Self-isolation. Oh, how we embraced the new buzzword with gusto when it first entered public consciousness. Rapid-fire tapping it into our Instagram bios, and creating memes with more enthusiasm than our work presentations have ever seen. But as the Coronavirus crisis continues on, the jokes have long started to wear thin.
No, we are not being drafted to the frontline – unlike the army of doctors and nurses who are currently fighting to save lives. Despite the craze for panic-buying loo roll and pasta, and pictures of stripped-bare supermarket shelves flooding social media, we are not condemned to starvation, either. In fact, thanks to Wi-Fi and access to food deliveries, we are in a pretty privileged position. But, after weeks of self-isolation – side note: do you even know what day it is? – most of us are starting to feel the strain.
If you have finished Netflix and your arsenal of quarantine distractions is looking a little sparse, don’t despair! From digital book clubs to online exercise classes, early release dates for our favourite TV series to Instagram DJ sets or studying for free at the renowned Harvard University, we have rounded up fresh bits from the ‘net and social media to help you stay sane in self-isolation. Just pray that your Wi-Fi doesn’t go down…
This is a work in progress! Do send us your recommendations on Facebook or Instagram!
Physical & Mental Wellness
Forte Village
Start the day right with a sun salutation from Sardinia with daily yoga sessions from Forte Village. A spectacular beach resort on the southern coastline the Italian island, the hotel team is also offering cooking videos including a vegetarian burger recipe – all available to watch via their website.
The Body Camp at Home
One of Ibiza’s hottest wellness retreats is bringing its unique mix of fitness classes, nutritional advice, motivational talks, and ,oh, heaps of fun to you with free online workshops and classes. From talks on mindfulness and self-limiting beliefs with head coach Rick, to a live Q&A with retreat chef extraordinaire Ben PLUS some easy to recreate recipes, you can find it all on The Body Camp’s Facebook page or their newly launch Body Camp Channel (Instagram Live).
LOVE YOU
A collaboration between the creative minds behind some of Ibiza’s most fantastical and immersive parties – including Woomoon and Storytellers – the Love You Instagram account is bursting with goodness for mind, body and soul. A jam-packed programme offers Instagram live talks on how to boost your immune system, healing sound bath sessions, virtual workouts and, of course, plenty of great DJ sets.
Grokker
Usually only available to hotel residents, Mandarin Oriental, in partnership with global health and fitness platform Grokker, is offering complimentary 60-day access to videos covering everything from meditation to Pilates, as well as general fitness and yoga. Join here to access expert advice from world-class instructors designed to keep you fit in mind and body.
Lucy May Fitness
An up-and-coming talent on the Ibiza fitness scene, Lucy May Dawson knows all the tricks to hone and tone your beach body, so we can emerge from self-isolation stronger, fitter and more confident! Connect via Facebook or Instagram to join her twice-weekly Zoom workouts on Mondays and Thursdays.
The Calmer You Podcast
Hypnotherapist and author Chloe’s Brotheridge’s The Calmer You Podcast is the perfect antidote for frazzled minds. Over the 95 episodes currently available, Chloe and her guest experts address a variety of self-care and self-empowerment topics, such as body positivity, confidence, how to recharge and avoid burnout or how to live comparison-free. A specialist in helping her clients deal with anxiety, there are several episodes that tackle this complex subject from different angles by talking about very specific issues such as social or mobile phone anxiety, the effect of alcohol and hormones on your mental health, or the impact of early childhood trauma. Dotted in between are free meditations and affirmations that you can put to work instantly, or you can download a complete anxiety toolkit from Chloe’s website.
GABA Meditation Podcast
Described by founder Adam Martin as ‘next generation meditation that unfolds like a beautiful dream’, each GABA episode aims to be ‘your daily antidote to the velocity of modern life’. Mixing soothing sounds, majestic classical music elements and beautiful prose to spirit you away into Martin’s immersive stories, it’s a captivating flight of fantasy.
Cocktails & Cooking
Casa Jaguar Tulum
One of our favourite cocktail spots on the Riviera Maya, Casa Jaguar Tulum, is teaching us how to handle our mezcal (and other spirits) in style by sharing their signature cocktail recipes on Instagram stories. Jungle magic in a glass!
