It’s been seven weeks since the UK has announced an official lockdown, with many of us having gone through a variety of different stages of dealing with the changes. The last official government announcement was anything but clear to most of us. What can / can’t we do?

Reality is that we’re still very much living a restricted lifestyle and we are going to continue spending the majority of our time at home for the foreseeable.

Whether our days are dominated by fear, anxiety, stress, boredom, sadness, insecurities or a big, heavy weight of uncertainty, there is so much that we can take away from this time spent in isolation.

I would like to challenge you to identify the areas that serve you the most and hold on to them. For the rest of your life. Don’t be fooled in thinking that we will ‘get back to normal’. What’s normal anyway? Is this maybe a good opportunity at questioning our past daily habits? Whether inflicted by ourselves or circumstances.

Is it normal:

that the Northern Line runs at 130 per cent of capacity during peak times
that 500 million people use Instagram daily (TechCrunch 2018)?
to order food from a metal box without windows operating from unused car parks (if you have no idea what I am on about, maybe give this article a read)?
that more than 1.4bn adults globally are not meeting physical activity targets, according to the World Health Organisation?
that 74% of Brits where overwhelmed or unable to cope at some point in the past year according to the Mental Health Foundation?

Since the pandemic began we’ve seen an increase in community spirit, a quarter of Brits have upped their activity levels since restrictions were imposed and more than four in 10 are turning to cooking, gardening or reading — or all three.

According to the Washington Post the most popular meditation apps such as Calm, Headspace and Ten Percent Happier have seen a huge surge in usage since the pandemic.

After only about two months we’re already seen a noticeable shift in our behaviours. And if you look closely enough I think you may recognise that a lot of this is unlearning rather then learning. We historically did less. Our parents’ generation did less in a day, there were less ‘stress-factors’ which come in different shapes and forms. A very big one being constantly connected to some form of technology. We’re using WhatsApp, Houseparty, Zoom and FaceTime more than ever to stay in touch with friends, family and colleagues.

With this connectivity it’s important to take a break from tech.

Why you ask?

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health recently offered a glimpse of the answer, based on preliminary data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study.

The two big takeaways from the initial data are:

MRI scans found significant differences in the brains of some children who reported using smartphones, tablets, and video games more than seven hours a day.
Children who reported more than two hours a day of screen time got lower scores on thinking and language tests.

Since this severe daily use of technology is still fairly new, we don’t have enough available research on long-term effects. What we can take from this is that it has a significant effect on our brains. What we can do to mitigate this is by finding ways to be more connected to ourselves, nature, family and friends over a screen. Which is what most wellness retreats are exactly designed for, usually at a very high cost though.

Whatever it is that may work for you to disconnect, make it a daily habit. Don’t burn yourself out until you need a complete reset. Retreats are an amazing way to wind down, which I very much swear by. They however shouldn’t act as a quick fix to a long-lasting problem.

Whether you are working from home, home-schooling your children or using your time for DIY whilst on furlough there are many ways to integrate your own wellness retreat into your daily life now and beyond the pandemic. This may however allow you to start experimenting with, if you see yourself having a little more time on your hands. For example, use the time usually spent on public transport for your ‘wellness research’.

Below I am going to list a number of ideas that you can easily implement at home. It won’t cost you anything (or very little), but it will create a lasting and beautiful effect in how you live your life.

Don’t underestimate the importance of caring for yourself. It is necessary so that you can be there for others too.

Before we go into the different ways you can integrate your own personal wellness retreat into your life, we need to discuss the intention. What matters isn’t how instagrammable your bubble bath looks, what insane yoga posture you can create with your uber-bendy back or how long you can sit in a cross-legged position without moving.

This is not a competition. This is your life. It deserves to be loved, nourished and taken care of with the utmost importance and priority, without any judgement or comparisons.

I recommend to try out all of the below suggestions at least once and then pick and choose what works best for you. Whatever it is that ends up on your itinerary for your own wellness retreat, you need to make sure to show up for it.

Every.

Day.

Even if it is just 10 minutes to yourself. Make it work and ask others to respect that time. Don’t make excuses. Your future self will thank you, trust me with this!

“Taking care of yourself is the most powerful way to begin to take care of others.”
- Bryant McGill

Meditation

This is an obvious one and I wrote a separate post on this which goes into the different types of meditation, which you can read about here. I believe there is something that works for everyone, as the options are nearly endless…

Think of it like this, the way you start your day sets the tone. If you are tempted to scroll through your Instagram feed before you’ve even got out of bed, then keep it in a separate room and dedicate those 10–15 minutes to doing some meditation instead. This can be guided or just time focused on your breathing.

