SELF-CARE : NARRATIVE OF AN ATHLETE | MindsetOpediaDMHC Blogs

The conversation around the importance of mental health has taken a pivotal shift since the pandemic hit the world. People across the world, especially in India, where the idea of mental health albeit has been trivialized and even looked down upon has now witnessed a much awaited recognition among the masses. A rapid transformation in almost every arena was evident- from corporate organizations formulating policies to cater to the well-being of their employees to people realizing the significance of mental health in their lives. However, can we say that each and every person in India advocates for mental health now? I don’t know. Can we say it’s a start towards transforming India into a more woke nation in terms of mental health’s need and importance? I think so.

Self- care looked different for everyone during the pandemic- while some rekindled their love for art, cooking, fitness and what not, others were able to sit back and put a pause on their fast paced lives. The list is endless. Being an athlete, self-care for me has always meant engaging myself in physical exercise and challenging my limits in sports, even before the pandemic hit. With the lockdown imposed across the nation, the primary source of self-care for me hit a roadblock. Confined inside my house, I wasn’t able to go out and play, which definitely took a toll on me. What would someone do if that one thing so dear to them is taken away overnight? Captivated with uncertainty and with absolutely no idea about what the future holds, I spent days trying to wrap my head around the fact that I can no longer do what I love the most- playing my favorite sports, judo and netball. Being an athlete constituted a huge chunk of my identity. How do I identify myself now that I cannot resonate with myself anymore? “Who is this person?” is the question I pondered upon whenever I looked in the mirror. Days passed and the hope for everything going back to normal seemed far-fetched. However, there was this one moment, that one aha moment when I told myself that I can fight this. I can do whatever I get determined to achieve. That’s when I began exercising and did yoga every day. I felt I found a part of myself which seemed to have drifted apart from me all this time. Well, I can summarize by saying that my self-care journey during the pandemic was definitely a bumpy ride in the beginning but I found my way to sail through and persevere.

By,

Riya Bhadana

Council Member

WICCI-DMHC