It occurs to me that while we are all practising social distancing (whether that’s through actual quarantine if we have the coronavirus, social isolation if we’ve been exposed to it, or simply social distancing because we’re being careful and our workplaces, pubs and clubs are shut), we may have more of an opportunity to consume content than usual – whether that’s online courses or classes, or books or films etc. And I have a lot of creative friends! I’m therefore going to use this page to share some of their work and mine: things to do at home during the pandemic! I’ll keep this updated, so if you have any suggestions, please drop me a line and I’ll happily add any that feel appropriate.
Face to face live interaction
- My friend Lizabeth works for Cisco, and she tells me that they’re offering free personal video call/conferencing accounts (which can cope with up to 100 people per call) for the duration, to help people stay in touch. I’ve signed up and will be online using this Cisco Webex service every weekday morning from 0900-0945 – click here to join me and talk about health and physio issues, or just to catch up and check in. (NB – I’ve tested this system, and when you get to the page asking for Display Name and Email address, that means your name, so that I know who I’m talking to, and your email address!)
- The lovely Abi Barber, who was Victory’s yoga therapist, is offering online yoga classes at just £5 for 30 minutes or £10 for an hour – check out her online services page here, and to get details of how to join in, email her here.
- Elizabeth Banks, Victory’s former balance therapist, is also an incredibly accomplished personal trainer as well as being an expert in neurology-based rehab. She’s offering live 1:1 personal training with a free initial chat – email her here to find out more.
- My lovely friends at Complete Pilates are also offering 1:1 home Pilates sessions via Zoom video conferencing, any time 7am-8pm with our instructors – email them here to find out more.
- Former England rugby player Fiona Pocock is also now an excellent personal trainer who is offering online personal training – email her here to find out more.
Online courses
- Obviously the first course I’m going to recommend is mine: Yoga for Stressed People. It’s an online course (videos and PDFs) explaining the science of chronic stress, and using a simple yoga sequence as a tool to help overcome it. During the current pandemic, I’m offering a 50% discount if you use the code STUPIDCORONAVIRUS at checkout 😉
- It has since occurred to me that my smaller courses such as Stretches for Desk Workers might also be useful for people who are working at home and whose working setups may not be prepared, so the same discount code now applies to all my online courses.
- Nutritionist Hayley Field has opened up her online community The Food Ninja Dojo which is covers nutrition, stress & sleep management, activity, recovery (physical and mental) and anything linked to staying as healthy and resilient as possible, for only £99 per month.
Books
- During this period of stress, you’ll be pleased to learn there’s actually good science to support the fact that Swearing is Good For You, by my fabulous friend Dr Emma Byrne.
- I’m working on a book about injury treatment and prevention, and maybe it’ll be finished by the time the social isolation period is over… maybe.
- For kids of any age, I absolutely love Do Nice, Be Kind, Spread Happy by the gorgeous Bernadette Russell. We all need a bit of kindness right now, and Bernadette always seems to have the nicest ideas.
Podcasts
I confess that I haven’t got into podcasts much (yet!) so I asked my sister who describes herself as an “avid podster”. Her recommendations are:
- How to Fail with Elizabeth Day (Lillie says “start with Andrew Scott, the sexy priest from Fleabag!”)
- The Rich Roll podcast
- Conversations of Inspiration with Holly Tucker,
- The Doctor’s Kitchen with Dr Rupy Aujla
- Between You and Me with Maria McHale and Alana Kirk – their latest episode, rather aptly, is called “What to do when it all goes to shit”
Again, if you’ve produced or know of anything that might help all of us to get through this period of social distancing, please drop me a line and I’ll check it and then add it if it fits. Thank you, and stay safe!