During this Covid-19 time capsule it is essential to keep your body nourished with a variety of healthy foods. Include fruits, vegetables, protein, and starches and arrange them attractively on your plate. You may want to eat less because you may be less active, however you want to enjoy what you eat so make it attractive and make it tasty.

This is an excellent time to experiment with what you find in the cupboard since shopping is restricted. Even in food shops where we normally find everything we need and more, there are some empty shelves. Why not try this? Put the names of a few foods you have on hand and see what you find as a recipe on the internet. I just put in tuna, baked beans and corn never thinking the three go together. This recipe uses all three. – And it must be healthy because it is published by the World Cancer Research Fund.

Your age-esteem will motivate you to do all of the above, because you know that good physical health is important to age well.

Bonnie Fatio

Water represents 60% of the human body and 71% of the Earth’s surface, so it is no wonder that water is essential to the physical health of our bodies.

Drinking lots of liquid is especially important during this Covid-19 health scare. Water or green tea are most recommended.

The importance is to drink and to drink often. If you are sitting much of the time to work, each time that you get up also get something to drink. I set the alarm on my mobile phone to ring every 20 minutes to remind me to stand up. It is also when I remember to make some tea or drink refreshing water.

If you are confined to bed, then keep a bottle next to you and drink regularly. Bonnie Fatio

Bonnie Fatio

Breathe! Breathe in and breathe out. Take deep breaths in through your nose and breath out through your mouth. Breathe deeply and consciously.

Are you finding it difficult to breathe wearing a mask? These masks are important to wear during the Covid-19 pandemic when we are around other people during our rare trips to the food store or pharmacy. Personally, it discourages me from making unnecessary trips out of the house. I just cannot breathe well while wearing the mask.

However, this makes it all the more important to breathe, and to breathe deeply when we can. Here in Switzerland there are only rare cars on the road and the air is surely cleaner. I hope the same is true for you. Open the window and breathe deeply. Again, take deep breaths in through your nose and then breath out through your mouth. Do it consciously. Feel the cool air entering and the warmer air leaving your lungs.

An energizing breathing exercise is to breathe in to the count of 5; hold that breath for the count of 5; breathe out to the count of 5; then hold the breath for the count of 5. Continue to do this several times. I find that it revitalizes me to do this during the day and surprisingly becomes calming when I use it at night to go to sleep.

Breathing consciously will help both your physical health and enhance your age-esteem.

Bonnie Fatio

Activity and routine will also help you sleep better. A good night’s sleep is restorative and helps to prevent illness. Here are a few sleep exercises that I have personally tested and find helpful.

It’s true. Counting your blessings can be powerful. I personally find it helpful to give thanks for three blessings just before I go to sleep.  As I snuggle under the duvet each night, I remind myself of three things from the day that make me happy and for which I am thankful. This relaxes me and calms my thoughts since it focuses my mind on positive events of the day. Most often, remembering just these three things sends me off to slumber with a smile.

Note: You may find it a bit challenging when you begin. Stay at it, though. Soon you will find counting your blessings is as natural as brushing your teeth.

A breathing exercise I find uplifting as I lie in bed is to breathe in everything good, healthy and positive and to breathe out the unhealthy, negatives and bad. For instance, as I breathe in through my nose, I breathe in happiness, peace, health, understanding and love. Then as I breathe out through my mouth, I breathe out fear, pain, disease, war, sadness and cruelty. This often relaxes me completely. You can also be very specific in what you breathe in as good and breathe out as bad. For instance, I breathe in the hugs of my grandchildren, the prayers of friends, and knowing I am cared for. I breathe out all traces of Covid-19, fear of being ill, and sadness of not seeing friends.

Do you have a book that you enjoy reading? A pleasant story, poetry or prose that calms you can provide a soft transition from a busy day to a good night’s sleep. I also find that doing a cryptogram or crossword puzzle helps me to unwind.

Age-esteemers know that sleeping well is important to our overall health and helps us to age well with age-esteem.

Bonnie Fatio

Keep a routine. It is not because you are isolated due to the coronavirus and unable to leave home, that you should let yourself go. For instance, avoid getting up at noon and staying up until the wee hours of the morning, unless that is your normal routine. Nor should you remain in your pajamas all day unless you are ill and in bed.  Get up and get dressed.

• Carry on with life as usual as much as possible: dress, bathe, brush your teeth, shave, put on make-up, and pamper yourself.
• Continue your self-care with regular meals and sleep as well as exercise.
• Have a plan with at least one goal for the day.
• Put on comforting music, stretch, and make the day agreeable as much as possible.

It is especially important to have a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning. Plan tonight for tomorrow. My own primary research has shown that having a purpose is probably the most important ingredient to aging well. During this COVID-19 pandemic, we need to remember this more than ever, both for our physical health and for our age-esteem.

Bonnie Fatio

3rd is our Physical Health which has to do with movement, rest, drinking, breathing, and eating the right foods

Physical health seems obvious to us; however, it is also an area of health we tend to overlook, so let’s look at it now.

