Česky
There is a lot of advice on how to eat right, drink right and take care of our physical condition. Good physical fitness has been shown to reduce the risk of any disease and often helps to ease the course of any illness. Although we should spend most of our time at home given the current situation, it is important to take a moment for a short exercise. If the situation doesn't allow you to go out (to places with a minimum number of people), you can stretch your body at home. We asked physiotherapist Veronika Fojtová to recommend a simple exercise that everyone can do at home.
"Lie on your back. Bend your lower limbs at the knees. The soles of your feet are on the mat. Try to keep the same distance between the hips, knees, ankles. The lower limbs are parallel. Focus on your back and try to be in contact with the mat as much as possible. Be aware of the spine and the individual vertebrae, which you are trying to create as much space as possible by stretching (straightening). The head is on axis and the chin tucked slightly towards the chest.
Now, with a breath, lift your pelvis off the mat as far as you can, but no higher than so that your torso and knees are level. With an exhalation, gradually roll the vertebrae from the chest towards the tailbone, placing one vertebra at a time on the mat. Repeat 3 times. Now try to notice if and what changes have occurred in the contact of your body with the mat. The exercise strengthens the buttocks, the back of the thighs, and relaxes the hips," advises our physiotherapist.
The hospital psychologist Marek Jančok, PhD, has prepared a few procedures for our employees, which can certainly be very well applied to a situation in another line of work or to a crisis in home isolation.
ANTI-STRESS PROCEDURES FOR WORKING IN CRISIS MODE
1. More than ever, think about your boundaries. Aim to help, not to self-sacrifice. If you can take care of yourself, you will be all the more valid to those who need you.
2. Allow yourself to go to the toilet, eat, drink, isolate yourself from everyone for a few minutes during the day, wherever possible.
3. Stop occasionally during the day, take three slow breaths in and out (parasympathetic tone will increase). Become aware of what you are experiencing at that moment and where you are. Mentally name three things you see around you (this practice is part of Army unit training). This practice will anchor you in the present, your objective skills, and prevent unconscious stress.
4. Shake yourself, try to shake your whole body in an uncoordinated manner while you are comfortable. The body in crisis states may be in tension and tiny muscle bundles tense without you noticing it. It has been found that this practice can help reduce the risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (the shaking method is used in war zones).
5. If possible, try to work with at least one colleague who sits with you, with whom you can exchange jokes and keep each other in a good mood.
6. Allow yourself to vent your feelings of tiredness, fear, frustration, injustice, anger in front of others. In your interactions with others, you will realize that others may feel similarly and that you are not alone in this.
7. Consciously remind yourself at least once a day that you are helping others. If you start doing everything automatically as a duty, feelings of helplessness and overload will appear and the endocrine response will change (victim = adrenaline, cortisol), in the position of helping others (serotonin, oxytocin, endogenous opiates).
8. Powers last longer when you replenish them. Think of regular fluid intake, food. If you can, treat yourself to sleep (an important protective factor for mental health). If you have at least some free time, play sports, exercise, relax, take up hobbies).
9. If you can, try to take the speeches of patients/colleagues/partners with a grain of salt. They are also under stress and may react more emotionally. Express understanding, but at the same time guard against possible verbal aggression.
10. Provide reassurance/empowerment to yourself and others - every crisis will end, every epidemic will pass. Coronavirus is not a plague, it will not kill all living things. It does not pose a direct threat to life for the majority of the population.
11. If your colleague/partner is worried or has psychological problems, recommend that he/she seeks counselling with a psychologist in the workplace. If you feel your worries and stress are getting the better of you, take advantage of a consultation with psychologists in the workplace.
