The pandemic has made it easier for many of us to skip exercise, gain weight and delay routine checkups -- three bad habits that prime your body for a heart attack or stroke, whatever your age.
Now’s the time to get back on track. But how?
Science desk reporter and family physician Dr. Kristen Kendrick has worked up a good plan to help you get started. “Making lifestyle changes will be beneficial, regardless of your age, and even has the capacity to reverse existing damage to your blood vessels,” Kendrick says.
Even after you’ve been fully immunized and have that cherished COVID-19 vaccination card in hand, don’t rush back to all your favorite pre-pandemic activities just yet, health officials plead.
Face-to-face choir practice, for example, is still thought to be one of the riskiest activities you can engage in until more people are vaccinated and the level of coronavirus circulating in your community takes a dive and stays low.
You expel air forcefully when you sing, which generates lots of respiratory aerosols that might, unbeknownst to you, contain particles of the virus that causes COVID-19. And while early evidence suggests people who’ve been vaccinated are less likely to spread much virus even on the rare chance they get infected, the data on that aren’t yet conclusive.
So, the guidelines released in December by researchers who conducted the International Coalition of Performing Arts Aerosol Study still hold true for singing groups in this transition time, when lots of people are still vulnerable to infection: Wear a mask while performing, practice outdoors if possible and stay at least 6-feet apart.
We know that listening is hard, maybe especially when your kid is telling you for the third time about his soccer goal or the boss is going over the quarterly reports. But building better relationships at home and work requires better listening, and that means more than a head nod while scrolling on your phone -- it takes active engagement.
Our friends at NPR’s Life Kit podcast have spelled out key steps that make all the difference in lending an ear.
Here’s one: “Lead with curiosity.” You don’t get points for correctly guessing what someone is about to say. If you really listen, the nuance may surprise you and take the conversation in a fresh and interesting direction.
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