21 Day Challenge: Make or Break a Habit
“A new challenge has been thrown to us where we are homebound for 21 days. It is a testing time and how we deal with it can change our perspective about life and our individuality. This situation can increase cortisol by panicking and building anxiety or it can help us relieve stress. Even if we do everything for our immunity, building cortisol can impact our immunity adversely up to 70%! So as much as we work on all other ways to build immunity, we also need to work on releasing cortisol.” says Nipa Asharam, a certified Health Coach from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
She further shares starters and action points that we can look into:
Boredom can Become Panic
Social distancing for a long duration could create panic as you begin to wonder how long will this go on. Either you can count each day and build cortisol or change boredom into an opportunity for new activities. Try out a new recipe and get the kids involved so that eating healthy is fun. Start working out at home – home workout plans and guidance is easily available across online platforms. You can make it a challenge amongst friends or workout with your partner. Another way to have some fun is by playing online games.
Learning & Growing
Had no idea you could finish a book in 5 days, until now? While reading could be part of your routine lifestyle, it wouldn’t have been a priority. Now, in lockdown, you have the opportunity to divert your mind to something more productive. f not reading, how about an online course? MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) has a host of free courses on subjects that might be of interest to you but it wasn’t a priority. You can also listen to podcasts and watch youtube videos on subjects that make you curious.
Get Fit
Challenge your friends and family to take a 21-day fitness challenge. The goal can be to finish 10000 steps, lose a certain amount of weight and making a time table of meals that you share at the end of the day. I am doing about 11000 steps daily by reading and walking or watching a show and walking (not fast-paced) and I don’t even realize where I finish my steps. This can automatically make us stay away from over-eating and putting on weight, both of which could lead to anxiety.
Make a Family Gratitude Jar
Disappointment and frustration can excessively build cortisol. We can self-sabotage with these negative thoughts. Create a gratitude jar for the family – at the end of each day, each family member writes down 10 things they feel gratitude for and puts in the jar. It does not matter if some of it is repeated but the goal is to constantly find new things to feel gratitude for. It can change our mindset and relax the nervous system as well. At the end of 21 days, open the jar and read out the notes to understand what we cherish no matter the situation.
De-clutter Time
Each time we clean up something, we feel lighter. This is rooted in the science of human behaviour wherein discarding old stuff brings in a certain amount of lightness and feel good. You can identify all possible areas of your house where cleaning up is needed and tackle one area each day. It creates dopamine in our system – the happy hormone!
Our ancestors lived with basic amenities, stocked items for a long period and adapted to their environment. We have the same gene and therefore as humans, we are adaptive and resilient. This is our time to use what we already have inside us to be mentally fit as well. Use some of the steps mentioned above and it will also lead you to new ideas since the mindset changes with it. Being mentally fit and reducing cortisol is key in this phase.