Five ways to practice self-care in a pandemic

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What with religious strife, failing crops and constant civil war, it can be hard to find a moment to yourself even in regular seventeenth-century life. Throw in a plague outbreak and it becomes damn near impossible. 

But self-care is important, even in a pandemic. In fact, it’s especially important in a pandemic. How can you be expected to tend to anyone else’s festering plague sores if you can’t even tend to your own?

So here are five simple steps to help you get the most out of every moment in your nightmarish day.  

1. Make your life a little simpler

Sure, innovations like pencils, tomatoes and the emerging technology of steam locomotion are great. But even though it might make your life easier, technology can rob you of simple pleasures as well. To build more mindfulness into your daily life, why not try a digital detox?

2. Remember that comparison is the thief of joy

We all know that the Bills of Mortality aren’t always an accurate reflection of reality. But when you read that Goodwife Pegg only lost two sons to plague this week, while you’ve lost seven – and counting! – it’s easy to forget that weekly mortality statistics are just a tiny, curated sliver of what’s really going on in other people’s lives. 

When it comes to public proclamations of how many of their kin have perished, try to remember that everyone’s putting their best foot forward. You never know what’s going on behind the scenes, or what sorts of other communicable diseases people in neighbouring farmsteads might be dying of. So why bother comparing yourself?

3. Throw your children out

Your kids are your world. They carry your bloodline, help around the hovel and bring in extra income. But during a pandemic, when rations are limited and you have your own decomposing body to attend to? Then things start getting a little hazier.  

Some days, it all feels like too much – and that’s because it is. Maybe you’ve tutted at neighbours who’ve thrown their plague-infected children out of high windows – and maybe your neighbours will tut at you. But why get hung up on what others think? Stop worrying, and start throwing!

4. Give yourself a break

Most days, the only way to get a moment to yourself is by going to the privy chamber. So why not make the most of your time there with one of Dr. Dankworth’s DIY mercury enemas?*

With a simple home brew of water and mercury, administered anally, you can cure plague and enjoy a little me time.

5. Practice mindfulness

Between the constant demands of family burial and the seemingly never-ending task of massacring all the ethnic and religious minorities in our neighbourhoods, sometimes we forget to appreciate the small stuff.

So, take a few minutes to check in with the here and now. Engage your senses. What’s that rotting smell coming from your husband’s body? Where are those moans coming from – is it the wooden dresser creaking, or is it your youngest child, slowly dying?

It sounds simple, but a few minutes of mindfulness every day will make a big difference in the long run. Remember, it’s all the little moments that make life so unbearable.

* This post is sponsored by Dr. Dankworth’s mercury enemas – the feel-good approach to plague healing.

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