Self Quarantine: A Guide to Optimization and Relaxation

As the entire world is on quarantine, boredom, stress, and anxiety may creep in and try to take hold. Here's a few tips that can not only help you cope, but perhaps may give you some much needed entertainment and stress relief:

1) Firstly and most importantly, keep in mind that YOU ARE NOT ALONE! We are all fighting the good fight together to keep the Covid-19 numbers to a minimum and to make our world a safer and healthier place.

2) Get yourself on a daily schedule or routine so that you feel productive!

*Remember productivity equals a sense of accomplishment which can create endorphine production which in turn equates to happiness! Here's an example of what I did so far today:

This morning I set my alarm for a reasonable time: (it's a saturday so I wasn't trying to be super ambitious). I woke up around 8 and pulled out my buso balance trainer and did a quick ab workout and stretched for about 10 minutes. After that, I grabbed my backpack and credit card along with a water and went for a walk to get a coffee downtown. Normally, I would drive downtown or to my local Starbucks but since time is something we all seem to have in abundance now, and because it's a gorgeous day, I decided to opt for the walk. Once I returned, I took my dog Gabbe for a walk around the lake, then we got in the car and drove to Pet Supermarket and came home where I decided to organize my makeup drawer. All of this was done before lunch! So you see, so far, it's already been an amazing and productive day for me and I don't feel that voice in my head telling me I have been an unproductive schmuck which, not for not for nothing, but UGH! Is there anything worse?

3) Work on things you have been putting off for months or even years.

I started working on my novel about 3 months ago and in the last 10 days I have written more pages than in all those 3 months combined! Perhaps you have been wanting to organize your closet, or make a YouTube tutorial or perhaps you have a DIY project. NOW is the time and really, truly, there is no better time that right now since you actually have no excuses.

4) Meditate!

Studies have shown that mediation has been proven to lower blood pressure and stave off the realease of cortizol in the bloodstream during stress. Cortizol is toxic to the body and is responsible for causing a "fight or flight" response in the body- thus anxiety. Meditation slows the heart rate and when used in conjunction with the proper breathing techniques, causes the brain to release endorphines and seratonin. I have noticed that I sleep much better as a result of my daily meditation not to mention, I am much more calm and measured in general, more focused, and much slower to anger in stressful situations.

I like the app "Headspace" or "Calm" is a great one as well. These apps help you maintain a daily schedule and help track your progress and are designed to teach you how to properly meditate.

5) Keep your self entertained with things that make you happy!

Now is probably NOT the time to watch the movie "Outbreak" but rather choose movies that make you laugh or cry or just ones that make you feel good. If it's the movie "Invisible" that gets your blood pumping or if it's stand up by Michelle Wolfe IG @michelleisawolfe then do THAT! Additonally, as musician myself, I highly recommend watching all of the live streaming concerts by musicans both famous and local who are stuck at home just like you! The other day Keith Urban put on a live show at his home studio and it was so good. Or if you fancy Moi, (no shame in the self serving plug), I went live on my facebook page last Friday with my guitar player in my living room which was super fun! facebook.com/raquelrenner1

So the moral of this blog is to take a deep breath, think of all we have to be grateful for, and know that this too shall pass but at least we have some much needed time on our hands to just reflect and be grateful for everything that is still so good in this world. Remember, there are health care workers, nurses and doctors who are dealing with this up close and personal on the daily. We thank them profusely for all of the hard work they are doing. I pray for those who were lost to this terrible illness and I pray for all of you to be healthy and well and oh, hey..don't forget to smile!

XOXO- Raquel

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