Hello everyone, we are starting a new blog series from today – The ‘Un’-common Tales of common people. And, the very first post of the series is by one of my very good friends, Richa Kaushik. I want to thank her for coming out and sharing her experience of fighting anxiety during the lockdown. Take professional help is the advice she wants to give to everyone through her story. Now, before moving on to her story, a little about this series.

My blog, www.growingwithnemit.com, completed 3 years on 17th July 2020.

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A post shared by Neha Sharma (@growing_with_nemit) on Jul 17, 2020 at 8:25am PDT

Last year, I did a month-long #BirthdayBlogTrain with a friend in which around 40 bloggers participated to write posts on the provided prompts.

And, this time, I wanted to do something different & wanted to involve my well-wishers in the celebration. So, I came up with the idea of starting a blog series for common people (non-bloggers).

I strongly believe that each one of us has a ‘voice’ that can make an impact, the ‘power’ to inspire others and the ‘experience’ that could help someone else. But not everyone has a platform to reach out to others and share their experiences with them.

And, that’s why this series, where you will get to read the tales of common people who have the power to inspire and bring the change. Yes, they are not some famous personalities who get all the limelight. They are not even bloggers who already have a good reach.

They are the people who are living an ordinary life, but they inspire me, and I am sure they will inspire you too. This series is a small token of thanks to those people who have always supported me in my journey.

If you, too, have been a part of our blog’s journey and wish to be a part of this series, you can reach out to me on Instagram. No bloggers, please!

Now, let’s read Richa’s story.

Take Professional Help Because ‘Professionals’ don’t ‘Judge.’

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Life is bliss when it is surrounded by people who love and adore you. Kids were going to school, husband going to the office and me, busy with my house chores, enjoying 2hrs of ‘me-time’, chatting with friends & ex-colleagues.

With its ups and downs, highs and lows, life seemed happy!

And then one day, suddenly COVID -19…LOCKDOWN and everything was put at halt! 

An unending cycle of chores started off for me. Kid and husband at home, online classes, no maid, no help, and time seemed to slip away from my hands.

You may also read her post on ‘Motherhood Struggles are Real!’

Picture by Richa Kaushik

Initially, it was exciting to have everyone at home, and this family time felt precious. We planted pots, watched movies and cartoons, we played and exercised, and the n- number of recipes we cooked. But gradually, all this turned overwhelming. With no ‘me time’, kid feeling frustrated, no playdates, no friends meet, the whole world came down to zoom and WhatsApp video calls, with no physical connection.

I felt homesick and all of this took a toll on my physical and mental health.

MAY, the nightmare month, when I got triggered by every single thought of work and family, my ANXIETY was coming back, and I could sense it. I called up my psychologist and got to know that I am not alone!

She made me realize ‘not to lose yourself in chaos’.

I changed my routine and planned one day at a time, from waking up early to having good ‘me time’. I added yoga too in my routine, I wear something good every day and not just a tee and lower. And, I used my creativity to make worksheets and small artwork with my 3 yr old daughter. Her excitement kept me motivated, my husband started cooking one meal of the day, and every weekend we decided to watch a really funny movie. Slowly things changed, and by mid-June, I rediscovered my strength.

Picture by Richa Kaushik

There are many like me, who don’t seek “THE RIGHT” help or remain unheard.

If someone feels the trigger, don’t just go to anyone, go to a “professional” because they are trained ‘not to judge’ – As told by Dr. Sonia Kumar (my psychologist).

Enjoy this blessing in disguise. Stay Indoors. Stay safe.

Richa Kaushik

An Educator with a passion for teaching kids, a SAHM, a proud depression survivor. I love to read romance near a beach; singing is a hobby, and music is the soul. I am a traveler, love to enjoy in secrecy with some traits of humor and a lot of optimism. My favorite quote says: “This is the moment, this is the lifetime.”

Thank you, Richa, for sharing your experience of lockdown anxiety and how you fought it. These are stressful times for everyone, and I’m sure there are many others who are battling anxiety and depression. But not everyone gets the right help at the right time.

If you feel the triggers, don’t hesitate in taking professional help!

Please help spread this story by clicking the below icons. You may use hashtag #TheUncommonTales while sharing. Thanks for reading.

The post Take Professional Help – ‘The ‘Un’-common Tales’ Blog Series appeared first on Growing With Nemit.

Hello everyone, I hope you all are doing well and keeping safe. Though the lockdown has ended, we are still sticking to the routine. It seems that we have reluctantly accepted the new normal. I am not saying it’s easy but knowing that it’s the best way to stay safe, we don’t mind continuing to follow the rules for a few more months. There are some things, which we enjoyed doing as a family and that helped us cope with the anxiety associated with the lockdown. In fact, these have become a part of our life now. So, today I want to share how these activities with family are keeping us sane at home.

I know it’s not easy for everyone to accept the current situation as the new normal. But for the sake of our family, we can at least try to look at the brighter side.

