RubensteinTech Health & Wellness Guide
During the COVID-19 crisis, we are encountering new challenges that we have never experienced before. At the same time, we are finding unique opportunities to collaborate and support one another.
In the spirit of not only helping our team members, but our clients, partners, community, and beyond, the RubensteinTech Culture Committee has prepared the following guide to provide information, assistance, and ideas to make this time easier, better, and more meaningful.
We hope you find some value in reading through it, and please reach us if you have any suggestions!
Ways to Help
New York Cares
New York Cares is focusing on addressing hunger, supporting the physical and mental health of NYC communities, and assessing how volunteers can aid students in remote learning. They have both in-person (and socially distanced) and virtual volunteer opportunities.
The Giftwell
The Giftwell Neighborhood was launched with a goal of helping small, local businesses get their products to a wider audience.
FEMA
The FEMA website has information about ways to donate and volunteer.
Ways to Support Nurses & Healthcare Workers
This article from Nurse.Org lists 20 ways you can support healthcare workers.
How to help restaurants, hospitals, people
Here is an article from C|Net on the various ways you can help support your community, including donating money to food banks and making homemade masks.
CNN Guide
A guide to helping and getting help during the coronavirus crisis.
The Westside Campaign Against Hunger
The Westside Campaign Against Hunger is accepting donations.
Foodbank for NYC
Foodbank for NYC has launched a Community Kitchen program offering pre-packaged foods in light of COVID-19.
9 Ways to Help Others During the Coronavirus Pandemic
This list from Idealist ranges from checking on your neighbors to finding virtual volunteering opportunities.
Operation Warm
They’ve compiled a list of 35 volunteer opportunities you can do from home.
Feeding America
Here is a link to the Feeding America website. You can find your local food bank to see what help they may need.
Volunteer Match
Find virtual volunteer opportunities with Volunteer Match.
Actors Fund
Every New Yorker hates Times Square, but will suffer it for the joy of attending a Broadway show. With Broadway shuttered until September, the actors, musicians, and creatives that make Broadway possible are struggling. The Actors Fund provides assistance.
How to WFH Well
Greatist
22 Working From Home Tips That Actually Boost Productivity
Fast Company
5 Ways to Build Trust When Your Teams Are WFH Indefinitely
An Astronauts Guide to Isolation
Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s Instagram
HubSpot Article
How to Work From Home: 20 Tips From People Who Do It Successfully
Bloomberg Article
Tips From Experts—Our Co-Workers in Asia—About Working From Home
BBC Article
How to Work From Home — Comfortably
HBR Article
3 Tips to Avoid WFH Burnout
LifeLabs Learning
The Complete Remote Work Playbook
How to Avoid The Grocery Store
There are a ton of places to order groceries online. Some restaurants have even pivoted to offering provisions. Check with some of your favorite local restaurants to see if they have gone this route. Otherwise, here are some other options:
Upstate Farms New York (for Brooklyn people)
*Michele’s note: I personally ordered 4 weeks of their medium box and it was amazing. Super fresh, lots of variety, TONS of veggies.
Just Salad is doing Just Groceries
Or you can check for other Farms That Are Delivering
Physical Health
There are studies that show that people who work from home move 57% less in a day than when commuting to an office. That’s a lot less. And we’re all much closer to our kitchens where the snacks live, so it’s important to get your body moving!
Daily Burn
Daily Burn offers a 30 day free trial of their workouts and is very inexpensive, especially if you’re not paying for a gym.
NerdFitness
NerdFitness put together a list of The 7 Best At-Home Workout Routines: The Ultimate Guide for Training Without a Gym.
YouTube
YouTube has countless free workouts available including bodyweight workouts like this.
Co-Train.Space
If you want to do those YouTube workouts with your friends, there’s co-train.space. They also have some suggestions for videos you may want to try depending on fitness level.
Planet Fitness
Planet fitness will be live streaming free home workout classes on their Facebook page and on their YouTube channel. These workouts will be available to stream after the live presentation.
Runners World
In addition to great articles about running, they also have a list of Free Workout Streaming Services You Can Use at Home.
