeous rustic property to help promote rest and relaxation, and even though you might not be able to stay with us at the moment, why not look at booking with us as a well-deserved treat post-lockdown?
In the meantime, there are many ways and things you can do to help you cope with lockdown funk and remember how to actually live, even if it’s just in the comfort of your own home for a little while!
1. Organise Your Clutter
Clean surroundings give you a clean mind! Something productive you can do to help get you out of the lockdown funk is to have a good sort through of your possessions and paperwork in your home.
Why not look through your clothes and see if there are any you could sell for a bit of extra money if things are tight, or even give them to a deserving local charity? Sort through those files you’ve been meaning to get through or redecorate that spare room which at the moment is just a spare room of unpacked boxes!
2. Get Those Buns Moving!
Taking some time out each day to exercise is a great way to lift your mood and get out of a lockdown funk! For some great benefits to exercise, why not take a look at our Top 10 Yoga Benefits?
Now with gyms having to shut and limited time outside, it might be quite difficult to get motivated to exercise. However, there are other ways to exercise that don’t involve going to the gym! Why not get a yoga mat and do some aerobics or yoga? What about a HIIT workout with a skipping rope? Or even just turn the radio on and get dancing!
3. Make the Most Out of Time Outside
Even though we aren’t allowed outside as much as we are used to – that doesn’t mean that we can’t make the most out of it when we do go out!
This time of the year is beautiful, and it is so lovely to see the changing colours of leaves, as well as the drop in temperature which allows us to break out the woolly hats and fluffy scarves! When outside, take some time to stop and watch nature go about its daily business, breathe in the fresh air and remember that this lockdown will soon pass.
4. Socialise with Family & Friends
We cannot meet with family and friends in person, and this is difficult to do. However, we can still talk for hours over the phone and over video chat! Utilising modern technology as a means to connect with others is fantastic, and can truly make us feel grateful for the wonders of modern electronics, but also for what we have in beloved family and friends.
Soon we will be able to hug them again!
5. Get Creative!
You don’t have to be a reincarnation of Picasso or DaVinci to get creative!
Of course you could go extreme and whip out your wrapped canvases, oil paints and sculpting clay, or you could go for something a bit simpler – perhaps some collage-making or colouring?
Whatever it is, getting creative can take your mind off of current events for a little while and lift your mood. At the end of it, you might even have something you want to frame or display for everyone to see!
6. Learn Something New
So maybe getting creative isn’t really your thing. If this is the case, there are other things you can do to learn something new!
Why not start to learn a new language? Even if it’s just ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ – its something extra you can use when away on holiday! How about learning about a period of history, a scientific principle, or a wild animal? You could spend five minutes or five days – whatever suits you best, and at the end of it, you have something new to share!
7. Help Out Your Local Community
You don’t necessarily have to be on the front line or a key worker to help the local community in the current circumstances. You can do small, helpful errands to help those in need, even under new restrictions.
You could volunteer with the NHS or make donations to local food banks. If you have a lonely or disabled neighbour, why not make some socially-distanced conversation through their windows, or help them out with getting their local food shop? There is always something you can do to help those in need.
8. Throw Yourself into a Good Book
Is there any better way to mentally escape reality than through a good book?
There might be some books on your ‘to-read’ list that you haven’t gotten to yet due to lack of time. Why not use some of your current spare time to become acquainted with classic Austen characters, mythological heroes, or knights of the round table? You might be surprised how engrossed you become and how quickly you read through them!
9. Get More Spiritually Connected
In times of crisis and worry, it always helps to become more connected to the world around you and the universe itself.
You do not have to be religious to become more spiritually connected and grounded. Gaze upon the clouds during the day and the stars at night. Consider this vast universe in which we exist and the possibilities it holds. If you are religious, get back in touch with your religious texts, or meditation and sun salutation. Be thankful that we are here and that we even exist in the first place.
It is quite phenomenal, isn’t it?
10. Get into the Christmas Spirit
It might be a few weeks away yet, but something that can help pull you out of the lockdown funk is to be dragged into the Christmas funk instead!
Why not start writing Christmas cards to send to much-missed family and friends? Perhaps start planning the best Christmas lunch yet? Or even just turn on some Christmas tunes, get dancing and sing carols off-key to the cat. Despite our circumstances and stress, Christmas is definitely a welcome relief this year, and the thought of good tidings and joy is enough to make anyone smile!
We hope this list has been informative and has given you the ideas you needed to help you cope with the lockdown funk.
Remember to check out our property The Retreat to experience exclusive, private sauna and Jacuzzi use for you and your guests to help you relax and unwind post-lockdown!
We are always on hand to offer any advice, to provide information or to answer any queries you might have. Just get in touch below, and we will respond to your request as soon as possible!
Safe & healthy wishes,
Team Boutique Lux
