Boost your lockdown part II

On Wednesday we already discussed five ways to provide the lockdown - read: sitting inside - with a boost. Today you will read five new and latest ways to face this stay-at-home round fresh.

1. Find a group of smart guys

The internet is bursting with forums. Make up a question and there is an online hotspot where this topic is discussed. Visit a forum with a topic you know nothing about. For example: plastering, astronomy, making bird houses, realizing a green roof, Greek mythology or atoms. And above all, ask a lot of questions. You will certainly learn something from that!

2. Read sad poems

The reason for drinking alcohol can be: sedation. A quick fix for suppressing feelings such as loneliness, sadness, pain, fear or sadness. But - this is nothing new - alcohol is not the solution. It is better to live your feelings. Think about your feeling, name it and go through it. Reading sad poems or song lyrics can help you live through those feelings. There is also good news: feelings come and go. Sooner or later you'll feel a little better.

3. Take a sound bath

A warm bath can be very relaxing. But we're going next level and take a sound bath. Let yourself be 'washed' by harps, pianos, banjos and other atmosphere makers. Take a dip in this bath for instance.

4. Write a 'sensory page'

This is a variation on the 'blessing list' that many people like to write down. Make a list of things you've seen, heard, felt, smelled, or tasted — good or bad — in the past 24 hours. Your language doesn't have to be lyrical, your handwriting illegible. It is simply the act of remembering and focusing on the sensory plane of life. The latter in particular has a major influence on our moods.

5. Take a polar bear dive

Are you looking for a rush† Put on a bikini or swimming trunks under your (winter) coat and visit that lake nearby, that canal around the corner or that pond in the garden. Look at the cold water, doubt and jump – breathless – electrocuted by the cold – laughing – get up, shivering, screaming and wrapping yourself in a blanket and race home. Your feeling peaks, but instead of having a hangover afterwards, you're not broken at all. You are stronger than ever and above all feel very much alive.