LONG before the drudgery of pandemic life ever darkened our doors, I had a tendency for hypochondria.
I am terrible for typing a list of vague symptoms into Google and waiting for it to diagnose me like folk in the olden days used to do when they put their faith in back-alley quacks.
Recent weeks have seen much handwringing over an ambiguous clutch of ailments. I am not alone. My friend and I feverishly send WhatsApp voice memo notes back and forth, trying to make sense of why we are feeling off-kilter, overwrought and bogged down with a general malaise.
It goes kind of like this:
- Maybe it is a cold?
- Maybe it is coronavirus?
- Maybe it is a sinus infection?
- Maybe I am tired?
- Maybe it is indigestion?
- Maybe it is my period?
- Maybe it is perimenopause?
- Maybe it is a tape worm?
- Maybe I swallowed a spider?
- Maybe it is January blues?
- Maybe I am dehydrated?
- Maybe I need caffeine?
- Maybe it is sugar cravings?
- Maybe it is a vitamin D deficiency?
- Maybe this is burnout?
- Maybe it is cabin fever?
- Maybe I need to exercise?
- Maybe I should rest?
- Maybe this is a midlife crisis?
- Maybe it is a new variant?
- Maybe my ponytail bobble is too tight?
- Maybe it is concussion?
- Maybe it is hormones?
- Maybe it is too much screen time?
- Maybe I am bored?
- Maybe I need a new hobby?
- Maybe I should get out more?
- Maybe it is best to stay in?
- Maybe I ate too much spicy food?
- Maybe I’m craving fruit and veg?
- Maybe it is allergies?
- Maybe it is time for an eye test?
- Maybe I need a new bra?
- Maybe I have toothache?
- Maybe I should get a grip?
- Maybe I need to give myself a break. We are almost two years into a global pandemic.
In an attempt to nip this nonsensical spiral in the bud, I tasked myself with coming up with what wellness professionals might call “healthy habits” (and others would probably view as, err, common sense).
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The trick, as I have learned from past endeavours, is to only tinker with a few things at any one time otherwise it feels too daunting.
But I was stumped about where to begin. Then the other day I read that Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon had come up with a handy quartet of simple suggestions:
1. Start the day with a big glass of water.
2. Get 10 minutes of outdoor light (Witherspoon cited the US-based Huberman Lab Podcast as recommending morning light as best).
3. Spend 30 to 60 minutes reading without distraction every day.
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4. In bed by 10pm. *no late-night TV binges. Try to get eight hours of rest!
To this I added a further one of my own:
5. Stretch.
And thus began my plodding journey towards, hopefully, a renewed vigour. Bleeeeurgh.
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