How did you spend your summer vacations when you were young? Those long sunshine months, with the lingering smell of dry grass and beams of bright light making your days even more luminous! Spending time outside was the norm. Packing a few snacks, some games, and the whole family in tow, and numerous vacation options, be it the sandy beaches or blooming gardens, summer was the perfect time to getaway. The last couple of years though has dampened the excitement significantly. With a lot of restrictions in place citing the pandemic, the summer holidays seem to be dragging on for some time. A lot of people are adopting a sedentary lifestyle, fueled by lockdowns. The human mind is amazing at chalking out innovative ways of keeping itself occupied even with limited choices. Now that summer is almost upon you, let’s look at a few things you could prioritize to keep your mental health and wellbeing in check.
While your world revolves mostly around the four walls of your house, it does become a bit dreary and difficult to keep your spirits high all the time. When you’re occupied, either with work or meetings, and the kids are having schoolwork to do, you don’t really realize the time passing by. Everyone used to look forward to summer vacations, to put up their feet and relax.
Even though you’re slightly limited regarding overseas travel now, there are a lot of things you could do to just let everything go! Here are the top activities you could try to enjoy the benefits of sunshine, thus markedly elevating your mental health and improving your wellbeing.
Simple but effective modes of recreation
- Re-creating a holiday at home – the pandemic may have upset your travel plans, but there’s something you could try as a family that would give you a similar experience. You can try and recreate a holiday in your backyard! This may sound baffling but tricking your mind into thinking it’s on holiday will certainly up your mood and promote a positive mindset. For this, you can align your summer break with that of the rest of the family and school breaks. You can plan, prepare your favorite meals, and step out into the glorious sun in your own backyard. Kids could be encouraged to participate in the planning and execution and given choices about the theme of the holiday. In this way, you end up spending quality family time which is budget-friendly but satisfying at the same time.
- Switching off office gadgets – when you’re off work and looking forward to something enjoyable, you really don’t need your gadgets buzzing off. You’d rather devote your free time to learning new things and using them to boost your mindset as well as your energy. There’s time on your hands and it would be good to use it pragmatically, be it learning new things or doing activities that you enjoy.
- Taking a break from social media platforms – sometimes, a ‘digital detox’ might just enhance your wellbeing. It’s common to see people addicted to their cellphone screens. There’s a lot of time to kill during summer vacation and this naturally drives people to use their easily available gadgets. Prolonged and continuous use of any sort of gadget is addictive and passive for the mind.
- Travel locally – you can search for local places of interest that pique your senses and reward you with an almost perfect summer holiday! This also plays wonders for your mental health over the summer. All this contributes to your well-being as well. You might be amazed by the rich splendor around your locality!
- Put your office worries on the backburner – one of the most important factors that has an impact on both physical and mental health is stress. There’s bound to be things left undone while you’re transitioning into holiday mode. Make sure that you don’t carry the stress around and let go, thus allowing you to concentrate completely on the present.
- ‘Virtual vacations’ – enjoy the feeling of togetherness with other family members virtually. Your extended family can have similar setups and you can harness the virtual feeling of being on vacation together!
The current situation has not made it easy for anyone to lead lives like pre-pandemic times, but by tweaking your schedule a bit, you can make sure that you keep your wellbeing in check during the summer!
