Well-Being in the Time of Social Distancing
Tanmay Vora
It is as critical to ensure our mental well-being in the times of Corona Virus pandemic as it to stay safe physically. The world is gripped by anxiety caused due to spreading infections/deaths, a constant bombardment of news updates and the looming economic uncertainty because of the lock downs. It all feels like an assault on our mental well-being from multiple fronts.
How do we stay sane during such disruptive times? A few years ago, I had taken a note of 2008 research from New Economics Foundation, UK on Five Ways of Well-Being in my journal and had created a rough sketchnote. When I revisited it recently, I found it to be very useful in our current context.
The five ways of well-being (with quotes from the report) are:
Connect
With the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. At home, work, school or in your local community. Think of these as the cornerstones of your life and invest time in developing them. Building these connections will support and enrich you every day.
Be Active
Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game. Garden. Dance. Exercising makes you feel good. Most importantly, discover a physical activity you enjoy and that suits your level of mobility and fitness.
Take Notice
Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you are walking to work, eating lunch or talking to friends. Be aware of the world around you and what you are feeling. Reflecting on your experiences will help you appreciate what matters to you.
Keep Learning
Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favourite food. Set a challenge you will enjoy achieving. Learning new things will make you more confident as well as being fun
Give
Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in. Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and creates connections with the people around you
Since bringing some of these lessons into my own practice during the lockdown helped me a great deal, I revised that old rough sketchnote to summarize some of the core elements of well-being from the report.
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