Welcome to our monthly guide of the best websites, apps, podcasts, workouts, You Tube videos and other recommendations to help you unwind and escape from the madness for a while. 

Learning: If you’ve been thinking about enhancing your skillset, why not try some of the free online courses that are available via a number of reputable institutions. By simply searching ‘free online certificated courses UK’ we have found the following:

https://uklearns.pearson.com/search.html?_charset_=UTF-8&learn_uk_prod%5Bquery%5D=free

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses/full-catalogue

https://www.reed.co.uk/courses/free/online

https://www.nescot.ac.uk/rebuild

Health and relaxation: Anika’s Yoga
Anika Blake from the Stagecoach team has been training to become a yoga instructor with Yoga London. She is almost finished and will be offering a weekly online yoga class for colleagues. The classes will be held every Friday 12.30pm – 1.30pm and will cost £5 per person per class. The first class takes place this Friday (9 October) via Zoom. All levels are welcome to join, so if you are interested in booking a space please contact Anika directly at [email protected]. Anika’s classes will focus on de-stressing, improving well-being and building fitness.

Listen: Kylie – Disco
Global pop legend Kylie Minogue returns to the dancefloor for her fifteenth studio album, Disco, released 6 November. Kylie spent lockdown learning how to engineer and produce her own vocals amid the pandemic and worked on the new music with disco pop producer Mousse T, Italian DJ Alex Gaudino, and French producer Mirwais.  Features the singles Say Something and Magic (watch below).

Podcast: Soundtracking
In a unique weekly award-winning podcast, Edith Bowman sits down with a variety of directors, actors, producers and composers to talk about the music that inspired them and how they use music in their films. The chosen music is woven throughout each interview. There are over 200 episodes so far so plenty to keep you entertained!

App: Epicurious 
The all-new Epicurious app makes it even easier to find the world’s best recipes, watch incredible food videos, and cook delicious meals. There are weekly updates and you can explore over 35,000 tested recipes from publishers like Bon Appetit, Gourmet, HarperCollins, and more, plus recipe reviews and ratings from home cooks like you.

Fitness: Body Project
Want to stay active but need to be careful on your joints? These low-impact workouts are perfect for new exercisers and people returning to workouts. They have a variety of videos for all different types of fitness levels on their YouTube Channel.