Making Memories: Wonderful Activities During Covid-19

Although thinking about and reviewing our lives can be difficult, taking time to process whatever had been special to us over the years, may provide some solace to ourselves, our family and our friends. It is also a great way to utilize the extra time some of you may have as we are practicing self isolation.

I am suggesting some possible projects to accomplish this task. The first idea is preparing and recording a DVD or video. Having a friend, hiring someone or doing a self made video discussing or recalling the special moments of your life is one approach. This idea can also be applied to having you ask a family member or anyone meaningful in your life if they would like a video of their life done that you could help them with.

"Important life lessons can be shared in this manner. It can be shown to children as they get older so they can understand the meaning of what is shared."

This is a great project, since most of the work for making a video, requires information gathering, organizing and focusing on the aspects of a person’s life that they want to highlight.It is extremely helpful to have an outline or timeline of the specific areas you would like to include. When doing a video of yourself or someone else, it is helpful to write some questions and responses to review ahead of time.

This is a wonderful way to let the special people in your lives know how you feel about them.

Important life lessons can be shared in this manner. It can be shown to children as they get older so they can understand the meaning of what is shared. It is important to have the individuals who will be speaking in the video, practice their responses out loud, since this will add to their confidence by helping them to be prepared and comfortable with the content.

For example, I hired a videographer to make a video of my parents’ life. My preparation included giving each of my parents a few questions to review and answer ahead of time. I provided the questions a week before the video session. The video was completed a few years before they passed and is a very special reminder of their unique personalities and relationship together.

Videos can include important transformations about one’s life from childhood to adolescence and into adulthood. They can serve as a wonderful support for individuals who will be viewing the video.You can choose anytime in your life to begin your video. It is only limited to the amount of time you would like the video to be, which can be pricy if it is too long and you have hired someone for this task.

If the idea of a video poses too many challenges, a second idea is creating a memory book. One can put important and interesting information about their life into a memory book to use as a keepsake. You can do this for yourself or help another person or family member with this interesting project. Making a memory book is another wonderful and beautiful way to document special times in your life. You can use photographs to illustrate significant memories throughout your life.

Many individuals have been doing scrapbooking as a way of remembrance for several years. You could purchase an album for this use and divide it into different categories, in a similar fashion to the way it was explained earlier for the video. Since you are in charge of what goes into the memory book, you can chose from an assortment of subjects. Birthday cards, celebrations, athletic events, recipes, photographs of friends, graduations, illustrations, poems, vacations or anything you would like to add. Similar to the outline for the video, you need to choose the content for your memory book. By choosing your content, you can have themes that are divided into various sections.

There are two hints on making a memory album. One is to use only acid free paper and the other is to choose a type of notebook/scrapbook that can have pages added. Some individuals may find it easier to write letters to special members of their family. Make sure you leave instructions on where to find the letters and address them on the envelope so the correct person is opening the letter/s. Writers can also utilize a diary or blog to leave a history of significant events in your life.

Another idea is a memory box. A memory box is open to anything you want to include. Souvenirs, photographs, tickets to an event, a family tree you have put together, achievement metals and pieces of jewelry that you may want to pass on.

Any of these ways to leave memories behind can serve as a lasting treasure. It is a wonderful way to have your life stories live on in a meaningful way.

There is an abundance of help online for creating all of these ideas and leaving the best memories of yourself and your loved ones.

Featured on the Greater National Advocates website: GNANOW.org

Healthy Sleep Tips During The Covid-19 Pandemic

A good night’s sleep is a very important component in maintaining health. Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, causing you to wake up throughout the night and not be able to get back to sleep. With our current self-isolation policies, many are more prone to anxiety and stress, which affects their ability to sleep throughout the night.

According to the CDC, adults need approximately seven hours of sleep a night and many people aren't getting it. Not getting enough sleep can have a negative impact on your ability to focus on the important tasks you need to perform throughout the day, your energy level and your quality of life. Lack of sleep can also worsen health conditions. Individuals who are sleep deprived may experience drowsiness, difficulty concentrating, remembering details and irritability.

In order to be able to avoid the adverse effects of insomnia, it is a good idea to be able to identify the types of activities, medications taken and beverages and foods ingested that can interfere with sleep, so you can have an opportunity to modify your behavior and perhaps reduce your chances of experiencing insomnia.

Here are some tips which may help improve the quality of our sleep:

1. Establish a Regular Bedtime Routine and Adjust Bedroom Temperature

It is also a good idea to establish a regular time to go to bed, as well as getting up in the morning. In addition, if a bedroom is too hot or too cold, this may affect one’s ability to get to sleep. It is important to take into consideration that for some peri-menopausal and menopausal woman, a good night’s sleep is dependent on different temperatures throughout the night.

