All this week we’ve been looking at how you can see these 12 weeks in lockdown as an opportunity to reset, reboot and refocus.
But for many of us, the most worrying thing about self-isolation is exactly that, the isolation.
Research suggests that almost three million people over the age of 60 live on their own and in recent years we’ve been hearing a lot about the ‘loneliness epidemic’.
While living on your own doesn’t inevitably lead to loneliness, it can do. And loneliness risks yet further loss of social contact, with depression, increased drinking and ill health — all of which can create a vicious spiral if you don’t manage it and roll it back. Isolation also increases your risk of dementia, whether or not you feel lonely.
All this week we’ve been looking at how you can see these 12 weeks in lockdown as an opportunity to reset, reboot and refocus.
Add in a pandemic during which, with the best will in the world, you can’t get to the social events you usually attend — book groups, choirs, or bridge classes etc — and you’d be justified in thinking you’d be lucky just to survive 12 weeks on your own, far less be able to see it as an opportunity to get a new lease of life.
But we’re living in the age of telephones, computers and other technology that all enable us to be in contact with people without leaving the house.
And if there’s one thing I hope this period of lockdown will do, it’s to convince you, and millions more people who have previously felt alienated by technology, that it can not only be part of your life, but hugely improve it.
Every day I hear heartwarming stories of several generations of families ‘getting together’ to have dinner around the same table virtually, thanks to video-conferencing app Zoom.
Or of grandparents using FaceTime to read stories to young children or grandchildren setting challenges to grandparents to motivate them to keep active.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about and normally rely on your grandchildren’s knowledge to help you to navigate a tablet, upload photos to a laptop or download apps onto mobile phones, don’t panic.
Now that visits from grandchildren are off the agenda for a while this is a great opportunity to become a tech whizz yourself. If you don’t know where to start, I recommend the Age UK website to get a grounding in the basics.
Go to ageuk.org.uk and type the term ‘video calling’ into the search box.
The first item that pops up, ‘Keeping in touch using a video call’, will talk you through using FaceTime, WhatsApp, Skype, Zoom and more to stay in touch with family and friends. It also explains the technology available. Some are voice activated, which can be easier to operate.
It’s important to try, not just for the sense of satisfaction, but because learning new skills boosts the brain, helping forge new connections and pathways. It will help you emerge rejuvenated and energised with a new sense of purpose to live longer and better. (livelongerbetter.net has more information on my programme).
University of California researchers demonstrated the importance of learning new things when they got a group of people in their 80s to learn three new skills for six weeks. They discovered it raised the volunteers’ cognitive abilities to levels seen in 50-year-olds.
Among the skills gained by those taking part in the study was learning how to use an iPad — suggesting the importance of bringing tech into your life.
And while you’re confined to the house there’s still plenty you can learn and explore, and much of it is free. Even more important for our cognitive wellbeing is that the digital world gives us opportunities to stay connected with the world outside, whether it’s keeping in touch with loved ones or enjoying a new experience.
DESIGN YOUR OWN PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM
With time on your side, organising photos from holidays or family events creates future mementos for everyone to enjoy and helps you practise digital skills.
There are several websites where you can create a photo album from home by uploading pictures from your digital photo collection.
You are then posted the real thing. Photobox.co.uk is one, and it is currently offering 40 per cent off photo books, while snapfish.co.uk and photobookuk.co.uk also have deals at the moment.
RAMBLE (VIRTUALLY) ROUND THE LOUNGE
Virtual reality is mostly the preserve of young people, as parents of teenage boys hooked on computer game Fortnite can tell you, but now it is playing an important part in getting housebound people out and about.
Virtual reality can help you ‘visit’ other places worldwide and you can talk to friends or family members, miles apart, as you do so.
Even more importantly, this is not just another excuse for sitting. If you have the means, it is now possible to walk along the Great Wall of China using a treadmill like the Wizdish ROVR (from £699, wizdish.com).
If you have a bike, an indoor static ‘trainer’ from a company such as Zwift (currently offering a free 30-day trial at zwift.com) gives users the opportunity to take virtual cycle rides.
Even if new kit isn’t an option for you, Google ‘virtual walks’ and free films are available. Stream the ramble on your tablet and walk around with it in your hand — avoiding trip hazards!
Join the ‘Tonyvator’ for a DIY workout
Tony Robertson, a 72-year-old retired electrician from Edinburgh, has become a social media sensation after his wife, Lis, 70, secretly filmed his garden exercise circuit using tins of paint as weights.
Tony had been active all his life, playing football and running marathons, and he was staying fit with golf, cycling and regular trips to his local gym despite two partial knee replacements and two new hips.
Pictured: Tony Robertson in his garden
But when self-isolation saw him trapped at home, he decided to dig through the contents of his garage to find suitable kit for a one hour weight-training circuit every morning.
Twice a week Lis records his efforts (@thetonyvator) on Twitter for his growing fanbase and he’s appeared on This Morning.
‘I’m not trying to be the next Joe Wicks but I like to be fit and trim and I am very happy if I can inspire other people my age to stay active,’ he says.
Lis adds: ‘He’s incredibly self-motivated.’
The couple have been married for 50 years and have two grown-up children and three grandchildren (aged 13, 20 and 21).
She adds: ‘I like to see Tony tiring himself out, it means he’s more likely to fall asleep for a bit when he’s finished, so he’s less likely to annoy me!’
