As we adjust to a new way of life to slow the spread of coronavirus, we also must adjust to new strategies to maintain our health and wellness. This is a compilation of free or inexpensive virtual resources, including apps, websites, podcasts, articles, and more.
This is a living document and will be updated regularly. If you would like to suggest a resource for this page, please email hawp@brandeis.edu.
Brandeis Virtual Zen Zone (Zoom Link)
This award-winning app offers calming music, video lessons on mindful movement and gentle stretching, and meditations to help you sleep and keep you calm and relaxed. There is a 7-day free trial and then the app costs $69.99 per year.
This free app offers guided meditations for sleep, anxiety, and stress.
Liberate is a free meditation app by and for the Black & African Diaspora. Meditation categories include ancestors, love, self worth, gratitude, microaggressions, mindfulness, and more.
How many negative thoughts have been endlessly repeating in your mind? Daily affirmations help rewire our brains, build self esteem and change negative thought patterns. Choose from many daily intentions and set reminders to be delivered throughout the day. This app is only available on Apple iOS. There is a free version, as well as a premium subscription that costs $2.99 per month or $19.99 per year.
Nothing is more uplifting than self-told words. Using positive mantras can decrease stress and improve performance on challenging duties. This app offers more than 10000+ affirmations from 10 different categories. The app is available only for Apple iOS. There is a free version, as well as a premium subscription that costs $19.99 per year.
Self-Compassion Exercises for COVID-19
This article shares 10 practices from the Mindful Self-Compassion program that could be helpful during this time, along with brief explanations. The website also hosts a number of guided self-compassion audio meditations.
Virtual Appointments with Carolyn Butterworth, MS, RD, CNSD
Carolyn Butterworth, MS, RN, RD, CNSD, is the Brandeis Health Center nutritionist. Call 781-736-3677 to schedule a confidential, virtual appointment.
Cooking at Home in the Time of Coronavirus
The Bon Appétit staff have compiled a fantastic list of recipes to get us through, highlighting recipes with 5 or fewer ingredients, recipes that freeze well, recipes for comfort foods, and recipes for pantry staples like canned tomatoes, pasta, and beans.
Easy Recipes to Cook While You're Self-Quarantined
The New York Times offers recipes for simple dishes that can be made mostly with what you have on hand. This article is part of a larger collection of self-quarantine-friendly recipes.
This app offers over 80,000 recipes from Food Network experts. There is a free version of the app with access to recipes, and a paid version that includes videos of your favorite chefs cooking live.
Everyone responds to anxiety differently. Some seek food to cope and soothe and others lose their appetite entirely. Not eating has a cascade of effects - loss of energy, difficulty sleeping, heightened emotions, difficulty concentrating, and so much more. If you or someone you support has lost their appetite due to anxiety, consider these support strategies.
How to Exercise Safely During the Pandemic
When you exercise outdoors, should you wear a mask? Should you run next to or behind another person? The experts share tips in this video from National Public Radio (NPR).
Brandeis Athletics Presents Home Wellness
Each week, Fitness Coordinator Kat Page will be sharing tips, videos and links to help keep the Brandeis community healthy and active during these difficult times. This is also where we will be posting links for group exercise classes via Zoom.
This YouTube channel's mission is to connect as many people as possible through high-quality free yoga videos.
Aaptiv provides over 2,500 audio-based guided workouts allowing you to exercise without looking at a screen. In addition to outdoor running, strength training, and pilates, the app also includes yoga and guided meditation. Aaptiv costs $14.99 per month or $99.99 for a year subscription. However, through a partnership with UNiDAYS, Aaptiv offers a 50% discount for students.
Down Dog provides a studio-like yoga experience in the comfort of your home. Down Dog will be offered for free until April 1, 2020, and until July 1, 2020 for all students and teachers (K-12 and college) and healthcare workers.
