For many people COVID-19 lockdown has been a real struggle, and it isn’t just about having to stay home – whether working or not – and/or living on your own.
With the gradual easing of COVID-19 restrictions, Australian can slowly attempt to go back to a semi-normal lifestyle.
For millennial Violet Herbault, 23, who has been working all throughout the pandemic as part of the essential staff at Coles, but has had to abandon her internship as a tattoo artist, it has been tough on her mental health.
She shares a home with her partner – and two cats, so it’s not a case of not having any physical and social contacts at all unlike a lot of Australians.
According to an online survey commissioned by YouGov Millennials are reportedly the most stressed of any generation with 60% of respondents feeling under pressure.
Violet is an exceptionally energetic person and when she doesn’t or can’t spend that energy she needs to find ways to calm down or her mind goes in overdrive.
Rather than turning to alcohol – or worse, drugs (illegal ones) – she chose to practice body balance, a yoga based type of workout that can improve your mind, your body and your life instead of falling into the 35% who exercise less than before the lockdown.
“I love it because it’s slow moving, but is also very powerful, getting you to centre yourself and to reconnect your mind to your body,” Violet says.
Note: Both video and this short article were originally written in May 2020 as part of an assessment for my Bachelor of Journalism.
You might not be restrained to a lockdown anymore, but a lot of people around the world still are. My parents in France have a curfew at 6pm, and my sister seems to think they will go back into a lockdown as the situation over there is not improving.
I would also like to mention that Violet no longer works at Coles as she had been working on the side to become a tattoo artist, and now does it full time. You can view some her work here.
Take care of yourself, and don’t hesitate to share the things you do or did while in lockdown.
With Gratitude,
Pris.
