By Dr. Tatiana Orlova—THE RECENT STAY-AT-HOME order has brought many changes into our lives. It is very important to be able to do what we enjoy during stressful situations, however, social distancing could make many activities very difficult or even impossible. We should view these new challenges as great opportunities to expand our interests and creativity.
These are some ideas for various activities suitable for our new “stay-at-home” lifestyles. We can learn new skills, enjoy music, exercise, check out that book we have been wanting to read but haven’t had the chance… My hope is that all of us will discover new ways to become happier while staying at home.
Learning
- Take a free Yale course “The Science of Well-being”
Music
- The best live-streamed classical music concerts available online
- If you like popular music follow a series of virtual concerts #TogetherAtHome by Global Citizen live on Instagram or watch recordings on youtube
- Play relaxing videos as a background on your computer or TV during the day and/or before going to bed. Here are a few videos to start: video1, video2, video3
Fitness
- Daily Fitness Lockdown Challenge from Amanda Bisk
- Simple ideas for doing gym exercises at home from @nana_health
- Daily at home workouts from @airfitnow
- Virtual workouts with Chris Hemsworth (a.k.a. Thor) free 6 week trial
- Orange Theory free daily workouts on their app
- Master your next Tik Tok dance with these tutorials
- Support local dancers by joining De Sueño for latin dance along
- or taking live ZOOM classes from Latin Rhythms Dance Studio (Note: $10 per class)
Reading
- For great books about pandemic and solitude see this reading list from TIME magazine
- If you find yourself anxiously waiting for the current situation to resolve then reading great books about the fundamentals of time and reality could help put everything in the right perspective.
- Also, find inspiration by searching and reading biographies of people who’s lives and careers were interrupted by war or other disasters, and learning how they were able to make the most out of their unfortunate circumstances. For example, Pal Turan and Marie Curie.
Art
- Bring the museums to you from TIME magazine
Dr. Tatiana Orlova grew up in Saratov, Russia. Her Fulbright fellowship allowed her to pursue a MS in Mathematics at the University of South Carolina at Columbia. She later obtained a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Chicago and now works as a Chief Data Scientist at Amper Technologies. She feels honored to be a part of the Fulbright community.
—> Information curated by Dr. Tatiana Orlova
—> Illustration by Elio Leturia
FULBRIGHT CHICAGO 