Top Tips for Surviving Lock Down

Wow…. How things can change within a week…

What felt like something that affected ‘somebody else, but not me’ has really come into play this week, and as events unfold, almost by the hour, it has been an extremely unsettling time for every single one of us.

I am going to share three of my top tips for surviving lockdown, without loosing your mind…

• Tapping, or EFT.  I might be all upbeat in my messages, and e-mails, and live videos that you see, but that doesn’t always reflect what is actually going on behind the scenes.  Lets face it, much of social media is all about ‘best foot forward’ and all of that.   I was recently introduced to ‘Tapping’ and I was surprisingly impressed by it’s results.  Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.  We have had some extreme anxiety attacks in our family this week, and I suspect you may too.  Melanie Moore is an EFT Practitioner.  She has just recorded this video, specifically to help you, and your children, manage the anxiety of Coronavirus.  You can watch the video here.  Expect lots of yawning whilst you are following along, but it really does work, I definitely feel less anxious after going through it.  I also love how her dog Bitsy steals the show at the end of the video, as Mel says, “Laughter is the best medicine”.   Try it.

• The Do Try This at Home School has been created by Sarah Vaughan, it’s completely free of charge and is full of creative learning activities that children and families can try at home together.  If you have younger children, this is THE place to go.  It’s packed full of ideas, from story telling by making your own cinema, from a shoe box, to art activities such as rainbow paintings, and salt dough recipes.  Check out the science lessons, I defy any child not to say learning isn’t fun with these resources on hand!  As of Monday, Sarah will be adding daily taught sessions and resources for at least a month to support children and families at home.  She is doing all of this for free… If you enjoy her work, and free resources, please consider showing your appreciation by buying her books, or making a donation to her charity, The Play Well Trust.

• Wax Painting.  I’ve been banging on about the therapeutic qualities of encaustic wax for years. I’ve seen it time, and time, and time again during my in person workshops. Something magical happens during these sessions…  Just check out my testimonial page… there are many more similar comments in my visitors book, and countless untold stories on top of these.   I announced earlier in the year that I was planning to bring my encaustic work on line.  How strange that I felt called to do that.   Everything I used to teach in person is already online, and ready for you to work along with at home.   There are different options for different people at different budgets, including free classes.  Encaustic art can help anybody, from the person who claims not to be able to draw a straight line, to the super creative artists amongst us.   I will be sharing free daily live videos every day at 2pm for you to watch along to at home.  They are all short, quick videos to keep your attention, get you inspired, and take your mind off the news for a few minutes.  They are all linked up into a YouTube play list, so if you can’t catch them live, you can watch them later, easily in one place.  They are there to dip in and out of when you want a bit of light relief.  It’s as fascinating to watch, as it is to paint with it yourself… so do check it out.   I will also organise some Free Live Zoom Calls so you can ask me your wax questions.  Encaustic isn’t the easiest of mediums to navigate!  I have everything you need for wax painting in stock, so buy from my online shop, there’s a small stock at The Creative Collective in Berkhamsted, visit my studio, drop me an e-mail, or just pick up the phone, and I can help you, based around your personal circumstances.   You’ll find all the details on my contact page.

Lets help each other through this…. We can’t change matters, but we can help to ease the anxiety. Art and learning goes a long way towards that.   The creative ways people are helping are beginning to unfold on the news, many are truly up lifting…   I’ll continue to share more of those over the coming weeks.

Stay safe everyone. xx