My Favorite Virtual Health & Wellness Resources
Well, I’ve officially entered my 5th week of quarantine—as much of America has due to the coronavirus pandemic that has turned the world upside down. I take long walks in my neighborhood every day and make my weekly trip to the grocery store, but otherwise, it’s just me and Dan in our little midcentury ranch all day, every day.
When people ask me how I am right now, my answer is typically “Fine.” I’m not necessarily good, I wouldn’t say I’m bad, I’m..fine. A flatline that occasionally dips above or below, but that mostly hovers in a limbo-like state. Fine feels good enough these days though. Fine honestly feels like a win during a crisis.
While there are things that I am enjoying about this time—“The Great Pause” as I’ve heard it called—there are things that feel difficult too.
As a textbook introvert, an excuse to cancel all plans, stay home, and slow down has felt restorative. But as someone who lives 800+ miles from home and relies on travel to see my closest friends and family, having that taken away indefinitely is unsettling.
While our immediate families remain healthy, there is certainly a toll that the collective fear and anxiety is taking on them that can be felt in every phone call and read between the lines of every text message.
While I am grateful that Dan and I both have jobs that we can easily do from home, hours and pay have been cut, leaving us nervous to spend on anything that isn’t an absolute necessity.
While it’s wonderful to see everyone outside again, taking walks and working in their yards, it’s disheartening to see how fearful we’ve all become of one another. How quickly we cross the street to keep our prescribed distance.
While I love the plethora of virtual offerings that have become available, I can’t help but wonder how long it will be before we can gather together in person again.
And while the amount of creativity that I have witnessed over these past few weeks has been inspiring, it’s overshadowed by the suffering that this virus is inflicting on its victims and the healthcare community.
Up, down. Ebb, flow. Yin, yang. Nothing and everything.
This is life. It is what it is.
We all handle these things in our own way, and for me, when everything around me feels out of control, it becomes important to focus on what I can control—which right now is my surroundings (my house is spotless and my home office/yoga room is looking better than ever) and most importantly, how I take care of myself—because when I don’t, I very quickly lose my center.
These are my current self-care non-negotiables:
Structure: I thrive on structure, so I have still been mapping out my days like I normally would and keeping a to-do list (although it’s a lot shorter and more gentle these days).
Walking: I go for a long walk pretty much every day and try to hit 10k steps. I’ve found that it’s nice to take my walk at the end of the day too as a way to mark where the workday ends and the evening begins—which is very helpful when working from home.
Exercise: I have been doing at-home bodyweight workouts 5x a week because it seems silly not to when I have the time, and with so much sitting, moving feels essential.
Yoga: No surprise here, right? I even got myself a new mat for a little added motivation.
Sleep: I am very grateful that my sleeping has been unaffected by everything that’s going on. There’s lots of beauty rest happening over here.
Healthy Food: I love eating super healthy…but when I’m working and traveling a lot, I get pretty lazy in the kitchen. It has felt so good to grocery shop and to prepare all of my own meals again.
Water: So. much. water.
This is what I need to stay grounded—and I need to stay grounded right now. In case it’s useful to anyone else, these are some of my favorite online health & wellness offerings that I’ve been using:
The Sweat App: A great app with all sorts of workout programs, like HIIT, Low-Impact Strength Training, Pilates, and more.
Yoga International: My favorite place for yoga online. A huge variety of classes with incredible instructors.
Live Virtual Yoga Classes with Mary Beth LaRue: I love Mary Beth’s teaching style and she offers live classes a few times a week through Livekick. She also has a few short classes up on YouTube for free.
Goldie Yoga: Goldie has a few class bundles on her website that you can purchase. I have Bundle #1 and have practiced with it many times.
Yoga with Adriene: If you’re new to yoga and looking for some simple videos that are beginner-friendly and free, this is a great resource with a ton of classes.
Insight Timer: For meditation, I like Insight Timer a lot. It’s a free app that you can download and there are guided meditations as well as a meditation timer (I find myself using this feature the most).
Calm: This is another meditation app that I have used and enjoyed. I have heard from a few people that their “Sleep Stories” are great for help falling asleep.
The Breathing App: I love this little app. It gives you a few simple visuals to work with for deep breathing exercises.
Virtual Sound Baths: These are lovely. I set myself up in a restorative yoga pose and lay there while Sara serenades me with singing bowls and gongs.
And yes, like everyone else in the world, I am on Zoom with my friends for about 4 hours a day and I’m sending and receiving more text messages than I can count. Technology often gets a bad rap, but it has been crucial to maintaining some sense of connection during isolation. I turned off all the screen-time restrictions on my phone too because it’s not the time to be making myself feel guilty for anything right now.
To the healthcare workers and essential employees of the world right now—my deepest gratitude.
To everyone else, take it a day at a time. Things could be better, but they could also be a lot worse.