MICHELIN Guide
If you really want to flex your culinary muscles during lockdown, why not try to recreate the recipes shared on the MICHELIN Guide’s Instagram account. Posting oh-so-cute illustrated recipe cards, whipping up the world’s best restaurant dishes looks like a doddle. Try your hand at Thai Holy Basil Beef (Pad Kra Pow) by Chef Tonn of Le Du, or dazzle your quarantine buddy with La Maison d’à Côté chef Christophe Hay’s Strawberry Charlotte.
Love Food Ibiza
Not only a much-loved face on the island’s social circuit, but also a super talented chef, Tess Prince shares her favourite recipes on her blog Love Food Ibiza. Her philosophy is ‘to cook consciously, eat seasonally and live colourfully’ by using fresh, ethical and local produce where possible. Why not try your hand at recipes such as Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Frittatas, Vegan Mixed Mushroom Rolls with Smoked Sea Salt or Sticky Orange and Almond Cake?
Read & Listen
Fantastic Stories by Mandarin Oriental
For the ultimate in armchair escapism, the renowned Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group will soon be launching a new podcast series inspired by their hotel destinations called Fantastic Stories. Written by acclaimed authors, such as former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, Alexandra Shulman, indulge in a selection of short stories penned by their illustrious guests.
The Good Life Reads with Nadia El Ferdaoussi
If you’re rediscovering your love of reading, why not join our good pal, travel writer and wine connoisseur Nadia El Ferdaoussi’s digital book club over at on Instagram? We are currently working our way through the hauntingly beautiful Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens – and Nadia also has some rather excellent advice on all things vino on her Insta Stories.
Happy Place by Fearne Cotton
British TV presenter and radio host Fearne Cotton is truly finding her voice in the Happy Place podcast, where she quizzes a star-studded line-up of guests on everything from mental health and career confidence to parenthood pressures. Celebrity favourites such as Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams, The Body Coach Joe Wicks, Hollywood royalty Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert talk about their own journey and struggles – making the podcast both insightful as well as entertaining.
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
We first came across Erin Morgenstern’s beautiful prose when we stumbled across her novel The Night Circus. A dark, immersive fantasy written in an intricate and captivating style, Morgenstern’s way with words made us fall back in love with the art of writing. Her second novel The Starless Sea is equally as mesmerising and makes the perfect self-isolation read. Not only is it a huge tome that will take a generous chunk of your time to complete, but the magical universe the author has created will also help you escape the dreariness of our current reality.
How To Fail With Elizabeth Day
Elizabeth Day’s podcast follows a simple but comforting concept: her guests share what they consider their three biggest failures in life with the audience, and reveal how they have grown from these experiences. Two standout episodes that everyone should listen to during self-isolation are her conversations with Mo Gawdat, the former Chief Business Officer for Google X, an entrepreneur, and the author of the book Solve for Happy. After losing his son Ali in a tragic accident in 2014, he spent years studying different schools of thoughts relating to the pursuit of happiness. His research led him to developing his own approach, dubbed ‘the happiness algorithm’, which he discusses on How To Fail. After the success of his first appearance, he recently returned for a special episode dedicated to the coronavirus crisis to help us deal with our anxiety and worries during self-isolation.
Watch
Killing Eve – Series Three Returns EARLY
Arguably one of the biggest gifts this global crisis has given us, the BBC has decided to help boost moral by pushing the release date for the impending third series of Killing Eve forward. Yes, REALLY. We have watched the trailer several times over and can’t wait for the return of our favourite psychopathic assassin. With Villanelle back on our screens, self-isolation will be far from ‘booooooooooooooring!’ Killing Eve will be available to stream in the UK on iPlayer from 6am on Monday 13 April, after airing at 9pm local time in the US on Sunday 12 April on BBC America and AMC.
Modern Love
If you have access to Amazon Prime, this series delving into the trials and tribulations of – you guessed it – Modern Love is worth a watch. Based on real-life personal essays printed in the beloved New York Times column of the same name, A-Listers including Anne Hathaway, Dev Patel and Tina Fey bring their star power to the small screen. Each episode is only around 30-minutes long but packs the same heart-string-tugging, feel-good force of a romcom – but with the kind of quirky, sarky twists only real life can deliver.