This website offers hundreds of free streaming videos of yoga for all skill levels. In response to the coronavirus, Do Yoga With Me is offering a 2 month free subscription to anyone staying at home.
New York Times Six-Minute Workouts
These three short workout videos will get your heart pumping and give you a full-body workout without a trip to the gym.
This unique martial art is for all ages and levels. Tai Chi promotes strength, coordination, posture, concentration, and energy level.
Brandeis Intramurals: eSports Leagues
Brandeis is partnering with Mission Control to offer the IM e-sports leagues. Using this platform, entrants will play one match a week against other Brandeis students using their PS4, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch from the comfort of your own home. The season will run for three weeks followed by a one week playoffs. Registration closes Saturday, March 28th and Week 1 begins Monday, March 30th.
Department of Community Service - Virtual Resources
The Department of Community Service webpage provides support and guidance for students who are looking to stay engaged with service in the Waltham community, and in their home communities. One way you can get involved is by writing letters to the elderly.
Writing Letters to the Elderly
As we get used to this new virtual life, there are some elderly in our neighborhood who do not have access to the internet. As we transition into this period of social isolation, join Jewish Family and Children's Services (JF&CS) and Companions to Elders (C2E) to write letters to the elderly. A representative from JF&CS will be collecting and distributing letters to some of our elderly friends to remind them that we’re thinking about them! Please email companions2elders@gmail.com for guidelines.
This free app, originally designed for gamers, allows groups of friends to create a shared server and host chats on different topics, as well as an open audio channel if folks would like to chat as if you were working or gaming in the same room.
This free Google Chrome extension lets you synchronize what you're watching on Netflix with friends and chat about the movie - or whatever!
Want to stay socially connected to other people who are also stuck at home and want to chat? You can speak over the phone to other people around the world toll-free using this app. Click this link and put your number. Download app “Dialup” to redeem your invite so you can receive calls from people all over.
A guide to basic coping strategies to mananging the stress, anxiety, and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Living with worry and anxiety amidst global uncertainty (PDF)
Worry and anxiety are common problems at the best of times, and when it takes over it can become all-encompassing. Psychology Tools has put together this free guide to help you to manage your worry and anxiety in these uncertain times.
Care For Your Coronavirus Anxiety
Care For Your Coronavirus Anxiety is a free mental health website with a "toolkit" of vetted, research-backed, and helpful tools for you including articles, meditations, access to mental health experts, anxiety screenings, and more.
Body Positive Brandeis teaches a new way of relating to your body and food—and life—that can give you more peace, joy, and sustainable, positive self-care. Brandeis has partnered with The Body Positive to provide free access for students and staff to The Body Positive Fundamentals online training. Email hawp@brandeis.edu for the access code.
Grounding exercises are helpful for many situations where you find yourself becoming overwhelmed or distracted by distressing memories, thoughts or feelings. If you find yourself getting caught up in strong emotions like anxiety or anger, or if you catch yourself engaging in stressful circling thoughts, or if you experience a strong painful memory or a flashback, or if you wake up from a nightmare with a pounding heart, grounding exercises can help bring you back down to earth.
SAM is a free app to help you understand and manage anxiety. The app has been developed in collaboration with a research team from UWE, Bristol.
MindShift™ CBT uses scientifically proven strategies based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help you learn to relax and be mindful, develop more effective ways of thinking, and use active steps to take charge of your anxiety. This app is free.
With this thought diary, when you're feeling down you can document your negative emotions, analyze patterns in your thinking, and reevaluate your thoughts. It may even help you recognize ways to deal with your unhelpful patterns of thinking. This app is free, but offers paid features as well. It is only for Apple OS devices.
WoeBot, an artificial intelligence-based companion, will chat with you and offer you hundreds of tools to learn about yourself and improve your mood whenever you need them. This app is free, but contents are limited. Users can upgrade to premium for more options.
