Emma Madine, Critical Care Outreach Nurse

“I work in a large London hospital as a nurse on the critical care outreach team. This is a team of nurses and doctors who have expertise in caring for the most unwell patients in the hospital. We support the general wards when a patient is deteriorating and respond rapidly to help get the patient better. Critical care nursing is challenging and rewarding in equal amounts, I feel privileged that I have the skills to care for patients and their families at some of the most difficult times in their life.

The COVID-19 pandemic had brought with it new challenges, but I couldn't be prouder of our NHS family and my heart is bursting with the support we have received from the public.”

Exercise

Keeping our movement up is key whilst we are stuck in the house so our top 5 suggestions for how to maintain the recommended levels of movement are as follows:

Barry’s Bootcamp have taken their workouts online through Instagram Live with guest trainers guiding you through burpees, planks and squats. There’s no need for equipment. All exercises are body weight movements and you don’t need access to a treadmill. One of our extended Halpern family, Hayley Steinberg or @haylesbeth on Instagram, is a Barry's instructor and co-ordinator in Toronto and is posting live workouts every day at 3.45pm UK time. Check her out, she's badass.

For those of us who aren’t keen runners or have confidence in our ability to become a runner, we cannot recommend the NHS Choices, Couch to 5k app enough. The 9 week process literally does what it says on the tin and gets you running 5k confidently over that time. Each week you are encouraged to run three times and the app will talk you through what to do and build up the length of time you can run for, as you go. You’re told when to walk, when to run, how long for and running tips along the way. Trust us, even devout non-runners will be converted!

For a more relaxed workout, try Down Dog yoga workouts for free until the 1st May. There are classes for all abilities and healthcare professionals, students, teachers can get free access until the 1st of July. They also offer HIIT, Barre and the 7 minute workout too so there is lots of variety. Cycling fans need to download the Peloton App which is currently free for new users for 90 days. Peloton offer strength, bootcamps, meditation, yoga, and outdoor walking/running classes with no bike needed!

Lastly, if you just wana dance around your living room then check out Wollen Dance, they have a 14 day free trial and discount available if you wish to continue past this point. Dance styles include Latin, Hip Hop, Urban and Cardio Pop!

Mental Health

It’s important to look after our mental health as well as our physical fitness as so many of us are experiencing anxiety and concerns at this time. Our top suggestions are the following. Firstly, the Gratitude App: It’s free to use each day to log your daily gratitude and is an amazing way to stay positive and thankful for all the great things in our lives. Reminding ourselves regularly of the positives really makes you feel better.

Secondly, a previous Hotlist recommendation is the Calm App. You can sign up now for 30 days free and is the number 1 app for aiding sleep, meditation and relaxation.

Similar to Calm is the Insight Timer app which has 35,000 free guided meditations, podcasts and more across a variety of categories including sleep, reiki, anxiety, depression, stress and mindfulness.

Lastly, for anyone suffering from real anxiety about Covid-19 then we highly recommend looking at this Virus Anxiety website. They have compiled a wealth of research-backed and helpful tools for you—articles, meditations, access to mental health experts, anxiety screenings, and more. Think of Care For Your Coronavirus Anxiety as your mental health toolkit during this time.

Kids

The little ones need entertaining more than adults and there are reams of ideas flying around the internet on how to keep them busy, active and inspired. Our favourites however are:

Joe Wicks, OF COURSE. ‘P.E with Joe’ is his free daily workouts for children, via his YouTube channel and lots of parents are also doing it alongside them. Check out his YouTube channel here.

Cosmic Kids is free yoga for children, with interactive storytelling. They offer two weeks for free at the moment and the YouTube videos help children with self-regulation, focus and empathy.

Moving away from physical activity, how about encouraging your child to earn a Blue Peter Badge? Let’s be honest, we all want one now even as adults. The Blue Peter website has lots of suggestions for how they can earn one across categories including creativity, conservation, environment, music, sport and more.

