Life in lockdown – and now Lockdown Level 4 – isn’t easy, especially if you’re used to being active and connecting with your community. But, with older adults and people with underlying medical conditions at greater risk of a severe response to COVID-19, it’s important that you stay home in order to stay safe. So, how do you protect your mental health during this time of isolation? Here are a few ways you can keep your mind healthy over the next few weeks.

1. Add structure
While it’s tempting to ditch your alarm clock, wear pyjamas all day and stay up later than normal, the lack of structure and purpose in your day is guaranteed to take a toll on your mental wellbeing sooner or later. So, try to stick as closely as possible to your pre-lockdown timetable by getting up (and dressed), eating your meals at the same time each day and finding ways to keep yourself busy.

2. Limit news exposure
Understandably, there’s not much good news circulating at the moment. And filling your mind with scary statistics and uncertainty is pretty much guaranteed to make you feel anxious and fearful. So, for the good of your mental health, try to limit the amount of time you spend reading COVID-19 related news by checking in just once or twice a day. 

3. Include exercise
Regular exercise plays a key role in maintaining good mental health. And there are plenty of online exercise classes tailored specifically for seniors, including those led by The Body Coach, Joe Wicks, who began running online classes for UK schoolchildren in lockdown and has since won fans around the world. You’ll find his seniors workout videos here. Yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi classes are other great options to do at home and you’ll find countless home workouts for these disciplines online.

Remember: It’s always a good idea to check with your GP before embarking on a new exercise routine.

4. Stay in touch
Thanks to technology there are a number of ways to connect with friends and family during lockdown. And when we’re forced to be socially distant, being able to see loved ones can be a huge emotional boost. So, hop onto a video chat platform like Skype, FaceTime or Zoom for your daily dose of family and friendship.

5. Make your own fun
If there was ever a time to embrace your creativity, this is it. So, put on your dancing shoes and take a twirl around the lounge, share a meal with your family, read a bedtime story to your grandchildren using a video chat platform, get out your photo albums and go on a trip down memory lane, cook a themed meal or bake something you’ve never tried before… over to you!

6. Go travelling
While international travel may be on lockdown for the foreseeable future, there’s no reason you can’t go travelling from the comfort of your couch. Join a live safari with Wild Earth – their sunrise safari gets going at 5:30am and their sunset safari at 3:30pm – take a virtual tour of some of the world’s most beautiful cities and their main attractions with Google Earth, or choose your next travel destination and start researching your trip.  

7. Be grateful
At times like these, it’s easy to focus on the negative – but doing so will only make you feel worse about your situation. Instead, try to think of at least one thing each day that you’re grateful for. As Zig Ziglar put it, “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.”