Five uplifting ways to keep mind and body active during quarantine
Photo via New York Times
As Winston Churchill once said, ‘It is a shame to waste a good crisis.’ Self-isolation gives us time to step off the treadmill of life. Time to reflect on where your life is at the moment, assessing or re-assessing goals and dreams; or simply to try out something new. There can be unknown positives that are coming from this period of uncertainty – we are just unaware of them, yet.
Here are five easy ways to make the best of this crisis. I hope that some will inspire you to keep both mind and body active, while at-home:
1. Turn quarantine into a right song and dance
By now I’m sure you have seen the Italians serenading their neighbours on their balconies, and music is indeed medicine, as the following examples show:
Virtual choirs are springing up all over with Choir!tine sessions that you can join from home. Gareth Malone has introduced an ‘at home’ choir – and Choir!Choir!Choir! recently hosted an Epic Love Song Social Distance Sing-Along on YouTube. The Sofa Singers host a free weekly online singing event and bring together hundreds of people in real time for 45 minutes of simultaneous singing. Or join Livefulness Live – a daily livestream led by a different performer every day aiming to break the world record for the number of people taking part in a singalong.
Put on your most outrageous outfit and dance insanely around your living room – no one is literally, watching. Or join Michelle Obama, Oprah and hundreds of others at DJ D’Nice’s virtual #ClubQuarantine dance parties on Instagram Live. Debbie Allen the choreographer, producer and actor (Fame, Grey’s Anatomy) is offering a virtual dance class over on Instagram (there’s a feature about her in the New York Times). And the Royal Academy of Dance is sharing Silver Swans classes online for the over-55s.
Discover oldies but goodies by surveying the proliferation of Survival Playlists on Spotify.
Wash your hands with Gloria Gaynor and join the #iWillSurviveChallenge on TikTok @gloriagaynor. If you haven’t already heard Neil Diamond’s brilliant update of Sweet Caroline, it’s guaranteed to make you sing and cry.
2. Get Creative
Creativity needs a little breathing space to flow, and there are plenty of creative types popping up all over social media to help get us through this down time. Margaret Atwood has recommended #molunchdoodles, the 1pm ET doodling tutorials of her friend Mo Willems, the Kennedy Centre’s Artist in Residence, or join the bullet journal brigade #bujo for all kinds of doodling inspiration.
You can’t use the ‘no time’ excuse to avoid writing your grand memoir / novel / etc. Get started by joining a #WritingSprint on Twitter. Anyone can set up a challenge at an upcoming time and writers from around the world can author together-but-apart for the specified time allocated.
London Bakery Bread Ahead are running free live workshops at 2pm every day on Instagram Live – the schedule includes everything from hot cross buns to no-knead sourdough – and ingredients are listed on the website in advance.
While Pascal Anton, mentor on The BBC’s Big British Painting Challenge, is running live drawing and painting tutorials on his Youtube Channel.
3. Bucket-listing and Learning
Learn a new language through free sites like Babbel or Duolingo or learn to play a musical instrument now that you have the time.
One of my favourites is the FTC (Flatten the Curve) Music Class. Learn to play the guitar from the band The Arkells on Instagram.
Or why not expand your mind through a specially curated selection of TEDtalks. Just key in your interests and get emails of suitable (new) talks through TED Recommends.
4. Escape Through Stories
Have a book or two lying around that you have been meaning to read? A few magazines that you never got around to perusing? If you are stuck for material, Audible is offering free audiobooks during the quarantine period on Audible Stories.
This is not the time to amp-up your anxiety with dystopian epidemic novels: humour, adventure or a happy-ever-after romance is much better for escaping real life. Jael Richardson, founder and artistic director of the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) recommends Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, it’s not as dirty as sounds…
Quarantv-ing – as in quarantine tv, not Quaran TV – has become a thing. Vanity Fair surveyed their readers for tips on the best binge-watching, if you don’t already have a list of your own. Or, partake in the explosion of cultural content being produced by stars and amateurs alike over social media. For example, the BBC is producing loads of new programming through their Culture in Quarantine programme, or as they claim, “we envisage a virtual festival of the arts … rooted in the experience of both voluntary and involuntary isolation.”
5. Share the Love
My friend, a therapist, told me about a cabbie she saw, with a sign offering to help the elderly needing groceries, and said, ‘In order to find meaning in all of this, perhaps we will find a renewed sense of connection and be able to re-prioritise what is important in life as a result.’ Please continue to check in on the elderly, shop for the less able and share whatever you can with your neighbours in need. In a time of crisis, a little kindness goes a long way.
If you have more #Joyinthetimeofquarantine tips we would love to hear them.
We leave you with a few more heartwarming stories HERE. Stay safe.
