It’s Sunday, and it’s a beautiful day in Toronto. Although I can only watch the dynamics of the city from my window on the 21st floor of the Parkside Residence, I am doing well, keeping my mind on happy and healthy thoughts.
Self-care should be the number one priority on everyone’s list, but especially during a pandemic and isolation period. I decided that I will use the day productively and enhance my positive mind with some extra activities which will boost my mood and overall health.
I started my day with an intensive online workout. I use an online personal trainer as well as free workouts online. You can find thousands of free classes on YouTube with different styles that require no equipment for home workouts.
It has been proven that an active lifestyle can enhance your brain activity, growth of new neuronal connections and is an effective antidepressant. These are just a few examples of the positive effects of maintaining an active lifestyle, so I make sure to make it part of my everyday schedule.
After a solid hour of working out, I was ready to map out the rest of my day. I felt like I wanted to focus on an activity that would stretch my mind but would also be physically relaxing. “Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.”, said Mary Schmich, the American journalist and Pulitzer prize winner. I cannot agree more, so I started on one of the books I brought with me from home.
For students that didn’t bring any books, there is always BookBub which offers free and discounted e-books online. For people who don’t like to read and prefer to listen, audiobooks are a great option at Blinkist. They sum up the most important ideas of the books into 10 – 25 minutes audio recordings. Amazingly convenient!
The day is almost over, and I just received my Amazon package, yippee! The driver dropped it at the reception downstairs and Parkside staff brought it right to my unit door. So fast and convenient. It only took Amazon 1 day to collect all the items I ordered to settle into Canada and deliver them to me. It honestly feels like Christmas to me…
I will talk to you again tomorrow. Good night!