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How To Maintain Emotional Wellness in Lockdown

emotional wellnessThe Coronavirus pandemic seemed far away from us until a few weeks ago and now, it has created intense volatility in every aspect of our life. With uncertainty looming, the general sense of fear is widespread. It is imperative to maintain emotional wellness now! 

But before I get into the topic, let me narrate a story: 

Once Shri Krishna and Balrama were passing through a jungle full of fierce animals and demons. Suddenly from nowhere, a demon sprung in front of them. It gazed its eyes upon Balrama.

Balrama asked him, “Who are you?” 

The Demon replied, “I am a demon the size of your fear”.

Hearing this, Balrama got petrified and the more he feared, the bigger the demon grew. Finally, when he could handle no more, Balrama fainted. Now the demon turned towards Shri Krishna, yelling at him “I am a demon the size of your fear”. Shri Krishna did not bother and continued to play his flute. The demon turned smaller and smaller until it vanished.

Tips to Maintain Emotional Wellness 

Yes, the time is uncertain and yes, there can be a number of reasons to worry or fear all day. But fear/worry and anxiety are negative emotions. They make us vulnerable and lower our immunity, the same immunity which will keep us safe from the infection so prevalent all around.

So let your faith conquer over your fear in these uncertain times. Hence, I request you to prioritise your current time to:

  • Relax: Stay away from constant news updates. Instead, invest your free time in music, dance, painting or anything that you like.
  • Believe in the power of positive emotions such as kindness, honesty and contentment. Meditate once a day to feel the power of these positive emotions.
  • Open up: Do not bottle yourself up. Speaking your thoughts out loud, sharing what goes on in your mind helps to release the tension from within. Share your thoughts with your GOQii coach if need be.
  • Stay in the company of positive people or be the positive influencer for people around you.
  • Accept and Let Go: When it gets really tough, breathe deeply, use the mantra “this too shall pass”, to make yourself resilient and accepting.

I hope and sincerely do, you will not let yourself be vulnerable, neither physically nor emotionally! If you need to talk to someone, reach out to a close friend or your GOQii Coach or Expert. We are here to help you! 

For sessions on emotional health and how to remain calm during these times, you can also tune in to sessions on emotional wellness on GOQii Play. 

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What Anorexia Nervosa Can Do To You Or Someone You Love

Anorexia Nervosa

Following healthy habits is good. It’s always nice to have a plan for healthy eating and follow it steadily with discipline. But what happens when you overindulge in a dieting plan? As we all know, anything in excess is bad and the same goes for dieting or having an unhealthy obsession with losing weight which may make one do things that can cause more damage than good. Having said that, I’d like to highlight an eating disorder that I recently came across called Anorexia Nervosa.

What is Anorexia Nervosa?

Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder which is characterized by low body weight, fear of gaining weight, and a distorted perception of weight. This means that despite having normal body weight, these people feel that they are overweight, or even if they will eat a bite extra, they feel that they will suddenly gain weight. So they prefer being on a very low calorie diet, prefer restricted foods, focusing excessively on the portion they eat. They also try to control their weight by vomiting after eating, or misusing laxatives, diet aids, diuretics or even enemas. At times, they also try to lose weight by excessive exercising just post consuming meals.

Nervosa is not about calorie counting, it is more about one’s psychological aspect which can be extremely dangerous or even life threatening to try to cope up with emotional distress. Anorexic people often tend to equate thinness with self worth.

What Are The Symptoms?

The most evident physical symptom of Nervosa is Starvation, and let us not confuse it with conscious eating. Apart from it, it also includes some emotional and behavioural issues which include unrealistic perception of one’s own body in terms of being fat or fear of gaining weight.

It is difficult to notice the signs and symptoms among the people, but there are few alarming signs which can be noticed by near and dear ones like low body weight, or thin appearance, abnormal blood counts, fatigue, dizziness, and insomnia, thinning of hair, blue discoloration of fingers, irregular bowel movements, irregular heart rhythms, and dehydration.

Also some emotional and behavioural symptoms would include:

  • Skipping meals or refusing to eat
  • Making excuses like denial for hunger, or unwell
  • Avoiding to eat in public
  • Social withdrawal
  • Irritability and Insomnia

Diagnosis 

Though it is difficult to diagnose Anorexia Nervosa at an early stage, the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA’s) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders has set diagnosis criteria for people prone to being Anorexic.

  1. Restricted calorie intake as per the requirement of the body in terms of age, height, gender and physical health.
  2. Misconception of being overweight, despite being actually underweight.
  3. A full medical history can also help to reach the outcome

Treatment and Recovery

Treatment includes some medications, nutritional counseling, psychotherapy and family counseling as well which would depend on one’s level of being anorexic. Generally people refuse to accept that they fall in the category but a proper counseling session can help one recover soon.

There is no harm in Being Picky about putting food in your mouth, but this should be done in certain limits by working on calorie counting, or choosing the healthiest option and not in excessive fear to gain weight. The body needs fuel as well to work its system out. The correct way to lose weight is by eating healthy and exercising regularly, and not “DIETING”. Long term anorexia nervosa can lead to serious medical issues like low bone density, anemia, or some gastrointestinal issues as well.

So, if you feel any such symptoms, or you know someone prone to it, do share the article with them, and we at GOQii are always there to help you recover in whatever best way possible.

Did you find this article helpful? Do leave your thoughts and queries in the comments below and do share it on the GOQii Arena in the GOQii app with your friends! 

#BeTheForce 

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