PTSD Coach was designed for those who have, or may have, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This free app provides you with education about PTSD, information about professional care, a self-assessment for PTSD, opportunities to find support, and tools that can help you manage the stresses of daily life with PTSD.
Self-Compassion Guided Meditations & Exercises
The Center for Mindful Self-Compassion website offers a number of guided meditations and excercises to foster self-compassion.
Therapy for Black Girls (website and podcast)
Therapy for Black Girls is an online space dedicated to encouraging the mental wellness of Black women and girls. This resource helps connect users with therapists in their local area and hosts a free podcast. Therapy for Black Girls also hosts an online community called The Yellow Couch Collective; registration for this service is $9.99 per month.
Reduce your risk of serious lung disease caused by coronavirus by quitting smoking and vaping
This article written by Dr. Stanton Glantz, Director of the Center for Tobacco Research Control & Education, makes the case for why smoking or vaping may increase your risk of harm due to coronavirus. He argues that stopping smoking, vaping, and avoiding secondhand exposure should be added to the list of important preventive measures.
This website provides information and tools to help you quit smoking, including the quitSTART app, quit hotlines in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Vietnamese, and other free tools.
This website provides support and guidance for taking a 21-day T-Break (tolerance break) from cannabis. A guided T-Break helps to bring down your tolerance and find better balance with your use.
This app tracks your cannabis use and tolerance for those trying to quit or take a tolerance break.
Virtual Recovery Resources (PDF)
In an infectious disease outbreak, when social distancing and self-quarantine are needed to limit and control the spread of the disease, continued social connectedness to maintain recovery are critically important. Virtual resources can and should be used during this time. This tip sheet from SAMHSA lists resources that can be used to virtually support recovery from mental/substance use disorders, including recovery support organizations, online meetings, articles, and more.
A Guide to Safer Sex and Coronavirus Disease (PDF)
This guide was published by the NYC Health to advise folks on safer sex practices during the coronavirus pandemic.
I Spent a Year in Space, and I Have Tips on Isolation to Share
Scott Kelly is a retired NASA astronaut who spent nearly a year on the International Space Station. In this op-ed, Kelly shares his tips and strategies.
40 Meaningful Things to Do at Home During a Pandemic
Here's a list of 40 meaningful activities you can do (that are free or only of modest cost) when you’re self-isolating at home or stuck in quarantine.
Ten Percent Happier: Coronavirus Sanity Guide
The meditations, podcasts, blog posts, and talks on this page will help you build resilience and find some calm amidst the chaos. We’re adding more resources as they're created - so keep checking back.
When faced with a crisis, it is natural to try to regain control by learning everything we can about the situation and immersing ourselves in the news. However, too much exposure to negative or frightening "worst cast scenario" news stories can be counter-productive or even paralyzing.
While it is important to be informed, it is also important to take breaks from the news and practice positive coping strategies that will empower you to move forward. Be judicious and intentional with your news consumption. Be sure to seek out trusted information from reliable sources.
Brandeis University Coronavirus Website
This frequently-updated website is the best place to find out information about Brandeis' efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus. The page features an extensive FAQ answering questions about the switch to online learning, Brandeis operations, student housing, public health recommendations, and more.
This website allows you to write in specific questions related to COVID-19. Your questions are answered by volunteer medical and / or public health professionals (epidemiologists or health economists) with an MPH and/or MD degree within 24 hours. All answers include at least 2 trusted sources. You can also read the answers to other people's questions on the website. (Please note: this website does not provide individual medical advice. If you have personal medical concerns, it is important that you seek medical assistance at the Brandeis Health Center or in your home community.)
When you text "hi" to +41 79 893 1892 over WhatsApp, you'll receive back a text from the World Health Organization (WHO) that includes a variety of menu items for the latest information, like novel coronavirus infection rates around the world, travel advisories, and misinformation that should be debunked.
Health and Wellness Promotion is currently operating remotely.
hawp@brandeis.edu
781-736-3678