This is for anyone recovering from COVID-19 and experiencing a bit of anxiety and trouble breathing, breathwork is something that can help as an additional tool to support your healing. Of course, if symptoms persist and you have COVID-19, please seek help from your local health practitioner! There is brain fog and also anxiety/depression that can hit. I’ve felt foggy for some weeks with COVID-19 and then with a cold. For some people, they seem to sail through illness and winter and COVID-19 no worries. For others, not as much.
COVID-19 is a unique illness in that the symptoms and impact of the illness is different for each person. Personally, I felt unusually fatigued on the day I tested positive in March. As in, I wanted to have 2 naps in the day. Usually on weekends, I have 1 nap per day! So, it was odd my body was asking for another nap. That night and over the following days, I experienced a high fever, felt cold, exhausted, horrid headaches and there was one day when I had trouble breathing. Post COVID-19, I have felt tired. Early in my recovery I went surfing and to the gym and felt I ran a marathon and then was hit by a bus. My breathing was laboured and I was exhausted. Then realised I really need to hit the brakes so started to take better care of myself and want to share this with you too! 🙂
Ideas to help COVID-19 recovery
- You might complete one of these activities on this list, or you may not do anything, or perhaps you do everything on this list! It’s your call.
- Rest up!
- Stay hydrated (go for 1.5L) and electrolytes
- Choose nutritious options, rather than fast food and processed meal options (I know that’s tricky when you feel tired and it’s convenient to get something quickly)
- Pause, practice patience and rest
- Back off the intensity and frequency of gym, yoga and running
- Sleep early
- Breathwork:
- Place your palms on your rib cage and notice your rib cage expand as you breathe in, notice your rib cage lower as you exhale
- See if you can soften your muscles around your belly as you breathe in
- Follow your inhale and notice the air touch your nose, follow your breath through your nasal cavity, through your throat, into your belly
- Follow your exhale and visualise yourself sending your exhale to the rest of your body, nourishing and resetting your nervous system
- Repeat 10 x
- Awareness exercise:
- Notice the muscles through your face and if you are holding the space between your eyebrows, through your mouth and around your temples
- Consciously invite softness into your face, allowing your muscles to release, open and close your mouth a few times
- Where does your mind go during the breathing exercise?
- If you notice your mind leaving the breathwork exercise, guide yourself back to following your inhale and your exhale
- Bring awareness to your ability to receive the breath, or is there some resistance?
- If the breath is laboured, pause and reset, guiding your breath into your belly
- Yoga asana / physical practice:
- Opt for gentle stretching like child’s pose, seated meditation pose, cat and cow stretch, supported fish pose and savasana
- Yin yoga and restorative yoga offers deep rest rather than an intensive or strong yoga practice/hot yoga
- Gratitude
- Count 10 things you are grateful for each morning when you wake up and evening when you sleep
Wishing you deep rest and healing! Nourish yourself and take care always.
Roxy xo