Brands and influencers want to sell products to homebound customers, but doing so requires being sensitive to the reality of the pandemic.

As the coronavirus pandemic moved across the United States, the stock market plunged and many of the countrys businesses closed, a major platform for social media influencers had a rosier message: Good news in consumer shopping trends!

RewardStyle, which connects retail brands with thousands of Instagram personalities and bloggers, told influencers in an email on March 30 that orders through its app, LikeToKnow.It, had surged. It encouraged users, who earn commissions on products they help sell, to keep posting to capture this demand while using a softer approach to drive shopping.

We recommend that for every 5 posts, you make 2 posts relatable about life at home and 3 posts about shopping, the company said in the email, which a recipient shared with The New York Times. This approach creates a softer sell in your feed while continuing to provide guidance to your followers during this time. RewardStyle also provided an image that said Staying In is So In, that could help give context and balance to shopping posts. People stuck at home could be a good thing, a company representative wrote, adding, Nothing like a little retail therapy to help pass the hours.

The messages were jarring to influencers uneasy about promoting new fashions in the midst of a public health crisis that was crushing the economy. But they provided a glimpse into how desperate retailers and marketers are tailoring their sales pitches for newly homebound consumers, who are fluctuating between panic and ennui while scrolling through their Facebook and Instagram feeds. Retail sales plummeted 8.7 percent in March, the largest decline since the data started being tracked three decades ago. With online business now crucial for many brands whose futures are threatened by store closings, the sell itself has become a delicate dance.

People are more anxious, theyre on high alert, theyre under a lot of stress and theres a lot of bad news theyre consuming and experiencing, said Mae Karwowski, chief executive of Obviously, an influencer agency that has been adjusting the tone and messaging of campaigns. We want to make sure brands arent attached to those really negative things that are happening while still acknowledging that were all communally going through this.

Apparel chains have whipped up ads with references to indoor living, social distancing and videoconference calls. Loungewear has become de rigueur. Even Brooks Brothers yes, Brooks Brothers has advertised its work-at-home styles.

Keep your hands to yourself and get denim delivered, Gap said in an ad that showed a persons hands in their back pockets. Joie advertised a cozy meets chic sweatsuit, a month after promoting $250 floral tops.

A tip for tomorrow mornings 9 a.m. videoconference call: Doubled-up headbands make bedhead look beautiful, Anthropologie proclaimed in a recent Instagram post. The brand Lively gamely promoted its perfect work-from-home bra, even as the necessity of such garments has been questioned in a quarantined world. The subject line of a recent email from Reformation simply read: WHAT DAY IS IT.

Brands are aware that people are glued to their phones and they are desperate to engage. Every Instagram Story frame going up, were seeing an increase of 30 percent more viewers than we normally would thats such an aggressive increase, said Vickie Segar, founder of Village Marketing, an influencer agency.

But they are trying to proceed carefully, with messages of optimism and self-care and varying levels of references to the grim state of the world.

Some companies have barred any mention of the coronavirus or Covid-19 in influencer posts, even if the ads are about staying at home or taking care of family. Ms. Karwowskis agency, Obviously, has recommended that influencers working at home should portray products in everyday clothing and that images should feel bright and cheerful. It advised against advertising from bed or in pajamas.

Being in bed can work if youre talking about self-care and taking care of yourself, but not Havent left my bed in days send help, Ms. Karwowski said. One thing to ask yourself if you are a creator: How is this going to make my audience feel, what emotions will it bring out in them?

The idea, she said, is to aim for positivity and calmness rather than stress or anxiety.

Ulta Beauty, the cosmetics chain with 1,200 stores that are currently closed, introduced a new ad campaign with Obviously this month called See Beautiful Today. It was based on the idea that no matter how dark the world seems, people seek moments of beauty to help get through difficult times, a representative said. A group of influencers will create quarantine content for Ulta this month, like how-to hair tutorials and do-it-yourself nail care as part of its broader focus on self-care and joy.

This type of messaging represents a much softer sell and acknowledges todays reality, Ms. Karwowski said. Its more of a conversation.

Influencers are also changing how they sell products based on their personal challenges. Jacqueline Granquist, a 31-year-old part-time influencer in San Diego who has worked with brands like Joie and Hobo bags, said that she had been posting more about her own struggles and encouragement for others even as she promotes fashion items. Ms. Granquist recently lost her waitressing job because the restaurant closed, and she said others are facing similar issues and may not want to shop.

Even Im in a situation where I shouldnt be spending money and here I am trying to sell products, Ms. Granquist said. It is a different world and a weird way to sell and so I think thats why Im posting more messages saying, its OK to not be OK, or that I had an off day today, and trying to humanize it a bit. Its not just, Buy these shoes.

She added, I dont think I normally would have posted that kind of stuff prior to all this.

Amber Venz Box, co-founder and president of RewardStyle, said that the email her company sent last month came after some influencers had briefly stopped posting and others shared group pictures that showed they werent adjusting to the new reality. She said she wanted influencers to feel empowered to post and to be tasteful in their approach.

Brands are struggling for authenticity in this Covid crisis and influencers provide that in a way that other channels fail to do, she said. We know consumers are seeking escapism that our influencers provide.

Taylor Lorenz contributed reporting.

