CORONAVIRUS – HOW TO COPE WITH BEING ALONE.

Last week we discussed date night ideas for couples self isolating together, but this got us thinking about those that are self isolating alone. This is the case for many of us right now. Self isolating alone isn’t easy so we wanted to write a blog for those that are alone to suggest ways that they can cope with it. As we aren’t experts we needed to reach out to someone that could officially advise so we got in touch with Jacqueline Hurst.

Jacqueline is a trailblazing ‘mind’ expert, knowledgeable public speaker and ground breaking life coach. Her worldwide success is based in her unique approach and coaching methods.  Jacqueline works in her private practice helping clients with a wide variety of issues and specialises in emotional eating and body image. She has been featured in leading media titles including The Sunday Times, The Huffington Post, The Telegraph, Harpers Bazaar, The Oprah Winfrey Network and she regularly talks internationally, for leading brands including Clinique, Eve Lom, Lulu Lemon, Sweaty Betty, Matches Fashion, Space NK and Liberty on issues of the mind.  Her online school, ‘The Life Class’ is also paving the way for a new generation of self-development for both people who wish to become life coaches themselves or, for those of us who want to simply learn how to live more optimally for ourselves, by thinking, behaving and acting with a higher degree of emotional intelligence.  Jacqueline’s private practice can be found at  www.jacquelinehurst.com and her school is www.thelifeclass.com

Here’s what she had to say…

CORONAVIRUS – how to cope with being alone.

Most of us are used to getting out daily to go to work, chat with our colleagues, meet our friends and family at the pub or our local restaurant, even those who don’t work or are retired leave the house to visit a social club, their friends or simply to just run errands each day. Everywhere we went we would see people, hear people and simply be connected as part as our London life.

To have all of that stop, really suddenly is confusing and hard to understand, to say the least.

Never in the history of our lives have we been banned from simply going about our daily life. Never before have we been told to stay home and isolate. It is a very strange, uncertain and anxiety producing time and it is especially so, for those who are single and live alone.

As a Life Coach I wanted to connect with all you single people living alone and reading this, (of which I am too) so I can help you soothe your mind and feel a lot better.

Did you know that even though people sometimes fear seclusion, research has shown us solitude can also be really good for our health. It gives us the time to take a long hard look at ourselves, as well as our lifestyle and it gives us a really interesting opportunity to grow as people.

I want you to know there is a big difference between being alone and feeling lonely. You can be alone and feel happy. You can be lonely and only feel sad. So make sure to know there is a difference and ask yourself which one you are.  Alone, or lonely?

Now if you are lonely, I am going to get tough…you need to start thinking about what you are thinking about. Are you sitting on the negative step of miserable depressing thoughts, are you having a self-pity party? The thing is, that isn’t ok because actually you are really lucky right now because your forefathers could leave the house yes, but they had to go to war, and we simply just have to sit at home for a while amusing ourselves. So it is important if you are sitting in a self-pity party you bring yourself out of it asap and start looking for the things you can be so very, very grateful for, like you are not about to be bombed in a war or just as importantly, you have good health.

Also, if you are feeling lonely, there is an increasing amount of evidence suggesting that a certain amount of quality time alone is actually critical to your well-being. Some things, are just better off being done by yourself without the distractions, opinions, or influences of other people. So in this instance, you might want to think twice about being unhappy that you are currently alone.

I also say to my clients who are single and live alone, that there is an alternative. It is the other world of kids running around desperate to be kept occupied by you and looking to you to relieve their boredom and help them with their home schooling, for like the whole day. Lots of meals to make, which creates a lot of washing up, oh and the piles of laundry and then of course possible rows with the wife/girlfriend who also has cabin fever and does not agree with everything you think so friction can occur. Exhausting – most of my clients then cannot wait to be alone!! You see the grass is always greener.

Next I suggest to schedule your day to alleviate the loneliness, keeping distracted but in a balanced way. For example, get your morning home work out in – you can even do this online with others or take a lovely walk around you area (keeping the right social distancing guidelines of course), followed by some work when you are back, you can then take your lunch on Facetime with a colleague or friend of family member every day. You can do more work in the afternoon, then do a Netflix party with your friends at night, or go to the House Party app and have a virtual house party.  Tech is really great to keep you feeling connected with FaceTime, Skype, Zoom, Google Hangout etc. You can even set up a way to play monopoly virtually. Remember too I am here for you and if you want to have a session to talk this out further you know where to find me. I promise you, there is really no reason to feel alone. Pick up the phone, pick up the Facetime and connect at least once or twice a day. You’ve got this…