It’s a new normal for everyone and here are three things that may help this week.
1. Still time to sign up for Move it for Mental Health, the virtual event to create a community movement around reducing mental health stigma. This is the first event — with a 1 mile, 5K or 10K option for participants — for Crow Wing Energized. Participants can run, walk, kayak, roll, swim or skip. The goal is to get people moving. In addition one of five nonprofit organizations is eligible to receive a percentage of event proceeds based on the votes of Move it for Mental Health participants. People can record their times and between Saturday, Sept. 19, and Sept. 26. And registration for the event is open until 11:59 p.m. Sept. 26. A last chance for race pickup and getting the swag bag will be 3-5 p.m. Sept. 28 at 303 Kingwood St. in Brainerd. Register at https://bit.ly/307azaD .
The five nonprofits eligible to be voted for are: The Lighthouse Project, Smiles for Jake,
Wellness in the Woods, Bridges of Hope and Crisis Line.
2. Wonder how often you should clean items in your home? Glad you asked. WebMD made a list. Clean the smartphone daily and the TV remote weekly. The list included some other basics like cleaning the kitchen countertops daily and the toilets. But clean ceiling fans, toothbrushes and refrigerators quarterly. Carpets are listed as weekly. Furniture, dishwashers and dry makeup brushes should be cleaned monthly.
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3. Wide awake in the middle of the night? WebMD lists a few tips to help ease you back to sleep. One is not to look at the clock to tell yourself how much sleep you aren’t getting. Don’t activate the smartphone or tablet to check up on Twitter or your latest fantasy football moves. The blue light from those screens act as a signal to your brain to wake up.
“If you’ve been awake for 20 minutes or longer, you may want to get up and out of bed. Without turning on any bright lights, move to another room. Don’t turn on the TV. Instead, do something peaceful and calming.” Recommended options include reading or taking deep breaths and stretching and heading back to bed when sleepy. So people may want to pick their reading material carefully so they aren’t prompted to stay up all night. WebMD also says don’t be tempted to work or get ahead of chores, which can make it more likely you’ll start a wakeup trend. For brains that won’t stop, try counting backwards.
For more tips from the weekly Three Things list, check out the Monday Motivator page each week in the Dispatch or e-edition, or go to www.brainerddispatch.com and go to lifestyle to reach the drop-down menu for health or search using the keywords “Monday Motivator.”
Questions or tips to share? Contact Renee Richardson, managing editor, at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 218-855-5852.
