We all have days when getting out of the house is a challenge. And for some, especially those who suffer from mental health issues like anxiety, agoraphobia, and PTSD, leaving home is always a struggle. Of course, while the long-term goal is to get out into the world more and challenge the thoughts and feelings that keep us feeling trapped, there are some actions we can take right now without leaving our homes to boost our well-being.
Ways to Boost Well-Being Without Leaving Home
1. Move Our Bodies
We often associate home with relaxing, so it can be a challenge to get motivated to exercise at home.
However, exercising for as little as 10 minutes a day can make a massive difference to our mood and our health.
There are all sorts of home-based exercise activities you can try.
These include everything from HIIT workouts on Youtube, Yoga, skipping, hula hoop and Peloton classes.
You may even wish to invest in some weights or resistance equipment to help you build muscle at home.
Increasing activity is not only a means to boost our well-being, but also great for our physical health, too.
2. Meditate to Improve Well-Being
Meditation is a practice that can be done anywhere.
It’s hugely beneficial to all humans, especially those struggling with conditions that limit their ability to leave home.
Meditation teaches us to watch what is happening in our bodies and minds without fusing (believing it to be the objective truth).
This can be particularly helpful in dealing with scary thoughts about what might happen if we leave our homes, as we can learn to acknowledge that the thoughts and feelings are there, but they may be giving us a distorted view of reality.
This can help us to get out of the home over the long term and calm ourselves in the short term, too.
3. Speak to Our Doctors
With the advent of telehealth, we no longer need to take precious time out of our days to get to and wait to be seen at the doctor’s office.
Instead, many doctors’ offices now get a virtual medical assistant to handle the telehealth side of things as well as coordinate customer care online.
These enhancements in technology mean better care for patients that need support but have trouble leaving the house.
4. Practice Self-Compassion to Improve Well-Being
One of the most important things we can do at home to boost our well-being is to practice self-compassion.
This means being kind to ourselves even if we are not where we would like to be in our lives or our recovery.
An effective way to practice compassion is to listen to the critical voices inside our heads, thank them for their input, and do our best not to believe or take what they are saying to heart.
5. Use Light Therapy
Last of all, conditions such as seasonal affective disorder (SAD) can exacerbate others including anxiety and agoraphobia.
To make matters worse, the prescribed treatment for SAD is often exposure to natural sunlight, which can be very tricky for those that find going outside of the home tricky, as well as those living in colder and darker climates.
Fortunately, there is a home-based option to consider and it’s using a light therapy lamp.
These lights are specially constructed to mimic natural light and can help relieve conditions like SAD.
All we need to do is sit in the light rays for a minimum of 20 mins a day.
For more ideas about how to improve well-being, check out:
Astonishingly Simple Ways to Improve Your Well-Being Today
Guilty Pleasures Should be Guilt-Free
Thank you as always for reading.
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Joan Senio is the founder of KindCompassCoach. Her career includes 20+ years as a health care executive and 15 years (and counting) as a consultant. The common thread through Joan’s professional life has been a commitment to lead, mentor and coach current and future leaders, and women from all walks of life. KindCompassCoach provides information and advice grounded in Joan’s personal experience; however, all articles are backed by research and provide facts and advice from a wide variety of experts. Joan also serves as a thought-leader for KuelLife.com and is a regular contributor to PsychReg and Sixty and Me.
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