6 Self Care Ideas To Help Overcome Quarantine Anxiety

These last few weeks have been such a learning experience for me. When the world started to tilt, self care fell by the wayside & my anxiety went through the roof. I struggled to eat & sleep (especially sleep!) and my body seemed to be physically storing the anxiety in odd places to make room for even more anxiety. I turned to some of my tried and true methods & my results were good. Here are six simple self care habits to combat quarantine anxiety. In case anyone else is also struggling to find equilibrium, I’m sharing what worked for me.

Self Care Step 1: Journaling

Right before bed or whenever my thoughts raced during the day, I journaled out hopes, fears, circling & catastrophizing thoughts – everything on my mind. Nightmares found their way onto paper in words and suddenly they didn’t keep me up at night. I just used a fox notebook that I have used for lists & thought organization in the past.

For journaling to help my mind, I usually have to physically write with paper and pen. For 15-20 minutes before bed, I’d write down everything, good, bad, and ugly. I’d write notes to God when I struggled to focus on my prayers. Implementing this self care habit, I found I could sleep much easier.

Self Care Step 2: Create A New Routine

Every. Single. Thing. I used to mark my days had been upended. No gym, no carpools, no church on Sunday, no reason to get out of bed at a certain time – no reason to leave the house at all – left me feeling pretty untethered. Routines calm my mind and all of mine were gone.

To create a new routine, I put alarms in my phone to remind me when to wake up, when to get up, when to eat meals, & when to head to bed. I created a stronger morning ritual around a favorite drink & getting dressed (even if it’s just in clean leggings & a sweatshirt). We added ‘plans’ to our calendar. Fridays became family pizza & movie night at 6:30. Sundays became s’more night, weather permitting. Weston & I squeezed in a walk at lunchtime & made Wednesday lunch dates to eat together without the kids. The routine really settled something in my soul.

Self Care Step 3: Nutrition

Like almost everyone else, we are eating almost all of our meals at home. And I am pretty good at getting nutrients on the table. But when I am anxious, I find my body struggles to digest the food I give it. At about the 2-3 week mark, I had been making masks like crazy and my body HURT. The muscles were knotted & tight and even my magnesium baths didn’t help.

So I pulled out supplements that have helped in the past. I take:

Magnesium bisglycinate because it is the only magnesium supplement that seems to actually reduce anxiety & relax my muscles that doesn’t also upset my stomach.

Vitamin D. My chiropractor gave me a bottle of this vitamin d several years ago & I was hooked! It helps so much with my anxiety. It’s a drop, not a pill, so it dissolves in your mouth & is absorbed quickly.

Zinc is a mineral I know my body uses up when I’m stressed & it’s hard to get enough in my diet. This form is chelated and more absorbable according to research and I do notice a difference when I take it. (I’ve linked to a different brand that I trust as the brand I use is out of stock)

A food based vitamin C supplement. Not all Vitamin C is the same. I’ve used this one for about 5 years & probably at least a dozen bottles and I recommend it highly. Vit C has a very short half life in the human body, so I take it more than once a day. It boosts all sorts of body systems & somehow seems to help with stress symptoms.

Self Care Step 4: Sleep

Get as much as you need, but I’ve found the sleep between 10 pm & midnight is the most valuable sleep I can get. We’ve been working hard to turn off whatever we are watching to make sure we get enough sleep between those hours. I also have a little person who is the earliest riser, so we rarely get extra sleep in the morning.

Self Care Step 5: Talk to Someone

It’s admirable to be the strong one, but a lot of times I’ll bottle up my stress to keep my kids or family calm. Luckily, I’ve been able to call my mom & sister just to ask ‘is it going to be ok?’. Having them reassure me has been priceless. Talking out my struggles has also been helpful & put things in perspective for me. I’m super grateful my sister (normally) answers the phone!

Self Care Step 6: Put Positive Things In Your Mind

Don’t let your mind wander or listen to any more news than absolutely necessary. Most of the ‘news’ is speculation & catastrophizing at this point. It’s not benefitting me or giving me info I need right now.

Instead, I’ve been listening to favorite comforting books on Audible while I sew. I listened to The Positive Imaging by Norman Vincent Peale, which is a favorite I listen to repeatedly (I’ve recommended it before here). It gets my mind back in the habit of imaging good things happening. I also listened to A Glimpse of the Dream, a book I’ve read & listened to over and over. Half romance, half mystery, I really love the story & the characters. It is free to read AND listen to through the Kindle Unlimited program. After a week of taking care of myself, including a few other things like drinking enough water, visualizing positive outcomes, and stretching to loosen my pelvic floor (where I store a lot of my stress), , I’ve been finding myself relaxed & happy. Before, I was fearful & miserable. If you have something that’s changed this quarantine experience for you, I’d love to read it in the comments!

(None of this should substitute for medical advice. It is simply the experience of one anxiety sufferer sharing what worked for her. Please contact a medical professional if you are struggling with anxiety or any other health disorders) 

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