COVID19 has affected many of our otherwise normal tasks like starting or ending a day with a walk, playing chess/poker with friends, chilling and gossiping on the park benches, going over to a friend’s house for chai, visit religious places, doing marathons of daily soaps at their given time (as the industry has stopped shooting any new episodes or projects.) But the ones who are feeling this fear acutely are our senior citizens.

Most senior citizens prefer to live with their habits—they have a set routine or some idiosyncrasies that they have carried with them for the past many years. It could be as simple as getting up very early, their addiction to their cup of tea or more complicated like catching up with their group of friends everyday. Ad now at the onset of COVID, they have let go off these habits or routines that they have been living with for as long as two or three decades. No wonder, seniors have been experiencing strong negative emotions like anger, frustration, loneliness, anxiety, stress, depression because of the disturbed routine. 

Aging and elderly people being at the highest risk of being infected have been instructed not to step out of their houses, even for walks--something that counted for their daily activity or exercise as most of them have breathing issues, joint pains etc. which prohibits them from very strenuous workout/exercises.

 Meeting friends, playing a round of poker, tambola or gossiping about the daily happenings was a source of entertainment for seniors. This meeting-the-friends gave them a sense of inclusion and importance which has now diminished after the lockdown, leading to their feeling lonely and alone. 

Every month, the seniors used to have their satsang, bhajans, kirtans--religious activities that give them the opportunity to meet new people, pray together and experience a sense of belonging-ness. But with the lockdown, religious get-togethers have completely stopped too. 

 All these restrictions are brewing frustration in the seniors. They are being denied their exercise, entertainment, their feeling of being important to someone and reducing their feeling of belonging to the society. It has left them bereft of their connection to others like them and the world...an emotion that used to make their old age and its problems bearable.

This makes them angry, irritable and also leads to physical outbursts or very reclusive behaviour.  

Here’s some ideas of what seniors can do to again feel wanted, cared for and important.

• Accept and be flexible: Easier said than done but elderly people have to acknowledge the dangers they are in and the need to be flexible. Find faith and strength within yourself to understand this and take it up as a challenge that you need to master.
• Try DIY exercises and routines: YouTube or different fitness apps and channels have great DIY workouts for seniors as well. These constitute of exercises, yoga, active meditations and more. Doing one follow-along-with session daily is the best way to maintain physical agility.
• Learn/invest your time in new or forgotten activities:Be it cooking yourself, gardening, painting, singing, appreciating music/films; get yourself a bunch of activities based on your interests. Doing something that interests you will make you happier and peaceful. Also, the sense of achievement derived from a completed painting, a plant you nurtured giving  you flowers, or you being able to play a song again on your musical instrument will motivate you to try for more and keep  the energy levels up.
• Stay connected: Love playing tambola but can’t meet your friends. Try online or better make a group on video calling apps and have a live tambola game but in isolation  in your home. Or play a game of scrabble against your best friend online. There  are a lot of games and activities you can do with your friends online even while living remotely.