These 6 Activities with Family are keeping us happy even after the lockdown has lifted

The lockdown gave us an opportunity to discover our hidden strengths and work on our weaknesses on the personal front. We used our creative side to make dull & exhausting tasks fun for the whole family. It really helped us all to cope up with the stressful situation.

1 – Cooking is a Teamwork

I hate cooking when it is forced upon me, especially if I have to do it daily. My husband, on the other hand, didn’t know how to cook anything, except Maggi. And making tea. So, when we had to let go of our cook, we knew it would need a lot of teamwork. The first thing we did was divide cooking tasks based on our interests & capabilities.

Initially, Sumit took care of cutting & chopping veggies and preparing the dough for paratha or rotis. Gradually, he took over breakfast duty & now he makes the yummiest poha and vermicelli in our family. I take care of the cooking part, mainly lunch and evening snacks. Our dinner is rather simple; it’s the leftover food from breakfast or lunch. So, there’s no wastage either.

We also involve our kid, Nemit, in simple cooking during the weekend. He loves making sandwiches. Easy activities like peeling, mashing, stirring, pouring are good for young kids. By letting him participate in the kitchen work, we help him develop good eating habits too.

Cooking doesn’t seem like a burden anymore!

2 – House chores as our new Fitness Mantra

Just like cooking, we divided house chores too. We know cleaning and mopping the whole house is not an easy task. Moreover, it’s time-consuming for us. So, now we do it on weekends only as a family activity. Or, just when we feel the need. Sumit does the sweeping while I do the mopping. And, dusting is a fun game for Nemit.

You may also read – 5 Helpful Tips to Achieve your Health and Fitness Goals!

I’d never thought we could manage without our house help for so long. But we survived the difficult days and now ‘Do the house chores’ has become our new fitness mantra.

3 – Homeschooling can be Fun

With the lockdown, we were introduced to the concept of schooling from home through virtual classes. Initially, it was a huge task for us to make Nemit sit in front of the laptop. We soon realized we would need some creative ideas to make it fun and engaging for him. Once we changed the learning strategy as per Nemit’s interest, he adjusted to the new setting quite well. We focused on play-based learning and encouraged our son to use creativity and imagination in learning.

We can either crib and make things worse or we can look for alternate ways and make things work.

You may check out this post for some ideas to make young kids pay attention during homeschool classes.

4 – Making TikTok videos is one of the fun activities with family we enjoyed the most

We all know about TikTok and almost every other person has tried their acting skills on this app. We enjoyed making fun videos on TikTok during the lockdown. This is another activity, which we loved doing as a family and it really helped us in coping with the anxiety.

There have been many times when we didn’t feel like doing anything. When we were struggling at cooking and managing household chores, we often needed something to keep our spirits high. That’s when we became active on TikTok, watching funny videos would instantly uplift our mood.

Some of our best memories from the lockdown are the ones when we were creating fun videos on TikTok.

5 – Games & Fun activities with Family

We tried making the house chores, cooking and studies fun for all of us. But we still needed some entertaining family time to relax and rejuvenate. We couldn’t take Nemit to the park or even to the society terrace since it was not allowed due to the COVID 19 scare. So, we looked for interesting activities and games which we could enjoy at home together.

We did camping in our balcony garden, we plan day picnics, we enjoy gardening, we dance like crazy, we sing karaoke, we do fun yoga together, we make a lot of crafts, peek-a-boo and ludo are our favourite games.

It is not that difficult to stay happy at home, you just need to find out fun ways to spend time together.

6 – Some Screen time is Ok

We are very careful when it comes to screen time be it watching TV or using a mobile phone. I frequently feel the need to take a break from the devices and disconnect from the virtual world. And for that, I prefer taking a digital detox every month.

We love watching movies at the theatre, but that’s not an option anymore. The good thing is we still have OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, ZEE5, etc to enjoy uninterrupted series and movies. Once every week we plan a movie night. Sometimes we let Nemit pick a cartoon or animated movie which we all enjoy together.

You may read my review of the movie – Chintu Ka Birthday!

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It was not easy to stay positive throughout the lockdown. It is still not easy. But we have to adjust, adapt, and evolve to stay happy & sane during these difficult times.

You may also read – How the Lockdown helped Families Adapt & Evolve?

How are you coping with anxiety? What all things do you enjoy doing with your family? Tell me in the comments below.

The post Staying active while staying at home with these Fun Activities with Family appeared first on Growing With Nemit.

Do you frequently feel the need to take a break from the devices and disconnect from the virtual world? Are you yearning for a Digital Detox even now during the Covid-19 lockdown? Well, Digital Detox is a common term used to describe a period of time when a person stays away from digital devices for his/her mental well being. Now, most of you will agree that staying away from devices is not easy. But, if you have tried this detox therapy then you can’t disagree with its benefits too.

Trust me guys, it is extremely beneficial! 

The simplest and easiest way to take a break from the digital world is to go offline for a certain period of time once or twice a day. But this may not be that helpful in taking away all your stress. One of the quickest ways to de-stress is to disconnect for the whole day (24 hrs). This will give your mood an instant boost.

