How I’m Taking Care of Myself During the Pandemic

Since the Pandemic started in March the one constant in my life has been my focus on taking care of myself. From the moment I was uprooted from my quaint two bedroom apartment in Baumhart hall through the five hour drive back to my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, I started making a plan.

It was a plan that had a couple different focal points, the two biggest being — mental and physical health. I’ve never been the most fit person and I’ve struggled with mental health issues, so I knew during this unprecedented time I’d need to take more of a focus on my overall wellness.

It’s an ongoing project, but I’m super happy with how my wellness has improved in the past six months.

Physical Health

My collection of active wear has grown tremendously during the pandemic due to my constant running or working out.

The look on my parents face when I told them I was going to start running was honestly priceless. I was a competitive dancer growing up but that was the extent of my physicality growing up. I detested running, always have. But I needed something to keep me sane.

So I bought an expensive pair of running shoes and started a Couch to 5k program. I’m now running anywhere from 2-3 miles a day. I’ve noticed an overall improvement to my figure and I’m stronger in my core and my legs. It’s been awesome getting to watch the improvement.

While running was the biggest change to my physical fitness routine I also added small workouts with my 23-year-old brother. I granted him permission to text me or tell me when I had to do push ups or sit ups. He always did it at the most inopportune times — my least favorite was when I was an inch away from biting into my Turkey burger.

Finally, I started doing yoga 2-3 times a week. It’s helped me return to my dancer’s flexibility and it has done wonders for my breathing.

You’ll notice that each of these also helps with mental health. Running helps burn off anxiety and stress. Yoga makes you focus on the moment and tune out everything. I started these physical elements in order to help with my mental health.

Mental Health

A minimalist digital painting that my friend Zack Mroz asked me to complete for him.

While the running and yoga are great pieces to improving my overall mental wellness I’ve also started a few new hobbies that have done wonders in improving my anxiety and depression.

I’ve never been an artist, but in June I bought an iPad with the goal of going completely paperless — my way of helping the planet. I downloaded an app called Procreate that allowed me to color. I used it to design my bullet journal pages and it kind of just morphed from there.

Using techniques from my bullet journal escapades, I started making notebook covers. Notebook covers transformed into my first true work of art: minimalist paintings.

Now I never thought they were super good, but I had friends that begged to differ and commissioned me to make digital paintings for them. The true moment I realized what I was doing was good was when Loyola Phoenix Arts and Entertainment Assistant Editor, Zack Miller asked me to do a drawing for an article. Seeing my name in print underneath the design was truly a euphoric experience for me.

I started drawing because it was a way for me to tune out the world and focus on one thing. It became like therapy to me and it transformed into physical works that put smiles on other people’s faces.

The other thing I’ve been doing to focus on my mental health is reading. I read one fiction book a week and I give myself rules: I’m not allowed to have read the book before. It can’t be about something related to work. My mom gets to pick the book once a month.

Since March I’ve read too many books to count. It morphed from one book a week to two and sometimes even three during the not so busy summer months. It’s been a great way to escape the craziness of the real world.