Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort, one of the subjects of William Leiths new book. Photograph: Paramount

William Leiths primary subject has always been appetite, and its close cousins compulsion and obsession. He first explored these themes in his newspaper columns, stagily self-absorbed fragments of a hungover life, and subsequently in two addictive books. The first, The Hungry Years, set his own capacity for excess in food and drink and drugs against a culture high on consumption; the second, Bits of Me Are Falling Apart, was a sometimes poignant, always curious, mediation on mortality, the consequences of that bingers lifestyle. Both books were revelatory and funny, and dramatised their own premise way, way too much.

The Trick takes all of Leiths writing habits his mazy streams of consciousness (few writers are quite so enamoured of, or good at, watching themselves think) and his love of axiom and, if anything, ups the ante. His subject here, is one that has always nagged away underneath his tales of excess if he wants so much, why has he often been so profligate in his attempts to get it? Why has he been unable, that is, to accumulate wealth rather than debt?

Leith has, over three decades as a magazine journalist, done more than his fair share of profiles of the rich and the super-rich. It is not, therefore, as though he has not seen them in action, questioned their motivations, studied their life choices why have none of those traits of success rubbed off? If he is so good at understanding what makes his subjects tick, why can he not apply that wisdom to his own bank balance?

This quest in search of the trick of outrageous fortune begins with one of those commissions. He has been asked to interview Jordan Belfort, the Wolf of Wall Street, who made a dizzying fortune and then lost it, after the greed that made him a millionaire made him a criminal. Leith conjures in perfect comic detail the strange pauper-and-prince life of the journalist sent on such an assignment, the weird afternoons of access to lives that sell magazines; access that, in him, only sharpens a sense of not having the secret key to that world to the country mansion, the minimalist architectural porn while simultaneously despising it. A snapshot of my mind, as I walk through the automatic door of the Chelsea Harbour hotel [to meet Belfort]. I am thinking about the rich. All my ideas and experiences are packaged into a powerful emotion a powerfully negative emotion. The rich, it tells me, are sad and delusional and so is the part of me that yearns to be rich.

Belfort lets him in on the secret of his success, just as those other multimillionaires he has profiled before Alan Sugar, Felix Dennis, Howard Schultz of Starbucks, a Russian oligarch named, appropriately, Max have let him in on theirs. And over the course of this book, Leith turns those secrets, nearly all of them platitudes over and over in his head, like a Samuel Beckett monologuist trying and failing to write a self-help manual.

He listens to Belforts wisdom on a loop: The only thing that stops you from getting what you want in life is the bullshit story you tell yourself about why you cant have it. Leith comes to realise his whole life is that story, but how to end it? He re-examines some of the more disastrous financial decisions of his life, the times he has had money and watched it slip through his fingers (Its like I actively want to be poor); he searches out game-theory billionaires like Nassim Nicholas Taleb and economic philosophers such as Matt Ridley who presided over the run on Northern Rock and responded by writing a book called The Rational Optimist.

And the more we watch him listen, the closer he gets to the trick itself. This being Leith, he boils it down a few times to the kind of wisdom that always sounds too simple to be true. Youll find the right path by taking lots of wrong paths. Be the brain surgeon and the mad axeman. Even as he writes them, he knows he will never learn them he thinks too much but it is, nevertheless hugely enjoyable watching him try.

The Trick by William Leith is published by Bloomsbury (20). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com. Free UK p&p over 15

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The Trick review - William Leith on how to make a packet - The Guardian

I need to be really picky Tamsin Greig. Photograph: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

What was your reaction when asked to play Malvolia? I was offered Olivia but she wasnt on my list of must-play roles. Theatre is such a commitment I need to be really picky. Its a big deal, being out every night and away from family. The National came back with the idea of Malvolio and my interest was piqued. The director Simon Godwin and I read the play a lot together, just the two of us, and then with Ben Power, deputy artistic director at the NT, and then with a group of actors. But part of me was quite resistant. They said what about making the character Malvolia so youre playing a woman? We did more workshops. I was very nervous of making Malvolio a woman and therefore a lesbian, considering what happens to the character in the play, which is monstrous.

How did you balance the elements of comedy and cruelty?I wanted to find out more about the ridiculousness in Malvolia. Sometimes people develop coping strategies that make them foolish. Malvolia is a deeply wounded human being who becomes OCD and bullies the other people in the household in order to cope. She meets her match in Feste. I thought it was a brilliant idea to invite Doon Mackichan to play Feste and to make Fabian become Fabia. Youve then got two more women who are the authors of the cruelty against Malvolia, alongside Maria. I thought that was interesting there is so much cruelty against women perpetrated by women themselves. The self-judgment of women is awful. We started exploring what it was about Feste that enabled her to be so calculatedly and comically cruel to Malvolia.

