Agree the COVID-19 threat looms large, but you also need to find ways to express your inner thoughts and alleviate your fears. Pregnant women need to practise this more consciously.

“Mindfulness meditation can help bring down the anxiety and fear around the whole situation. Also, expectant moms can find creative ways to express themselves,” says Anubha Doshi, a psychologist and arts-based therapist.

Indulging in activities like cooking, painting and spending time with nature can help. If your apartment complex allows walks in the premises during the lockdown, take a stroll while maintaining physical distancing, or sit in the balcony where you keep your plants and unwind amidst nature. Art, mindfulness and nature can help you pause and think, she adds.

Make a routine
“Right now, the fear centres in the brain are activated. Hence, indulging in any kind of creative work shifts your brain from stress to a calmer state, and you start releasing ‘feel-good’ hormones. Also, your baby experiences what you experience, so if you stay stressed, your baby will have maladaptation towards stress. Therefore, having a good routine is important; it could be taking care of yourself as well,” points out Doshi.

Auditory is the first sense to develop; therefore, a child can hear songs, chanting, stories etc. “We Indians practise Garbh Sanskar, so chanting mantra can keep both you and your baby calm. Listening to your favourite music has been proven to help in resilience building, it need not be classical music, but you can listen to your favourite tracks,” adds Doshi.

Pick up a hobby
Speaking about how to channelise your creativity, she says, never stop the movement. “Practice yoga, soft dance, meditate, cook, bake etc. As a child, we all have hobbies like dance, drama, painting, sewing, stitching, knitting, doing embroidery, poetry and so on. Just pick up one of those and rediscover your passion. Creativity is all about how creatively you express yourself. Find your creativity and express your inner thoughts and emotions,” she says.