Moving on to something for the budding artiste’s in your home, bestselling award-winning children's book author and illustrator Rob Biddulph is doing bi-weekly drawing classes on a Tuesday and Thursday where he teaches children how to draw some of his most popular characters.

Lastly, for any kids missing their birthday party, part host extraordinaires, Sharky and George, will host virtual interactive parties for them meaning they don’t have to miss out on their celebrations. One of the team will beam straight into your living room and run 45 minutes of fun and games for the children, pets, teddies and anyone else in the house.

Reading

Where to start eh?! Well, pick a book off your shelf that’s been sitting there for months and open page 1, that’s where. But if you want some new suggestions then our top literary choices would be:

Raven Smith’s book, Trivial Pursuits which is released on Thursday 2nd April, a hilarious, smart exploration of the minutiae of everyday modern life and culture that is totally unique and painfully relatable. With rave reviews from Dolly Alderton, Jonathan Ross, Pandora Sykes, Bella Mackie and more, it’s going to have us all laughing, especially considering the former Vogue columnist is quoted by many as the funniest person on Instagram.

Alex Shulman releases her new book towards the end of the month - ‘Clothes... and other things that matter: A beguiling and revealing memoir from the ex-Editor of British Vogue’. Chosen by Evening Standard as one of the best books to look forward to in 2020, we can’t wait to once more to delve into Shulman’s mind as she explores the meaning of clothes and how we wear them.

My Sister is a Serial Killer by Oynkan Braithwaite may not sound like a light read, but is a blackly comic novel about lies, love, Lagos, and how blood is thicker - and more difficult to get out of the carpet - than water. Recommended by Paula Hawkins of Girl on the Train fame as well as the Halpern team, the book is described as a masterclass in tension, creating it, relaxing it a little and then pulling it tight again.

Normal People by Sally Rooney is another that has not just been released but needs to be read. The second novel from Rooney (Her first was Conversations with Friends) is about the complex friendship and relationship between two teenagers, Connell and Marianne, who both attend the same secondary school in County Sligo, and later Trinity College Dublin. If you don’t believe us when we say you should read it then know that in 2019 the novel was ranked 25th on The Guardian's list of the 100 best books of the 21st century.

If you don’t fancy any of our choices then take a look at OverDrive app. You can borrow e-books and audiobooks from your local library. All you need is your smartphone or tablet and a valid account with a participating library, school or institution and then you will have more choices than you know what to do with!

Viewing

As with reading it’s not possible to mention all the incredible options for viewers delight so we’ve handpicked a few. Trinny Woodall is ‘Inspiring The Nation in Isolation’ and going live on her Instagram channel @trinnywoodall and Facebook every day as part of her new Trinny TV Live Schedule. Each morning she is inspiring women around the country to get ready as normal for their day, not only will they look good but it’s giving women the will to do something positive for themselves to feel good each day. In addition Trinny will be putting a smile on everyone’s faces with daily challenges, a Style Clinic series, a Trinny Talks series as well as going live with a number of guests to chat about a variety of topics. Followers also have the chance to join with in Trinny, by being part of her Lives. She will be getting everyone off the sofa to join her, keeping the positivity up and keeping spirits high. She’s an energiser bunny and certain to get us all smiling.

Can’t go to the cinema….Not a problem, for Curzon will bring the cinema to you via their Curzon home cinema. Either stream films straight into your living room or explore the films they have hand picked to be available to all of us so fear not about missing out on any new releases. Grab the popcorn, turn down the lights, whack your feet up and use some imagination to pretend we are actually sitting in the real thing rather than on our sofa.

Failing that, there’s Netflix, obvs, and if you haven’t already heard the hype then not sure how you’ve missed it but you HAVE to watch Tiger King. An utterly bonkers series but completely compulsive viewing exploring big cat breeding and its bizarre underworld, populated by eccentric characters. Which is putting it mildly to be honest. Also on Netflix is The Post with Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, directed by Steven Spielberg. Is that not the trifecta of magnificence? Frankly those names should be enough information for you to know to watch it but the story follows Hanks and Streep who play different roles at The Washington Post and who have got the scoop on a major US government cover-up. Nominated for two Oscars it’s well worth a watch.

