Regardless of how you incorporate meditation and fitness into your daily life, the most important thing during this time is taking care of yourself. Find a few things you genuinely look forward to, and carve out time during your day to make them a priority. I even block off time on my calendar for these activities and encourage my team to do the same. The better we take care of our bodies and minds during this time, the stronger we’ll come out of this. Two mantras that I’ve been leaning on lately are: “This too shall pass” and “It’s not what happens, but how you react.”

What are some good habits to incorporate into our routine?

Go outside (but remember to stay six feet from others): Take a quick walk between calls. Nothing like Vitamin D or fresh air to stimulate your brain.

Meditate: Use the time that would be your morning commute to practice a short breathing exercise. Sit upright, cross your legs, and close your eyes. Breath in for 5 counts, hold for 5 counts, breath out for 5 counts. Repeat 5 times. If you’re looking for more structure, Calm has great free meditations on their website and app.

Take five to stretch: Stretching is one of my favorite ways to stay active at home. It requires basically no equipment and very little space. Here are a couple of my favorite stretches:

1. Forward Folds help stretch the spine when you’ve been sitting all day. Start from standing. Inhale, raise your arms and gaze up. Then, exhale as you fold forward from the waist. Don’t worry about touching your toes, just let your head be heavy and hang. To come up, inhale and carefully rise through standing one vertebrae at a time.
2. Child’s Pose is the ultimate restorative pose. Starting on all fours, exhale as you sit your hips back toward your heels. Reach your arms out in front of you and place them on the ground. Just breathe here for 10-15 breaths.
3. Spinal Twist is an excellent way to release tension. Start laying on your back. Inhale your knees into your chest, then exhale and let them gently fall off to the right. To deepen the stretch, turn your gaze to the opposite side. Stay here for 5 breaths. After your last exhale, inhale your knees through the center and exhale while changing sides.

What are your favorite at home workouts?

The endorphin rush after exercise is real, and I feel it even more while being in such a static environment (my apartment) all day. Trying a new workout during this time is as easy as streaming a new instructor.

High Intensity: Hydra Studios Instagram. We stream live HIIT and Sculpt classes from our instructors every Tuesday and Thursday at 12pm or 5pm. Prepare to sweat!

Yoga: Sky Ting Instagram has daily Yoga classes for all levels.

Pilates: Primary Pilates streams 1 class a day that you can access anytime.

Peloton is also doing a free 90 day promotion for in-home workouts.

Everything: DAREBEE has all workouts in tear sheet format if streaming isn’t your style.

What do you recommend for a quick 10-minute workout?

This is a great quick workout that targets your arms, abs, legs, and gets your heart rate up:

Cardio: Start with jumping jacks for 1 minute.

Plank: 1 minute total. Advanced option: rotate hips from side to side to touch the floor – this targets obliques.

Squat Lunges: Start by squatting with your feet hips-width-distance apart. Move your right foot back, lunge until your right knee is almost touching the floor. Bring your right foot up in line with your left foot, repeat on the left side. 20 reps total (10 on each side).

Arms: Do 20 bicep curls. Then do 20 tricep curls by carefully raising your arms above your head and lowering your hands behind your head.

Push ups: 15 reps. Modification – have your knees touch the floor.

Cardio: High knees for 1 minute to finish.

Check out the @hydra_studios Instagram Top 5 story highlight for structured at-home workouts from our instructors.

What’s a low impact way to stay physically active without annoying your neighbors?

Yoga and Pilates are my favorite low-impact exercises. Our Hydra Sculpt classes are also low impact, but sweaty!

What are your favorite basic fitness items to have at home?

Yoga Mat: Great for any exercise requiring ab work.

Weights: 2 Pairs. I have 2 pound and 3 pound weights, and can combine them for exercises requiring heavier weights. You can also use soup cans, pasta sauce or even wine bottles in place of weights. Push-ups with body weight also builds those arm muscles!

Resistance bands: Great for HIIT and Barre classes.

Towel and water.

What are your favorite playlists to listen to while you exercise?

I’ve recently been enjoying some fast-paced music that takes me back to simpler times  (i.e. a few years ago). My sunshine jams playlist is public on Spotify – give it a listen.

It’s important that the beat of my music matches the type of workout I’m doing, so I’ll stream slower music like Lo-Fi Beats for Yoga and Pilates. If you’re taking a live class, ask the instructor to share their playlist before, as music is a big part of any workout.

What are your favorite healthy snacks pre/post workout?

Water, water, water. It’s hard to remind yourself to drink enough water when you’re not at your desk with your water bottle. Try drinking one cup before and after each meal.

Pre-workout: I’ve enjoyed having the time to make a smoothie each morning. My favorite is 1 part frozen berries, 1 banana, 1 part kale and 1 part almond milk. Add honey or peanut butter to sweeten.

Post-workout: It’s important to get protein after exercising to reap the benefits of working your muscles. I’ve recently been experimenting with some of the meatless options available like Beyond Burger.

Although I’ve read many articles encouraging us to take advantage of time at home to learn a new skill, a lot of us are just trying to get through the day. I’d suggest taking some of the pressure off and making it a goal to do one thing every day that helps your mental or physical health.