Stay home, stay happy

For many of us, the past few days have been an unsettling and anxious time.

We all want to keep ourselves, our families and our communities as safe and well as possible, which means it’s important to follow the Government’s advice when it comes to social distancing.

However, limiting social contact can have a big effect on our moods, so it’s more important than ever for us to stay connected and share tips and tricks for looking after our wellbeing when we're at home, whether you’re working, spending more time with family, or simply looking after yourself.

Stay connected

This is one of the most important things you can do to make sure you don’t get too lonely while you’re at home.

Modern technology has loads of great tools for all of us right now. If you’re working from home, make an effort to call your colleagues to chat through ideas and tasks, rather than sending an email. If you're using any kind of video chat, turn on your camera! If we can see each other, it really helps us to feel like we’re staying connected.

Remember to use technology to stay in touch with your friends and loved ones too. Whether it’s arranging to have dinner dates over video calls, setting up virtual book groups, or using features like Netflix Party to watch films and TV together, there are lots of ways to spend time with the people who matter to you.

You can also stay connected to our wonderful Girlguiding community on social media. If your local area has a Facebook group for guiding volunteers, reach out and see how everyone is doing.

And you can count on us to be sharing lots of guiding content over the next few weeks – keep up with our updates in our Discover Grow email, and on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Take breaks

If you’re working from home, it can be easy for the boundaries between work and home to become blurred. If you can, find a comfortable space that’s relatively free of distractions and set it up as your work area.

When you are finished for the day, clear everything away, so you can focus on yourself without getting distracted by the latest email.

Make sure you also take regular breaks throughout the day! Make a point of stretching, getting up to make a cup of tea, and physically moving around during your day.

Stay active

While we do need to stay away from other people as much as possible, the Government have also said that it’s still important to exercise regularly.

As long as you keep a safe distance of about two metres from other people, you can still go out running, walking and cycling. There’s also a huge variety of home exercises to try for free on YouTube, including yoga and pilates. Or it could be as simple as having regular dance parties with the whole family at home! Whatever it is, put time in your schedule to do some sort of exercise every day.

Be kind to yourself

Although the coronavirus is affecting all of us, it will look different for everyone.

Many people are still having to go to work every day to make sure that the most vulnerable people are being looked after and have everything they need. Some of us are having to practice social distancing and self-isolation while living alone, which can be a big challenge. Whatever you are doing, make sure that you are taking the time to check in with yourself and your mental health.

Mind have made a great round-up of lots of great advice on how to take care of your wellbeing, as well as links to specific resources.

Simple things like reading a book, playing games with your family, baking, writing, gardening or crafting can help you to feel moments of joy, even when you’re anxious.

At Girlguiding, we’re working hard to find ways to enable you to continue to do what you love, and create amazing experiences for girls from home. Stay tuned for our updates, and tell us what you’re doing to stay healthy and happy.