Minding your mental health and tackling boredom & loneliness
Covid-19 has meant that much of our daily lives have been disrupted and the weekly routine that most of us rely on from day-to-day has been whipped out from underneath us in a short space of time. Although a break from routine can be enjoyable at times, it can also be unsettling and trigger a lot of mental health issues.
Luckily, there are lots of resources available to keep us busy at this time and many of them are free! Why not explore a museum you’ve never been to, try a yoga or meditation class or get coding, writing or learning a new language.
Below is a list of resources we’ve put together to cure boredom, ignite inspiration and restore routine so that we can start to feel a little more normal again in this highly abnormal situation.
Culture and Arts
- Take a virtual tour of 12 famous museums here
- Catch a performance at the Digital Concert Hall at the Berliner Philharmoniker.
- If you don’t already have one, sign up for a library card online and get access to books, films, magazine and loads more through Libraries Ireland
- Explore online audio books, e-books and movies on Open Culture.
- Access lots of free book titles on Many Books.
- Visit the Frida Kahlo museum at her old home, La Casa Azul, in Mexico City.
Health and Wellbeing
- Many of the Yoga Hub teachers are now offering their classes for free including: The Flow Tribe, Elisa Loves Yoga and Kevin Boyle.
- Yoga with Adrienne is a great resource to get into the habit of practicing yoga, no matter what your experience.
- Glo Yoga and Meditation offers a range of different classes provided by different instructors.
- An array of consciousness raising materials can be found on Gaia
- A number of guided meditations and dharma talks can be found here by Tara Brach
Michael Stone, Ram Dass and Jack Kornfield
- 8 Fit is an excellent fitness app that offers specifically tailored work-out regimes.
- Open Health have collated a list of Mental Health Supports.
Education and Development
- Coursera offers a range of free courses, certificates and degrees that can be done online.
- At Future Learn you can learn new skills, keep studying and connect with experts.
- The European Commission are offering a number of Coronavirus: Online Learning Resources for leaners and teachers during the outbreak.
- Shaw Academy also offer a range of online courses.
- Life Hack has out together an extensive list of educational resources here.
Resources for Children
- Whole Child Counselling has put together a list of Coronavirus Resources for kids, parents and educators.
- NPR have put together a comic book for kids about the corona virus.
- Scoilnet is the official portal for Irish schools and offers a range of resources and activities based on the curriculum.
- Twinkl is an educational resource that is being offered to students at this time.
- Dabledoo Music is offering a month’s free access for parents.
- Go Noodle offer movement and mindfulness videos for children created by child development experts.
- Magic Muinteoir keeps a blog about everything school-related offering tips and activities for this time at home.
- Microsoft Make Code and Code Club are handy resources for kids interested in maths, technology and computers.
- Write Reader is a tool allowing children to create and write books (offering a free trial to write one book).
- Free Kids Crafts has lots of arts and crafts ideas.
- Language Lizard offers a number of multicultural lesson plans.
You can also find another
extensive list of free supports and services here.