COVID Grief: Healthy Living
Healthy Living as a Protective Factor:
Grief can be physically and emotionally exhausting, often increasing inflammation, blood pressure, and lowering our immune systems. Moderate physical movement, time in nature, and nutritious eating can help to reduce this stress response and improve sleeping while grieving.
COVID’s Impact:
The COVID pandemic has significantly impacted many aspects of our health- eating habits, sleep routines, exercise regimens and stress levels. According to this study, average daily steps declined from 10,000 to 4,600, sleep increased by approximately 20 minutes, screentime more than doubled, and depression sharply increased during the first few months of the pandemic. Several individuals were required or opted to postpone routines health & wellness checks. Many children were also found to be at risk for nutritional deficiencies during the pandemic. The additional stressors associated with grief can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and overall aches and pains, all of which are exasperated by COVID.
What to Do – suggestions for the bereaved:
- Take it one step at a time. Start with very light exercise and expectations as grief can increase fatigue and risk for injury. It is important to go easy – this is time for deep healing and self-care. Some lighter forms of exercise may include yoga, tai chi, walking, hiking, dancing, or other gentle movements. Check out Dance Church: An Online Dance Party or Yoga: Grief Practice.
- Listen to your body. It’s important to be gentle and tune into what your body needs by looking for signs of overwhelm, exhaustion, or clumsiness. The Body Scan for teens and adults and the Body Treasure Map exercise for children can be a good place to start.
- Eat healthy. Many experts recommend healthy eating, especially by limiting caffeine and alcohol while increasing water, veggies, and protein. However, it is important to acknowledge that even having one healthy meal can take an extraordinary amount of effort while grieving. This will be a time to lean on your community to request a healthy meal or snack. Take a look at chapter one of this WE Well-being Playbook for several nutrition tips.
- Find opportunities to sleep. Sleeping is especially important as grief is exhausting. Grieving children may also have trouble sleeping due to possible nightmares or restlessness. For significant sleep disturbances, this article recommends therapeutic support along with a bedtime routine that is calm, cool, and technology free. Consider leaning on your support networks, if possible, to free up time for naps and sleep.
- Maintain routine visits to health care professionals. It is important to return to typically recommended visits to primary care physicians, dentist and other preventative care.
This is one protective factor of a series. For the comprehensive resource click here: COVID Grief: Protective Factors & the Impact of the Pandemic
This resource is made possible through a partnership with the Brave of Heart Fund, founded by the foundations of New York Life and Cigna, and administered by E4E Relief.
