Enduring Quarantine, Releasing Stress

After coming back from the United States, my husband is now in mandatory 14-day quarantine. Despite the fact that he is able to come home, he has to maintain a 2-meter distance from all family members at all times. Eating utensils, bathroom facilities, sleeping quarters all have to be kept strictly separate. Anything he touches has to be sterilized. We can see his face, but that is about it until both test results prove and two weeks pass to guarantee that he will not infect others with COVID-19.

One week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks and more in isolation takes its toll. Life in quarantine is no picnic! For some of us, that means social distancing. We miss our family, our friends, and wish that we had just about anyone to talk to or even to sit next to. Boredom is our chief, new enemy. We would do anything to have a change in scenery, to get out, and to meet new faces.

For others of us, quarantine means the exact opposite. With a house full of people, all we want is to have a few moments of peace, away from the kids, the dog, and the cooped-up energy that never seems to dissipate. We have to juggle both our personal and professional lives all from the sanctuary of our home. Whatever the situation may be, staying at home indefinitely is no simple task. We are expected to work from home while caring for the kids, homeschooling, and keeping the family somewhat sane. When we are used to having our lives compartmentalized, now we are finding the mandatory demand to multi-task, a gift that not everyone possesses.

The current COVID-19 outbreak reminds me a lot of our family’s isolated, regulated life in North Korea. Being watched 24/7 and escorted everywhere we went, much of the time it felt like we lived in quarantine. In addition to being isolated from the mainstream world outside the country, circumstances in North Korea required that our family live together in one household with our whole team. As a result, the challenges of community life infringed upon us, and we found ourselves “married” to people unrelated to us.

The kitchen became a battle zone. Since our humanitarian team was all living together, we had to cook and eat together. There was only one kitchen, and wanting to be a model Asian community, we decided to eat all our meals together. At first, it was just an extra burden on the women’s shoulders as we cooked for our team of ten people. But then, the work of cooking three meals a day, every day, for ten people began to drag us down. What was worse was that everyone had a different cooking style and eating habit. Some of us were Chinese, others of us were American, and the rest of us were Korean. Our stressful lifestyle had everyone craving their own comfort foods. But our comfort foods were all different. The Chinese wanted spicy hot pot. The Americans wanted sweet cinnamon rolls, and the Koreans were content to keep on eating the plethora of Korean foods that we had to choose from in North Korea.

Instead of turning to one another for help and comfort, we ended up withdrawing into our own caves, becoming reclusive from the team. In the end, what resulted was only a few dedicated team members carrying out the daily tasks of waking up early in the morning, preparing both the breakfast and sack lunches for the whole team, and tediously cleaning the kitchen while preparing the main evening meal for everyone. The housing we received went from being a gift of joy to a prison cell, confining us to a community lifestyle that we were unprepared for.

Stress began to accumulate, in ways that I had never before experienced. I tried to take up a hobby to provide some stress release. From cross-stitching to writing poetry to exercising art therapy to playing badminton and ping-pong with our teammates, I tried everything I could to relieve the tension at home. But there was one stress-reliever that I found to be more effective than anything else. What got me through those times of isolation was first and foremost my faith but, in many other ways, my yoga practice, as well.

I had tried yoga several years prior, but I was immediately turned off by it. The instructor that I attempted it with had incorporated chanting, which to me felt to be spiritually questionable. As a result, I never again tried practicing yoga until an intern came to join our team in Pyongyang.

This particular teammate introduced a yoga practice that was strictly exercise-oriented. This particular form of yoga included a well-rounded practice that comprised of stretching, cardiovascular exercise, strength training, flexibility, and even breathing exercises. Practicing in this way, I came to love yoga and have been continuing to practice ever since.

When I first started out, our teammate affectionally called me, “the Grinch doing yoga”. Although I had been running, and even ran two marathons in Pyongyang, my muscles were tight, knotty, and inflexible. I literally yelped every time I moved from one yoga position to another. Getting out of a pose was harder than getting into one. It took me at least a month of practicing yoga to to not scream or groan throughout my workout.

