With the "stay home" orders and recommendations flying around, most of us have had our normal lives pretty thoroughly disrupted.

And that means our patterns and habits are disrupted as well. We can't hit the gym or the spin class or the pool. We're making lunches at home rather than grabbing a bite out. Even our sacred coffee routines are different!

But some things you can continue to do or even do better, and hydration is one of those. It's your own bathroom, and it's likely closer to your work area than in the building you normally work in. And if you don't have ice or a clean glass, well, that's no one's fault but your own!

Hydration is incredibly important, especially during the menopause transition and after. It feeds your brain, lubes your joints, helps hydrate skin and other tissue — all things that re harder to do after estrogen declines. 

We talked with Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and owner of Champagne Nutrition Ginger Hultin about why proper hydration is necessary and how to stay hydrated in this time of online Happy Hours!

For more information and a full transcript of the discussion, visit Gennev.com. To see the webinar of this conversation, check out the Gennev channel on YouTube.

When most of us think of grief, we think of losing a loved one or the end of a relationship. Does it make sense to have a sense of grief in the coronavirus crisis, even if you haven't lost anyone?

According to psychiatrist Dr. Swapna Vaidya, yes. Grief is caused by loss, and many of us have lost at the very least a sense of security and our predictable routines. Others may have lost jobs, opportunities, and of course, loved ones.

But we're all in this together, and the potential for unity and for providing one another with support, globally, has never been greater. 

In this podcast, Dr. Swapna Vaidya speaks with Gennev Director of Health Coaching Stasi Kasianchuk about the nature and course of grief and how to be kinder to everyone going through it — including yourself.

Dr. Swapna Vaidya is a psychiatrist and Executive Medical Director in the MultiCare Health System.

Stasi Kasianchuk is a Sports Dietitian, Exercise Physiologist and Gennev Director of Health Coaching.

Wearing a face mask (except the N95s, please leave those for medical professionals) helps protect other people from you. Even if you have no symptoms, you could be carrying and spreading the COVID 19 virus, so it's important to keep the moisture from coughs, sneezes — perhaps even breaths — contained. So please, do wear a mask if you're out and about among people.

Protecting others is awesome. Protecting yourself and those you love? Priceless.

One of the most unknown and underrated ways to strengthen your immune response is gut health. Science is only beginning to understand the importance of a healthy gut, including what the gut does (a lot) and how best to protect and feed it.

We took these questions to a gut health expert: Dr. Erika La Vella of lavellayourguts.com. She is a board-certified metabolic surgeon and describes herself as a "wife, and mother who is passionate about health in the most preventative and holistic of ways." She talked with Gennev Director of Health Coaching Stasi Kasianchuk about what the gut biome is, how it works, and some of the many ways we're finding that a balanced gut biome makes us healthier — and an unbalanced one can disrupt our health.

So, especially in a time when we all REALLY want and need the most robust immune response we can have, how do we feed our gut and protect it?

Listen up and find out! 

Find the full transcript at Gennev.

Nutrition plays a critical role in supporting our immune system. Now more than ever it's time to prioritize your nutrition to keep you healthy and well. This doesn't need to take excessive amounts of time or advanced culinary skills. Listen to the podcast to learn easy ways to prepare and eat meals to support your immune health.

In this podcast, you'll hear Gennev's Director of Coaching Stasi Kasianchuk, RND, talking with another Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Monika Jacobson, about the importance of good food during stressful times. 

Healthy food is always important, but in this time of global pandemic, the more we can do to take care of ourselves, the more we slow the spread and ease the burden on overloaded health care facilities. 

And if the way we take care of ourselves makes us and our families feel good, happens to be delicious as well as nutritious, and can even be a fun activity to do together, well, even better.

Click here for more information on Gennev's HealthFix program. And learn more about Monika and her organization, Eat Move Thrive-Spokane.

Looking for more great information on wellness during COVID 19 and beyond? Check out Gennev's free Weekly Webinar series, where we talk with health professionals about the issues that concern you most. 

Find a full transcript of this podcast at Gennev.

How do sleep (or a lack of it) and stress (an abundance of it) affect your immune system?

A lot, it turns out, and while that's always important, it's particularly important during this time of COVID 19. 

To help people be well during this pandemic, Gennev is offering a series of weekly webinars on issues of women's health and how they're impacted by the isolation. 

What are the risk factors for contracting COVID 19, and what are the best ways to protect yourself? 

Be sure to learn about and register for upcoming webinars. 

Gennev is the first online clinic for women in midlife and menopause. If menopause symptoms are impacting your quality of life, take back control. Visit Gennev.com for more information.