It’s been nearly two months since the lockdown began and we’ve all been experiencing mild to extreme anxiety, depending on the amount of news we’ve consumed on any given day. Keeping this in mind, Butterfly Ayurveda has launched Balance with a view to promote webinars on mental health, yoga and Ayurveda. Our first webinar on mental health was led by Dr. Prerna Kohli, a well-known clinical psychologist who shared some very useful tips to help us stay calm during this time.

Ways by Which You Have a Good Mental Health
1. Create A Schedule: Sticking to a healthy and productive routine can provide the kind of grounding and support we need. Sleep on time and wake up with a sense of purpose each morning, even if your to-do list has things like, “clean the house today.” By listing down tasks, we’re giving ourselves a reason to get out of bed everyday and creating a sense of normalcy in our lives.

2. Exercise Regularly: Exercise releases happy hormones like dopamine and serotonin. Now that we have more leisure time, let’s take care of our physical and mental health with regular exercise. You may do some light stretching and yoga in the morning, and some high intensity exercises like squats and lunges in the evening. Exercise will help you feel physically stronger and more active, and help you get rid of all the restless energy you’ve accumulated through the day. It will also help you sleep better.

3. Focus On The Things That You Can Control: Indulge in at least one self-care activity everyday. Whether it’s making yourself a breakfast smoothie, making time to paint or watch an episode or two of our favourite show. Same goes for our mental health as well. Whether it’s meditating, exercising, speaking to a friend or journaling, we must include ways of keeping our psychological immunity up by focussing on the things that we can control, thereby reminding ourselves to remain calm and collected during this time.

4. Externalize Anxiety: By thinking of anxiety as an external force you will not internalize it. For instance, instead of saying, “I am feeling awful,” remind yourself that anxiety is trying to make you feel awful. Immediately, anxiety becomes something that’s outside and you’re able to deal with it better by telling yourself that if anxiety is getting you down, you can indulge in activities that make you feel happy and calm such as cooking, exercising or gardening. By externalizing your anxiety, you’ll feel more in control of your emotions and actions.

5. Keep Aside Time To Worry: Dedicate a few minutes everyday to worry instead of dwelling in your worries all day. By that, we don’t mean you go down a rabbit-hole and spend your day fueling your anxiety. A great way to see how we’re doing emotionally is to meditate. By simply sitting down on a meditation cushion, you’re allowing your emotions to surface so you can look at them and let them go. This way, you won’t suppress your anxieties but also not let them consume you.

You can watch the first webinar on Mental Health led by Dr. Prerna Kohli here -