As Malvolia, you use precise hand gestures that tell us much about the characterIts an outward expression of her need to create order out of chaos. Hand gestures are often so much about threat and control. I trained as a dancer and am interested in what the whole body does. The way we express ourselves goes right to the very tips of our fingers. There is a moment when Malvolia comes on and tells Olivia there is a boy at the door who wont go away. I started to use a repeated gesture of pushing him towards her. Then Phoebe Fox, as Olivia, says to tell him to go away and she repeats the gesture back. Malvolia gets rather confused about why Olivia is using that gesture so does it again. It became a beautiful moment.

Malvolias judgment of the other characters extends towards the audience. How was that idea developed?I was overwhelmed by the size of the Olivier theatre, particularly in the letter scene which could be seen as a monologue. But I dont think Shakespeare ever allows monologues to be internal. Its a process of working out what you think about something in the company of 1,000 or so people in the audience. Who those people are is up to the actor to decide. I felt that Malvolia had a lot of internal voices which were powerful and controlling. So the audience embodied those internal voices and during the letter scene she is engaging with them to help her work out what this all means. I was afraid of it but the stage is so well designed to hold all of those people that it became weirdly intimate. The audiences delight in the comic thrust of that scene encourages Malvolia. No internal voice stops her there is no voice of reason.

When I was reading the script I didnt know how to pronounce flough in the letter. I said it in different ways to Simon and he laughed. Later he said: lets keep that in maybe Malvolia doesnt know how to say it? Then I thought suppose one of the internal voices can help her pronounce it. Each night I elicited someone from the audience to tell me how to say it, so they are effectively egging her on in her belief. When, at the end, she says she will be revenged on the whole pack of them its Malvolia realising that no one was courageous enough to stop her and tell her shes being ridiculous.

For the NT Live filming, how do you modulate your usual stage performance?When we rehearsed for the NT Live version we did it without an audience and I fell apart I couldnt remember the lines. Malvolia works when she is in relationship to the audience rather than many of the other characters. A large part of the stalls was filled with camera equipment and it becomes difficult to engage with a body of people. Its a bit like when I did Black Books, which was filmed in front of a live audience. Its hard to know whether youre playing to that number of people in the room or in a quiet way to the camera. You find a balance between the magnitude and the intimacy.

In every Twelfth Night we await Malvolios yellow stockings scene. Yours becomes a cabaret-style showstopperIts such a hot moment in the play. At the time, a puritan coming on in yellow stockings would have been unbearably shocking. I thought in this hyperreal world, where shes a woman, what would be shocking about her wearing yellow tights? So we needed to push it to find ultimate embarrassment. And because I have teenagers I thought what would upset them most to see me doing? I said to the designer Soutra Gilmour that this moment reminded me of popping corn: you have a dry kernel and you cook it in the pan with butter and it pops. Soutra created this amazing costume she wanted Malvolias pierrot cape to look like a piece of popped corn. The composer Michael Bruce had written all this beautiful smooth jazz for the production cool, melancholic, quite sexy. I told him well need something for Malvolias number when she comes down the stairs in yellow stockings. I just meant a piece of music but Michael came in the next day and hed put a Shakespeare sonnet to music. In one evening! He said: Yeah, and youre going to sing it! Well, it would have been rude not to!

What other Shakespeare parts are on your to-do list?I always used to say I didnt want to play Lady Macbeth because I find it too frightening. She really faces the darkest part of herself. But Id love to give that a go. I dont want to be the go-to actor who plays traditionally male roles. But I do think Simon Godwin is on to something about the need to re-envision Shakespeare plays. You know how they did Frankenstein at the NT with two actors swapping roles? Wouldnt it be interesting if you had male and female actors swapping Macbeth and Lady Macbeth?

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Tamsin Greig on Twelfth Night: 'The self-judgment of women is awful' - The Guardian

In ancient Indian sanskrit, the word "sneha" means "to oil," as well as "to love"and that's no coincidence.

As the 5,000-year-old Indian science of Ayurveda has fast gained traction within the modern wellness movement, so has one of its most sacred above-neck rituals: Hair-oiling. The treatment, typically practiced before taking a shower or before bed at night, consists of harnessing the regenerative powers of natural oils by working them into the scalp and hair for moisture and nourishment. "It reduces dryness and gives your hair strength, shininess, thickness and softness," says AnantaRipa Ajmera, a certified Ayurvedic health practitioner and director of Ayurveda at New York City health club The Well. In traditional Ayurvedic texts, sesame oil is recommended in the cold seasons and coconut oil is utilized in the hotter seasons for their respective warming and cooling effects. For enhanced benefits, Ayurvedic herbssuch as thickening hibiscus, growth-stimulating amalaki, antimicrobial bhringraj, or protective brahmican be infused into the oil, says Ajmera. Along with saturating strands, a head massage (gently kneading the scalp, temples, and neck with the fingertips), is an integraland ultimately catharticpart of the experience. "It helps to exfoliate, moisturize, and improve circulation in the scalp so that you're addressing hair health at the root," explains Divya Viswanathan, co-founder of Ayurvedic beauty brand Taza."It is also believed to activate the seventh chakra, the crown chakra, which is connected to the pineal glad and works to calm the mind."

