Stuck at home? First off, I want to thank you so much for being a good person and doing the right thing. You deserve a reward and to broaden your horizons.
The coronavirus has forced us all inside and out of contact with the outside world. The lives we had before will be disrupted for an unknown period. This, therefore, takes the element of control out of our lives. When we are not in control of our lives, stress is inevitable.
The important think to remember is that it is an inconvenience, but you are safe and considering the safety others . You don’t have to settle for watching hours upon hours of mindless TV (though this can be a great escape, it grows tiring).
Here are other ways in which you can enrich your life while staying at home. Don’t be afraid to learn something out of your comfort zone. During these challenging times, there is opportunity. The opportunity to do something new you always wished you had time for; and now you do.
There is a lot on our minds right now, so distraction is key. Here are some great resources for you to consider while while being a social distancing rockstar.
Apps
Well, we will focus on t.v. for this one suggestion. If you have children, you are likely having a tough time right now keeping them occupied. Amazon has made a library of kids’ TV shows free for all users. These shows are usually reserved for Amazon Prime customers, but now anyone can watch right now.
The Headspace meditation app has a meditation toolkit anyone can currently access for free. It includes meditations, sleep, and movement exercises.
The Calm App: This app is usually $5.83 per month, but you can get a free trial to try it and see if you like it. It has meditation, exercises for getting better sleep and masterclasses about different mindfulness related topics.
Courses
Mind Valley offers a free curriculum that is designed to unleash the full potential of your mind, body, and spirit. Best selling authors, teachers and activists teach about life experience, the quality of of relationships, health, mindset and well being.
Here are 450 Ivy League courses you can take online right now for free. These courses come from 8 Ivy League schools and include courses in mathematics, personal development, Art & Design and Social Sciences, to name a few. My favorite is a course on learning how to communicate more effectively at work from the University of Pennsylvania.
Coursera includes wellness courses such as understanding mindfulness and understanding the science of happiness available for free.
Get Your Body Moving
Pop Sugar Active is giving away free workouts. The new Active by POPSUGAR app, a paid monthly subscription providing hundreds of do-anywhere workouts, set to launch in the next few weeks, is officially launching right now for free. They offer categories of strength, cardio, yoga, and Pilates, and challenges such as 4-Week Full-Body Fusion.
Start following some fitness YouTube accounts for working out at home. You don’t need any equipment. YouTube cardio and yoga videos have been a life saver for me!
Get The Kids Moving:
Subscribe to Cosmic Kids Yoga: Yoga, mindfulness and relaxation designed specially for kids aged 3+, used in schools and homes all over the world. My son is under 3, but he loved it and so did my daughter who is soon to be 1 1/2. It’s really cute to watch them try the moves and there are different yoga video themes like Frozen and Trolls!
Educational Resources, Because The Kids Are Still Driving You Crazy
More Mental Health Resources
DBT Diary Card and Skills Coach
A free guide to learning how to meditate by meditationexpert.com.
Check out these relaxation techniques used in CBT to relief stress. Among other things, you”ll discover the best way to breath to relieve stress.
My Stress Less Fast Guide can be found here.
Here are 5 ways to get a better sleep when faced with stress.
My guide to Relieving Stress Naturally can be found here.
25 Quotes To Help You Stress Less are definitely useful; now more than ever.
Positive Intentions and Affirmations to tell yourself during the coronavirus pandemic will prove very useful right now as this situation painfully unfolds.
My top 5 favorite mental health podcasts are sure to relieve some tensions. Podcasts are amazing because you can listen to them anywhere, there is a podcast for just about anything and they are free. If you’d like to venture outside of the mental health topic, a great podcast search engine that can help you narrow down your focus is Listen Notes. It makes it easy to browse by topic or search by keyword.
Stress Relief Games A great collection of hand-picked games to help you stress less.
Don’t forget to check out my stress management resources page, offering great tools and organizations that can help you relieve stress.
Crisis Support Resources For All
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1- 800-799-7233
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
National Hopeline Network: 1-800-SUICIDE (800-784-2433)
Crisis Text Line: Text “DESERVE” TO 741-741
Lifeline Crisis Chat (Online live messaging): https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/
Self-Harm Hotline: 1-800-DONT CUT (1-800-366-8288)
Planned Parenthood Hotline: 1-800-230-PLAN (7526)
American Association of Poison Control Centers: 1-800-222-1222
National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependency Hope Line: 1-800-622-2255
National Crisis Line – Anorexia and Bulimia: 1-800-233-4357
GLBT Hotline: 1-888-843-4564
TREVOR Crisis Hotline: 1-866-488-7386
AIDS Crisis Line: 1-800-221-7044
For My Fellow New Yorkers: NY’s virus case count is doubling every 3 days. NYC Well is your connection to free, confidential mental health support. Speak to a counselor via phone, text, or chat and get access to mental health and substance use services, in more than 200 languages, 24/7/365.
If you are from Long Island, The Long Island Crisis Center is an excellent resource for crisis management. Learn more here.
I hope you find this list of resources helpful. Please feel free to add any suggestions for free resources you’ve found along the way. Stay safe!
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