Life Beyond Coronavirus #1: Staying Healthy
As we’re all asked to stay at home, we’re aiming to keep your spirits up so you can stay as healthy, happy, and motivated as possible as we adjust to the situation. Each week we’ll be putting together some non-coronavirus news for everyone and compiling some tips and tricks for keeping yourself occupied at home. So look out for our Life Beyond Coronavirus blog series!
Tips and Tricks
This week our focus will be on staying healthy. Obviously the most important things we can do to stay healthy continue to be washing our hands, keeping our homes clean and staying at home. But while most of us remain confined to our houses for the foreseeable future there’s other ways we need to think about our physical and mental wellbeing.
1. Have a routine
The most important thing you can do while studying or working from home is to stick to a routine. Get up on time each morning and get dressed and ready as you would normally do for a day at university or work.
We all know that student accommodation without desks can make studying at home difficult, but if you can, try and set aside an area that’s for work, either by finally cleaning that kitchen table, or making sure you make your bed and sit at the end of it, rather than by your pillows so you’re less tempted to lie down.
2. Go outside (if you can)
If you’re not self-isolating, you can still go for a walk or run outside once a day. Here’s some good running or walking routes around Leeds. But if you just want a short break, a walk around the block will still get you up and out and give you some fresh air and time away from roommates or family.
3. Exercise inside
If you are self-isolating or can’t get outside, there’s a lot that you can do inside! There’s some good tips available online about making a homemade gym. But if that’s not for you, simply doing some stretches or yoga in your room can also be a good way to make sure you keep moving while self-isolating.
4. Take care of your mental wellbeing
This is an important time to take care of your mental well being. Mind has a detailed page on dealing with anxiety related to coronavirus, as well as tips on managing self-isolation. You can also check out this other blog post from LUU.
Keeping up social contact online is really important, so arranging things like Skype dinners and online hangouts with friends is vital for staying connected!
Positive News
Here’s a small selection of non-coronavirus-related positive news stories to keep you looking up!
Take a look at new legislation aiming to tackle the amount of waste produced by businesses.
This is an interesting initiative looking at social prescriptions in healthcare.
And last, but not least, New Zealand passed a law decriminalising abortion this month.
What’s On(line) at LUU?
We haven’t stopped! Here are some fun things that are being organized online.
English Soc has a list of book recommendations here.
The Health and Wellbeing Team has a weekly “Dose of Happy” Newsletter you can sign up to here.
LUU has a COVID-19 Community Group on Facebook so you can keep up with everything that’s going on!
