Quarantine and coronavirus themselves are not as terrible as the issues that can arise during this period and the impact they might have on our lives.

Our way of thinking directly affects the endocrine system and forces it to produce those hormones that are the most important for a particular situation.

Cortisol (stress hormone), adrenaline, and norepinephrine are released because of stress.
Our heartbeat rate increases, the blood becomes thicker and stickier; blood pressure, insulin, and blood sugar levels rise.

Facing severe stress conditions our body wants to save the most vital organs, causing peripheral vasospasm and worsened nutrition for not that important parts such as hair and skin. As a result, the state of our skin and hair deteriorates, and they look lifeless. You may have noticed that people with chronic stress look much older than they actually are.

Chronic stress significantly reduces immunity and removes potassium from the body, resulting in a decrease of hyaluronic acid production and may impair the heart muscle’s functioning. Unfortunately, a rumpled face is a constant companion to stress.

So what can we do to protect ourselves in quarantine?

Set a goal to help yourself endure quarantine and self-isolation

For example, a global goal is to save your own health and of those around you.
A personal goal can be to make this situation as beneficial for yourself as possible. Quarantine is the perfect time for self-development or self-destruction.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of alcoholism, binge eating, and discussing conspiracy theories, but is it any good?

Set personal goals – to learn something new, become better than you were yesterday.

Set a plan for the day and stick to the schedule

Even if you are not a meticulous planner and don’t like all those to-do lists, it is still a good idea to set a plan and follow it. You will know that you have a lot of stuff to do for today, and it will help you stay tuned.

Reduce stress level

Remove unnecessary sources of information, do not waste your time reading gossips, forums.
If you have already fallen into a state of depression – consider looking for a specialist who will help you to get out of this circle; there is nothing shameful or wrong in asking for help and getting it!

Relaxation is a must!

Stress and anxiety are always accompanied by muscle spasms. Relaxing sea salt or magnesium baths can be of assistance if you need to relieve muscle spasms, remove toxins, improve your emotional background.

One more awesome thing is the acupressure mats or applicator of Kuznetsov.

It reduces muscle spasms, improves blood circulation, and normalizes sleep. Basically, 20-30 minutes before going to bed can improve the situation significantly.

Also, I’d like to share my recent marvelous discovery: the Vibro gun (percussive massage devices work by applying force to the body’s soft tissues, a hammer-like motion sends rapid pulses of pressure into the muscles, affecting the nervous system, circulatory system, and musculoskeletal system).

Keep in mind that chronic stress severely weakens the immune system. So we should take good care of our health and body. Eliminate simple carbohydrates, but do not remove complex ones.

Reduce the amount of coffee and alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant: morning anxiety might increase, and panic attacks may become your frequent guests.

Sport

When we work remotely, in the IT-sphere in particular, we are still, sitting or standing, during the whole workday. It’s essential to make sure you take regular breaks and do some sport. What I find really helpful is sharing my activity app data with my fitness trainer so that she could remind me – “Dasha, it’s already 1 pm, and you burned only 15 calories. Let’s move!”
But remember to air the premises if you do any physical activity indoors. Stuffy air is definitely not the best companion when it comes to exercising.

Physical activity is the most effective pill ever to strengthen our immune system to stay healthy!
Daily physical exercises increase immune cell production while reducing the risks of developing autoimmune reactions and allergies.
Sport allows us to preserve and increase our mitochondrias ( which are responsible for our energy, reaction speed, and intelligence).

Obvious benefits of exercising:
– prevention of lymph and bile congestion, hypoxia.
– improvement of metabolic processes: even vitamins and minerals are absorbed 30-50 percent better by those who do sport regularly.

Bad news: fitness centers are closed during the lockdown, and there is nothing better to lower immunity than physical inactivity and hypoxia.

But cheer up – there’s good news as well- it’s up to us to change that!

There is a variety of things you can do – work out at home using YouTube fitness videos, find some online yoga classes, download an app that will help you to get fitter, walk at least 10,000 steps a day or ride a bike.

Stay healthy!