Greatist
Greatist has tons of articles (listicles) with at home workouts like 50 Exercises for a Bodyweight Workout You Can Do Anywhere, and 33 Cardio-Based Bodyweight Exercises, also 30-Minute, No-Gym Bodyweight Workout, to name just a few.
Barry’s
If you need a little bootcamp in your life. Barry’s will livestream at-home workouts on their Instagram (@barrys) and they’ll be available in their stories for 24 hours after the stream. After 24 hours they are added to the IGTV section of their Instagram profile.
CNBC List
Here is a list of home workout and wellness streaming services and information on what free trial periods they have.
MyFitnessPal
Here are 26 Essential Exercises From A to Z to add some variety to your workout routine.
Equinox
Equinox is offering free content on their Instagram (@equinox) including IGTV workout videos and live guided meditations. Too bad this doesn’t include Kiehls products like their locker rooms.
Classpass
On their site you can access free on-demand workout and wellness videos and you can book livestream classes for a fee.
Modo Yoga NYC
They are hosting live daily classes on their Instagram (@modoyoganyc)
Orangetheory Fitness
They are posting free daily workouts to their Instagram (@orangetheory) and YouTube channel.
Torch'd
Soulcycle instructor, Isaac Boots, is livestreaming workouts every day at 11am on his Instagram (@isaacboots) as well as posting workouts to his IGTV. (More of his videos can also be found at @torchdbyisaac on Instagram.)
Rumble
They are doing daily livestream workouts on their Instagram (@doyourumble) and posting them to IGTV.
Heather Robertson
She has home workout videos on her YouTube channel.
Rebecca-Louise
She has home workout videos on her YouTube channel.
Alo Moves (Yoga)
They have a two week free trial period.
CorePower Yoga
They are streaming free classes on their YouTube channel and have a 7 day free trial period for their on-demand classes.
ShaktiBarre
One of Ari’s candidates teaches at their Williamsburg studio and they are livestreaming classes at this time. Their classes are designed to empower women through inclusive and sustainable fitness programs. Here is a link to their website. Her candidate teaches a restorative "BlissFlow" twice a week.
Eventbrite
Eventbrite is a great resource to find free virtual events including fitness classes.
Peloton
You might not be able to afford their $2000 bike (and honestly, who can?), but they are offering a 30 day free trial of their app where you can find thousands of workouts including strength training, outdoor running, and yoga.
Mental Health
As important as it is to feed your body nutritious foods, and get it moving and sweating, it is equally (or more) important to take care of your mental health. Right now is hard. The uncertainty, the isolation, the lack of separation between home and work, worrying about family and friends can all take a toll on your mental health. Below are some resources.
NYC Department of Health
NYCDOH has launched “Phone a Clinician” service for all of your COVID related questions.Call 1-844-NYC-4NYC to connect to a medical provider free of charge, 9a–9p.
Runners World
Their team has, yet again, put together a great list of resources with their 32 Mental Health Apps to Help You Stay Happy and Healthy.
LifeLabs Learning
As a team created and lead by psychologists, LifeLabs has some tips for handling anxiety at this time.
Greatist
Always a great resource, they have these tips for dealing with short term and long term anxiety. As well as 7 tips on not being afraid of everything during a pandemic, and even more anxiety busting tips.
Journey Meditation
Journey is offering a 7 day free trial. You can download their app here.
Headspace
New York State of Mind is free content that Headspace is offering to help New Yorkers deal with the stress of now.
Calm
This is a free app for guided meditations and sleep stories.
The Science of Well-Being
This is a free online course offered by Yale.
Eventbrite
Eventbrite is also a great resource to find free virtual events including wellness classes/discussions.
Vox
Vox recommends these 9 podcasts to help ease any pandemic related anxiety.
Cultural Events and Entertainment
The Metropolitan Opera
Each day they are releasing a past performance that was filmed live to stream for free (available for 20 hours after it is released).
“Due to unprecedented demand and web traffic, we recommend you access the stream through the Met Opera on Demand apps for Apple, Amazon, and Roku devices and Samsung Smart TV.”
