My dogs Radio and Hermes are gearing up for another walk.

My pants didn’t button yesterday. These were the bellbottoms (depending on your perspective either very ahead or very behind the times) that last summer required a belt to keep above my hips. It is the third week of working from home, and the state of my wardrobe reflects it. The library closed March 16 and since then I have been posting up, courting my kitchen like a cruise ship buffet. Aside from an increasing amount of dog walks, to the delight of Hermes and Radio, I have even forgotten how to spell excersize, absorbed as I have been in the news and recommending ebooks to our community.

At the moment my pants didn’t button my mailman was knocking on my door. There is no graceful way to say this, so I will just say it – I put on my snow pants to check to see if I had received my voting ballot in the mailbox. It was a painful moment, and it is time to hang up my midnight donuts and find a healthier way through this pandemic.

The first thing to do when the pain of that isolation lifestyle is taking a toll on your physical health is to find a fun routine you can stick to while preserving your health and safety by minimizing social exposure. If you already are fairly healthy, letting go of your gym for now does not mean letting yourself go. For those who are making the wise choice to take this time to make some healthy changes, there are small steps you can take to make major lifestyle changes that will continue when we walk out our doors to greet each other again. Luckily, your friends at the library and our friends at Hoopla are here to help. Let’s get physical with hoopla digital.

10 Exercise & Health Suggestions

1. Find ways to add more steps to your day.

I rave about this book! On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes by Alexandra Horowitz was published in 2013. So I have been raving about this book at least monthly for 7 years, which is probably at least 100 times. It’s about observing your environment from different points of view. Take a walk with a geologist, an entomologist or a designer and never look at rocks, insects or fonts in signage the same way again. There are also dozens of books on walking and running and thousands of audiobooks to take with you on a walk around your neighborhood.

2. Make some healthy swaps.

3. Get good sleep.

Hoopla has many sleep albums including binaural beats, sleeping soundtracks and even yoga nidra – the yoga of sleep.

4. Stay hydrated!

Maybe make a smoothie! Hoopla has approximately 5 trillion smoothie recipes. Okay, not that many but a lot.

5. Wear something that makes you feel good.

Worn in New York by Emily Spivack is one of my favorite books about clothes, because it’s stories of clothes and character. There are several other books on how to build a wardrobe or find your style.

6. Take a deep breath or maybe try meditation.

There are many, many books on mindfulness and meditation as well as guided audio practices. This classic, The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer is currently one of Hoopla’s new “BONUS BORROWS” selections, which means you can check it out and it does not count against your 15 item borrowing limit! Another bonus- if this book speaks to you, it also has a card deck!

7. Move your body.

Hoopla has so many book and video workouts, from Pilates to Qi Gong to Sweating to the Oldies. Which reminds me, DID YOU LISTEN to the Missing Richard Simmons podcast? There’s a free recommendation for you. I have thoughts. Message me (or join Signal + Noise podcast club on Facebook) if you want to share yours.

Tip: When you search for exercise videos (either by specific type or general “excercise”) filter the results by format. Then look at the television options and the movie options. It’s not clear why some are considered movies and others are considered television.

8. Make friends with your stove.

Or at least your microwave. So many cookbooks!

9. Take care of yourself!

10. Give thanks and do something good.

So, there we are. Ten ways large and small that you can stay healthy during this time of reflection and The Tiger King. I have returned my snow pants to the laundry room, determined that by this time next week when the postman rings twice, I will be ready to answer the door.

Drop your hints and tips in the comments below. Join our health book club, HIIT THE BOOKS! on Facebook or follow me and the library on Twitter @topekalibrary @lexlibrix for more progress and Hoopla title recommendations.

Amber Bonnett

Hi! I’m Amber and I help readers, creatives, makers and other curious types use our ebooks, audiobooks, digital movies and databases. Have questions? Find me at the library, walking my dogs downtown, biking around our community or at abonnett@tscpl.org.