We are living in a turmoil of emotions around the ever-progressing COVID-19 pandemic around the world. This is truly new territory for many of us to navigate and we’re doing the best that we can with the knowledge that we have. At the end of the day we share and spread quality information but it’s up to each and every one of us to do our part to flatten the curve. Flattening the curve means reducing the number of overall cases. And by taking steps to take care of ourselves we can hopefully halt or slow the spread of this virus in our communities.
As of Wednesday, March 18th, Canada has closed its borders to non-essential travel and the province we reside in (British Columbia) has declared a state of emergency to combat the rise of COVID-19 cases.
I’m trying to limit my official news reading to sites like the Government of Canada and the World Health Organization. However, I also scan Facebook and IG Stories and sometimes getting lost in that web of information.
With all that in mind, the research that is being presented around flattening the curve is immensely important. So here are the steps my family and I are taking to play an important role in reducing the number of cases in our part of the world.
Top 10 Ways We’re Flattening the COVID-19 Outbreak Curve
- Washing Our Hands
I actually stocked up on OnGuard Foaming Hand Wash earlier this month when I moved to Port Alberni as my supplies in Ottawa weren’t going to arrive until later in March in the moving truck. We have a container in our bathroom and in our kitchen for all the 40 – 60-second handwashing techniques that the WHO asks of us.
2. Maintain Social Distancing & Isolation (Including Working From Home)
Because of how quickly the virus has spread in many countries and around the world, we’ve seen amazing results for social distancing, isolation and even quarantine measures in many countries. We stand to learn a thing or to from countries that have endured higher cases before us. So we’re doing our part, I’m working from home and we’re limiting going out to just walks with the pups and for grocery shopping only. We sanitizing our hands before and after going in and out of grocery stores.
3. Diffusing Essential Oils for Immune Support & Stress Management
I’ve put this third because I truly love that I can easily grab for a bottle of dōTERRA essential oil, pop it in the diffuser, apply it topically or take internally to support my immune system to have a proper response. I also know my personality is one that can spend time worrying so I have my go-to oils that I know help to reduce my stress and keep me calm.
We’ve been diffusing OnGuard and Easy Air (named Breathe in the US) at night (this helps a lot because I’ve also been dealing with pregnancy sinus symptoms). To combat worry, I’ve been diffusing blends like Siberian Fir & Bergamot, Black Spruce & White Grapefruit (you could substitute grapefruit instead – white grapefruit was a promotion we got as a FREE Product of The Month a few months past) or Adaptiv & Wild Orange during the day.
4. Only Stocking Up On Necessary Items
Last weekend, we went shopping in Nanaimo to grab pantry items from Costco. We tried not to go overboard as the hoarding of groceries is something else that the majority of Canada is seeing. Since we just moved into a new house, we did need to restock our entire pantry. Here’s some of the things that we grabbed:
- Almonds
- Rice
- Brown Rice Pasta
- Cauliflower Crackers
- Gluten-Free Crackers
- Beet Chips
- Granola & Granola Bars
- Coconut & Almond Milk
- Bone Broth
- Kombucha
- Chia Seeds
- Hemp Hearts
- Paleo Bites
- Tortilla Chips
- Pickles
We also went to a local health food store and grabbed some organic produce items for the week (green vegetables, root vegetables, sprouts, fruit, hummus, non-dairy cheese, coconut yogurt, nut butter, and avocados).
We have our monthly meat box order from truLOCAL in our freezer, we’ll get our next one at the end of the month and we have a few bags of frozen vegetables in the freezer just in case we aren’t able to pick up fresh produce on our next grocery shop.
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5. Getting Quality & Quantity of Sleep
We’re attempting to go to bed between 9 – 10 pm and then waking up around 6 – 7 am in the morning. I start work at 8 am and finish around 4 pm so that’s been working really well. I’m only waking up once during the middle of the night to pee and now that Mike’s here I’m able to easily fall back asleep. My pregnancy insomnia may have been a mix of the symptom many pregnant mamas experience and/or just missing having Mike and the pups here.
6. Maintaining Supplement Routine
I have a pretty good breadth of supplements I’m currently taking to live well with MS & to support a healthy pregnancy. At the start of the week, I’m filling my senior citizen pill container and taking my morning supplements with breakfast and my PM supplements with dinner. I haven’t added anything new into the list, just ensuring that I don’t skip a day or dosage.
7. Eating All The Nutrients
In February I struggled with wanting to eat a rounded diet. I won’t lie, I was whipping up brown rice pasta meals pretty much every day so I’m grateful I’ve been craving salads, more green vegetables and a mix of lean protein again.
8. Going For Daily Walks In Nature
Since Mike arrived in Port Alberni, we’ve been prioritizing going for a family walk with the pups every day. This allows us to get a daily dose of Vitamin D naturally (as well as supplementing) and fresh air.
9. Trying To Limit Social Media
Working from home has allowed me to slow down a little bit. I do find myself scrolling through Instagram way more than I usually do. And while I’m loving feeling connected to my family and friends around the world, I’m finding myself getting lost in IG stories. So I’m trying to limit my scrolling to first thing in the morning and then in the evening while sliding into an Epsom salt bath.
10. Lots of Puppy Snuggles
After not seeing Havoc and Rogue since December, I’ve been trying to get as many cuddles as possible. We debated training Rogue to sleep on a dog bed when arriving in Port Alberni but I missed her snuggles too much and so she’s either pressed up against my legs, in the middle of us at the bottom of the bed or choosing to sleep on the dog bed that we’ve placed in the bedroom with us.
If you’re working hard to flatten the curve as well what other healthy habits are you keeping up with or taking of for the first time!?