Beginning with exercise let’s look at the different aspects of physical health. As we’re aging, we don’t necessarily want strenuous aerobic exercise. What we do need is physical activity; we need movement.

• One of the best and simplest activities for your physical health is walking. If you are in a low populated area, you may still find a time when you can take a brisk walk without coming into contact with others. 
• If you’re not able to get out and walk any distance, then why not put on some music and just move to the rhythm or dance? What is important is to move, to be active.
• Are you sitting much of the day? Then you can set a timer to remind yourself to stand up, turn around, and go get something to drink every 20 minutes.
• If you need motivation, search programs on the Web for exercise, dance, yoga, tai chi, and breathing for older people. A favorite of friends of mine is Eldergym which includes exercises to strengthen specific parts of the body and to alleviate pain.

Remember, the goal is to remain active to preserve mobility, strength, and balance. Age-esteemers know that movement is key to aging well.

Bonnie Fatio

Understanding your emotions is another aspect of emotional health. In other words, how are you feeling about the present situation; how are you feeling about your age; how are you feeling about what you are reading here? Understanding your own feelings your own emotions and accepting them for what they are while remaining positive is key to healthy emotions.

• Acknowledge your emotions. It is healthy to express emotion.
• Accept your emotions as the thermometer to how you feel in a particular situation or relationship.
• Strive to remain as positive as possible.

One of the overpowering emotions for many people of all ages during this COVID-19 pandemic is fear. – Fear of the unseen virus and fear of what might happen to you personally or to a loved one. Fear eats away at you until you deal with it directly.

• Sign up for a free copy of “7 Ways to Live Your Life to the Fullest Right Now” on AgeEsteem.com. Chapter 2 teaches you to Tame Your Fears.
• Try putting aside a “worry time” each day. Make this a time when you face your fears and make the rest of the day worry free knowing you will worry at the designated time.
• Journal about your fears. Put your fears down in writing and leave them there.
• Do you have a friend you can speak to about your fears? Sharing your fears can take some of the sting out of them.

I believe we actually are at an advantage as the elders of the world, because we have lived through so much more than the younger generations. We are able to place things into perspective. We have seen enough to know that this too shall pass.

Age esteem is a boost to Emotional Health.

Bonnie Fatio

Compassion for others is another aspect of emotional health as is being able to show your emotions. Especially in these uncertain times, compassion, caring for other people and what is transpiring in the world without becoming negative or fearful, is crucial to your emotional health.  Are you fearful? Use the exercise of transformative language you are testing from the last message. Instead of saying, “I am afraid”, tell yourself, “I am confident all will go well”, “All is fine”, or “Today is full of new opportunities to be creative”. Remember, you do not have to believe what you say; just say it.

Emotional health also ties into your social health and spiritual health in reaching out to others with compassion. No matter how you feel, you still have space for concern for the suffering of others. Ask what you could do to make today easier for someone’s suffering or distress? In other words what is that act of kindness that you wish to show today? Multiple research shows that we are healthier and happier when we are doing something that has a positive influence on the life of another.

Especially during these days of isolation and quarantine there are exceptional opportunities to reach out to others in creative ways. Search for ways to positively touch the lives of others. Some examples were given in the previous blogs under Social Health.

Age-esteemers know that having a purpose that brightens the lives others is key to age-esteem and remaining healthy and vital as you age.

Bonnie Fatio

What can we do to maintain and improve our emotional health during these uncertain times?

Something I learned as a young student with little confidence is that I can change my thoughts by changing my language.

Of prime importance is how you communicate with yourself. What do you tell yourself in your thoughts and when speaking out loud? A powerful exercise that you can begin practicing right now is transformative language. Test it during this COVID-19 pandemic.

• Become aware of the messages you are feeding to yourself. What do you say to yourself? Are your words positive? Become aware of what you tell yourself. In other words when something happens become conscious of your words. Listen to your thoughts. For instance, do you tell yourself, “I don’t feel well” or “Chances are I will catch the virus”? What you are telling your subconscious is that you are sick and you will have the virus; and your subconscious will believe it. So, what happens? Little by little your brain begins to believe that you will get sick so there’s no reason for it to help you feel well.
• As soon as you catch yourself with a negative thought, change it to a positive. Using the example above, tell yourself, “I feel good. I am healthy, happy and well”. If you are able, say this out loud with a smile. Did I hear you say, “But that’s a lie. I don’t feel healthy, happy and well”. It’s okay. You do not have to believe it. Your subconscious believes what you tell it, whether or not you believe it. What is important is too reword anything that you are saying that is not positive so that it becomes positive as in the example above. Even saying something such as “Oh I wish I could do that”, is not positive; because what you are saying is, “I cannot do that”. In this case you might simply tell yourself, “I can do anything I wish”. Test this.
• Use this exercise consciously over the next weeks and see what happens. Using positive language; having a positive attitude is a key to your emotional health. I encourage you to use this exercise even if you are a positive person, because you may find your thoughts and language have changed during this pandemic.

I would love to hear your experiences with this exercise and the influence it has on your emotional health and your age esteem.

Bonnie Fatio