Another popular way is taking Digital Detox Vacation to rejuvenate your mind, body and soul & come back recharged. You may want to check out our Travel Posts here!

But, things have changed now.

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Why Digital Detox is important even during this Covid-19 lockdown?

We are under lockdown due to Coronavirus pandemic and are forced to use digital devices for everything. Be it work, study, news, entertainment or social interaction!

And, no matter how much we crave for a break, we don’t want to miss anything that’s going on in the virtual world even if it’s taking a toll on our mental & emotional health.

Stages of Stress Build-up during Lockdown (my story)

I have realized that stress builds up over time, we can feel it but we keep ignoring it until we can’t take it anymore. This is my story of how stress took its toll on me. Only if I had realized the need for a digital detox sooner I wouldn’t have to go through all that mental & emotional agony.

Stage 1 of Stress build-up

We love travelling a lot and that is how we take constant breaks from digital life. But when Lockdown 1.0 (24 Mar) was announced in India for 21 days, we knew that it is the end of our upcoming travel plans. We accepted it since we had no other choice.

But deep down, it sowed the seeds of stress in me. As a result, I started spending most of my time with digital media, mindless scrolling on social media, reading everything related to the pandemic, binge-watching series on OTT media, constant checking phone for updates, etc., all that while doing other chores.

 

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A post shared by Neha Sharma (@growing_with_nemit) on Apr 1, 2020 at 8:25am PDT

Stage 2 of Stress build-up

My son, Nemit had to go to a formal school from April but now he is forced to attend school from home. This was completely new for all of us. When there were no online classes, we would do things at our own pace. But with online classes, we had to set a stricter routine for us. A routine which left no time for me! I was okay for a couple of weeks, trying to accept the #NewNormal that’s when Lockdown 2.0 (14 Apr) happened.

 

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A post shared by Neha Sharma (@growing_with_nemit) on Apr 7, 2020 at 5:59am PDT

Stage 3 of Stress build-up

Since I was not getting enough time for myself during the day, I started compromising losing my sleep. Now, I was spending more time online but not doing anything productive. I would open my notepad to write something but would keep staring at it. And, it was not the writer’s block!

I knew stress was at its peak now, I wanted to go offline but I was afraid of disconnecting. I wanted to stay updated on the current topics, news or otherwise. On the work front, everyone was churning out amazing content while I was struggling to find even 5 mins to sit in peace.

And a day came when I woke up in the morning and couldn’t feel my body in sync with my mind. I had a throbbing headache, my whole body was sore & I just felt like crying aloud.

Yes, I cried and cried for hours that day! 

Next day, I wrote a post on Instagram, asking this question, ‘Do we still need a Digital Detox while we are under a lockdown?’

 

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A post shared by Neha Sharma (@growing_with_nemit) on Apr 20, 2020 at 10:19am PDT

I genuinely wanted to know if there are others too who were feeling the need for a break. But, I didn’t wait for the answers because I knew I had to let go of the virtual world now to regain the happy state of my mind. I took a 2-week long break from all digital media, no online series, no social media, no online games & no mindless scrolling for hours.

Now, you may ask why 2 WEEKS when I could boost my mood with just 24 HOUR Digital Detox? 

Well, within a day I realized I was addicted to my mobile phone. I was feeling too anxious to stay away from it even for 5 minutes so I needed more time.

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Here are 5 easy ways which I tried for a Digital Detox–

1- Take it slow. Start with 5 mins away from your phone, as soon as FOMO hits, go back to your phone and again take a break for 5 mins. It took me a week to go from 5 mins to 24 hours break.

2- Disable the notifications. This is one of the easy ways to not get distracted by your phone. Try disabling the notifications for Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook & other such apps. Also, mute your groups, please.

3- Use the Zen Mode on your phone for some motivation. I used this feature on my phone for the first time & now I love it. Start with the lowest time duration and try to beat your own record.

4- Use the phone for your happiness. Many of us don’t realize that we can be on our phone without feeling stressed. Use it to listen to some music, read a book, hear a podcast or try your photography skills using the phone camera. But refrain from the urge to share it online.

5- Focus on what really matters. You can make disconnecting fun by focusing on what matters the most. For me, it’s my family and nothing makes me happier than spending quality time with them.

Once I took a break for a continuous 24 hours, I felt extremely happy & thus wanted to carry it forward. So, I extended my digital break time for 1 more week. I ended my break on the day Lockdown 3.0 (4 May) was announced.

I really can’t explain the boost in my mood which I felt after this digital detox session. But, trust me, if you are feeling stressed, if you are not happy when online, you are getting irritated with little things then you should definitely try a 24-hour digital detox.

Don’t let the Lockdown 4.0 (18 May) take away your peace of mind. Your health & happiness matters!

If you liked this post, don’t forget to share it ahead and tell me in the comments if you too wish to take a digital detox during this Covid-19 lockdown.

The post Digital Detox during Covid-19 Lockdown – ‘Why’ & ‘How’ to do it? appeared first on Growing With Nemit.