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Dont Mention the Virus! And Other Marketing Tips - The New York Times

For me, high school felt like a movie.

As a star linebacker on my high school football team, I was in the newspaper every week. People would stop me on the street to talk with me about a game I had played.

Thirteen Division I schools tried to recruit me before I selected the University of Oregon.

After I graduated from high school, I was ready to take the next stepI thought.

In 2010, I left for the University of Oregon, which was 1,000 miles away from my home in the greater San Bernardino area. My life did not keep going the way it always had. I struggled to connect with people.

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We were all from different backgrounds and cultures from all over the U.S., but because we were so different, I found myself feeling judged or misunderstoodwhich caused me to shell up and suppress my emotions.

And that was the biggest contributor to depression. Growing up I was always expressive and not afraid to be vulnerable or share my emotions, and that was widely accepted in my hometown. But when I went to college, I quickly realized I was in a different environment.

Things escalated when I was forced to redshirt and to sit out my freshmen year. I was 18-years-old, two months out of high school, playing a game with grown men. I wasn't the biggest, the fastest, or the strongest person on the field. Which was a hard concept for me to accept, but I was forced to redshirt until I was prepared and trusted on the field.

I was devastated. I went from being a happy-go-lucky teenager, to being a depressed college student within three months.

As my emotion struggles built up, I started having thoughts of self-harm. As a subconscious cry for help, I even shaved my entire head bald.

Thankfully, someone from my team's football staff noticed my behavior and reached out. It was the first time anyone asked how I was feeling or asked if I was struggling during college. That conversation may have saved my life.

I started seeing a therapist, where I was diagnosed with severe depression. Therapy helped power me through the rest of my freshman year.

First, I learned to control what I could control. Sometimes certain situations are out of my control, but it's up to me to live in the present moment, and only focus on the things I can influence. Although I redshirted my freshman year, which was out of my control, I focused on my training and preparation. That's the only thing I could control, and I had to have faith that everything would play out for the best.

Second, I learned self awareness. I learned to be conscious of my thoughts, feelings, and actions. I was able to gain an understanding of how my thoughts, feelings, and actions affect those around me. All in all, self-awareness turned into self-love, which turned into empathy and compassion for others.

Over the next few years life turned around for me. Even though I suffered some significant injuriesbusting both my right and left shoulder within two months in 2013it was from getting more playing time, and I eventually became team captain.

After graduating college, I became an unrestricted free agent for the Atlanta Falcons after the 2015 draft.

I had achieved a goal I'd set at 15-years-old to play football in the NFL.

Although I was picked up by the Falcons in May, he was released in June after failing a physical. It turned out that the injuries I'd sustained during college were worse than I'd realized.

After I got released, I went back to Oregon, got an MRI, and found out I played with a fractured shoulder socket for about a year and didnt know.

Just days after my 23rd birthday and my third shoulder surgery, a doctor recommended that I stop playing football. This was during very difficult break up with his long-time girlfriend. I didn't have a job. I didn't have a home.

For months I slept on any couch I could find. To survive, I had to sell the majority of my college jerseys. My depression was at an all-time high and I had no answers on how to overcome it.

On August 24th, 2015, I wrote a blog post called Depression, I Struggle Too. It was the first time I publicly shared his mental health struggles.

Its when I realized what my purpose was.

Thats when I started changing every aspect of his life. I listened to self-help audiobooks, like The Power of Vulnerability by Bren Brown. I was afraid of how that stigma of being vulnerable would bleed into my life, but through that book, I realized that vulnerability will change the world.

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I also started meditating, using the app Headspace to clear my mind. And while I had physically therapy twice a week, hed also go to the gym to focus on my lower body and my shoulders' range of motion.

After four to six months, I started seeing a difference in myself. I used all that I'd gone through to start putting my new purpose to work.

One of those ways was collaborating with the University of Oregon. I created a mental health video that they show to each of the incoming freshmen athletes.

Most recently, I was asked to be part of Gillettes new campaign, #TheBestMenCanBe, as well a project w/ NBC Sports called On the Other Side.

I also started a podcast, Normally Unstable, where I share stories of vulnerability.

Fifteen-year-old Malone assumed that playing football was the be-all-and-end-all. But now, at 27, I sees that its all the life lessons I've endured through the years that happen for a reason.

Link:
Derrick Malone, Jr., Went from Homeless to Helping Others - Men's Health

Women from self-help groups are earning over Rs 500 per day each by making masks in the state at the rate of Rs 3.5 per mask, said Andhra Pradesh government on Sunday.This comes in the backdrop of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddys directives to provide them employment to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.

The masks being manufactured by women are being distributed in the Red Zones and will soon cater to the needs of others also. The womens groups have prepared 7.28 lakh masks till date, said Chief Ministers Office in a statement.

They plan to increase the output to 30 lakh per day in four to five daysThe statement said the CM personally supervised and formally launched the manufacture of masks at his residence today.

Nearly 40,000 lady tailors from among the self-help groups have been selected and the work of making masks has been taken up on a war-footing. The details regarding the same are being uploaded to realtime data, it added.

The initiative is part of the Chief Ministers decision to supply 16 crore masks in the state, with three masks per head, for curbing the spread of the virus.

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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."

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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.

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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