Health: How To Appreciate It During Lockdown
A conversation on how to stay healthy within the confinements of your home.
Introduction:
Continuing the Open Dialogue Series with Storyville Records, I spoke with Web developer and business coach at ADD+ (Add Purpose), Mikey Singh about his approach to appreciating physical health.
After unexpectedly falling ill, he shares his thinking behind nutrition and keeping a mindful home.
On Appreciating Health
Simi:
I’ve spoken with you before this call, and we touched on it briefly — Everyone’s experiences this year have been so varying.
What was your first interaction with COVID-19 like?
Mikey:
Initially, I was still heading to my office in Brixton. My office family and I (Kelly & Andrew) were cooped away mostly, so I guess we hadn’t fully grasped the gravity of the situation.
I remember, news surfaced from the other side of the world, which gave us the impression that we could observe from a comfortable distance.
Simi:
This might not be the best approach, but I often take time to switch off when things like this happen — Maybe I fear being roped in by the media and feel safer not digesting anything that I don’t pick myself.
I vaguely remember watching a few headlines roll in — Did you watch the news much and what were your first thoughts?
Mikey:
Yeah sure — I think there was some misinformation being spread, but I got the sense that there were so many unknowns. Officials didn’t present confidence, and how can you when you don’t know what you’re dealing with?
How could they grasp the knock-on effects?
I remember reading the emotions of the ministers, and I felt just as confused as they did.
Most of that changed when I fell ill.
I had a fair number of flu-like symptoms, and luckily for me, it wasn’t fatal, nor confirmed as COVID. Even still — I wasn’t in the best place.
On a good day, I’ll catch something and have a strange night of sweating it all out and waking up dehydrated — which is easily fixed with some herbal tea or water.
Again I was surprised — just that week — or maybe the week before — I signed up for a subscription tea service called Herby Box. Every month they send you a selection of teas that help you achieve optimal mental performance to push you towards your goals. They even include a powder you can have in your smoothies!
So I was going hard on the tea and smoothie game bro — I was blending fresh limes and oranges for a much-needed vitamin boost, or dates, fruits, nuts and Irish Seamoss to secure my nutrients.
The key idea was having an ecosystem around me that could help me when I needed it.
Simi:
Put me on to this ecosystem?
Mikey:
You know the phrase “You are the company you keep”?
Simi:
Yes.
Mikey:
Once we were allowed to exercise outdoors — I training in the park with my girlfriend and cousin. We’d work out together enhancing our breathing, muscular strength/endurance and minds.
Simi:
Sure!
Mikey:
That also applies to the house — so I made sure my environment reflects positivity through health and cleanliness — I’m huge on plants! They breathe life into my house like your lungs bring you energy and oxygen. Your home needs a similar system.
After a little research, I was mixing my own soils using worm castings, coco coir and perlite — I even started germinating avocado seeds man!
A close friend of mine made a Youtube video about planting avocado seeds, and I figured “why not try my hand at this?”.
House plants improve productivity and creativity and reduce stress and fatigue. I can’t think of a better way to lift my mood and create a beautiful space for long stints working at home.
Nature’s company is the wave — I’m telling you…
More Stories:
Read the other Dialogues here!