“The thing about meditation is, you become more and more you.”
- David Lynch

Morning pages

According to many studies the psychological benefits of externalising thoughts via journaling are well-established. And it works best first thing in the morning as it’s been shown to be associated with more creative thinking.

It’s like a daily therapy session where you get to pour out your heart without any judgement whatsoever.

This is the brainchild of creativity guru Julia Cameron who introduced the practice in 1992, in her famous book The Artist’s Way (over 3 million copies sold).

“Writing is sensual, experiential, grounding. We should write because writing is good for the soul. We should write because writing yields us a body of work, a felt path through the world we live in. We should write, above all, because we are writers, whether we call ourselves that or not.”
- Julia Cameron

Time in nature

Whether you call it a walk in the park or refer to the Shinrin-Yoku practice, the effects are the same. Shinrin-Yoku was invented in Japan in the 1980’s and translates as forest bathing.

Studies have shown significant decrease in depressive tendencies and also on a physical level. In fact, after just 15 minutes of forest bathing blood pressure drops, stress levels are reduced and concentration and mental clarity improve.

All you need to do is find yourself a bit of green in the outdoors, leave the phone behind and focus your attention in taking in the natural beauty around you.

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
- Albert Einstein

Exercise

I would like to stress here that exercise, although an integral part of most wellness retreats, it should be seen as a necessity not a rare luxury. Even just 10 minutes a day dedicated to physical exercises according to scientists is going to improve your overall health.

Researchers at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, reported findings from a group who walked an average of 10 minutes a day, had significantly improved heart strength and general fitness, nearly matching the efforts of women exercising almost twice as long.

“Your body responds very positively, very quickly to even small amounts of exercise,” says lead study author Tim Church, MD, PhD. “If you’re sedentary, you’ll see a lot of your greatest gains going from zero to 10 minutes a day.”

Reading

Evidence suggests that reading for pleasure has positive emotional and social consequences. It can result in increased empathy, improved relationships with others, reductions in the symptoms of depression and dementia, and improved wellbeing.

Why not join a (virtual) book club with your mates? It’s a great way to catch-up and it helps you keep motivated to getting through the pages in your own time. I like to make it special by setting the scene with candles, a glass of wine and a fluffy blanket.

“Let’s be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading.”
- Lena Dunham

Bubble bath or hot shower

Water is the most vital element for survival, our bodies are made of about 60% water and around 70% of earth’s surface is covered in water. In most cultures, water is a source of inspiration, as well as an essential and precious part of life. For thousands of years it has been used for different religious and sacred rituals.

That first-time you smell, see and feel the ocean after a long time, you feel different. It’s something inexplicable; a sensation of rejuvenation.

If like me, you are however miles away from the nearest beach or a scenic waterfall you can still very much enjoy its therapeutic effects by taking a bath or even shower. Make it a celebration by using candles, essential oils, dim lighting and soothing music e.g. Chopin or Beethoven.

“Water is the driving force of all nature.”
- Leonardo da Vinci

Mindful ‘doing’

Personally, I count the act of chopping and preparing food with gratitude as a form of mindfulness. I love to do this completely on my own with my thoughts only (no Netflix / music) and take my time in preparing a meal. Be it for myself or others. Truly focussing on the ingredients used (I like to keep it fully plant-based) and thanking mother nature for providing me with all the goodness that I need.

This can very much be applied to any form of arts and crafts; be it drawing, knitting flower pressing, you name it! Choose what feels right and give it a go by fully focusing on the act of creating.

Then take a moment afterwards to appreciate what it is you made with your own hands.

“Mindfulness means to be present, in the moment, undistracted. It implies resting the mind in its natural state of awareness, which is free of any bias or judgement.”
- Andy Puddicombe (co-founder of Headspace)

Practising gratefulness

In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. It helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.

End your day by writing down three things you are happy for. As simple as a enjoying a nice, warm meal. Or to simply be alive! So simple and so powerful. See what happens after a week, after two weeks and so on…

There is nothing standing between you and your dream wellness retreat now. Get started curating it with as many of these practices. Maybe you want to try them all but spread over a few weeks — there’s no rules except for showing up for your designated alone-time.

The best way to ensure you stick to it is by writing down a schedule for how you would like your day to look like. This should include the ‘hard’ and the ‘easy’ tasks including your ‘wellness time’ and approach it like a to do list at first. If you write it down and make sure you tick all the boxes you are more likely to stick to it. After a few weeks it’ll become part of your routine just like brushing your teeth.

“Blessed are those who do not fear solitude, who are not afraid of their own company, who are not always desperately looking for something to do, something to amuse themselves with, something to judge.”
- Paulo Coelho

Make part of your everyday life into a wellness retreat