During this unprecedented time in all of our lives, it is important now more than ever, to stay positive while staying safe at home. Below are just a few ideas and examples to help you stay busy and maintain a healthy, happy lifestyle.
Stay home, stay safe and stay positive!
Practice Self Care
Photo by Fabian Møller on Unsplash
Take care of yourself mentally and physically. Here are some helpful local Asheville and Western NC online yoga and meditation classes:
Get started with Asheville Community Yoga's library of online classes.
Here are several free guided meditation and yoga videos from Namaste In Nature that focus on boosting the immune system and releasing stress.
Get Outside and Play
Photo by MI PHAM on Unsplash
Get outside, while being careful to stay away from others. Even health experts tell us it’s good to be outside during this time as long as you are able to still practice social distancing. Getting outside may simply mean opening the back door or walking or riding your bikes to the nearest patch of green!
Here are some great ideas and activities from our local Asheville Museum of Science: https://ashevillescience.org/education/daily-science/!
Sing Your Heart Out
Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash
Asheville Community Theatre has a great Facebook Watch Party going every weeknight!
"We are LOVING all the posts tagged #ACTHappyHour and we want you to keep 'em coming!
Here's how to play:
1 - Post a video of yourself singing a song that makes you happy!
2 - Challenge THREE friends to do the same!
3 - Tag the video #ACTHappyHour (and make sure your audience settings are set to public)
4 - Join us at 5:00 pm M-F for a watch party!"
https://www.facebook.com/AshevilleCommunityTheatre/posts/10156973039890849.
Dance Like No One is Watching
Photo by Ahmad Odeh on Unsplash
You don't have to worry about who is watching you or what they think when you're at home, so dance any way you want!
Check out our local Asheville Music Scene from the comfort of your home with the Quarantine Concert Series by IAMAVL and the Orange Peel. They are providing live virtual performances when available and have a great collection of pre-recorded local music too!
Here are some more pre-recorded live concerts on youtube to keep you going: https://www.timeout.com/london/news/the-best-live-concerts-to-watch-on-youtube-031820.
Learn to Play An Instrument
Photo by Kristijan Arsov on Unsplash
Now could be the perfect time to learn a new instrument!
Fender is offering 3 months of free guitar, bass, and ukulele lessons, check out the details below.
PLAY THROUGH. PLAY ON.
We’re blown away by the overwhelming response to our 3-month offer for free guitar, bass, and ukulele lessons. It’s clear we need music more than ever.
So, we’re keeping it going and extending the offer to the first 500,000 who sign up for Fender Play. There’s no cost. No catch. Just music.
Read More: https://try.fender.com/play/playthrough/.
Get Artsy
Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash
Creating something new can be a great form of stress-relief! You don't have to try, just have FUN! Art can be anything you want it to be, you can let your imagination run wild and there are endless mediums to work with.
Science: Making Art Reduces Stress (Even If You're Terrible at It)
Even off-key warbling and wonky stick figures help lower stress, a new study shows.
As bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert has pointed out, there's no such thing as an uncreative person -- if you're alive, you're creative. Yet as we grow up into serious adults, many of us stop engaging in the creative pursuits we enjoyed when we were younger. Why is that?
For plenty of people, the answer is shame. With mature eyes we realize that we're simply not very good at drawing, or painting, or playing the guitar, and it seems like the sensible thing to do is to just give these hobbies up.
But if that sounds like you, you really need to check out recent research out of Drexel University (hat tip to lifehacker for the pointer) that proves the inability to draw a convincing smiley face is no reason to stop drawing or painting. Even terrible art has strong stress-busting effects.
Play with Your Pets
Photo by Karolina Wv on Unsplash
Pets are so fun in so many ways and especially beneficial during tough times because they tend to find ways to make you smile when you're down! Play dress up, fetch, teach them new tricks and more!
Check out some great ideas here: https://www.puppyleaks.com/easy-ways-to-keep-your-dog-busy-indoors/.
Take a Virtual Field Trip to the Zoo
Photo by Archie Fantom on Unsplash
NC Zoo offers virtual field trips during coronavirus pandemic
Starting this week, zookeepers will host educational lectures on Facebook Live every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 a.m. On its Facebook page, the zoo said its presentations are appropriate for animal lovers of all ages.
Even if you miss the live version, you can still check out the videos afterward: https://www.facebook.com/nczoo/.
Here are even more virtual visit opportunities: Zoos around the world are live-streaming penguins, pandas and beluga whales!
Take a Virtual Tour of a Museum
Photo by Alina Grubnyak on Unsplash
Our local Asheville Art Museum has a lot of great virtual opportunities to interact with them!
Museum From Home
Until we reopen to Members and visitors, we invite you to explore the different ways we can bring the Museum experience to you!
Explore the Collection and exhibitions virtually on our website.
Get to know our staff and volunteers, take deeper dives into artwork with our Works of the Week, and more on the Museum blog.
Relive the grand reopening parties, check out artist interviews, and learn about the history of Pack Square on our YouTube channel.
Play “I Spy” with your kids using artwork from our Collection.
Color our Collection (kids and adults) with downloadable coloring sheets and note cards.
We’ll update this page with virtual tours, children’s activities, and more, as we continue to develop content to provide inspiration, calm, comfort, and yes, even some fun during this unprecedented time.
Read More: https://www.ashevilleart.org/museum-from-home/
Get Your Shakespeare Fix
Photo by Elaine Howlin on Unsplash
Watch every single one of Shakespeare’s plays
Cut through the gloom with the words of a man who knew a thing or two about plagues: Mr William Shakespeare. ‘The Show Must Go Online’ is a digital project led by classical actor and director Robert Myles that aims to bring The Bard’s words to life by reading them out loud at a time when conventional live performance is verboten. Professional actors and experienced amateurs are invited to sign up to do a weekly reading, and the public can follow along on YouTube. They’re going through all his plays from A to Z.
Also don't miss this!
Shakespearean Sir Patrick Stewart’s pledge to recite all of Shakespeare’s sonnets, one each day, on his Instagram account.
Take an Online Course
Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash
Get smart with a free, online Ivy League course
Why not use all that time we usually spend socializing to learn something new? And you might as well learn from the best, we say. The eight Ivy League colleges across the US – Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale – are offering 450 free online courses that are just the right amount of challenging to take our minds off the current state of affairs.
Another free online learning option is Coursera, there are tons of free online courses here too!
Still want more ideas?
Here are 50; some of which were included in this post, but not all.