A quirky and fun newsletter to lighten up your day a quarantiny bit.
INTRODUCTION
Unlock your own lockdown: Healthy and Happy Habits- or as I like to call them, Happbits.
There are universally acknowledged habits, backed by science, that are meant to increase levels of happiness. Happiness includes anything from mental, emotional and physical happiness. Yet, everyone experiences happiness in different ways. Our habits are key contributors to our perceived happiness levels; scientifically, this is due to how we believe indulging in certain habits will make us feel.
When Covid-19 started rapidly evolving and quarantine began, humans all over the world raced towards trying to find the ideal quarantine-routine: forging habits that would lead us to achieving our newly set goals. These goals would allow us to emerge out of this crisis stronger and better. We are going through a pandemic, so the priority goal should be to remain healthy. Health and healthy habits are essential for this. Yet, I also personally believe in putting your energy into your very own 'healthy, happy habits= happbits'. Happy habits that you don't need to set yourself, or that are not expected or defined by anyone but yourself. #selfcare
“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
―Dalai Lama XIV
For me, staying healthy and happy means incorporating more of the Happy-Naomi-Habits- my healthy Happbits. These will be unique to my day-to-day, and can often be mood-dependent (which might change on a daily/weekly basis- something I've learned to acknowledge and accept, the 50 shades of quarantine, the moving moods of covid, the crazy corona cycle). We all have varying habits that make us feel good, or even just allow us to get through another day in lockdown. Check in with yourself and confidently design the rest of your habits to your liking (I mean let's try to stay legal here). Sometimes we don't know what we want, so healthy happbits are not always necessarily about the ACT of what we do, but more how it makes us FEEL. There's no recipe, no expectation, you just do you.
Science states that we should read more, laugh often, drink plenty of water, meditate, exercise, eat vegetables... I 1000.2356% agree. Yet, not all of these habits will make you happy on an every day basis, because surely your happiness cant be defined by someone else's textbook.
So, what are your happbits? What else could give you energy?
Some of my Happbits:
Having at least one good book on my 'Currently reading' list.
Having a cupboard stocked with Medjool dates for when the need hits.
Having those bizarre Berocca boost tablets ready for when I think it's time for Vitamins.
Greeting dogs in the street and ignoring their owner.
Having my daily coffee with abstract Barista plant-based milk (from Pea milk to Oat milk) that I froth using a milk frother from Amazon (life-changing).
Evening Headspace meditation.
Daily (morning) skincare including refreshing cucumber face sprays from Mario Badescu.
Having an evening 'Twinings Roiboos & Honey with spiced fig' tea with raw honey (great balancing blood sugar levels, especially before sleep!)
Feel like I've learned something every day.
Other ways to get book-inspiration or shall I say shelf-improvement (haha)
NY times Book Reviews https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/books/review/12-new-books-to-read-this-week.html
Oprah's Book Club http://www.oprah.com/app/books.html
Emma Watson on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/179584-our-shared-shelf
Looking for something new to switch up your day? Some ideas...
Subscribe to a digital publication
Download an Audible account (free trial!) and listen to an audiobook
Find a book that you will enjoy- whether it's chicklit or an autobiography
Call a friend/family member in a different country/city and get insight into their day-to-day. What do they read? What do they cook? What can you learn from them?
Find your Online Shopping Addiction: Quarantine Style
Befriend your Neighbours
Join a virtual book club
Learn how to make the perfect salad dressing
Write letters
Do laundry for random items (e.g. your curtains)
Find a new charity to support online
Track your Sleep (Sleep Tracker App)
Meditate outdoors
Buy a new boardgame
Photography / Videography / Video & Photo Editing
Write poems
Buy a slow-cooker
Write about your quarantine experience so far
Make home-made sushi
Dip dye your clothes
Grow your own herb garden
Try a vegan/vegetarian/fish/ recipe
Download Pinterest and change up your decor!
Read & Learn
There's a lot going on right now in the world. It is confusing, overwhelming, but also needed. We are used to our daily routines, to the people we are surrounded by, and we rarely actively venture outside of our comfort zone. The reality we live in, is really just a perspective on life. It is not what the reality of life is, objectively speaking.
The best way to step out of the comfort zone is to push ourselves out of it. Everyone ingests and digests information differently. For me, reading works best, but sometimes documentaries and TV can have a long-lasting impact on me. This is why I will consult an array of sources, from books to online articles and speaking to friends/family/colleagues. There's not just one way to receive information- we all need to find the medium that woks best, the only thing that is important is to learn & listen.
I have not read all of the books and resources that I am detailing below. I have just pulled together a list of some of the books and resources that I have noted down myself.
Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race (Reni Eddo-Lodge)
If Beale Street Could Talk (James Baldwin)
So You Want To Talk About Race (Ijeoma Oluo)
Americanah (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
Policing the Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution, and Imprisonment (Angela J Davies)
Waterstones Voices For Change book list: https://www.waterstones.com/category/history#change
Six Ways Asian-Americans Can Tackle Anti-Blackness in Their Families (Kim Tran)
White Fragility (RobinDiAngelo)
The New Jim Crow (Michelle Alexander)
Police Violence, Race and Protest in America Economist Article https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/06/04/police-violence-race-and-protest-in-america
13th (Netflix)
When They See Us
Overheard London: FRIENDS EDITION
It's back and better than ever...
"You know, I never really knew surfing in England is possible of all places, but I really must say, the surfing is top class"
"I look like a towel right now"
"Oh, I do go to Wholefoods! Yeah, I go to pick up my Amazon deliveries in the left corner of the shop!"
"Is this CBD oil like, really going to knock me out though? How fast?"
"I was thinking about you the other day, I was desperately trying to get my hands on my own dates"
"I did try the whole meal-deal thing once, to see what the hype was about. Got to say, don't love it"
Person A) "So, I went to the café you told me about, but they told me they don't do dairy milk..ridiculous."
Person B) "Oh no... so you didn't have a coffee then?"
Person A) "No I went for oat milk obviously"
Another amazing blog! Love Happbits - great idea :) Excited for our virtual book club and to read the first book on your list! Always love feeling that I am taking an action away from your blog!!