Self Care & Wellness

As of 2/20/21

Undoubtedly this time will be stressful for many, with limited access to friends and family members and the global situation changing on a daily basis. Here are some strategies we can use to help minimize our stress during this time!

• Keep in touch with friends and family! Remember, everyone’s in this together. Touch base regularly with family through phone calls, free video chat platforms, or even video games.
  • Have virtual happy hours with your friends and other WFH colleagues.
  • Try to find fun things to do over video chat: 
    • 8 Online Games for Teams in the COVID-19 Era 
    • 5 Games to Play on Video Chat During Quarantine
    • COVID-19 survival: Games to play during social distancing  

• Use this time to learn stress management techniques
  • Meditation- try apps such as Calm, Headspace, Insight Timer
    • Headspace provides free guided-meditations: https://www.headspace.com/covid-19
  • Podcasts such as Meditative story and Anxiety Slayer
  • Yoga
  • Journaling
  • Crafting- painting, drawing
  • Books: Many public libraries are closed, but if you have a library card, you can access free digital books, audiobooks, and magazines at https://www.overdrive.com/apps/libby/

• Limit unnecessary exposure to the news.
  • Unfollow the unnecessary news accounts on Instagram, Twitter, and the like. Staying informed is important, try to limit news to once daily, for example, either in the morning or evening. A good way to do this is to ask your “hey google” or “Alexa” to update you on the news to get a rundown of the latest headlines without feeling overwhelmed. Additionally, make sure you are getting your news from reliable sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or World Health Organization (WHO) or this guide!

As of 2/20/21

• Gyms are open in DC, Maryland and Virginia with capacity limits. Check online at your local gym’s website.

Try creative alternatives to fitness routines! The alternatives include body weight exercises, using household items as weights, yoga, and dancing to name a few.

• If it is safe and feasible, exercising outdoors (walking, hiking, biking) while maintaining 6ft of distance from others is a great way to keep moving
  • See the CDC recommendations on safe fitness activities: Participate in Outdoor and Indoor Activities.

• Many gyms and exercise studios, including locally owned gyms in the DC area, are offering free online workouts that anyone can access. You do not need workout equipment to complete these exercises. 

• Click this link for a list of free movement resources available online!

Here are some online recommendations:

• Urban Boxing DC is offering free online workouts.
• Bluebird Sky Yoga is streaming both free and for-purchase classes.
• 202Strong is a DC area fitness group that is live streaming free daily workouts.
• Peloton has extended its free trial offer to 90 days. Spinning/workout equipment not needed.
• OrangeTheory is uploading free daily 30-minute workout videos to its YouTube channel.
• 24GO Fitness app contains on-demand workouts and premium content for free
• CorePower Yoga has a series of YouTube videos from 2020  of at-home follow-along workouts.
• Nike has made all Nike Training Club Premium workouts free.

• Many Youtube channels provide quality free content 
  • BodyFit by Amy has a series of workouts ranging from 5-45 minutes and has multiple categories including kettlebell, bodyweight, and dumbbells.

Try something new and support a small business!

• Many local dance and martial arts studios need your support to survive the pandemic.
  • Dance Place
    • A community Dance Hub in Northeast DC that offers virtual dance classes for adults and children
    • Styles include: modern dance, African dance, hip-hop dance, creative movement, tumbling, tap dance, ballet and other dance forms
  • Capoeira DC
    • a black-owned academy for practicing Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian dance/martial-art
    • Offers online Zoom classes.

As of 2/20/21

• Grocery Shopping Safety:
  • Limit your trips to the grocery store by taking advantage of online grocery shopping services or outdoor farmers markets. However, if you do go, make sure to use disinfecting wipes on shopping carts, maintain a safe distance between yourself and other shoppers, avoid touching your face and unnecessary items in the grocery, and wear a mask or double mask if possible. Lastly, be sure to wash your hands with warm soap and water for a full 20 seconds before AND after you shop! 
  • Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that handling food/groceries is associated with COVID-19. The risk of getting sick from COVID-19 from eating or handling food is considered by the CDC to be very low.

• There are many outdoor Farmers Markets across the DC area that allow for a safer, COVID-friendly grocery shopping experience while also contributing to local small businesses.
  • A list of open Farmers Markets run by the non-profit FRESHFARM can be found here and you can learn more about their COVID-19 safety measures here.

