Keeping your mind happy is vital one hundred percent of the time, but sometimes it is made more difficult than it should be.

With the outbreak of Covid-19 in the UK, it has become even more difficult for each of us to keep our minds happy. Self-Isolation has meant that lots of people are separated from their family, friends and loved ones. Those loved ones can sometimes be the ones keeping your mind content in the first place, so not to have them with you is challenging.

When you google ‘Ways to keep your mind happy’, a lot of the time the results come back with ‘Spend time with family and friends’ or ‘Go outside and take a walk’, but that is made tricky when the Government is advising you to lockdown in your homes. Now this can be made thousands of times worse if that individual can’t go out due to being under the bracket as ‘vulnerable’, because they won’t even be able to go and take a walk to clear their mind.

Keeping your mind happy is vital one hundred percent of the time

It is easy to see how some people might feel like they are being trapped in their houses, rather than the reality, that actually their homes are the safest place for them to be right now. It is understandable that anyone who already suffers with bad mental health is going to take this self-isolation as a negative, but for now, isolation is the safest for many.

There are many apps out there that try to help when your mind is unhappy and instead try to make you relax and become content. Recently on the App Store, there has been a surge in the recommendation of mindfulness apps, for example; Headspace: Meditation & Sleep, Daily Yoga: Workout & Fitness and Day One Journal. Each app is a way to try and keep your mind more positive by either writing down your emotions or doing small amounts of exercise to kick in those endorphins.

Saoirse Edwards has been doing her part to keep her mind happy, “Exercise has really kept me feeling grounded, as I feel like I am achieving something in my breaks from doing university work. I also find that yoga and meditation make me feel a lot calmer and I seem to just block out the anxiety I am feeling about what is going on”.

Facebook groups are bigger than ever at the moment, with one being created for people to post drawings of rainbows or fun creations that themselves or their family members have done. The page, ‘Colourful picture trail of Helston and Surrounding Areas’ is a public group and it is just a small way that people are trying to boost each other up and keep themselves feeling more positive.

There are many people that aren’t at work at the moment and a lot of them are working from home, but there are some that cannot work from home due to the area in which their job is based. Without their normal routine, it is difficult for some people to adjust, but by making a new routine for this isolation, it should keep your mind calmer and clearer.

A lot of people have found that they have lost a sense of normality and that is the reason why their mind is no longer feeling happy. Below are some ways you could get your mind back to feeling good and also help to give you a sense of clarity whilst inside your home.

“I also find that yoga and meditation make me feel a lot calmer and I seem to just block out the anxiety”.

Here are a few ideas that you can do to keep your mind happy:

  • Get Creative – If that means getting the paints out or the colouring books, being creative gets your brain thinking positively. This is a good way of letting go a bit, as isolation can start to become stressful with the not knowing, but by doing some painting or colouring your mind can let go and you can feel like a kid again.
  • Do some baking or cooking – Banana bread and brownies seems to be firm favourites of many Instagram influencers in isolation. By getting yourself baking you are again distracting your mind from the negatives and focusing your attention on creating a masterpiece, as well as making sure your delicious treats don’t burn.
  • Exercise – Any form of this, if it’s high intensity or low, it gets your blood pumping all round your body and gets those endorphins flying about. Exercise has always been highly recommended as a way to keep your mind feeling positive (If you are one of the people that cannot go outside at this moment in time, then why not try some indoor yoga or pilates, they really get your mind focused and get your blood pumping).
  • Routine – With no work, no school and no social gatherings, routine is a hard one, but it is a great way to keep you grounded. Diaries and calendars would be a fun way to keep your routine on track, even if your new routine looks like; 11am – Paint the living room wall, 3pm – Start watching new series. This will keep your mind grounded and bring you some normality.