Find pleasures in being alone

Think about watching a movie, or going on a coffee run to your favourite cafe, or even just walking along a park connector. Do you find yourself thinking, Who can I ask along? It is not wrong to crave company, of course, yet we now find ourselves having to get used to being home and unable to socialise. It is especially in these trying times that we have to focus on the beauty of spending time on our own. 

Spending time alone helps us to connect with ourselves more deeply.

In this period, staying home is the right and socially responsible thing to do. In comparison to when we were able to go out to meet our friends or even partners, now is a time that loneliness would undoubtedly creep up on us more often. Focus on this piece of good news – spending time alone allows us to connect with ourselves more deeply. We are social animals, and it is a recognised social phenomenon that we tend to adjust our moods and behaviours according to our peers and environment whether we do it consciously or not. By disconnecting from external influences, we can refocus on ourselves and our internal environment without getting our thoughts watered down by our environment.

Engage in a conversation with yourself and do what you enjoy at your own pace. Spending time alone this way allows you to discover yourself and can remind you of the more essential things in life. Maybe you feel that the pace is already as slow as it can get now – use that slowness to focus on self-reflection and get to know yourself again without the external distractions. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you find.

You can just be yourself!

Your favourite part of spending time alone should be that you don't have to care about anybody but yourself. You get to decide what you want to do with your time and you don't have to answer to anybody. Things like that may sound simple, but it can be extremely liberalising. There is no dinner with a friend that you have to rush to, and you can wear whatever you want and sing aloud to yourself with no one to judge you. It is important to appreciate these moments for you to be okay with and enjoy being alone.

Some activities that are just better done alone —

• Singing your favourite song that is just wayyy out of your range
• Trying out a new dance workout
• Meditating
• Catching up on the reading that you have been putting off since forever ago
• Learning a new language and recording yourself speaking it
• This is more advanced, but try to put your phone for the entire day to completely disconnect and be by yourself and your thoughts

These are just some of the advantages and ways of spending time alone, but there are many more, and it differs from person to person. The art of being alone and not feeling lonely can be scary for some, but practice helps. Train your mind into accepting time spent alone, and use it as an excellent time to rejuvenate. It could be more comfortable for introverts, but enjoying being alone mindfully can work the same way for everyone. 

So schedule some 'me time' and use this period to get more in touch with yourself. Practice the art of being alone and revel in it.