Feest Isolation Days – 23 March 2020
DAY NINE
Madness! That was the headline in one of today’s papers with a picture of throngs of people out and about in the spring sunshine as though the world hasn’t changed. The government here has tried to warn everyone about what’s coming and how to best avoid it and protect the NHS and protect lives, but many people still haven’t got the message. A crackdown is sure to come sooner rather than later. Here in Bristol there are now twenty confirmed cases of the disease.
Terry and I are going nowhere. We have wonderful neighbours. Yesterday, the little daughter of a family we barely know dropped a bunch of daffodils on our doorstep. Sweet! Thank you to Jenny for her kindness. As it was Mothers Day here, it was especially poignant.
We are fortunate to have a garden and that marvellous swing at the end of it where we can sit in the sunshine and enjoy the flowers that are springing up all over. My daily walks are a thing of the past as I don’t intend to flout the important advice we’ve been given. So exercise has taken on a different form. My exercise bike has become a daily must. It overlooks the garden and when the weather warms up I might even pop it on the lawn for a change of scene. I can hear Terry groan at that idea. Pop it? This heavy thing that has to be lugged and tugged to even move in the room it’s in. We shall see. A nice long spell of good weather and who knows? It might just find a place to sit for a bit outside.
The other real workout possibility in this house are the stairs. There are dozens of them! Going up and down from top to bottom for a few minutes gets the heart pumping and the legs stretched. Who needs the (now closed) gym. I never used anything but the pool there anyway, so who am I kidding?
There is also my friend David Procyshyn who delivers a fantastic yoga class. I’ve been doing this particular one for years and can highly recommend it. If this one isn’t for you there are dozens of others on the website. I invited David to the UK awhile back because I so liked what he was doing but he has a family with young kids so that wasn’t possible. He has a lovely reassuring voice. You CAN do this!
A self isolation expert has given us some welcome advice that we might all consider. Wait a minute, self isolation expert? How do you become one of those? (Do what the government says and we’ll all find out?) Or, alternatively, spend a year on the international space station! Scott Kelly has been to space on many missions and written extensively of his time there. He recently shared his top tips for thriving in isolation in a piece in the New York Times.
Top of his list is to make a schedule.
I don’t know about you, but mine will not include a walk in space on Wednesday for eight hours, or any other day of the week for that matter. Following a schedule and maintaining a routine helps individuals and families to plan. Pace yourself though and make sure you have fun and enjoyable things on your list. He said he really missed having a schedule when he dropped back down to earth.
Spend time in nature if you can…
but stay six feet apart if you venture out. Can’t imagine that was a problem on those space walks, but it remains a huge problem here! If you live, as some of my friends do, in apartments with no visible trees or plants or even sky and stars, play recordings of birds, water, and other soothing sounds of nature. In space,Scott played the sound of mosquitoes which I consider a step too far but he so convinced himself that they were with him he found himself swatting them away.
Find a hobby.
The first thing he mentions is find a real book. I never think of reading as a hobby but as a part of life, but the important issue is make it a real book with pages you turn and no pinging from a recently arrived email, or notification that something else awful has happened in the world which you really must attend to now. Keep turning the pages. Let the book carry you away and you too might end up in space one day…I can imagine one of my great nephews might! Learn to play an instrument, or sing – join more than 45 million others and watch an astronaut’s tribute to David Bowie at the end of this post.
Consider writing a journal
– it’s a great way to express all those feelings that you’re having.
Listen to the experts.
They know what they are talking about.
Take time to connect with others
– use phones, skype, letters, shout out the window whatever is required.
The last words today are from Scott. “Seen from space, the Earth has no borders. The spread of the coronavirus is showing us that what we share is much more powerful than what keeps us apart, for better or for worse. All people are inescapably interconnected, and the more we can come together to solve our problems, the better off we will all be.”
With Love
Kathyx
Watch this. Chris Hadfield, an astronaut colleague of Scott Kelly ,
made from space this Tribute to David Bowie
Yoga Website
https://www.doyogawithme.com/content/deep-release-hips-hamstrings-and-lower-back