How to Stay Home
How you can help fight coronovirus
We can all help control the virus if we all stay alert. This means you must:
- stay at home as much as possible
- work from home if you can
- limit contact with other people
- keep your distance if you go out (2 metres apart where possible)
- wash your hands regularly
Do not leave home if you or anyone in your household has symptoms.
Staying at home - Activities
Staying at home and limiting social contact can be difficult. Here are some ideas to help you keep active, fit and healthy when staying at home.
Let's all look after our physical and mental health at this time, and look out for others.
Change4Life
Need some inside inspiration for keeping kids active? Staying safe at home can be challenging, especially keeping the kids entertained. Change4Life have got some fun Disney-inspired games, tasty snacking ideas plus mental wellbeing support to help keep everyone happy and healyth.
Libraries
Our libraries subscribe to a number of online resources. These are available to library ticket holders of any library in Southend-on-Sea, including e-books, audio books, e-magazines and e-comics.
Yoga
If you have access to YouTube there are many yoga class videos you can watch and do, as if you were in a class.
We've put a few in a playlist to start you off. If you have others you enjoy, do share their details with friends, family and neighbours.
If you prefer to start with a few beginner poses, The Yoga Journal has the basics to get your started.
Low impact exercise
The NHS website has a good section on low impact exercises you can do at home to keep your body in good health.
These include:
Sport England has great advice on staying active when at home, with examples of exercises you can do in your lounge. These are for all fitness levels, and also include activities for people with a disability.
There's also a good section on exercising with children at home, incuding these dances from Disney.
Pilates
A local pilates instructor is going to be running online session on Tuesdays at 9.30am and 7.30pm, and Thursdays at 9.30am and 7.30pm.
Just download the Zoom app and you can join in from your home.
Baking
If you have the ingredients available, why not try a new recipe. Not only does it keep you busy, the smell of bread or a cake in the oven can help with happiness - almost as much as eating it afterwards!
We found recipes here for adults and families with young children to give you some inspiration:
Olive Magazine - baking recipes ready in under an hour
And here are a few of Mary Berry's easy bakes
Book clubs
There are lots of Facebook groups set up as book clubs, where you can find inspiration, discuss your favourite books and make new friends online.
There are also apps that give book recommendations, including Goodreads and Bookmojis. Look them up in your app store or on Google Play.
Why not host a Skype or Facetime book club with friends or family?
Online Book Groups for adults and children have been set up on Facebook by Southend Libraries.
uLIBRARY - Free access until July 31. Listen to 500 audiobooks from the comfort of your sofa with uLIBRARY! Register online, download the app and begin your literary journey in just 6 steps.
Theatre at home
Play bill have videos of theatrical performances of 15 Broadway musicals. From Billy Elliott to Cats and more, you can watch them from the comfort of your own lounge (where you can also sing along to help keep those spirits up)
Museums - virtual tours
When we can't visit a museum, sometimes they're brought to us, from all over the world.
Learn something new
Free doodle classes from Children's illustrator, Mo Willems are available online
Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favourite food. Set a challenge you enjoy achieving. Learning new things will make you more confident as well as being fun.
Do you need support?
Do keep in touch with friends and family members at this time, through social media or on the phone.
Staying at home can be difficult. If you feel you need extra support with your mental health, please do reach out to organisations who can help you. There is good information available on the MIND website.
There's plenty of advice on keeping up your activity levels, take a look at the following videos to help your emotional wellbeing:
5 minute meditation - The sense of being, or 'I am'
Seeing stress for what it is. This brief myth-busting video takes an alternative look at stress and how to handle it.
