For most people, looking back on 2020 will fill us with mixed emotions. In real talk, 2020 was an exhausting year. The COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest challenge the world has faced this millennium (World Health Organisation). Beyond the physical health consequences, the pandemic brought with it draining social isolation, job loss and displacement, mental health concerns, and massive uncertainty about the future.
Coming out of 2020 and moving into 2021, what we need is a collective focus on recovery.
Recovery will take time as individuals, as businesses, and as a nation. A little research on what this could look like brought to light some wonderful suggestions on how to move forward and recover. A few examples of what passive recovery is can include reading, watching TV, lying on a beach, or listening to music. And active recovery may be walking, running, playing sport, developing a skill, getting creative, learning a language and so on. How well these activities reducing stress, incite rest and aid in recovery all depends on how much they provide psychological detachment (aka fully disconnecting and relaxing).
Psychological detachment and mechanisms underlying recovery seem to be similar across different settings (e.g., vacations, work breaks, free evenings) and seem to be enhanced in natural environments (Journal of Occupational Health Psychology).
If you’re wanting to make the most of your downtime and enhance recovery in 2021 – why not look at booking a #staycation or holiday where you can be completely disconnected in your down time and let go of daily life stressors?
Imagine Hotels & Resorts is up and running, working alongside government guidelines, to ensure the utmost safety of their guests while they take time out to relax and recover. Why choose Imagine? Imagine Marco is in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne and is 2 km from the beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens. Imagine Lighthouse is in Melbourne’s CBD and is only 600 m from Flagstaff Gardens and 1 km from Carlton Gardens. Imagine Drift is the ultimate beach holiday getaway in Palm Cove QLD, across the road from the ocean, where coconut palms line the beach.
Finally, the most essential aspect of recovery is to let go of the ideas about what you “should” be doing to recover and enjoy the process of experimenting with different passive and active exercises to switch off.
Imagine Hotels & Resorts would love to hear what you are doing to recover and recoup in 2021. Connect with us and follow the Imagine journey: Facebook Instagram Linked In @imaginehotelsresorts
Words: Emily Steckelbruck, Marketing Manager for Imagine Hotels & Resorts