Alexia Economou is a design and culture journalist, and regular TNMA contributor @thedesignfeedTW
Discussion (14 Comments)
Kate says:
Thanks for these links. Started my day in Reno, NV USA with the Royal Academy of Dance Silver Swan mini workout. I hope they film more! Do note that my barre was my kitchen counter and my IPad stand collapsed mid class and sent my favorite nearby vintage tea cup crashing to the ground-shattered bone China all over! After a quick pause for a clean up, I finished and am ready to start the day with a positive attitude despite the loss of my cup! Ha ha.
Quarantine is the perfect time to unleash your inner ballerina.
Stay healthy and happy That’s Not My Agers!Anna says:
I’ve been doing ballet, too, Kate!
And the National Theatre (NT Live)are delivering a play a week – a new one on Thursday nights. This week it’s One Man, Two Guv’nors.Wow! That’s a wonderful gift to theater lovers! I’m in the US and we have season tix to touring Broadway shows – missing it terribly so will get fix with Mr Corden-adore him. Thanks for the tip! ( The Broadway channel is doing something similar – free access for 8 days.)
Lois says:
So pleased to have the link for Silver Swans. I’ve looked for a class but the only convenient one locally clashed with another course I was already enrolled on. I can now look forward to becoming a mature ballerina!
Dance is proving to be a life saver for me, that and my local Buddhist community. Chanting each morning followed by one of a number of on-line classes (thank you for the Silver Swans link) sets me up for the day. If you haven’t discovered GaGa Dance yet then it’s worth exploring with an open mind. To me it’s a totally different way of approaching movement and so full of joy. Livestreamed classes from Tel Aviv and New York with hundreds of participants end with all the mikes unmuted and we get to here voices from all over the globe and the sweaty smiling faces of those who have found some joy, even if it’s only for a few minutes – magical!
Sushy Anwar says:
Thank you Alyson for keeping us all upto speed and keeping us uplifted. It feels despite the immense loneliness (have bedd ExN self isolating for past week now!) I have a huge community to fall back on.
Thank you for keeping me sane.Maisie says:
Baking. baking and more baking ! And then lots of dancing to burn off the calories ! Also thanks for the above suggestions.
Kim says:
Excellent suggestions but I’m finding I’m filling my time quite nicely at present. How well that will continue is debatable so I’ll bookmark this post!
maudie says:
Thanks Alsyon. To be honest I have had a bit of a ‘wobble’ today and felt sad and peculiar. Self-indulgent and selfish but I just could not shake off said wobble. Just reading your blog and knowing that we are ‘all in the same boat’ is reassuring and so I have pulled myself together, counted my blessings and making a mental list of new things to do, learn, practice and enjoy for the next week. Taking each week at a time. Keep posting. Keep keeping us sane. Love to all TNMA’s. x
I think everyone would agree this week has been harder, Maudie. And it’s OK to have a wobble, this is an extraordinary situation we’re going through and we will feel anxious and panicky at times. Taking each week (day, even?) at a time sounds like a good plan. Stay safe and sane.
Thanks Alyson. One day at a time! Today the sun is shining brightly and it is warm. I can actually HEAR the birds singing in the garden without the din of the traffic roaring outside in SE London, my garden is waking up in the warmth. I have managed to order some dried yeast online! I have Face-timed my beautiful daughter and grandchildren in Cornwall. (I NEARLY cracked how to thread my bloody sewing machine!). Today All is Well. I spoke (2m apart) to my neighbour who had her ‘wobble’ last Thursday and was tearful all day. This is a new one for all of us and I am sure that it will end and, perhaps, we shall have all learned something quite profound from it. I pray (metaphorically, as a non-denominational, not quite sure what I believe in person) for everyone to come out unscathed although I know that cannot happen. To live One Day at a Time with Hope.
Step says:
My garden has never looked so weed free and all the untidy kitchen drawers are beckoning. I also plan to finish sewing the button holes on a denim coat I started a year ago. I do work in the NHS and it is very hard at the moment, but all these mundane tasks at home make it more bearable. I mean to learn to solve cryptic crosswords from articles found in the Sunday Telegraph, something I’ve always wanted to be able to do and to attend my weekly Pilates class on Zoom if I can install it. Silver Swans sounds wonderful – thankyou for mentioning it. We will get through this.
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Thanks for this host of suggestions. While researching online Visual Arts while all the museums and galleries of the world are tight shut, for how knows how long, I’ve come up with some practical art stuff to do on ones own or with younger family members. A great resource is the Tate Kids section of the Tate.org website. I’m going to dust off my art materials and get going on some of their ideas.
Today I attended a Zoom mending workshop, Japanese Style, in my front room. Something organised by Toast. These are always sold out in real life so it was a big treat. And rather than testing these techniques for patching I took notes but inspired by chatting to the instructor Molly Martin I plan my own mending sessions. What I took away ? Do it by hand silently armed with a needle and thread in a mindful way. No buzzing of a sewing machine. Mistakes are fine. It’s not an exercise in perfectionism. Enjoy the process. Well put.