The Long COVID Care peer support group is not taking in any new participants.
This group is winding down as funding issues restrict what I am now able to offer.
If you have Long COVID, my advice is to find a support group with meetings that allows you to share your expereinces with others who understand the challenges of Long COVID. Having Long COVID can be very isolating and the biggest benefit from this Long COVID Care group can from reducing isolation that individuals felt and using peer support.
Further information on using yoga-based practices can be found on YouTube through the Yoga Therapy Whole Person Healing channel.
Here’s a short breathing practice: Breathing with Ease
Individual Support
I offer 1-to-1 sessions yoga therapy sessions to focus on your individual symptoms and factors around health.
This develops exactly the prractices that are right for you to support your current health and to managing it in a way to promote recovery.
Many thanks to the Amersham & Villages Community Board and Sport England and Leap who funded the original project.
Aims of the Long COVID Care Group:-
To establish a group building peer-support; to gain the benefits of support and to reduce feelings of isolation.
To allow individuals in the group to experience or consider how actions and activities, including mind-body activities practised in the sessions, affect them and their health.
To encourage individuals in a suitable personal way, to be active participants in their self-care for health and recovery.
Results of the initial phase of the support group
Questionnaires showed that 100% participants rated the Long COVID Care group as very good.
100% of participants reported that the peer-support meetings provided them with benefits in feeling supported and less isolated.
100% of participants reported that the meetings and resources allowed them to experience and consider the actions and activities that positively affect them and their health.
100% of participants reported that the Long COVID Care group and resources allowed them to feel better equipped to manage their health and make the right decisions for them and their health.
How do I know if I have Long COVID? Long COVID is when COVID symptoms last longer than 12 weeks.
Symptoms are extremely wide-ranging and fluctuating, and can include breathlessness, chronic fatigue, “brain fog”, anxiety and stress. You should speak with your GP about your symptoms to assess them and your health. It is difficult to diagnose Long COVID and other conditions need to be ruled out. Bear in mind that not everyone receives a diagnosis of Long COVID even if it is very likely that they have it.
Long COVID Care Group
Long COVID Care encourages people whose health has been affected by COVID-19 or who have Long COVID (with or without a diagnosis) to come together to find a supportive place to talk.
The group share concerns affecting them and what they find or have found helpful for them.
It’s hard for family, friends colleagues and employers to fully understand the challenges and complex nature of a fatigue condition such as Long COVID. The group come together to support each other with understanding for what living with Long COVID is like.
Using Yoga Therapy
Each group meeting includes a short yoga-based practice with the aim of supporting health and recovery. Examples are relaxation, breath awareness to help health, gentle yoga, fatigue management tools, dealing with stress and stress symptoms, practices for dealing with mental challenges and calm ruminating thoughts.
Individual meetings to provide personal support are available.
If you have any questions about the project or support for Long COVID
contact Barbara at barbaradancer@gmail.com
