We’ve spent the last six months baking bread, walking neighborhood laps and becoming Zoom zombies. You too? It’s high time to find some different things to do, healthy things that nourish and sustain us, from escapist reading to nature hikes, mindfulness practices and bedtime stories — for grown-ups.
Here are five ways to take better care of yourself.
1 Sleep Stories
Story time for grown-ups?? Yep — and the narrators include Lucy Liu, Stephen Fry, Laura Dern, LeBron James and Matthew McConaughey.
It’s no secret that getting sufficient sleep is key to our health and happiness. It’s also no secret that many of us are having trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep. A Kaiser study in April found that pandemic-fueled stress had impacted more than half the nation’s adults (56 percent), resulting in sleeping problems, eating problems, increased alcohol use and other mental health and wellbeing issues. A month later, Kaiser began offering its members the premium edition of the San Francisco-based Calm app for free.
It’s an incredible app. It’s also the top-ranked app for mental fitness, with more than 80 million downloads. The app’s most popular offerings are the 10-minute “Daily Calm” meditations guided by Tamara Levitt’s soothing tones, but the app also includes meditation series on a variety of themes, including anxiety, Calm masterclasses and more than 120 Sleep Stories, bedtime stories for grown-ups that create a transition from hectic workday to deep sleep.
Not a Kaiser member? Download the app and try a seven-day trial for free. Subscriptions to the premium edition are about $70 per year.
2 ‘Calm the Chaos’
Mindfulness, meditation and nature walks may be the only things keeping us even semi-sane this year. (Well, that and chocolate.) Now, Alameda life coach Nicola Taggart has two more things to add to that list. For the last two years, her “Calm the Chaos” journal (Chronicle Books, $15) has helped readers focus on self-care and mindful living. Each day’s easy-to-follow journal prompts encourage you to prioritize sleep, nourishing food, physical activity and kindness today, and help you set intentions for what you want to accomplish and how you want to feel tomorrow.
Now she’s followed it up with a set of 65 Calm the Chaos cards (Chronicle Books, $19), each bearing a simple mindfulness exercise. Look for moments of joy today, one suggests. Unplug, says another, and “reconnect with the real world.”
3 Escapist fare
Tuck into a recent page-turner written by a local author, like “Bottle Grove,” a comedic look at San Francisco’s hipsters and tech bros by the city’s own Lemony Snicket; “Squirrel in the Wall,” an interspecies romp by Oakland’s Hentry Hitz; or “Sourdough, or Lois and Her Adventures in the Underground Market,” by best-selling Oakland author Robin Sloan. It’s about an overworked software engineer who finds joy as a baker. That sourdough starter though … it’s alive.
4 Stream something sunny
It is simply not possible to feel bad when you’re laughing your head off. And the hilarious, heart-warming “Schitt’s Creek” delivers every single episode. The series won seven trophies at last weekend’s Emmy Awards, including honors for lead actor (Eugene Levy), lead actress (Catherine O’Hara), supporting actor (Dan Levy, Eugene’s son), supporting actress (Annie Murphy) and outstanding comedy series. The series follows the come-down of a formerly wealthy family forced to move to Schitt’s Creek, a small town they once purchased as a joke. You’ll find seasons 1 to 6 on Fubo TV and seasons 1 to 5 on Netflix, with season 6 arriving there in October.
Will Ferrell’s “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” brings a similar mix of hilarity and affection to its tale of Lars Erickssong (Ferrell) and Sigrit Ericksdóttir (Rachel McAdams), two Icelandic singers with dreams of Eurovision glory.
5 Get outdoors
We found the recent 30 consecutive days — not that we’re counting, but seriously, 30?? — of Spare the Air Days daunting. But when the skies clear, the Bay Area’s hiking trails and gorgeous landscapes beckon. If you’re a subscriber, you’ll know that we devoted last month’s Bay Area Outdoors magazine to exactly that, with 55 outdoor adventures, from mountain biking and paddle-boarding to hikes, big and small. You’ll find half a dozen great urban and suburban hikes here.
And there’s further inspiration to be found in a couple of excellent new hiking books, including Wendy Gorton’s “California: 50 Hikes with Kids” and Alexandra Kenin’s “Urban Trails East Bay,” which includes trails from Richmond to Fremont and Sunol.