By Kavya Aggarwal
It’s tough when the year has passed its halfway-mark, yet every day already feels like an eternity. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us all, and our fight against it is far from over.
With curbs on travel, entertainment and recreational facilities, it is predicted that things will not return to our previous ‘normal’ anytime soon, even with the start of Phase 2. But, worry not — it is not always necessary to venture outside your home to keep fit.
Here are some ways to beat the pandemic blues and keep fit mentally and physically, all from the comforts of your home.
1) Fitness with Friends
Bonding over rounds of mala is passé. With the virtual visibility established during the circuit breaker period, hanging out online with friends and family has become the norm.
Kick your typical video conference over Skype or Zoom up a notch, by getting your gang together for cyber fitness classes, or attempting a YouTube workout video binge. First one out pays for your next group dinner together!
2) You and Yoga
With community swimming pools and gyms out of bounds, many fitness enthusiasts find themselves in a quandary. So why not pick up a brand new fitness regime and learn something new while sustaining your healthy habits? Yoga is a fantastic, time-tested form of both maintaining physical fitness and practising mental well-being.
A one-time purchase of a yoga mat and daily investment of roughly an hour is all that is required for anyone to begin practising yoga. For those worried about exercising in their small bedrooms and living rooms, there are tons of tutorials on ‘yoga in small spaces’ online, which can make for a great starting point.
3) Mental Mindfulness
Mental health is important. Period. Unfortunately, what with jam-packed schedules, worries about one’s papers and place in society, it is easily the most neglected!
There are numerous small ways that can go a long way in becoming more mindful of one’s day-to-day activities and living life more stress-free.
Meditation is one way of focusing one’s thoughts and developing inner calm. For those, who look to challenge their brain cells puzzling can make for one enriching exercise. In fact, ‘Cracking the Cryptic’, a YouTube account dedicated to solving tricky math puzzles has become a lockdown sensation, consistently clocking million plus views on recent videos.
4) Bake it till you Make it!
IEM Year 3 Keerthana baked a cake on the occasion of her mother’s birthday. Photo credit: Keerthana Prabakar
Remember all those times when your overworked self pushed the trolley past the confectionary aisles, gazing at the wealth of ingredients – only to purchase ready-made doughnuts? The extended time at home makes for one unique opportunity to dabble in cooking and baking. In fact, research says that baking is especially helpful in stressful times with known benefits to people facing anxiety issues. There was never a better time or reason to get the oven mitts out and try something new while treating one’s closed ones to food goodness.
5) Sleep is not not for the weak
No, that is not an error. As much as we like to associate sleeplessness with increased productivity and higher work output, our anatomy does not work like that. Sleep is an extremely crucial part of one’s routine and neglecting one’s sleep schedule does more harm than good. Good sleep alleviates stress, improves the immune system, helps maintain heart health and even helps clear toxins from one’s brain.
A good seven hours of sleep may be unthinkable in the middle of a semester, however, now is the best opportunity to catch up on all those hours of precious sleep lost to the many assignment deadlines.
The present times have certainly given us numerous reasons to ruminate. For many, living away from their families, being unable to hang out with friends can be frustrating. Although one cannot change the situation at large, one can put in some constructive effort in improving our own selves- be it by working to build a healthier version or rediscovering hobbies of days past!
6) NTUSU’s Super Summer Series
Following a successful run in May, the Super Summer Series is finally back for you to keep fit and get that heart rate going! Spanning across two weeks, NTUSU has prepared a variety of free ZOOM classes for you to participate in, such as High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), yoga, and K-cardio.
Plus, these classes are held in collaboration with some of the most popular fitness studios in Singapore, including Ground Zero and Warrior Studios, with the next class – HIIT Yoga – starting tomorrow (26 Jun).
Don’t miss out on this opportunity, and sign up here!
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