Its been a very strange week as people adapt to staying, working, and learning from home.

I found it challenging at first as I was consumed with worrying about everyone and everything and felt desperate to do something useful to help.

I imagine many of us felt the same way and that the worry and uncertainty over the situation has been a real challenge for everyone.

However now as the week comes to an end, I have learnt to accept the situation for what it is. I have always been very grateful for everyone and everything in my life but never more than now. I have also accepted that I can only do what I can, and that small daily acts of kindness are something I can do.

I have also spoken to friends on the phone this week whom I haven’t spoken to properly in a while and enjoyed several zoom calls.

I am very grateful to the wonderful Bhavik Shah from Mindful Matters who set up and hosted a brilliant Zoom call for us all on Wednesday and gave a short talk on mindfulness. I know many people benefited from it and are booking on to his upcoming online Stress Reduction and Mindfulness course. Stress is very real for people now and how we respond to it can really help us to get through these challenging times. Please do click on the above link and contact him for more details.

Zoom is a brilliant way for people to connect so I am hoping that we will be able to continue to do this in the forthcoming weeks.

I am also hoping that through this we will be able to support each other to maintain our health and well-being. We have a real responsibility to take care of our health now more than ever to prevent us from putting any further strain on the struggling NHS.

We might not have access to our usual exercise classes in the community, but what many of us will have is a bit more time. This could be a real opportunity for people to reflect on and make healthier lifestyle choices. I wrote myself a little chart this week based on Dr Chatterjee’s feel better in 5 plan and was delighted when I spoke to a friend that she had done the same. The concept is to spend 5 minutes a day on something that will maintain your mental health, 5 minutes on your physical health and 5 minutes on your heart (social connections)

I am 4 days in and already feeling the benefits. So, the aim of the weekly zoom call will be to connect people but also for people to support each other to make healthy choices, whatever that looks like to them. I have learnt so much from all the guests at the supper club, as people share their stories and experiences, and I’d love to replicate that as much as possible via the weekly call.

So, if you would like to connect with other like-minded people and maintain or make healthy changes, please do join us on our weekly zoom as we ‘Feel Better Together,’ through these different times.