Going beyond beauty, hair-oiling is also a tradition of bonding that's been passed down from generation to generation. "Every summer, our grandma used to come from India with these Ayurvedic ingredients and make these natural hair potions while telling us ancient fablesit was haircare and story time," explains Akash Mehta, who has teamed up with his sister Nikita on Fable & Mane, a new hair-care lined inspired by the Indian hair rituals and Panchatantrasancient animal fablesthey grew up with. "A few years ago, my hair started falling out, so I started going into the kitchen and mixing the oils my grandmother used and they worked wonders," explains Nikita of the driving catalyst behind the brand, which will have select proceeds going toward tiger conservation in India. "Life was so fast-paced, I really wanted to get back to these ancient at-home traditions and that became our whole brand mission." With their lightweight HoliRoots oil, a prewash treatment laced with anti-inflammatory ashwagandha, healing dashmool, and circulation-boosting castor oil, the pair set out to create a replenishing "roots for roots" treatment that calls for its user to pause for a few minutes and, in turn, make the daily ritual of showering a more a "relaxing and meditative" experience. Better yet, they encourage a partner or family member to become a part of the process, administering the treatment to bring that intimacy and sense of human touch.

"I vividly remember my mum massaging oil into my scalp and temples thoroughly, and then onto hers once I was done," recalls Indian model and illustrator Namita Sunil of her childhood in her native Kerala, India. "It's a tradition that's often passed on from every mother in a family." Her mother's go-to homemade mixture was made from hibiscus flowers, which were crushed into a paste and mixed with oil. "No matter how frizzy or curly the average Keralite women's hair was, it would be shiny and slicked down at the scalp," she explains."For girls my generation, this was our sole childhood hair care routine, and there are still plenty of older women with the same shine in their hair." For Viswanathan, it remains a "truly ceremonious" act. "Growing up, my grandma would massage my mom's hair, while my mom massaged mine," she explains. "Now, I continue this ritual both individually, as well as perform it with my daughter."

Amid the many changes that have come with the coronavirus pandemic, hair-oiling can be a soothing act that helps keep you present. "It really is the perfect self-love and self-care practice to nurture yourself through all the uncertainty we are facing right now," says Ajmera. "It also takes time to get used to adding new practices to your routine, so starting to incorporate this practice when you can during quarantine will help you make a new habit out of it that you can return to even when we re-emerge into the world." And if you want to take it a step further, Viswanathan recommends hair-oiling in tandem with a full-body abhyanga, or self-massage, which helps reduce inflammation, promote lymphatic drainage, and hydrate the skin to leave you feeling more grounded and centered all over. Taking time out of the day for such deeply personal practices may feel like a foreign undertaking, but take encouragement from the fact this isn't exactly unchartered territory. As Akash points out, "Hair-oiling is new to many, but its benefits have been proven from centuries of ancient tradition."

More here:
Why the Ancient Indian Tradition of Hair-Oiling Is the Perfect Form of Self-Care for Right Now - Vogue

Unlike adults, children seem to be less vulnerable to the effects of the coronavirus, with few needing hospitalization or ventilator support. But many children are and will be profoundly affected across the United States and worldwide.

There won't be a diagnostic test to tell us which children have been affected, the way a nasal swab might yield a positive result for the coronavirus. However, we will see consequences across all ages and stages of life, both because of the things they will experience and because they will see their parents struggling with other challenges. Moods might change or favorite games might not be fun anymore. The more lasting consequences can include mental and physical illness. Some children will experience strong emotional reactions simply by being aware of the existential threat of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. And others still may not even be aware of the events playing out around them but will nevertheless be affected by them.

Older children can, of course, be shaken up by stressful events unfolding around them. Puberty is a particularly crucial time for growth and development in key parts of the brain that control emotion regulation and cognitive function. Stress during this vulnerable period can be especially damaging to children who already have accumulated trauma in their lives and further increases the chance a child will develop anxiety, depression or even schizophrenia. Exposed adolescents are at higher risk for risk-seeking behaviors, setting the stage for violence and drug abuse.

