Lockdown Self Care Series: Going Down The Rabbit Hole
I remember hearing once that people who keep learning new things live longer, more fulfilling lives because they are fueling their minds, keeping their bodies and spirits youthful with knowledge. How true or scientific this idea is, I don’t know, but I do know that the people in my life that live the most joyful, exciting lives are always taking on new challenges, practicing their hobbies regularly and humbly learning more from everything and everyone around them.
As we come out from our year and some months of forced lockdowns, business closures and social distancing, I wanted to share one tip that will serve us whether we are staying safe in our homes or living full lives out in society.
I’m also sharing with you my 5 tips to joyful learning, because let’s be honest, not everyone enjoys “learning” or anything that could be compared to school! I have quite a few friends who just hate reading, but just because it is one of my favorite hobbies/things doesn’t mean they don’t have hobbies or learn new things in their own way. We all have the capacity to learn!
During the first few months of lockdown, I realized how many board games I have that I haven’t played before because either I didn’t know how to play it, or it looked too complicated to learn for a quick board game date night.
The crux of the issue being learning how to play it. We put up so many obstacles that aren’t really there preventing us from learning things that are right in front of us. So the first step to going down the rabbit hole is to be open to the process, from there you can learn and do anything!
How many times have you wanted to try something, but convinced yourself it was too hard, you lacked the time to do it, or scared you? Like Jack Osborne said in his TV show ‘Portals To Hell’ (no relation to this blog 😆)
“Sometimes you gotta open yourself up to try something new”
When I was a kid, my uncle came over for Thanksgiving and was showing us his new hobby, bellydance! My uncle was always into the coolest things, I thought at least, and he always encouraged us to keep learning. That day, he showed me how to shimmy I was hooked! I took on bellydance years later, ended up having a troupe of women that danced together and to this day still consider myself a belly dancer in training.
You never know what is going to spark joy in your heart, or what passion you have that you might share with another person and now they have found a hobby. The other side to learning something new, is sharing it with others. Spread good vibes and joy and the universe will return the favor.
Being rigid is a challenging trait or mindset to deal with, and is a big hindrance when trying to learn something. Try to remember that everyone had to start somewhere, so just because it’s new to you or you don’t have the ‘tools of the trade’ (like if you want to take on photography, that can range from a small to a very large expense when investing in cameras, etc) you are starting somewhere and that’s huge. Give yourself credit, and use what you’ve got until you know this is something you want to invest more in.
Some of us love reading, some don’t, but both can enjoy life. Some people like to draw, some wish they did but don’t, yet neither is incapable of drawing. For every one side of something, there is an opposite. So if the idea of “learning” is throwing off your vibe, I challenge you to look at it a different way.
My 5 Quick Tips
Start With Joy: If something makes you smile, brings you joy and enriches your day, take a slightly deeper look into it.
You’re Not Learning, Your Expanding: In today’s modern world, you don’t have to read a novel or take a college course to learn something. You can watch a video, no matter how long or short it is, download an app like in the case of learning a language, or discover a new way to get into your hobby/passion on websites like Etsy, Pinterest or even Instagram. Expand your mind in your preferred way.
The 15 Minute Rule: I recently downloaded an app to relearn Spanish, and I was worried how much I would need to practice and use it. I also have an app that has a gratitude journal, again that time thing popped up. Did you know it takes less than 15 minutes to do both of these daily? What do you waste 15 minutes doing? Scrolling? Snacking? Binge watching TV, oh wait that’s like 3 hours….Point being, set a timer in your phone that at least 15 minutes every day you can do something productive.
Patience Young Jedi: There isn’t a rule or learning police telling you that you have to do it in a certain amount of time. As long as you are taking one step forward, spend at least 15 minutes every few days on this one thing, by the end of the year I promise you that you will know more or be further than you if you tried to learn it all in a weekend and become an expert.
Involve Others: If you are a social person, you can invite someone to join you on this learning journey. Can’t find a friend to get down on running a mile with you? Join a group! You can have a virtual community like I do on my BTES workout app, or a socially distance/safe in person meet up.
Feeding our brains is important, not just with the learning we are doing, but also with the food we eat.
When I was in school, I swore by my pre-test meals. The night before a test I would eat wild caught salmon, brown rice and lots of leafy greens. This feeds my brain and body all the nutrients I need to fit and recall information.
For breakfast, I would always start with an egg. I read somewhere that eggs are brain food and believed so strongly that it was a leading reason why I tested well.
Now I can’t say for certain that this is scientifically true, but regardless, my belief in these foods and commitment to my routine did serve me. I wasn’t hungry during a test (can cause the mind to wander), I was focused on my success in taking the test and studying the material, and I had a crazy belief that what I was doing was working. Belief in yourself and your process gives you the confidence you can need to get through things, like a midterm in college.
I hope this blog post inspired you in some small way to take a deeper dive into something new! I love learning and this past year I learned SO MUCH! I started a second business, this one solely online, which meant I had to learn new tech skills which all came to a culmination of a complete rebuild of the Spa’s website.
It brought me joy to take on these challenges and learn more everyday, and that during a very isolating pandemic is priceless. Even in adopting my cat to keep me company as I worked from home, I jumped into learning all about how to be the best cat mom. Remember my 5 tips, and come visit me on Instagram and tell me what you’re learning!
As always, be good to your skin and even better to your whole self,
xx eri