Hot Ones by First We Feast
The concept is simple, a little bit twisted and deliciously entertaining: Hot Ones challenges your favourite A-Listers to answer questions about themselves while eating increasingly spicy chicken wings (vegan option available). Smothered in some of the world’s most lethal hot sauces, including the infamous Da’Bomb range, everyone from Justin Timberlake to Billie Eilish, Margot Robbie to Noel Gallagher, Gordon Ramsay (a classic) to Ashton Kutcher have put their tastebuds to the test. Host Sean Evans has often been lauded for his well-researched, interesting questions, making Hot Ones both incredibly entertaining as well as insightful. Warning: Do NOT try this at home, self-isolation or not!
Educate Yourself
Free Ivy League Online Courses with Class Central
If you crave some serious brain stimulation during self-isolation, now is your chance to gain further qualifications from the elite of American universities. Class Central offers over 400 online courses across Business, Computer Science, Humanities, Mathematics, Personal Development and many other fields.
Choose from subjects such as Economics of Money & Banking at Columbia, Princeton University’s Buddhism & Modern Psychology, Yale University’s Introduction to Negotiation OR – for the ultimate in both randomness and clout – PredictionX: John Snow and the Cholera Outbreak of 1854 from the renowned Harvard University.
Most of the Ivy League online courses take around four to six weeks to complete, with around two to three hours of studying required each week. Enrolment is free, however, if you want that prestigious printed certificate to put on your wall, it will set you back a few extra dollars.
Learn A Language
If you want to order your cócteles in fluent Spanish upon your return to Ibiza, Babbel and Rosetta Stone are arguably the two best-known options to learn a language online. During the Coronavirus quarantine, Rosetta Stone is offering free and unlimited live group sessions in addition to their regular course work so you can practise to speak despite being in self-isolation.
Dance
elrow Home Sessions
Spain’s biggest and boldest party concept is brightening up your self-isolation with a series of Facebook live sessions in collaboration with tequila-fuelled beer brand Desperados. Easter Sunday on April 12th will see Ibiza regular Marco Faraone take to the decks for 1.5 hours of unadulterated, high energy beats from 4pm CET. He will be followed by Yousef (April 19th) and Denniz Cruz (April 26th) over the course of the month. Simply head to elrow’s Facebook page on Sunday, or relive all the fun over at Deperados. The question is; how many inflatables have you got at home?
Melon Bomb
We may be restricted to living room raving during self-isolation, but the Melon Bomb gang never fails to bring the energy. Known for their irresistible mixes of sexy disco sounds mashed up with cult classics from the ’80s, ’90s and whatever else is at hand, laid over some mighty fine house beats, it is impossible to feel down when letting loose to a Melon Bomb set. One of Ibiza’s most enthusiastic turntable legends, Paul Reynolds made a start with a live DJ set that can be replayed via the Melon Bomb Facebook page.
LOVE YOU
Another shout-out to LOVE YOU, but it’s well-deserved. Their mission to keep us entertained and sane in self-isolation comes via a jam-packed weekly time-table of goodness including DJ sets by Ibiza and Tulum’s finest turntable talent. Check their Instagram grid for daily updates!
The Night League #StayAtHomeSessions
Ibiza nightlife power players The Night League have put their impeccable connections to good use and launched the #stayathomesessions; featuring heavy hitters such as Matthias Tanzmann, Francesco Allendes and Andrea Oliva. April 4th sees the extended ANTS family come together to play in aid of the World Health Organisation and the Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund – keep an eye on the Ushuaïa Ibiza and Hï Ibiza Facebook pages to look out for further self-isolation sets!
Home Delivery Service by Ibiza Sonica Radio
One of the island’s most beloved radio stations, the Ibiza Sonica crew continues to transmit its eclectic, cutting-edge sound to you via Facebook Live featuring self-isolation talent such as Edu Imbernon and J’Peux Tim under the #alonetogether. Straight from the artist’s living room to yours!
