As we move out of lockdown, how are you feeling? April is Stress Awareness Month, and a good opportunity to check in with your thoughts and emotions following a turbulent year.

The Stress Management Society has held the event every April since 1992 and, nearly 30 years on, it’s more vital than ever.

How
is your January going? Renowned for being the toughest month and with
so-called ‘Blue Monday’ said to be the most depressing day of the year,
it can be hard to stay motivated about
health goals at the best of times – let alone after almost a year of a
global pandemic.

At
Plutus Health,

This
year, the festive season is looking very different to Christmases past,
with the office party consigned to 2019 and Covid restrictions limiting
where we can go and who we can see. 

While
the priority is undoubtedly to stay Coronavirus-free and help reduce
the risk to your family and friends too, there are a number of other
ways to ensure your best health this Christmas.

If
you’re fearing a blue Christmas this year, you’re not alone. The
coronavirus pandemic has turned 2020 on its head and taken its toll on
millions of us as the year has gone on. 

Increasing
loneliness and isolation, as well as fears of not being able to see
family and friends during the festive season,

It’s estimated that up to
eight out of 10 people in the UK are affected by back pain at
some point in their lives, according to NHS figures. And, unfortunately, months of working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic has been very bad for our back health, with poor home office set-ups and a lack of exercise contributing to further problems. 

Are
you one of the thousands of Brits to get on your bike in 2020? Pedals
have powered us through lockdown, it seems, with an explosive growth in
UK bicycle sales since March. 

Bicycle
Association
figures show that, overall, bike sales rose by 60% in April, compared
to April 2019,

The
‘new normal’ is a phrase we’ve all heard a lot during recent months,
but what does this mean for our health services? We take a look at the
services that are being switched back on following
lockdown, and how you can access them.

Dentist

Dentistry
in Wales is currently in Phase I of a staged return to full services,

It’s Talk to Us Month – Samaritans’ focus on mental health and the services the charity offers in each community. As we come out of lockdown, but with Coronavirus far from over, we need more support than ever to look after our emotional wellbeing and to face the coming months.

According to the Office for National Statistics,

If there’s one thing that most people agree on at the moment, it’s that lockdown has been made much more bearable by the fantastic (and rather unBritish-like!) weather. April was the sunniest on record, with the daily temperature, on average, 3.1℃ higher than usual, and meteorologists predict that 2020 could prove the hottest year yet –

How are you managing during lockdown? We’re now in the seventh week of unprecedented restrictions on our daily lives and, while many of us are benefiting from a slower pace of life and the chance to catch up with projects at home that we otherwise never seem to get around to, there’s no doubt that thousands of people are struggling.