Check In with us- Let us know how you are doing!

Hello friends!

I hope you all know that we at the COPD Foundation are thinking of you and hoping you are doing well! There is a lot of uncertainty swirling around in the news, but one thing that you can count on is that we will be here to support you and provide helpful information to you during this time. As a follow up to our recent webinars where we discussed emotional well-being, I thought I would check in with you and see how things are going and share a few resources that I think you might enjoy.

Things have been busy at my house, which is not necessarily a new thing, but it is busy in a new way. Hayden and I are spending time together as he learns how to play the piano and I try to remember more about playing catch with a baseball out in the yard on pretty days. We also have been able to take Riley and Mettie (our dogs) out on nice walks in the evening without feeling the rush of needing to be at one kind of ball practice or another.

My husband, Greg, is a respiratory therapist, too, and is working at his facility with patients to provide the best possible care. He is very careful when he comes home to limit our contact with things from his environment, and sometimes we practice social distancing in our own house. We have even been known to watch TV ‘together’ from separate rooms – whatever we have to do to keep everyone well!

Since the well-being topic came up in the webinar a couple of weeks ago, several of you have reached out looking for links to websites that are interesting and allow you to virtually explore things and places that you might like to see. We listed some during the webinar, but I have recently found a few others that you might find interesting. Let me know what you think about these. Click on the links to find out more:

While it has been a temptation for me to try and find things to do to keep myself busy, I am beginning to move away from that idea a bit, and am trying to just be present and in the moment as much as possible. That change in the way I am moving through my day is really helping me to manage my anxiety and stress in our current situation. Finding times to just practice mindfulness or appreciate the little things like the first robin or even a gentle rain storm after the winter, helps me. But that may not be something that works for you and you need to do what works for you.

What have you found that is helping you during this time of social distancing? How are you connecting with others and being proactive about your emotional health? I would love to hear from you. We have a lot that we can learn from each other – now more than ever! There are no right or wrong answers, we just want to hear from you!

Click the link below to see a special video message from me:

https://youtu.be/kUgqQ-wJBdI