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is sharing new virtual programs, art-making activities and other things weekly. They even did First Saturday virtually.
Universal Studios
Several movies set to release in theatres in recent weeks have been made available to stream on demand at home (titles include The Invisible Man, The Hunt, Trolls World Tour). Check their website for currently available and upcoming titles.
Google Arts & Culture Tours
Check out the over 1,200 museums available to virtually tour via Google Arts & Culture or search by navigating a world map here. You can also several tour U.S. National Parks thanks to Google.
Alvin Ailey 'All Access'
“The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater has launched #AileyAllAccess in celebration of the theater's anniversary, and has made a range of digital content, including dance tutorials and performances, available for viewing.”
Insider List
This article lists “22 ways to leave home without actually leaving the couch, from virtual zoo exhibits to museum gallery tours.” Featured attractions include virtual tours of the Cliffs of Moher and Taj Mahal and virtual rollercoaster rides!
The Wrap
Virtual Concerts and Broadway Shows to Watch During the Coronavirus Shutdown. While this article hasn’t been updated since May 6, going to the websites of the venues listed will link to more entertainment.
Berlin Philharmonic
The Philharmonic announced that the entirety of its Digital Concert Hall streaming platform would be made available for free.
The Guardian’s List
If you’re into classical music and operas, this seems to update often. Quarantine soirées': classical music and opera to stream at home.
New York Public Library
Explore more than 300,000 e-books and audiobooks available for free at NYPL—from children's books to bestsellers.
Brooklyn Public Library
BPL also has tons of e-books and audiobooks that you can still borrow as a member.
Zoos & Aquariums
You know you want to watch a video of a penguin exploring a zoo! Here's a list of livestreams available at several Zoos and Aquariums around the country.
NASA
You can easily peruse space from your couch using NASA’s Video and Image library.
The Globe
You Can Stream Shakespeare Plays Recorded At The Globe Theatre, Online (not free but you can rent for a small fee).
Virtual Card Games
You can play card games virtually with your friends!
The National Theatre (of London)
The National Theatre is going to stream a free play every Thursday night. Visit their YouTube page to watch and see the streaming schedule in this article.
BroadwayWorld
Each day they post an updated schedule of virtual concerts, performances, and discussions that you can tune in to.
MoMa
MoMA is offering free online art courses you can take from home.
You Live, You Learn: A Night With Alanis and Jagged Little Pill
Not sure how long this video will be available, but if you wanted to see Jagged Little Pill and didn’t or if you did and want to experience the music again, check this out.
Stephen Sondheim’s Birthday Celebrations
For all the Sondheim fans out there and those who don’t know that they love Sondheim, here’s his 90th Birthday Celebration. If you find yourself wanting more clever lyrics and fantastic performances, you can check out his 80th Birthday Celebration.
Second City
They host a family-friendly improv show via Zoom. The show is free (donations are accepted) but you must register ahead of time.
Travel and Leisure
This list of 100+ Fun Things to Do at Home may have some repeats but there are tons of great ideas from virtual visits to National Parks, food and cocktail recipes to things to do with the kids at home for the parents in the audience.
Scott Rubenstein Recommends
The Last Dance, a 10 part documentary about Michael Jordan.
Free Trivia
At 8 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and 6 pm on Sundays, NYC Trivia League (@nyctrivialeague on Instagram) hosts free trivia on Instagram Live.
Brooklyn Brainery
Brooklyn Brainery is offering a variety of online classes that are relatively inexpensive on a whole host of topics, like Herbs for Clarity & Focus, or The American Coffeehouse.
Course Horse
Course Horse has many virtual classes available. Learn fun things like knife skills or the History of Happy Hour, or maybe how to read tarot cards.
Keeping the Kids Entertained (and Educated)
For when you JUST CANNOT listen to Moana one more time but screentime is your friend, here’s a list of some virtual classes for kids of all ages.
More Fun Ideas
If you’re running out of ideas here is an extensive list of 125 Ideas to Keep Kids Entertained During the Coronavirus Crisis
