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

Scholastic Learn at Home

PBS Kids

Age of Learning

Mystery Science

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!

We are living in a time of widespread social disruption, fear, stress, confusion. You name the negative emotion, people are feeling it. The threat of the coronavirus (COVID-19) infecting children, elderly loved ones and those who are immunocompromised is very frightening. 

Most people fall on two ends of the spectrum: “This is not a big deal and the media is hyping it up to seem worse than it is” or “We have an obligation to humanity to protect each other from this virus.”

Before we discuss selective social distancing. Let me provide a brief description of social distancing. Social Distancing is a term applied to certain actions that are taken by Public Health officials to stop or slow down the spread of a highly contagious disease. Not only is this in the hands of public health officials, but it is up to independently owned businesses and individuals alone to comply with what is safe. 

The CDC, in particular, defines social distancing as “remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining a distance (approximately 6 feet or 2 meters) from others when possible.”

Staying home and avoiding contact with people can reduce the number of infections over time. But, considering the fact that this is essentially an honor system, the decision is left to each person how they choose to live their lives; in isolation or congregation.

With unprecedented cancellations, schools closing their doors, Wall Street basically desolate, NCAA March Madness basketball games canceled, it should be pretty clear by now that this virus is a massive concern to mankind. So, why are there still so many people ignoring all of the warnings?

Selective Social Distancing

Selective Social Distancing (SSD) is when a person decides when they will distance themselves socially or when they will come in close proximity with others.

Ways in Which People Are Engaging in Selective Social Distancing

• Spending Time With Certain People: A person may decide that their friend said she hasn’t been outside of her home in three days so it is safe to see her. But, what if she received a contaminated package at her door, touch it, and is unaware she is sick yet?
• Making Big Plans: According to USA Today, Millennials are under fire for continuing their regular nightlife routine. Some are even booking trips to other states and countries because it is dirt cheap right now. The truth is, they may get to that destination, have a great time and come back unscathed. But what about the elderly or immunocompromised people they do infect?
• Engaging In Their Regular Routine: Some people are still going to the gym, leisurely clothing shopping, meeting at restaurants and then returning home. One justification for this is that businesses are telling people they are keeping things extra sanitary. With high profile restaurants such as Subway sending their customers’ emails about the new precautions they are taking, people feel satisfied. 

Why Social Distancing Is So Crucial

We are once again a country divided. People who are self-isolating are fueled with anger and viewing those that aren’t self-isolating as selfish.

The CDC suggests keeping a distance of 6 feet between yourself and others to minimize the spread of the disease. However, if you go media crazy and search the internet for more and more answers on how you should protect yourself and others, many articles are stating that “3 feet or more” is acceptable. What’s worse, people are gathering recipes for homemade virus killing recipes that are either simply ineffective or causing people to clear the shelves at stores making it impossible for sick people to receive the products they need.

These are just two examples of misinformation or educated guesses being circulated across the internet as fact. These are some of the reasons why some people are not taking this threat seriously. The messages are not consistent. Above all, the element of choice is still very present and up for interpretation.

Engaging in selective social distancing is a gamble and could affect the lives of others.

Social Distancing Doesn’t Have To Be Lonely

Now is more of a time than ever to stay connected. Those more sensitive to social isolation (people with chronic or severe depression) must reach out to others to maintain their mental health stability. 

Fortunately, we are living in a time where many people already spend most of their time connected with others through the use of technology. We live in a time where my 90-year-old grandpa was cruising the internet and even had a Facebook account. People of all ages can stay connected by:

• Using FaceTime
• Using apps like the Zoom video platform. It’s free to use and you can even set up a group “get together.” https://zoom.us
• If you run into a neighbor while getting the mail, for instance, you can talk to each other if you keep the 6 foot safe distance in mind.

The Bright Side

 In this time of high stress, uncertainty and cabin fever, the way in which you choose to live your life will be important for your mental health. This could be a time of great opportunity. The opportunity to reconnect with your family (via webcam of course) or to catch up on things that you wanted to do while you are stuck at home such as organization and cleaning. 

Remember all the times you wanted to take up something new, but you were too busy to make it happen? Whether it be learning a new language, woodwork, catching up on your shows or doing absolutely nothing (because you can), maybe it’s a good time to embrace this unique situation by using it for self-improvement? self-reflection? 

Be creative, and most of all be safe and respect the safety of others.

With stress as widespread as the coronavirus pandemic, it is important to take a moment to pause and check in with your mindset. Overly stressing and driving yourself mad with all of the “what-ifs” will only cause unnecessary pain and suffering.  

Is this a real life cause for concern? Absolutely. However, studies show the more we maintain positive thinking the higher the likelihood we will be mentally and physically healthier. 

Take a deep breath and read these positive intentions and affirmations to reset your mind and maintain a healthy outlook.

Read them as many times as you need to and highlight the ones that resonate with you. 

1. I will lean on my loved ones for support during this stressful time.
2. Too much stress will only hurt my immune system; I will do everything I can to stay positive. 
3. I will prepare to the best of my ability and be satisfied with my efforts. 
4. My body and mind can handle this challenge.
5. If I focus on the things I can control, I will feel more clear-headed.
6. I will not forget that we are in this together, and I will carry myself in this manner.
7. My loved ones will learn how to be strong in the face of adversity through my actions.
8. I will live in the moment and not allow myself to worry too much about what “could be.”
9. It is within my power and control to trust my judgement.
10. I choose to follow all of the advisories and keep myself well informed.
11. I will not overwhelm myself with the media’s interpretation of this situation.
12. There’s only so much I can do for others, and I’m doing the best I can.
13. I will eat well and exercise at home to keep my body and mind healthy.
14. My mind, body and spirit are working together for a peaceful, stronger me.
15. This will pass. Until then, I will ride out the storm with dignity, using common sense to guide me.

Be safe and stay up to date with the latest news and guidelines on the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Knowledge is power; it could save your life.