2. Reduce the Level of Stimulation before Bedtime

To improve the quality of your sleep, first start by decreasing the noise level in your bedroom or room you are spending the last one to two hours in prior to bedtime. Whether you are watching television or listening to music, start to lower the volume slightly at least one hour before bedtime. Also, begin to dim the lights around an hour before retiring. Trying both of these suggestions each will decrease the amount of stimulation your senses and body are exposed to. It is also a good idea to avoid keeping or using a computer in your bedroom.

3. Avoid Foods and Beverages That Negatively Effect Sleep

The type of foods and beverages you consume both have an enormous impact on your ability to get to sleep. In order to minimize negative impacts on sleep try the following food and beverage suggestions:

• Any food that is spicy, hot or has the potential to cause gastrointestinal upset should be avoided at dinner time.
• Avoid caffeine containing beverages [tea, coffee, diet pepsi, mountain dew or chocolate] at least eight hours prior to bedtime.
• Contrary to what you might think, alcohol can interfere with sleep. If you want an alcoholic drink, you may want try abstaining from alcohol two hours prior to bedtime.
• Ingesting protein prior to going to bed requires the body to work hard to metabolize this type of food interfering with the body’s ability to relax and induce sleep.
• Limit the amount of fluids you drink before retiring. If you have an overactive bladder, you may want to limit fluids 2-3 hours prior to bedtime.
• A light evening snack that contains Tryptophan may assist in relaxation and aid in falling asleep. Some examples of foods that contain Tryptophan are cheese, eggs, cottage cheese, milk, nuts, brown rice, bananas and turkey.

4. Avoid Medications That Interfere With Sleep

It is a wise idea to check the medications you are taking with your pharmacist to see if any of these prescription or non-prescription medications could be affecting your sleep. In addition, if you suffer from chronic pain, check with your physician to make sure that your pain medication is adequate throughout the night so bodily discomfort and pain is not contributing to your insomnia.

Some non-prescription medications that contain caffeine, which can interfere with sleep, include Darvon Compound, Fiorinal, Excedrin, and Midol. Some drug categories that negatively affect sleep quality are Corticosteroids, Diuretics, Antidepressants, Beta blockers, Nicotine and Alcohol.

5. Develop an Effective Exercise Program

Although a routine exercise program may reduce or help prevent insomnia, one should not engage in aerobic activity at least three hours before bedtime. Some individuals feel that gentle stretching exercises assist their body to relax if done 1-2 hours prior to bedtime. Progressive relaxation, imagery, meditation and certain relaxing breathing techniques have been reported as helpful for some people if practiced before bedtime.

6. Take a Bath to Relax a few Hours prior to Bedtime

Many people find a bath relaxing prior to bedtime. However, with some women, if the bath is within an hour of bedtime the warm bath water can trigger hot flashes, which can interfere with sleep. So plan your bath time accordingly.

7. Practice Relaxation Techniques
Educate yourself about various relaxation techniques, including, but not limited to progressive relaxation, meditation or imagery 1-2 hours prior to bedtime. Remember to use your bedroom for sleep, relaxation and sex. There are numerous web sites and u-tube videos with instructions on practicing mind- body techniques for relaxation.

8. Do Not Concentrate on Mental or Emotional Problems

Along with relaxation techniques, remember that your thoughts and images prior to bedtime will also affect your sleep. If possible, try to establish a habit of not focusing or ruminating about problematic or painful emotional issues at least one hour prior to bed time.

9. Bed and Pillow Comfort

Check your mattress, box spring and pillows to make sure they are not worn out or have “lost their support”. Ask yourself if you have developed any neck, back, or hip pain over the past few months. If so, you may need to purchase a new mattress, box spring and pillows.

10. Keep a Sleep Diary

A sleep diary can be very helpful, revealing valuable cues as to some possible causes of your insomnia. A helpful recommendation would be to bring your sleep diary when meeting with your physician or nurse consultant. After reviewing the specific details from this diary, you could receive valuable advice on improving your sleep. With a sleep diary, you would document a record of some of your day time and evening habits that might reveal some habits that are thwarting your ability to fall asleep or stay asleep throughout the night. You can check with your health professional to see if they would prefer one week or one month of documentation.

This is a list of some helpful information to include in your sleep diary:

• Include the time of the day for each piece of information documented.
• A complete list of all the medications including vitamins, non-prescription and prescription medications you are currently taking each day.
• List all the foods [including snacks] and beverages [including alcohol] you consume in a 24 hour period.
• List any caffeine or nicotine ingestion.
• Include your bedtime regime [time you went to bed, how long it took to fall asleep, how many times you woke up during the night and behavior that occurred as a result of waking up, total hours of sleep, quality of sleep and any other pertinent data.
• Include your general mood and stress levels, including day and night time hours, as well as when you awaken in the middle of the night.

If you have not had improved sleep after trying these suggestions, you may want to request a referral to a Sleep Clinic or Sleep Specialist.

Featured on the Greater National Advocates website: GNANOW.org