For the children's sake (we are lying, it’s totally for us adults) then invest in Disney+. For a one-off cost of £60 or for £6 a month after a free week’s trial, you can watch all the great Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, National Geographic and so much more. It’s honestly worth every penny and yes, of course the kids will love it too. There are some brand new films on there including the new Lady and The Tramp remake so plenty to discover as well as REdiscover.

Finally, if you’ve done all the above then there is always the binge worthy Love Is Blind on Netflix that captivated everyone when it came out in the UK about a month ago. Best to watch in one go and marvel at how ridiculous “dating” has seemingly become.

Communication

We’re all craving interaction and communication with our nearest and dearest more than ever but thankfully we live in a world of FaceTime and smart phones meaning we can continue to catch up every day. Download the House Party app in order to host video calls with multiple people and use the app to host a quiz with mates, start your own book club, do some awful karaoke, the list goes on. If you don’t want the hassle of finding your own quiz to go then head to The Corona Arms to share an at home virtual pint with some new faces as well as familiar ones. They are putting on regular quizzes raising money for local organisations also and their fan base is growing by the hour. If you are worried about people living near you, especially anyone isolating on their own then check out the Next Door app. You can share messages with your neighbours and find out if anyone in the area needs some assistance or even just someone to talk to. We aren’t all lucky enough to have company during lockdown and it means those who are alone have someone to talk to. Never underestimate the power of a simple phone call to brighten someone’s day.

Culture

Just because we are stuck indoors doesn’t mean we cannot still expand our cultural minds and ‘visit’ some of the best cultural centres across the globe. We can take a virtual tour of some of the worlds biggest museums including The National Gallery London, Natural History Museum, London, British Museum in London, plus further afield The Guggenheim New York, The Louvre in Paris, Vatican Museums in Rome, Guggeheim in Bilbao, Smithsonian National Museum Of Natural History in Washington DC, Machu Pichu and the list goes on. You’ll be amazed at how many places you can have a nosey around from the comforts of your sofa so take a look at the websites of any you’ve always wanted to explore and chances are there are virtual tours available.

For theatre buffs the National Theatre will be streaming some of their best productions via YouTube, kicking off with One Man Two Guvnors starring James Corden on the 2nd April at 7pm. They will stream every Thursday but each will be available for a week so if you’re busy at The Corona Arms when it first goes out then you needn’t worry. Lastly, the BBC are releasing a full ‘Culture in Quarantine’ programme, bringing arts and culture into your home. With performances, games, tutorials, film, photography, creativity and more, there is plenty to keep us busy.

Learning

Take this opportunity to learn. There are THOUSANDS of ways to expand our minds and skill sets and our top recommendations would be to learn a language with Duolingo. With over 30 different languages to choose from for English speakers there’s no excuse to not at least improve your basic knowledge and understanding of a variety of dialects. Tech fans can learn to code for free at the Code Academy. Millions are already signed up to teach themselves everything from building websites to analyzing data, the choice is yours.

If you feel like your brain needs a little exercising then Luminosity offers games that train your brain, designed to help with focus, cognition and everything in between. Lastly, did you know that the Open University have a ton of free courses available? Everything from education, technology, science, money & business, politics, history, psychology and all sorts in between.

Charity

Shout is the UK’s first 24/7 text service, free on all major mobile networks, for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. Created by Victoria Hornby, previously Director of programmes for the Royal Foundation, Shout is the place to go if you’re struggling to cope and need immediate help. Shout is powered by a team of Crisis Volunteers, who are at the heart of the service and take people from crisis to calm every single day. Their site is here and you can text Shout to 85258 at any time and you will then be put in touch with a trained Crisis Volunteer for a text conversation. The service is designed to help individuals to think more clearly, find some calm and take their next steps to feeling better.