Long Island News Post Published on June, 17th 2020
Introduction to Long Island News Post
Over the past 3 months many people on Long Island have been increasingly suffering from various forms of mental illness. As most of you may be familiar with that during the winter months in recent years there has been a knew diagnosis surface called seasonal affective disorder.
This is bizarre because typically as we move away from the cold winter months S.A.D. begins to dissipate. Mental health generally begins to blossom for many people in the Spring and early Summer but we’re not seeing this boost of positivity in the year 2020. It comes as no surprise that Covid-19 and having to self-quarantine are directly correlated to these statistics.
At Long Island Hub we have compiled a list of the top 5 things to do on Long Island during quarantine. We designed this list to be healthy for the people of Long Island both mentally and physically.
If you’re seeking more positivity, then please read until the end as this will make you happier.
1. Gardening
Many people on Long Island have found a lot of fulfillment in gardening. You can go to local your Home Depot or Lowes Home Improvement to pick up the proper supplies, seeds, herbs and equipment in order to get started.
If you’re cooped up inside a home, it’s very important to get outside to get your healthy intake of vitamin D which is served best from the sun.
This is why gardening is such a great hobby to pick up in this warm weather!
There are many crops you can grow on Long Island from Tomatoes, Spinach, Peppers, Potatoes, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Scallions, Pumpkin and many more.
Tending a garden is more than just planting a seed and watering it. For example, Potatoes grow underground vs spinach which grows above ground. Also, with potatoes as the crop begins to grow above the surface you need to mound dirt around it.
When it comes to growing spinach, you would not grow them in the same way as you would potatoes. Take note that spinach is a vegetable that does not grow well in a heavy sunlit area. In fact, spinach grows better with moderate amounts of sunlight and actually prefers more shady areas away from direct sun rays to grow ideally.
These small bits of information about gardening can keep your mind occupied which will help your mental health during these stressful times. Plus, it will keep you moving physically. In addition, you will be focused on healthier foods vs turning to fast food or processed microwave meals.
2. Virtual Hangouts
It is a fact that if a baby is not touched by a human after birth over time it can indeed die. Humans are naturally social creatures. It's in our DNA to crave interaction and touch from other people for many reasons ranging from survival, safety, belonging, esteem to love!
Right now, we are not encouraged by medical professionals to hug because we have to keep our social distance. Also take note Long Island is doing very well right now with keeping their Covid cases low so perhaps the social distancing and other mandates or procedure we were instructed to follow are working.
FACT: When we hug is each other we release a natural chemical in our brain called oxytocin.
If you don’t know what oxytocin is, it is the chemical often attributed as the "love chemical". The moment a person feels deep passion and affection for their romantic partner and describe it as feeling or falling in love. Most of the time that persons brain is abundant with natural oxytocin.
In addition to oxytocin we also produce another chemical when we socialize with someone, we like called dopamine. This is called the "happy chemical" because it is often released when you feel elated. People produce dopamine if they see they won on a lotto ticket, if they see a cute picture of a dog, or if they see a good friend they haven't seen in a while.
This is why we encourage you if you don’t feel safe meeting up in person with a mask on to socialize to do so virtually.
You are not limited to Zoom meetings as for the past 3 months it seems like we've been seeing that computer program all day every day.
If you and your friends both have an iPhone, we encourage you to communicate via Facetime instead of texting. If you don’t have an iPhone and just have an android or any other type of smartphone you can communicate like Facetime with mobile apps like Instagram or Snapchat.
Make sure to stay in touch with your friends and family members daily as it is good for your health!
3. Cooking Healthy Foods
Many people are ordering unhealthy fast food during this time. They’re eating junk food for their breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If they are Taco Bell fans than they are fourth mealing it which is terrible for your physical health.
Chances are this quarantine has you become more idol than before so now would be a terrible time to turn to fast foods as your regular daily food intake.
Here are two great reasons why you should begin cooking healthy foods during quarantine.
- Cooking healthy foods is a no brainer because it will fill you and your family up with right nutrients.
- Cooking healthy foods because it keeps your mind busy to prepare meals.
4. Learn a New Skill
You can either see the glass half full or half empty. If your situation is that you’re left with an abundance of free time you should make the most of it.
With this being said instead of becoming a couch potato or pining and whining about your situation you can utilize this time to learn a new skill.
If you are having trouble of thinking of which new skill to take on, then try this pro tip.
Think of the times when you were in the day to day grind and you had little to no time for anything. What were some of things you daydreamed most about if you had the free time you would do.
Think about that for a second and the answer of what skill or skills to take should come to you easy.
Some of the most popular new skills that people are learning during this quarantine are learning a new language, knitting crochet, or learning how to cook or bake.
5. Start Healthier Habits
Now is an amazing time to pick up new and healthier habits. There literally couldn’t be a better time to kick smoking or your addiction to nicotine now more than ever.
Number one Covid is a respiratory disease so with smoking and vaping being something you inhale which may put you at greater risk of catching the virus should be a great incentive to finally quit.
Number two many people are being thrifty with their money so don’t waste it on extras like cigarettes.
Put that money back into the local businesses on Long Island that need the financial aid to get our economy going again! Remember before Covid-19 here on Long Island we had a bustling amount of wealth going around.
Now we had to press the reset button on our economy. With us beginning to restart let’s begin with keeping our money on Long Island.
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Long Island News Post Published June 17th, 2020
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