Zoe Woodward, Well-being Activity Co-Ordinator, shares why keeping your mind and body healthy is more important than ever during the coronavirus pandemic.
These past couple of months have been different and challenging for, I think, every single one us in one way or another. My role usually is to encourage people to leave their houses for exercise & well-being activities, join clubs & groups, and really come into the community to make new friends & connections.
Not being able to do this initially threw a spanner in the works, so I decided to bring fitness and well-being to people at home to encourage everyone to get moving, healthy, and add a little structure into their daily lives in lockdown. Usually I coordinate the classes and timetables, now I’m teaching the classes too!
It can be easy to fall into a trap when we are confined to the house, with limited amounts of outdoor exercise permitted. If we’re used to high levels of physical activity, either for work, or pleasure, not being able to do this can leave us feeling out of sorts. For many people, the motivation to move and exercise is lost, and the only circuits we end up doing are moving to the fridge for food and the sofa to relax. Over a period of time, this not only affects us physically, but we can also fall into the trap mentally of feeling down, despondent and losing interest in the things we might normally do.
At Compass Support, we have created a timetable to bring you daily virtual classes to keep you moving and mindful every weekday. All classes are streamed live via Facebook and are available on our Compass Support page so you can go back and workout in your own time if you can’t join in live.
We are currently offering circuit-based, yoga, and mindfulness classes. Each session is suitable for all levels of fitness and ability and require no (or limited) equipment to ensure that everyone is able to benefit from them.
Circuit style classes are perfect to lift the heart rate, get the body moving, and leave us with that ‘feel good’ rush of endorphins that exercise does! We work the whole body in the 30 minute sessions, offering modifications and variations for everyone so everyone can get involved.
Yoga classes are the perfect way to look after your body and your mind. Suitable for all levels, you don’t even have to be able to touch your toes to join in! As well as the physical aspect of yoga, we also spend time focussing on breathing, mindfulness, and relaxation, and providing you with an escape from the crazy world outside for 30 minutes.
The online classes are reaching more members of the community than we initially thought and feedback so far has been great. People are joining in live to the sessions and enjoying having an instructor real time, but a large number are also catching up and following the classes in their own time, proving that health and well-being on demand is definitely necessary in these challenging times.