Serpies survive Covid-19 blog

Hello.   It's been a while since I've seen you – well, since I've seen anyone  'IRL'  really.    How's lockdown going for you?  I'm somewhere between boredom-binge-eating and panic – neither are conducive to living my 'best Covid-19 isolation life'.   If I don't get my act together soon it will all be over and I won't have learned Spanish  or  how to bake soda bread.               “What did you do during the Covid-19 crisis grandma?”             “Well darling, I ate two magnums a day for six weeks straight, drank A LOT of coffee and painted a rainbow on my window”   OK, I know this is ridiculous – I don't even have kids. But anyway, have you been furloughed?   Fuh-lowd . I've been furloughed and think it sounds like something you do to ...

This is the Serpie Mental Health weekly blog - reaching out with words during COVID-19 The whole country is currently in lockdown, but everyone’s individual lockdown looks different. Our self-isolation started three weeks ago and for us it means that we only leave the house at 6am for a walk and stay indoors for the rest of the day. You see in my household there is someone who suffers from asthma and that makes us extra vigilant, we avoid all human contact.  The advantage of early morning walks is that the streets are empty. We can roam the streets of London without seeing another human being for a while. It is also the time when the air seems to be fresher, the birds louder, and you can see the morning light change. And for the last two weeks there has been this distinctive smell of spring in the air, which smells so wonderfully fresh and sweet at the same time. The disadvantage of getting up early is that I feel too tired to go for a run. And so my runs have been sadly not...

I’m sure I’m not alone in having mixed feelings about the current lockdown. On a run at dusk last night, I was struck by the peace of the evening. The soft purple light, the pleasant temperate weather, the clean, clear air, the sounds of nature taking centerstage over the usual din of traffic or incoming flights to Heathrow. Occasionally, I’d come upon walkers or other runners on the sidewalk, but I could easily avoid them by diverting into the traffic free road. ‘This is the way it should always be.’ I thought. But then I remembered the reason it was like this. We’re in a lockdown and once I get home from my run, I’ll find myself self-isolating adhering to the government directive: Stay at home. Support the NHS. Save Lives. Thursday evening, I joined the rest of Britain in clapping for the NHS and other workers who put themselves on the line to keep our society from collapsing. I walked out the door; there was my neighbor across the street clapping. I moved further into the...

Nicole Marais is a Serpie and psychotherapist specialising in psychological trauma. She sent me some of her reflections on the health benefits - physically, chemically, emotionally and psychologically, of our beloved sport, and the possible effects the ‘Covid19 lock-down’ may have on us now we're not able to do our aforementioned beloved sport in our usual ways.Personally, I'm keeping going with the treasured one exercise per day we’re allowed, various flavours of video calls with friends, and the countless wonderfully creative, clever and funny videos we’re all sharing which demonstrate to me that humans want to share and survive, and also be silly! I found Nicole’s words very interesting and helpful, so I thought I’d share them in the MHC blog, in case anyone else finds them helpful  (Fliss Berridge)  Running gives us many different gifts which can be broken down into several different categories:  On the basic level – movement:  Doing what our bodies are de...

Cough, cough  (uh oh) :Ol I want to take you back to a Saturday night a couple of weeks ago. Many of you were still in Lanzarote or had just got back. Covid-19 was heavily in the news and we’d all been told the pandemic had moved from the ‘contain’ to ‘delay’ stage, but everyone was basically still expected to go into work unless they were showing symptoms. My housemate, Rad, was feeling annoyed that all this was going to compromise her 40 th  birthday plans. Her favourite childhood friends from Birmingham had organised an epic night involving ‘Magic Mike’ the stripper and a lot of cocktails, which now, for hygiene reasons, would not be going ahead. Her frustration was amply communicated to myself and my friends, Tom, Anna and Will, via our long standing, and oddly named, whatsapp group, “Remove Ed to chitchat” (long story). We all live locally so the 5 of us decided to give Rad a final shot at a 40 th  birthday celebration and headed down to a new restaurant in Bla...