As lockdown due to Coronavirus continues and no immediate end is in sight, not only are tempers becoming frayed but many of us are running out of ideas of what to do. Exit is bringing you a selection of online resources that are totally free, will help keep you calm, are beneficial to your wellbeing, and above all- are fun.
Livestream some classical music
Due to measures imposed by the pandemic, numerous classical concerts and events have been postponed and cancelled across the world. As a result, some of the biggest and well-known events have decided to hold the concerts live and stream for free in the hopes it will bring comfort, solidarity and relief to those stuck at home. The Met in New York, the Berlin Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra are just some of those planning to stream concerts live in the upcoming days and weeks. Better still, listening to classical music has been found to slow the heart rate, lower blood pressure, reduce stress levels and reduce the symptoms of depression. You can find a list here or check out Operavision which has a catalogue of past performances available to stream.
Visit virtual art galleries
Google has teamed up with some 500 museums and galleries around the world to give users access to featured museum collections. You can even use Google’s interior Street View to wander around some of the biggest and well-known museums. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the New York Museum of Modern Art, Paris’ Musée d’Orsay, Londons’ National Gallery, LAs’ J.Paul Getty Museum and many others are available online for you to peruse.
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History also offers virtual tours through its permanent, past, and current exhibits, as does the Museo Nacional Thyssen Bornemisza in Madrid. The Musee du Louvre in Paris also has an online presence and offers several virtual tours through its Egyptian antiquities department, the Louvre Moat
Take an online course
Did you know that some of the world’s most reputable universities offer people the chance to undertake courses for free? Universities including Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, and Princeton have made available over 450 courses that can all be taken online. The courses consist of videos, reading materials, quizzes and small tasks and can be completed at your own pace. Subjects include everything from molecular biology to journalism, law, psychology, and coding. Why not take some time to further your knowledge, expand your mind and learn about something that you didn’t have the time to before? You can find a rundown of the courses available here.
Do some exercise
Despite being stuck at home, you need to make an effort to keep moving. Not just for the sake of fitness, but for the positive impact, it will have on your mental health as well. YouTube is full of yoga, Zumba, dance fitness, and aerobics videos for all levels that you can follow, but there are some other options as well. A number of fitness and yoga studios across the world have started streaming their classes online, for free. You can find spinning, yoga and more yoga, cardio and general fitness, and dance fitness.
Read
Reading helps to clear the mind, relax, destress, and combat some of the symptoms of depression and anxiety. It can also teach, inform, and educate. You don’t need a kindle or a hardback copy these days as thankfully there are thousands of books available online, for free, that you can read from your mobile or tablet.
Project Gutenberg is a library of over 60,000 free eBooks in a range of formats and you can find some of the world’s best classic literature just waiting for you. Everything is free and there is no need for registration in order to access any of the titles in the library. You can search by name, author, keyword, language, category, or just select random and see what pops up. Open Library is another option and it has around one million public domain books available as well as offering ebooks, audiobooks, and digital lending.
You can also check out Smashwords, Internet Archive, and ManyBooks as well.
