Long Covid is no walk in the park. It can have long term effects on your body and your mind and trying to get your life back on track will not be easy. But for a starting point, take a look at our guide.
Mind first
The most important aspect of getting your life back on track is dealing with your mental health first. It’s likely to be well shaken by the events of the past couple of years. We were all subjected to a little mental health battering during the lockdowns, but it’s likely to be harder for sufferers of Long Covid.
There will be some trauma around what you went through, plus the anxiety off “getting back to normal”. Maybe you’re aiming for as normal as it was before, but that simply isn’t a reality anymore. Maybe you’re scared you didn’t get back to work soon enough or “back to normal” quick enough, or scared for the state of your body, or even getting Covid again.
These ideas are all very valid, and unfortunately, they’re not going to go away by themselves. If they are affecting you badly, you might want to consider some professional help to deal with them. Talk to your GP about a reference.
Low impact exercise
Experts are recommending a safe and phased in approach to exercise, so it’s handy that the latest trend hitting exercise is the low impact exercise. Weights, walking, yoga, swimming, cycling, etc.
The idea isn’t to “push yourself” but to exercise without over-exerting yourself. Don’t imagine a PT on your shoulder yelling “More! Harder! Faster!”, but instead go at your own pace and feel comfortable knowing you’ve done something.
Over time, you will feel yourself getting stronger and that PT on your shoulder can get louder if that’s what motivates you but start slow. Don’t worry about how much you’re doing and instead focus on not setting yourself back.
Get travelling again
There’s nothing like traveling to invigorate yourself. It makes you leave all your worries behind. Have you ever been on holiday with a cold? You probably barely noticed because you were enjoying yourself so much. Things go wrong on holiday, and yet that’s not what you remember when you get back. Even the fact that you’re not at home is enough to occupy your brain, because you have to navigate a new place, and that’s even before you get into the culture and activities.
If you are worried about things going wrong, you can look into some medical travel insurance to keep your mind at ease. Not only will your medical expenses be covered but so will the cancellation of your holiday, even if it’s due to Covid.
Do something you love
The problem with getting your life back on track is that it will take a certain degree of concentration, and if you have Long Covid you might be suffering from brain fog. We all have an element of that occasionally, if we aren’t sleeping well or eating right, so there are ways of powering through it.
A suggestion might be to start with something you truly have a passion for, as a means of motivation. Everything here means starting slowly, and just like you’ll need to train your body slowly, you’ll also need to train your brain slowly. So, rediscover a hobby. Ideally something you barely need to think about to enjoy, like knitting. Knitting is like riding a bike and almost muscle memory for your hands, whereas if you’re into painting you will naturally start studying light and colour while you work. Do you switch off while playing your favourite console games?
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