There's also ample research to show that a parent's well-being can affect that of their children. Psychological stress during pregnancy increases the likelihood that a baby will be born prematurely and the chance that a child will need breathing and feeding support in the neonatal intensive care unit. Stress can be an endocrine disrupter, in the same way that synthetic chemicals disrupt hormonal functions that shape the development of the brain and other body systems. We don't routinely check cortisol levels in infants, but if we did, we would see higher levels of this stress hormone, because mothers can transmit stress or depression to their infants. Children who suffered the ill effects of toxic stress during pregnancy also have reduced lung function at school age. Stress can increase unhealthy diet and physical activity behaviors in school-age kids, showing up as weight gain that increases the risk of later heart disease.

The effects of stress from the coronavirus pandemic may propagate for generations to come. The Dutch Hunger Winter in 1944-45 showed us how environmental stressors in pregnancy can have effects that reverberate all the way to the grandchildren. Stresses like these change how our genes are imprinted, turning genes on or off without changing the underlying genetic code. These imprints can modify how genes are expressed, not just in those who are exposed, but after they are passed on to the next generation, programming a ticking time bomb of disease that appears as much as 70 years later.

The parallels to the Dutch Hunger Winter are surprisingly relevant for the children living in the poorest households, even in a country where food is plentiful. In our experience working at Bellevue Hospital in New York, these families rely on the public school system for meals for their children. Now, they are reluctant to open their doors, let alone go to community centers for meals delivered there by the city government. When they go out for food, they may resort to the closest and cheapest options rather than the healthiest. Coronavirus-related job and income losses may magnify extant household stressors.

Research on the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and other disasters can give us some insight on how to treat and, more importantly, prevent harm. Children of first responders were particularly affected, suggesting that we should focus on families of those who are grappling directly with the crisis, including health-care personnel, who are likely to be at higher risk. Direct experience, such as witnessing the fall of the twin towers in 2001 or thinking a loved one might be hurt, predicted post-traumatic stress symptoms six to seven years after 9/11. People who previously reported reexperiencing the trauma of the disaster were nine times as likely to report reexperiencing the disaster after Hurricane Sandy, indicating that those affected by previous disasters are uniquely vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic.

The stress induced by the coronavirus outbreak will require additional medical care. In primary care, pediatricians have designed interventions to build parenting skills and confidence in low-income families most likely to be affected by the pandemic. These interventions use video recordings and developmentally appropriate toys, books and resources to improve parent-child interactions and strengthen early development in infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

Programs have been built for school-age children to help them adapt and enhance their innate resiliency. We need a trauma-informed approach to care that cuts across all aspects of child and family care, as well as ages and stages of development. Just as we have spun pediatric wards into adult intensive care units on a dime, we need to adapt our health-care settings and schools to provide routine psychological screening to children after we return to normal.

Families can help, even while they are staying at home. Remember that children will observe adult behaviors and emotions for cues on managing their own emotions. Remind children that they can control much of what happens in their lives by practicing good hygiene and self-care, including getting plenty of quality sleep. Parents should also keep an open dialogue with their children about what they are seeing and hearing from peers, websites, apps and games.

As much as the early public health response to the pandemic has been criticized, we should ultimately judge the response to the pandemic on the strength of the support and compassion we give to those who survive it, especially our children. The capacity of the next generation to manage other disasters depends very much on our children rising from the challenges we face now and not simply surviving, but thriving and developing into their fullest potential.

Trasande is a professor of pediatrics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where he directs the NYU Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards.

Dreyer is a professor of pediatrics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where he directs the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. He previously was president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

More:
The pandemic will haunt today's children forever, but we can help them now - Bryan-College Station Eagle

Finding places where you can have space for yourself to reflect and think and feel is crucial in this moment, said Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, M.D., a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dr. Lakshmin pointed out that all of the in between transition times we used to have to ourselves like during our commutes, and after we dropped off our kids at school are gone. So its important to create those spaces for yourself in new ways, she said.

Dr. Lakshmin mentioned meditation as a great option. And in fact, parents with children under 18 at home are more likely to meditate than the general population right now, according to a new report from the American Enterprise Institute, a public policy think tank. Thirty-six percent of these parents say they have meditated to cope with stress in the past week, the report said, compared with 30 percent of Americans overall. If you want to receive the full benefits of meditating, Dr. Lakshmin said, consistency is the most important thing. Five minutes every day is a lot better than 30 minutes every week.

One excellent self-care idea was sent by a reader named Anne Diss. To mark the end of a good day, my husband and I have started having cocktails on some evenings: We sort through our drinks cabinet and pull out the things we never drink (like a bottle of Martini Bianco that has been with us, unopened, for decades) and try to find a nice online cocktail to make with it, Anne emailed us. Anne lives in France, obviously. We look for nice glasses, garnish them with whatever we have around and set out a few nibbles too. Our kids have a soft drink and we all gather around and toast to confinement, she wrote.

