YANA™ Active: Keeping Active during Covid-19 pandemic

 

Keeping yourself active during the Covid-19 pandemic!

In this piece, we hope to give you some ideas of things you can do to keep yourself occupied during the current coronavirus pandemic, whilst safely keeping a distance from others to avoid the spread of the virus. 

 

It’s March 2020, the world feels like it is falling on its’ knees as the Coronavirus pandemic escalates.

While the world is slowing down and things are changing drastically, if you’re self-isolating and still well, there’s nothing to stop you still working towards your goals and keeping active; both physically and mentally.

The prospect of social distancing and self-isolation due to the global pandemic is understandably causing some serious concerns, however there are so many things you can do to restore a little normality back into your daily routine. You could use this time to do things you’ve been meaning to do, helping and supporting those around you or working towards your long-term goals.

Here are a few things that we’ve been doing to help with self-isolation and some things we’ve seen that are happening across the country.

At home workouts

Some of the most elite gyms and fitness trainers are offering home workout videos for free, Barry’s Bootcamp, Peloton, Bradley Simmonds, Women’s Health Magazine, Joe Wicks and many more are posting daily workout videos or hosting live living room style videos. The aim is to keep moving and keep fit, it’s so easy to become complacent and sit on the sofa watching TV. 30-minute workouts can help boost your mood, give you some energy and help keep you in shape! Check out our YANA Instagram for some HIIT workouts that you can adapt for a home workout.

Helping vulnerable members of society

If you’re fit and healthy, and able to get to a supermarket (given that the UK doesn’t go into a full lockdown), why not see if someone who is affected by the virus needs support? Age UK estimates that the UK has over 12 million people over the age of 65 [1] and the UK Government highlights these people as some of the most vulnerable members of our society. You don’t need to have face to face contact to help someone.

Why not make a few flyers with your phone number on and offer someone who is self-isolating an option to speak to someone to bridge their loneliness? Why not put a post on Instagram or Facebook offering help with shopping or walking dogs for those who can’t get out? We’re all in this together and it’s important for the healthy members of society to help and support the more vulnerable members in any way we can, just at a safe distance.

Reading

How many books are on your bookshelf that you’ve yet to read? Go and count, we’ll wait…

Why not this time to engross yourself in a gripping thriller, a romantic novel or a smart business book? Here’s are 10 books across a variety of genres we’ve read, love and would recommend!

  • A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini
  • From Good to Amazing: No Bullshit Tips for the Life You Always Wanted – Michael Serwa
  • Gold Rush – Jim Richards
  • Everything I know about Love – Dolly Alderton
  • Amazons: The Real Warrior Women of the Ancient World – John Man
  • Shoe Dog – Phil Knight
  • The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • The Magic of Thinking Big – David Schwartz PhD
  • The Spy and the Traitor – Ben Macintyre
  • Spitfire Stories – Jacky Hyams

Business planning

“A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.”  Greg S. Reid. 

Have you always had an idea you’ve thought could turn into a viable business but not enough time to put pen to paper? You could use the time to start researching the market, designing your product range or service, looking for suppliers and getting things in order. The hardest part is always getting started but using the time you have to spend indoors could help you make a good start.

Hobbies

If there’s a hobby you’re good at, why not help others learn how to do it or get them interested in it? If you’re a music teacher, why not do a live video of you giving a tutorial to those who can’t make it to their lessons? If you can knit, why not film a video of a simple knitting pattern that creates something useful that others could easily follow? If you’re a personal trainer, do a home workout and share it with your friends and family to help them keep moving! Whatever your hobby is, someone, somewhere will be interested in the same thing – you never know, you might make a new friend out of it!

Learn a language

How about spending some time learning a new language? Languages are a fantastic way to connect with people from a different part of the world, opening you up to new cultures. Apps like Duolingo and Babbel can help you learn the basics of a new language relatively easily, allowing you to practice pronunciation and spelling to test your knowledge.

‘Kim and Aggie’ your home and garden

Why not use this time to sort through your personal items, cupboards and drawers. Take each room at a time and make piles of items; keep, recycle or charity shop. You could clear out your wardrobe and give it a new life by sorting it into different garment types or colours, helping you to easily choose an outfit when it’s finally time to go out into the world again. You could also use your time to sort through any photographs you may have, put them in frames, on the wall or in albums to be reminded of happier times. If you're lucky enough to have a garden, spend sometime getting rid of weeds, planting some new seeds and doing a spot of general tidying up. Just wait and watch your garden bloom into a beautiful space! 

There are so many things we can do during the coming months to make it more bearable for ourselves and each other. Stay positive, keep yourselves busy but in a way that keeps yourself and more importantly others safe. The sooner we adhere to the Government advice and do our individual part to help society, the sooner we will all be out of this unprecedented time.

Please send us a message via social media if you need some support or just someone to talk to!

Love, YANA x

p.s. Kim and Aggie – please tell us you remember the TV programme ‘How Clean is Your House’?!!

p.p.s. don’t forget to wash your hands!!

 

 

[1] Age UK: Later Life in the United Kingdom report, 2019.

 

 

Leave a comment

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published