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.

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