Another ritual Dr. Lakshmin suggested is keeping a gratitude, or silver lining, list, which you can either do yourself or as an activity with your family. You can put it up on a white board or on the fridge, for everyone to keep track of unexpectedly fun things that have come up during this time, she said.

To be honest with you, in normal circumstances, meditation and gratitude journals are distinctly Not My Bag. But I am genuinely finding succor in talking to my kids about their favorite part of the day at dinnertime, and by chatting with my husband about what were most thankful for every night before we fall asleep.

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Crying in Your Car Counts as Self-Care - The New York Times

The coronavirus outbreak forced people to come up with creative workouts while staying at home. USA TODAY

As more U.S. states issue stay-at-home orders to combat the spread of coronavirus, many people are working from home and spending long hours streaming their favorite TV shows and movies.

That's concerning for health officials.

Researchers have continuously found that sitting for long periods is bad for your health. It can increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer, even result in death, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Zhaoping Li, chief of the Division of Clinical Nutrition at UCLA, told USA TODAY that some of her patients have been watching too much television, not getting enough sleep, or not being active in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic.

This is the right time people need to do more active things, not just sitting around, Li said, adding that muscle loss and weight gain are among the risks associated with inactivity.Take this opportunity to do self examination, self inspection and self care. This is the time we'll have no excuse to say, I'm too busy.

Another health risk that can arise from sedentary behavior is thrombosis, or blood clots, said Dr. Mary Cushman, professor of medicine and pathology at the University of Vermont.

Maureen Lewis leads an outdoor morning exercise routine for neighbors on her street in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, on March 27. Lewis stands in the street to allow participants to see her from their driveways while observing social distancing. The workout includes light stretches and exercises for 10 to 15 minutes.(Photo: Scott Ash, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA TODAY NETWORK)

There are two types of thrombosis that can form in any vein or artery, slowing or blocking normal blood flow andincreasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke. In fact, on average, one American dies of a blood clot every six minutes, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Blood clots are often diagnosed in one leg or the other, Cushman said, and can cause pain, swelling and redness.

And the thing is, you don't always have to have all the symptoms, so that's where it gets tricky for patients to know what's going on and sometimes even for doctors to figure out, Cushman toldUSA TODAY.

Amid coronavirus, Cushman said shes mainly worried about venous thromboembolism. Thats when blood clots form in the veins and can lead to part of the clot traveling to the lungs and causing blockage, also called a pulmonary embolism.The symptoms can include chest pain and shortness of breath.

Mapping coronavirus: Tracking the U.S. outbreak

She said blood clots can affect anyone but VTE is about 60% higher in African Americans.

The lifetime risk of VTE after age 45 is 11.5% in African Americans, while this is 6.9% in whites in the U.S., Cushman said, attributing the difference to a higher percentage of obesity in black communities and differences in socioeconomic status. Recent data also shows that COVID-19 is disproportionately killing black people at an alarming rate.

How can you help yourself? Here are a few tips fromLi and Cushman:

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You're not 'too busy' to stay active during coronavirus quarantine: Health experts worry about blood clots, weight gain and more - USA TODAY

Eleanor Morgan: Who knew that filling your spare time with activities besides phone scrolling might feel nice? Photograph: Jean Goldsmith/The Observer

When the lockdown was announced, I worried that losing the option of seeing friends would be disastrous for my mental health. I live alone and often work from home, so solitude is my baseline. It can be lonely, of course. My dogs need for exercise and attention breaks things up even if her conversation is limited but planning to see people keeps me buoyant. The first few days were ripe with catastrophising. One afternoon, my throat felt dry. I thought: Here we go, the panic attacks are starting. That I had been silently staring out the window, eating one Digestive after another, is by the by.

Jealousy of friends with partners and gardens quickly swelled; shared meals and body warmth felt so far away. Of course, it goes both ways: my aloneness is something that friends with rambunctious toddlers envy. In lockdown, life has shrunk to the size of a few rooms, so the volume of our inner dialogue shoots up. Theres so much time to think. The elastic quality of time right now because we dont know when this ends is distressing, too, and as a self-employed person Im scared, but Ive surprised myself mentally. Im doing all right so far.

After the anxious prophesying passed (I will 100% go completely mad alone!), I started confronting a concept I have struggled to sever from ideology: self-care. Thanks to capitalism, the term has been commodified, so often sold back to us particularly women as products we never knew we needed. In reality, self-care looks different for everyone. I broadly see it as a loose commitment with yourself to eat, exercise, get outside regularly, sleep and, almost above all else, to acknowledge our fundamental need for connection with other human beings. Identifying the activities that bring us pleasure and peace is also part of the picture.