YOU CAN STILL BE A CULTURE VULTURE
We might not be able to travel at the moment but did you know that many museums and galleries around the world offer free virtual tours? Better still, there are no queues or crowds.
Google ‘virtual museum tour’ to find world-class museums and galleries offering these.
While it takes practice moving yourself around with a mouse or touchpad, you can explore antiquities in The Louvre, Paris, listen to an audio guide of The Guggenheim’s history in New York and see treasures in the British Museum.
The Vatican Museum’s online offering will even take you round the Sistine Chapel.
Plus, the National Theatre will be streaming productions on YouTube for free and the Royal Opera House is offering free ballet and opera performances throughout this month.
Or why not learn a new skill, such as painting or photography, in an online group class under the guidance of an expert in that field (learningwithexperts.com)?
BRUSH UP ON YOUR DIGITAL SAFETY
Staying safe online is important for all ages, so why not do it now when you’ve more time?
The Open University offers a wide range of free online courses, including an introduction to cyber security, which teaches you how to recognise online threats and how to reduce the risks.
Coding isn’t just for the kids
Don’t just assume coding is for the younger generation. You could impress your grandchildren with talk of JavaScript and Python.
The Open University offers a free simple coding course. Other lessons can be found at idea.org.uk, which offers free mini courses in digital skills including coding, and codecademy.com.
SET UP AN ONLINE READING GROUP
Just because libraries and bookshops are closed doesn’t mean you have to stop enjoying books with friends. Get books delivered through online stores or try audible.co.uk, from which you can download narrated books and podcasts to listen to. It offers a 30-day free trial.
Pick a book you will all listen to and then come together on a social app like Zoom to debate it.
Arguing and challenging the opinions of others is particularly good for brain connections.
EXPERIENCE THE WILD SIDE
Who doesn’t love nature? And if you want to spot something more exotic than the birds in your back garden it’s worth checking out zoo and wildlife park webcams.
You can watch lion cubs play at Port Lympne, Kent, on its cubcam (aspinallfoundation.org). Or watch flamingos preen at Hampshire’s Marwell Zoo (marwell.org.uk) and polar bears and penguins at San Diego zoo in the U.S. (zoo.sandiegozoo.org).
Sir Muir Gray is a consultant in public health for the NHS and professor of primary healthcare at Oxford University.
- Taken from his guides to living well: Sod Sixty, Sod Seventy, Sod Sitting: Get Moving And Sod It! Eat Well — all published by Bloomsbury (bloomsbury.com) at £12.99. © Muir Gray.
Raise the barre by learning ballet at home
The internet is a great source of fitness inspiration. The following sites will get you moving in no time…
The internet is a great source of fitness inspiration. The following sites will get you moving in no time… (stock image)
- The website sportengland.org has activity advice and video classes for all age groups (as well as less able people). It includes tips and guidance on how to keep or get active in and around your home, with links to free content, plus a section for older adults.
- Barbara Currie, 77, has been teaching yoga for decades. Visit barbaracurrieyoga.com or find Barbara Currie Yoga on YouTube and click on the red ‘subscribe’ button to get access to short yoga sequences suitable for all levels and ages.
- Green Goddess, Diana Moran, 80, is running through simple exercise sequences you can join from home on BBC Breakfast at 6.55am and 8.55am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The videos are also posted on her Twitter feed @GreenGoddessTV.
- Try simple ballet exercise classes aimed at the over-50s at balletbasedmovement.com with ballet trainer, Susan Jacobson. She demonstrates simple moves with her mother, Elizabeth, who is in her mid-70s.
- At nhs.uk you’ll find lots of different exercise videos by putting ‘fitness studio’ into the search box and clicking search. You’ll find beginners’ aerobics, belly dancing, a ‘Wake Up Workout’ and the now famous ‘Couch To 5k’ running plan, which breaks down the slow build of stamina and endurance which helps a complete beginner run 5,000 metres.
- There are strength and resistance classes (no equipment required), Pilates and yoga videos (with specific classes for those with back pain, knee problems, arthritis and osteoporosis, as well as a seated yoga workout). There’s a sofa workout, which urges you to turn your couch into a workbench for a 30-minute, full-body, muscle-strengthening series, plus a stairs workout you can do with the bottom few steps of your stairs.
- Find the Move It Or Lose It page on YouTube and click the subscribe button to gain access to free videos such as ‘Improve your balance in five minutes’ with fitness trainer Julie Robinson. Or if you leave your name and email address at moveitorloseit.co.uk, you’ll be sent a link to a free ‘Covid-19 support pack’ with instructions for joining a private Facebook group (which shares free routines).
- For peak inspiration find @trainwithjoan on Instagram. This 73-year-old grandmother from Ontario, Canada, lost four and a half stone over the past three years through weight-lifting with her daughter, who is a personal trainer.
- Her transformation is jaw-dropping and she includes lots of videos on her page (though she’s worked herself up to some very advanced moves).
- If you fancy a more bespoke service, there are plenty of companies offering paid-for online courses that connect you to a personal trainer. Home Health Fitness has launched a series of live sessions for those wanting one-to-one personal training or individual yoga and Pilates classes.
- Anyone signing up is given a medical screening and technical help to set up their devices, followed by a trial pay-as-you-go first session.
- Classes can then be booked in five-hour bundles to be used at a time of your choice, with the same instructor each time. Sessions start from £40 an hour. For more information go to homehealthfitness.com.