COVID-19 Anxiety and Stress: 30 Free Self Care Tools

Hi there! There is so much uncertainty right now that it is not surprising that many of us are suffering from COVID-19 anxiety and stress.

I’m hoping that this post finds you and yours well under our current difficult circumstances. My heart goes out to those of you who have family members, friends or neighbors who are sick.

Below is a roundup of over 30 free self-care resources donated by kind individuals and organizations that may be of help to you in managing COVID-19 anxiety and stress. These include various meditations, apps, coloring pages, ebooks, videos, support groups, toolkits to manage anxiety, and online yoga and exercise classes. 

30 Free Self Care Resources 

1. Belleruth Naparstek, LISW who has created guided imagery that’s used in hospitals across the country is releasing different free guided imagery for both adults and children every day ‪at noon to support people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Calm is offering a number of free meditations addressing sleep, practices to soothe and calm kids.
3. Curious Tribes is facilitating free virtual mental health support groups.
4. Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. is offering the Basics of Mindfulness Meditation: A 28 Day Program.
5. The Garrison Institute will be providing an array of tools to help build resilience from guided meditations to written reflection pieces.
6. The Greater Good Magazine suggests Six Daily Questions to Ask Yourself in Quarantine, and has created a Guide to Well-Being During Coronavirus.
7. Headspace is offering free meditations.
8. HealthyMinds guides you through the four pillars of the science of training the mind (meditation training).
9. Heartmath is giving 2 months of Connect with the Heart of Who You Truly Are. This is a 90-minute interactive learning experience to help you reduce stress and anxiety while increasing inner security and emotional poise.
10. Insight Timer meditation app – 40,000 free guided meditations.
11. Joan Borysenko, PhD, a Harvard-trained cell biologist and a psychologist is sharing 3 techniques for calming down during a stressful time.
12. Jud Brewer, MD, PhD has created a video with three tips for falling asleep (his third tip is especially helpful for when you wake up in the night and can’t get back to sleep).
13. Mindful Org has Free Mindfulness Resources to Find Calm and Nourish Resilience During the COVID Outbreak
14. The National Women’s Law Center created feminist coloring pages! to help provide a sense of calm, relaxation, and feminist joy in this tough moment. To share your beautiful art with them, post it on social with the hashtag #ColoringForHer!
15. The New York Times is offering the Calm Place.
16. Sanvello is offering its premium version for stress, anxiety and depression for the duration of the pandemic.
17. Shambhala Publications is offering free ebooks, an online course, at home yoga retreat and many free videos.
18. Shine has created a free toolkit to manage coronavirus anxiety.
19. Six Seconds has created 14 EQ [Emotional Intelligence] Resources for Emotional Health during Coronavirus Times to ensure we’re each responding intentionally rather than reacting unconsciously.
20. Sounds True has created a digital care package to help you increase your resilience during challenging times including daily video sessions sharing insights from their recent online summits, opportunities for community connection, and webinars. 
21. Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield / Sounds True are providing a Free Half-Day At-Home Mindfulness Retreat. Completing this retreat including the scheduled breaks and walking meditation sessions requires about three hours.
22. Tara Brach, PhD, has made a “Guided Meditation for Times of Pandemic: Calling on Your Awakened Heart.”
23. Ten percent happier is providing free meditations and other resources to help providers and their clients manage their feelings of anxiety.
24. The Tapping Solution have an app with tapping meditations for COVID-19 anxiety, including “Feeling Safe and Secure” and “From Fear to Worry to Peace.”
25. Tricycle is offering live online practice sessions with teachers Jack Kornfield, Pema Chödrön, Sharon Salzberg, and others to help ease anxiety amid our social-distancing efforts.
26. Yale‘s happiness course (the Science of Wellbeing) is available for free online through Coursera.
27. 92nd Street Y’s Tools and Techniques for Helping Children and Parents Cope with Anxiety

Before moving onto the list of free workouts, you may wish to check out Grounding Techniques: 12 Ways to Calm Anxiety Fast for some simple tools to calm yourself when needed.

Workouts

1. Corepower Yoga – It is also offering free online guided meditations.
2. Dance with Me – dance tutorials.
3. Down Dog – app w/yoga for beginners, HIIT, barre, and 7 minute workout.
4. Do Yoga with Me
5. Fitbod Bodyweight Workouts
6. Fitness Blender
7. Mount Sinai Calm: Virtual Classes  including yoga, music therapy and art activities.
8. Planet Fitness – on-demand workout sessions.
9. PopSugar Fitness
10. Workout to Go handout – includes 13 exercises that are easy-to-follow strength, balance, and flexibility exercises to do anytime, anywhere.
11. Yoga with Adriene
12. The YMCA is offering many free online exercise classes.

Need some one-on-one assistance to help you cope with these difficult times? Please feel free to schedule an appointment to see me virtually.