As the author of two mental health-related books, now training as a psychologist and having spent the last year in supervised practice, I have used the words self-care in relation to other people many times. In all honesty, I am not sure I have applied it wholeheartedly to myself. I mostly eat and sleep well, exercise outside daily and socialise. But despite everything I have learned about self-compassion which the notion of self-care feeds into I sometimes struggle to identify what makes me feel good.

This enforced solitude has been a wake-up call. Im realising how much properness I have attached to doing things with other people, and the sense of pathos to doing them alone; as if enjoyable stuff is only half-real if no one is enjoying it with me. As is so common, this is tied up in questions of self-worth, but as a kind of experiment, Ive been making an effort to make an effort. Who knew that filling your spare time with activities besides phone scrolling might feel nice?

Cooking has been the big one. I am a confident cook but usually eat very simply when alone. In the past three weeks I have made pho, various curries and homemade tacos. I forget that my love of chopping vegetables can just be for me. Im rummaging around in the woody bits of Hampstead Heath, connecting with eight-year-old me who loved turning over logs to see what crawled out, because why not? Ive even taken a magnifying glass out on a couple of my daily walks. Im asking people to hang out on FaceTime rather than waiting to be asked a personally significant thing. This year kicked off with a double-whammy of pain: major surgery, then a break-up during the recovery. I am also certain I have had the virus, which, as an asthmatic, felt a bit hairy. Now, in the utterly strange and frightening time that has followed, I realise that, for me, surviving probably means trying to thrive, too.

More:
The truth about self-care: how isolation has changed the way I look after myself - The Guardian

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Back pain is a complicated topic with as many causes as there are care options. Many people experience low-grade back pain and stiffness, regardless of their size, condition or ambition. This type of low-grade back pain is often caused by the muscles in the back. These muscles are responsible for keeping you mobile, standing straight and effectively executing your lifes demands. They flex you, extend you, and laterally bend you to provide a multi-dimensional movement experience.

The common problem today is that we spent an inordinate time sitting. We now know couch potato inactivity raises the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and initiation of full respiratory decline. This may sound shocking and a bit exaggerated, but theres honesty in the message.

Here are four simple exercises you can do to counteract simple low-back pain.

1. Low-back extensions (LBE): Place your hands on your hips so the web of your hands rest on your hips just above legs and your thumbs wrap around your back. Begin by keeping your knees extended, not locked, and bend back, using your thumbs to add pressure and provide support. Extend back as far as you can comfortably, and then return to upright position. This is a movement exercise, not a stretch. Complete 10 to 25 repetitions at a time, three to five times per day.

2. LBE with added head extension: This is the exact same movement exercise as described above, but while youre in a back extension, extend your head back for a count of two and return to the upright position.

See the article here:
START THE WEEK OFF RIGHT: Self-help strategy for lower back pain - Quad-Cities Online

Since novel coronavirus became a thing, I wake up every morning with my remix of Sinead OConnors song Nothing Compares to You. This morning, it went a little something like this:

Its been who knows how many hours and how many days since you took our lives away.

I. Am. Tired. Of. Rona.

I took an informal poll on Facebook, and Im not the only one tired of hearing the daily updates on new cases, deaths and whatever other story can be crafted to tell us were in a state of emergency. I appreciate the dedicated journalists who are working to keep us updated heck, Im a journalist and public relations person by training, so I get it. However, the constant barrage of new stories and new angles can be depressing and information overload.

Here are nine ways we can ignore Rona and put some happiness back into our lives.

Journaling is a powerful healing practice that helps improve mental clarity, focus and understanding. Keeping a consistent routine allows you to explore your emotions, connect with hidden feelings and commit to goals on paper. Theres no one way to journal; it can take many forms, including writing morning pages and using guided prompts.

Many people believe that meditation requires you to sit still and completely free your mind of all thoughts. Thats false. Meditation simply means being in the present moment by focusing your mind and awareness on whats happening now not what happened yesterday or what will happen in 20 minutes. Forms of meditation come in different varieties, but the simplest way is through breathwork.

Charlottean Tesia Love is a clinical Ayurveda specialist Ayurveda is an ancient Indian practice that takes a holistic approach to physical and mental health. On April 8, Love will lead a breathwork session during Kombucha, Wine and Chill, a virtual game night. The online event starts at 7 p.m. at Bea Healthy CLT on Instagram.

Build or grow your business, heal yourself or learn a new skill through online classes. Now is the time to get the additional training you need to take you to the next level.

Some classes to check out:

With gyms closed, fitness trainers are offering free virtual workouts. Theres no reason you cant get fit and fully snatched while at home.

Looking for a free virtual workout? Check out 10-minute morning routines with @getfitwithchrys each weekday at 6:30 a.m. Cant make it that early? No worries. Catch the replays on her IGTV channel.