• Cooking at Home:
  • Make an inventory of what you already have at home. Use recipe builders such as Supercook where you can plug in the ingredients you already have at home to make creative, yummy meals!
  • Avoid overeating. Being at home all day within walking distance of the kitchen can make overeating and snacking tempting. Try to keep to your regular eating habits during this time.
  • Miss dinner parties with friends? 
    • There are a lot of great free resources out there to keep cooking. See what others around the world are cooking during the pandemic:
      • Self-Quarantine Recipes – NYT Cooking 
      • What America Is Cooking During Coronavirus
      • The 10 Most Popular Instagram Recipes Since Coronavirus Lockdown
      • Recipes and Meal Plans for Cooking During the Coronavirus Era
      • smitten kitchen – Fearless cooking from a tiny NYC kitchen.
      • Budget Bytes – Delicious Recipes Designed for Small Budgets

• Host virtual cooking parties:
  1.  Share a recipe with your friends prior to the virtual cooking party
  2. Buy the ingredients and make sure your friends do too
  3. Meet on Zoom or another video chat application and chat while you follow the recipe steps.
  4. Compare dishes and cooking strategies
  5. Enjoy the yummy food that you cooked with friends!

• Restaurant Dining:
  • With many restaurants beginning to open up, eating at home or getting take-out are much safer options and will lower your chance of being exposed to COVID-19. If you are going to a restaurant, make sure they are following safety protocols and try to sit at an outdoor table rather than inside the restaurant: http://www.emro.who.int/nutrition/nutrition -infocus/nutrition-advice-for-adults-during-the-covid-19-outbreak.html
• Nutritional Impact on COVID-19:
  • Diets high in saturated fats, sugars, and refined carbohydrates contribute to the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes, which could place individuals at an increased risk for COVID-19 long-term complications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih .gov/pmc/articles/PMC7165103/

As of 2/20/21

• We are entering a new phase of the pandemic as vaccine distribution accelerates.
  • Mask wearing and social distancing in public settings is still necessary to stop community spread and end the pandemic as soon as possible
    • CDC guidelines on facemasks: Improve How Your Mask Protects You 
    • The CDC still recommends social distancing by at least 6 feet when indoors and outdoors with people outside your immediate household. 
      • Practice Social Distancing 
• Communicate often and safely with loved ones.
  • Online video platforms such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, Skype, and HouseParty can allow you to stay connected with family and friends, even if you cannot see them physically. 
    • You can find a list of video chat platforms here.
• Tips for working from home
  • How to Work From Home
    1. Get dressed for the day
    2. Find a space away from your bed to work
    3. Set goals at the start of each day 
    4. IIf you have trouble staying focused, try the Pomodoro technique. Forest is also a great app to help you avoid social media when you’re supposed to be working.
• Get together with friends for a socially distanced hang-out such as an outdoor picnic, bike ride, or a trip to the farmer’s market!
  • Communicate your most recent COVID-19-test status and vaccination status with your friends and/or family before meeting up.
  • Make sure you maintain at least 6 feet distance as much as possible and wear facemasks indoors and in public.

As of 02/20/21

• Take the time to explain COVID-19 to your children in a way that is easy for them to understand. Here is a comic that explains coronavirus to kids. 
• Reassure your children if they are upset. Let them know that it is okay to feel scared, but that they are safe and loved. Sharing your own feelings with children can be a great way to help them cope.
• Try to create a regular routine. Making a schedule that has time for education, as well as fun activities, can be helpful.
• CDC resources on Helping Children Cope with Emergencies

As of 2/20/21

• Headspace, a popular mindfulness and guided meditation app (available for both iOS and Android) has helped many healthcare workers cope with the COVID-19 related stress and trauma.
• Calm is a company and app that offers free resources, including a stress management workbook to help counterbalance stress.
• Ask for help if you are feeling overwhelmed 
• Make time for yourself and your family 
• Learn to recognize the signs of burnout (depression, irritability, sadness, disconnection from others)
• Emergency responder tips for taking care of yourself: https://emergency.cdc.gov/coping/responders.asp
• How to cope with stress as a healthcare worker during COVID-19: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/mental-health-healthcare.html
• Tufts has published a list of mental health resources for healthcare workers: https://www.medicalmentalhealth.com/ 
• Resource for dealing with ethical dilemmas during COVID-19: https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/covid-19-ethics-resource-center
• Treat yourself! Mezeh Mediterranean Grill is offering free meals, just DM them on Instagram! See all of the other amazing deals for healthcare workers here: https://www.averagesocialite.com/average-socialite/2020/4/1/perks-for-covid-19-healthcare-workers