I had not realized how much stress and tension I was storing in my hips. Most people are aware of the fact that the neck and shoulders tense up as a result of chronic stress, but the fact is that our hips are the largest joint in our bodies and, as a result, are the one place in our bodies that actually store most of our stress.

A practice known as “yin yoga” drastically improved not only my tension, flexibility, and range of motion but it also significantly contributed to relieving and reducing mental stress. Yin yoga is practiced by many yoga instructors and can be readily found on YouTube and from other yoga resources, so I will spare you the details of explaining all the aspects of the practice. Instead, I would like to share with you just a few specific poses that are essential to releasing the stress we store in our hips.

The main principle behind yin yoga is to hold a pose from 90 seconds or longer, even up to five or six minutes. This allows not only the muscles to relax and stretch but also the connective tissues attached to the muscles to release as the position is held for a longer period of time. For the hips, you really want to stretch muscles both outside and around the hip joints as well as the hip-flexor. Incidentally, more flexibility in the hip-flexor is also known to improve healthy metabolisms.

Main poses that work on the outer hips include half pigeon pose, thread the needle, and the double pigeon pose. For the hip-flexor, the lizard pose and low lunge are helpful. These yoga poses were transformational for me personally, and I hope passing on this information can help you relieve tension during these COVID-19 times, as well. Whether it is yoga or not, though, any stress-relieving activity can be instrumental in maintaining mental and physical health during these times of self-isolation and quarantine.

DISCLOSER: Consult a health professional before beginning any new form of exercise!

Stretching connective tissue is the fountain of youth. Deep, long stretches loosen joints and reverse aging.

Half Pigeon

Start in a runner’s lunge with right leg forward, right knee over right ankle and back leg straight. Walk right foot over toward left hand, then drop right shin and thigh to the floor, making sure to keep right knee in line with right hip. Allow left leg to rest on the floor with top of left foot facing down. Take a moment to square your hips to the front of the room. Hold here, or hinge at hips and lower torso toward floor, allowing head to rest on forearms.

Keep your feet flexed to prevent any damage to your knees.

Thread the Needle

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Place left ankle right below right knee, creating a “four” shape with left leg. Thread left arm through the opening you created with left leg and clasp hands behind right knee. Lift right foot off floor and pull right knee toward chest, flexing left foot. 

If placing one leg on top of the other is too difficult, try stretching in a regular cross-legged position.

Double Pigeon

Sit on the floor with knees bent and shins stacked with right leg on top. Use your hand to position right ankle on left knee. Ideally, the right knee will rest on the left thigh, but if your hips are tight, your right knee may point up toward the ceiling (overtime, as your hips become more open, your knee will lower). Keeping your hips squared to the front of the room, hinge at the hips and slowly walk hands slightly forward. If this is enough of a stretch, hold here, or fold your torso over your thighs to go deeper. 

As you lower yourself to the ground, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” James 4:10

Lizard

From downward dog, step your right foot forward to the outside (pinky finger) edge of your right hand. Both arms should be to the left of the right leg. Lower your left knee down onto the ground and release the top of your left foot. Take a look down to ensure that the right knee isn’t moving past the right ankle and distribute the weight evenly across both hips. Sink your weight down into your hips and check in with your body. If you feel comfortable, lower down onto both forearms. Keep the chin lifted and the chest open. To move even deeper into the pose, open up your hip to the right and lean onto the outer edge of your right foot.

To protect your knee, do not push your knee past your front foot.

Low Lunge

Step your right foot forward, between your hands. Lower your left knee to the floor, sliding the foot back until you feel a nice stretch in the left hip and thigh. Keep the hips low and level with each other. Engage your lower belly and lift your chest away from the thigh, pushing your hands against your knee. Look straight ahead.