Want to try yoga? Charlottes Peace Filled Mama Kelly Palmer leads a virtual pay-what-you-can yoga session on Mondays at noon and Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. Yoga instructor Davena Mgbeokwere also shared 13 Charlotte-based options for online yoga classes.

Charlotte native Sahnia Oates loves to crochet. She started after getting laid off from her job a few years ago to help manage her stress. The lesson? Find what you love and do that thing.

You may not be able to do the normal happy hours at your favorite bar or restaurant, hit the club with your friends or have Sunday dinner at Big Mommas house, but you can still connect and have fun doing it.

For those who are quarantined with others in their home, consider cooking dinner together or simply watch some good television. Keep the fun going by creating an activity jar. Take a cup or old spaghetti jar and drop in activity ideas. Choose one each day and do it.

If youre thinking about joining one of the many online challenges flooding your timelines, consider the #GirlWhatchuDoing challenge started by Jenn Elaine, Ohavia Phillips and Natoya Williams. Theyre three local ladies who also give us the weekly Pardon My Chic podcast.

It can get a bit lonely if youre quarantining solo. Dont let it get you down. Connect virtually with friends by grabbing a class of your favorite beverage and snacks, then enjoy all the shenanigans that transpire. Alone time can also allow you to explore new podcasts or catch up on some of your favorites.

Expand your circle of fraaans and entertainment options by attending virtual events. Before Rona, people were planning all kinds of in-person events. Many of those events have gone virtual and include everything from free DJ sets to self-help workshops.

Heres a handful of upcoming virtual events to add to your calendar:

While many have the good fortune of still working during this time, there are thousands who are laid off or furloughed. For Black-owned small businesses, the economic slowdown could be the thing determining their existence. This can be a tough time for them and their families.

If you can support them, do it. Continue to patronize these businesses and consider making donations to those who cant work during this time. Theres the opportunity to support local creatives through the Creatives Are Essential website.

Show appreciation to the frontline workers making sure were healthy and safe. Post messages of appreciation and motivation using #Grateful2020.

Its an extremely stressful time, and its OK to just do nothing.

Brandi Bea Williams is a life and health coach, trainer and cultural curator who uses her more than 20 years experience in public relations to educate, inspire and empower people of color in the areas of public relations and holistic health.

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Journaling, meditation and other self-care things to do at home - Qcity metro

To the wellness industry, the coronavirus represents not just a loss but an opportunity for self-actualization. Miranda Kerr and Tom Brady are among the celebrities on the bandwagon.

We all have our coping mechanisms, some more productive than others. Lately Ive found a perverse form of escapism by scrolling through the Instagram feeds of wellness influencers intuitive nutritionists, adaptogenic alchemists, plant-based-lifestyle evangelists to see how well theyre doing now.

In a word, they are glowing. Miranda Kerr, the model turned organic beauty entrepreneur, is posing with a bitten apple in a leafy yard and optimizing her quarantine by spending extra time on my skin care routine and doing a daily mask. Jordan Younger, who blogs as the Balanced Blonde, is reporting from the midst of a 14-day water fast, advising her followers to go inward as this time on earth is happening FOR us and not TO us. And Amanda Chantal Bacon, a lifestyle guru who sells earthy supplements through her company Moon Juice, is ensconced in a white bathrobe, cradling a mug in one hand and an infant in the other, her beatific gaze framed by a luxe tumble of hair.

The caption is riveting. Bacon has assembled a menagerie of emoji toadstool, ringed planet, garlic bulb, DNA double-helix, lathered bar of soap, the yin and yang symbol suggesting a sordid congress between the scientific and the mystical. She proffers her wisdom as an immunomodulation enthusiast, counseling against sugar, fighting, alcohol, fear, processed foods, isolation and stagnation and instead pushing liposomal vitamin C, acupuncture, broth, one-minute cold showers and the consumption of various adaptogens a category of herbal supplements that claim to protect the body against stressors, which Moon Juice grinds into dusts and sells for $38 per 1.5 ounce jar.

Theres nothing like a pandemic to clarify the distinction between wellness and actual health. Our collective health is, most would agree, not so good. But through the logic of wellness branding, this situation can represent not just a lossof lives and livelihoods,but an opportunity. With the right motivational texts and quasi-medicinal products, well-positioned individuals are empowered to recast their quarantine as a self-actualization incubator, a chance not just to fend off the virus itself but to achieve their peak physical, mental and spiritual forms.

There is something ghastly about these efforts. Even when a pandemic is not raging, the very idea of a person advertising a 14-day fast makes me want to call the police. Yet the wellness evangelists have intuited a real paradox in this moment: As our health care system buckles under the strain of the virus, and citizens are isolated at home, self-care has never felt more urgent.

