An Anxious Girl's Guide to Staying Active at Home

It's no secret to anyone who knows me: I have anxiety. I'm fidgety, I get nervous easily, and it usually ends up with me having a bag case of jittery legs and way too tense shoulders. I tend to release energy with going to the gym, heading to a store, or walking dogs. With COVID, I haven't had that opportunity for outdoor activities. I've also been working my 9 to 5 job every day, keeping me inside without having to commute in and out of the city. To recap, I've been anxious about the virus, anxious about not being as active as usual, and anxious because the name of my mental illness is "General Anxiety Disorder" (Let's not mention the Depression, OCD, etc.). I have a lot of nerves with few outlets. Luckily, I've always been a creative lady, so I've found a few different ways to keep myself going in these trying times. It's the little things that matter to me, and by doing these small activities, I've stayed active and kept my mental health in a good place.

1. Everyone's favorite: Yoga

I. Love. Yoga. It's the best of both worlds. I can focus on my breathing to keep the anxiety at bay, as well as stretch and work my muscles to stay fit. Yoga is easy because it's something you can easily do for free at home. It's also not as sweat inducing as a traditional workout video. I get stressed about jumping around and making noise since I live in an apartment building. I get paranoid about disturbing my neighbors.

For yoga, I recommend Yoga with Adrienne. Adrienne is an amazing instructor. She's all about doing things at your own pace, and not pushing yourself too hard. Thanks to her I can touch my toes easily, I can balance on one leg like a champ, and most importantly, my mind is at peace.

2. Rearranging my room

I'm getting ready to move in about a month, so I've been trying to consolidate items in my room. As a reader and writer, I have a lot of books. Some I'm donating, some I'm sending home, etc. What I've decided to do is lift my books from my bookcase, move them to my desk, sort them, and move them back. It's not too heavy, but when you're repeatedly lifting hardcover books and Haruki Murakami's mammoth of a book 1Q84, it at least gets you lifting some sort of weight. It's the perfect kind of repetitive, mindless activity that keeps me busy for a little bit while also keeping me constantly moving.

3. Some kind of silly dance

You can do it when you're cooking, brushing your teeth, or filling up your Brita water pitcher. I like to do little shimmies from side to side, usually while terribly singing a song, whenever I can. I like to think of myself as a fun person, so I like to let a little energy out in a fun silly way. Can I dance well? Absolutely not. However, if I'm singing a catchy, energetic song, I can actually find myself winded by the time the next song starts. So keep it silly. I dance so much that if I try to make an omelette without dancing and swinging my silicone spatula around, I feel like I'm missing a step of the recipe.

4. Pacing

Pacing sounds pretty negative, doesn't it? Don't worry, it's perfectly fine when you're confined in a small space. When work gets slow or my legs get incredibly restless, I have to get up, walk to my room, walk back to the living room and just go in circles. Sometimes I get a questioning look from my roommates, especially when I'm throwing my arms in the air or doing some type of Joker-Style-Bathroom-Dance in the middle of our apartment, but hey. My legs appreciate it. For a fun twist, lift your knees up really high when you walk. That's an old soccer drill I used to do in middle school, and to this day I'll do it every so often.

5. Wild Arm Movements

This one sounds totally bizarre, and I'm not going to deny it. I'll embrace it. Yes. This is totally bizarre. I can't really describe wild arm movements, because it's obvious what they are, but it's also going to be something unique to you. Mine comes from a place of nostalgia. We all know those Just Dance games, right? Perhaps I have to whole Rasputin dance from the game memorized, and perhaps there are days you can find me seated at my table doing the arm movements to the dance. That's right. I've got Rasputin queued up on Spotify and I just go to town. It's a surprisingly intense little workout if you go all in, which of course I do. The absurdity of it also makes me crack up while doing it. So it's another activity that's good for my sense of fun and my arms, even if they're pretty sore afterwards.

Everything I've listed is totally commonplace, but that's really the best part. I can do a lot of little things to get out sudden bursts of energy and anxiety, all without leaving my house for the time being. I'm sure many people have experimented with some of what I've listed above, but just in case...there's always the Rasputin dance below...