Lockdown restrictions loosening does not necessarily reduce feelings of isolation. For some, social contact may still be limited, for others the idea of leaving home may be just as concerning or scary as staying home.
If you feel an overwhelming sense of anxiety, we have created some resources to help you. You can access these here:
- Khulisa’s 10 Step Plan to Managing Isolation in Lockdown – These steps are a guide to being alone in isolation for those of us not with family at home.
- Self-care & Wellbeing: Practical Online Resources – The following links provide practical and experiential ideas for new things you can try to help you practice self-care and feel more connected with others during this period – This resource
- Managing Isolation in Lockdown: Building self-worth, purpose and learning new skills. We offer further resources, aimed at providing support to build our sense of self-worth, connection and purpose in the ‘new normal’ as we transition from lockdown.
Managing Isolation in Lockdown - Online Wellbeing Resources
Googling online resources when you already have ‘online fatigue’ can feel like another thing to add to your list – so Khulisa has done the searching for you!
The following links provide practical and experiential ideas for new things you can try to help you practice self-care and feel more connected with others during this period.
Self Care for Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing
- Looking After Your Mental Health During the Coronavirus Outbreak – Tips on how global events like Coronavirus affect our mental health and how to manage it.
- 10 popular guided meditations – A range of free guided meditations to encourage deeper sleep, manage difficult emotions and practice gratitude
- Self-harm Self Help Guide – Isolation can unleash emotions and thoughts that may lead us or people we know to self harm. This NHS guide provides reading and support.
- Children and adolescent mental health support resource – Useful tips on how to manage moods and cope with social distancing. Teen bloggers share their thoughts.
- Corona anxiety support resources – Click here for Vlogs on how to tackle #coronanxiety
- Smile meditations – Smiles are scientifically known to reduce stress and improve wellbeing. Try these guided smile meditations to uplift your mood.
- 60 second guided meditation – This is an effective and simple meditation you can do in front of your laptop with a cuppa.
- Stress Analyst – A site designed to help talk you down from a stressful experience.
- Nurturing our relationships during a pandemic – Some great tips on how you can stay connected to others during the pandemic.
- Practicing self-compassion in 6 ways that work – Not everyone finds this easy, this is a great article on the whys and hows.
Self Care for Physical Wellbeing
- Embodied Awakening (Free Movement meditation) – Moving boosts our serotonin and uplifts our mood and keeps us fit. Try something different – sessions take place daily on Zoom.
- Joe Wicks 7 Days of Sweat Challenge – Commit less than half an hour for 7 days for a sweat inducing, mood lifting workout. No equipment needed.
- The NHS has 24 free instructor-led videos – Covering aerobics exercise, strength and resistance, and pilates and yoga. They range from 10 to 45 minutes long.
- Yoga at your desk with Madeleine Shaw – If you need to be at your desk but have 10mins to spare, try this 10mins YouTube tutorial that helps you to open your chest and improve posture at work.
- Free Yoga and Meditation classes – Try these YouTube Yoga classes to help relieve stresses from managing your emotions and thoughts during isolation. there are different types of Yoga classes and you can search for a class based on time duration from 5 min to 40+ minutes.
- 6 Yoga Poses to reduce Stress – Try these 6 stress-relieving poses to reduce your stress levels.
- Free online pilates – If you prefer Pilates to Yoga, you can search for free online classes here, based on the amount of time you can commit to.
- Couch to 5k programme – This excellent and achievable audio coaching programme has helped many people to improve their cardio fitness. Are you ready to give it a go?
Self Care and Creative Expression
- Free colouring book – Try the free colouring in resources and see if colouring-in helps reduce stress and anxiety for you.
- Drawing challenges – If you like drawing but need inspiration, check out these drawing challenges on Pinterest.
- Mobile music maker – MOOG and KROOG are offering free access to their synth apps to encourage people to express their creativity and spread positivity during social isolation.
Self Care Games to Distract and Soothe
- Draw your own nebula – Using Neonflames, a cosmic-feeling and calming activity you can do on a laptop, tablet or mobile phone.
- Weave Silk – Create your own swirling, silk patterns on your laptop, tablet or mobile phone.
- Play with digital sand – Create your own amazing sandscape (you will need Adobe flash).
- Play with liquid particles – A mesmerising and soothing game where coloured patterns follow your cursor. Perfect for calming your thoughts.
Ambient Noises
- Rainy Mood – Allows you to play rain, with suggestions of ambient music to play at the same time. Soothing for sleeping, working or relaxing to..
- Lakeside campfire with nature sounds – The gentle crackling of an outdoor campfire, crickets and wild nature nightsounds creates an incredibly comforting background ambience.
- Purr – Purrrr of a cat! Lots of ways to adjust this to your preference.
- Rainy Café – A moderate level of background noise can enhance creativity. What better than combining the sounds of a bustling cafe setting with the sounds of drizzling rain. You can set each noise to a level that suits you.
- White Noise – White noises softly playing in the background are soothing and not just for babies!
- Ocean waves sounds – This recording of waves crashing onto Santa Giulia beach in Corsica is 8 hours long making it perfect for a good night’s sleep.
- Nature sounds – This 8 hour soundtrack is grounding and soothing especially if you are unable to be outside and enjoy nature as much as you’d like.
- Calming music suggestions – Sound therapy is known for reducing stress and anxiety. check out the list of songs here, perfect for accompanying meditation or a walk.
Some Self Care Apps To Try!
- Stop Breathe Think – Check-in with how you’re feeling, and try short activities tuned to your emotions.
- Headspace – Mindfulness tools to help you look after your mental health. If you are unemployed you can register for 12months free membership of HeadSpace Plus.
- Stay Alive App – Free suicide prevention resources if social distancing and lockdown is affecting you, or someone you know.
- CalmHarm – If you or someone you know is at risk of self harm that is made worse by isolation, try these helpful self harm prevention resources
Remember - if you’re doing the best you can with what you have - it’s always enough!