Isolation Wellbeing - Part One - Play
Isolation Wellbeing - Part One - Play
by Lana Mepham, Marketing & Events Manager @ Goho
The transition from normal working life to social distancing and then lock down was a speedy one. For most of us, we said goodbye to colleagues at 5pm one-day and that was it!
The situation has meant that we’ve had to quickly adapt to our homes to also being our pub, our gym and everything else. Aside from the practical considerations that come with self isolating, it’s really important to remember your mental health and wellbeing.
It is completely normal to feel anxious and stressed during this time, we have never had to deal with anything like this before!
At Goho, even with a super supportive and communicative team - each one of us has had our bad days where we have felt at a total loss due to the situation. Therefore, to keep us on track (and hopefully pass on some wisdom!) we're sharing some ideas to keep your (and our) minds happy and healthy.
Read below for some of our top tips.
Accept what you can’t do
We know everyone will have had to cancel events that they were looking forward to. Whether it’s that amazing holiday that’s been in the diary for months or Auntie Beth’s 50th or the fact we can’t get our weekly boozy brunch instalment - we know it’s tough. But the key to finding happiness and contentment with the situation - is to accept it and focus on the positives (we’ve listed these below if you’re struggling to find one…)
More time
Saving Money
Saving lives by not going out
Phone Calls & Video Chats
Make sure you regularly ring family and organise video chats with your friends.
Between the team we’ve done a few too many pub quizzes, bingo nights, bake offs and book clubs. These are a great way of implementing some sort of normality into our daily lives.
Learn Something New
If, like many, you’ve been furloughed or find yourself with a significantly reduced workload, why not use this new found time to learn something new? From apps that can teach you a new language to apps that guide you through meditation.
We’ve also seen that the ivy league colleges in America are offering FREE courses online. From psychology to business, and from Art to Food - there's sure to be something for everyone to keep your mind busy.
But remember to listen to your gut, don’t feel guilty about doing nothing. Learning can be passive also, watch some films you’ve had on your watch list for an age, read that book, play that video game, learning comes in many shapes and forms.
Body & Mind
During our morning video catch ups, we’ve heard a few grumbles about shoddy night's sleep. While social distancing, our activity levels have taken a big hit - which can affect your sleeping patterns. According to SleepFoundation, people who get 150 minutes of exercise a week sleep around 65% better than those who don’t!
Trying home workouts is a great way to remain active and to try out something new.
Mike’s a big advocate of yoga for reducing stress and anxiety levels, there are plenty of free online classes available on YouTube (Yoga with Adriene is very popular and has a 30 day introduction if you haven’t done yoga before) , or hunt down your local studio (whose freelance teachers are no doubt struggling at the moment) and see if they are doing online classes.
Yogarise London are currently offering a near full online timetable with some amazing teachers. Want high energy go for Erin Pritchard.
Not into yoga - Soul Sisters Fitness comes highly recommended, and Stacey and Lana are BIG 1Rebel fans and will often take a break over lunch for their daily fix.
Need a wind down after that high energy class or a long day - Balance App is offering your first year completely free.
Lastly, it’s a good idea to be proactive about your anxiety. Try and set aside a time before bedtime where you can deal with the things you’re worrying about. Try writing down your worries (Mike’s kept a diary since ‘99) or finding something to pass the feelings to (Lana has a little worry doll next to her bed!).