The virus has the power to kill the people it has infected, and to instill stress, grief, loneliness and despair in the people it has not. The anxiety is what is most oppressive here, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a recent briefing. Lifestyle brands invite us to regain a sense of control, if only over our nutritional intake, hygienic practices and apartment interiors.

In the past few weeks, it seems as if the entire internet has pivoted to wellness. Actors have transformed into home-cooking instructors; pop stars are leading meditations; fashion bloggers are hawking sponsored loungewear. The showbiz couple Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon have rolled out a podcast, Staying In with Emily and Kumail, about adapting to indoor life with the help of a Nintendo Switch. The public is seeking self-care tips from Cuomos PowerPoint presentations and from a loner who has lived in an abandoned mining town for 50 years. I am doing yoga for the first time ever, ending every day by bowing my head and whispering namaste to my virtual instructor.

These coronavirus self-help guides offer tips on how to maintain mental health and relationships under quarantine. But some wellness practitioners are reaching further.

Everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow to Tom Brady is pushing an immune support supplement, which sure seems to imply immunity from the virus. Kerr was recently publicly shamed for sharing a virus protection guide from a medical medium who credits himself as the leader of the global celery movement. And Bacon was dinged for posting an immunity guide that intermingled hand-washing tips with Moon Juice products like Power Dust and Spirit Dust.

With just a feeble tweak of messaging, however, these same influencers have solicited praise for their epidemic response. Moon Juice is running a coronavirus giveaway on its Instagram, shipping off immuno packs to people who deliver groceries or work in nursing homes; Kerr recently donated a bunch of her brands vitamin C face serums to health care workers at the Ronald Reagan U.C.L.A. Medical Center, then shared grateful posts from nurses on her feed.

With a firm command of the woo-woo lexicon, a brand is capable of capitalizing on the crisis without saying anything at all. The pice de rsistance of coronavirus branding is perhaps this Moon Juice post from March 24, which offers a cosmic perspective on the situation: This New Moon offers us a date with destiny. We are being called to birth new versions of ourselves, as the world morphs around us. Let us burn off resistance and dance with the unknown. It concluded: We are learning just how resilient we are.

The text was followed by a recipe for a blend of hot milk and coffee with a dusting of Cordyceps, a bioactive supershroom, which Moon Juice claims is said to increase drive, stamina, and reduce fatigue.

The modern wellness movement in America arose in the 1960s as counterprogramming to the predominant idea of health. If health was framed as the prevention of disease, and managed through the medical system, wellness was pitched as an active, positive pursuit organized around the self. The idea was fused with productivity: Halbert Dunn, chief of the National Office of Vital Statistics, promoted the idea of high-level wellness, an integrated method of functioning, which is oriented toward maximizing the potential of which the individual is capable. And it could be spun into a whole lifestyle, complete with its own consumer accessories, from jogging gear to Jane Fonda videos, Lululemon pants to GOOP goops.

Its easy to see how this idea migrated from its nominally countercultural beginnings into a luxury feature. When Audre Lorde wrote about self-care as an act of political warfare in the 1980s, she was talking about managing her cancer in the face of a system that was hostile toward her as a black lesbian. Health care remains a pricey commodity in America, but now wealthy people have co-opted self-care as a status symbol. They have the ability to appear not just healthy but radiantly well. Now, as the health care system flails in its coronavirus response with basic needs like tests, masks and ventilators terrifyingly scarce the promises of strange elixirs and fine powders feel more deranged and seductive than ever.

Wellness content used to merely gesture at some kind of spiritual necessity, but it has now proved itself truly crucial. Moon Juice likes to say that it offers self care for communal care, and while it is ludicrous to imagine that spooning ground mushroom into ones coffee benefits ones community in any way, in this case it borders on being technically correct. Public health legitimately relies on the efforts of each individual to cope in isolation, and if it helps to lace a beverage with mushroom powder, then great. The optimism of this content borders on the delusional, but we have been told to keep our spirits up. Wellness may be fundamentally self-absorptive, but we can be forgiven for gazing at our own navels when theres not much else for us to look at.

Still, there is something disquieting about the slick translation of the crisis into the logic of branding. When a fleet of lifestyle bloggers turned a public health warning into a synergistic exercise they each held up a sign in flowery influencer script, collectively informing their audiences to Stay home for the people you love. Be kind! Wash your hands. Lets flatten the curve! they probably thought they were using their platforms for good. But they were also helping to reaffirm the reorganization of community under their various cults of personality.

We are living in an upside-down time where the president of the United States is promoting unproven virus cures on television, but Paltrow appeared in a protective mask on Instagram more than a month before the C.D.C. recommended that everyone put them on. Health may be scarce, but wellness is still in stock.

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Our Health Is in Danger. Wellness Wants to Fill the Void. - The New York Times