Unless something changes in the next couple weeks, businesses like Blue Lion Fitness in Ann Arbor will have been closed for more than three months by the time theyre allowed to reopen. That means three months of little to no income from clients while bills continue to pile up. And while being able to open is the focus right now, business owners say things wont magically return to normal once theyre is able to serve customers again.

Even if we sell out every single class, we are significantly down from what we were making before, said Daniel Roth, one of the owners of Blue Lion Fitness. For us to reopen at a 20% capacity we have to hit certain numbers just to keep the lights on.

Gyms, casinos, movie theaters, bowling alleys and other leisure or recreational industries have been closed since March 16 when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer first declared a state of emergency in Michigan. As they prepare to reopen at a date uncertain, owners are anticipating the next wave of challenges.

Last week, Whitmer announced some places, like indoor theaters, public pools, concert venues and sports arenas, could open starting June 10 in much of northern Michigan.

Its unclear, though, when that reopening may come for the rest of the state.

Patience is wearing thin, however, as getting the doors open is only the beginning for many business owners who must try to make up three months of missing income during an unprecedented crisis. Businesses will have to convince customers its safe to return while also facing increased costs across the board, staffing issues, limited spacing to ensure guest safety and an economic downturn.

No matter the industry or service being provided, protecting the safety and health of customers and staff is the number one issue businesses will have to address, according to experts. That means instituting social distancing guidelines, providing protective equipment for staff, reducing hours and other measures that impact the bottom line.

Justin Winslow, president and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association, says businesses in his industries already know the importance of cleanliness and safety for guests because they practiced it well before the pandemic.

Bars and restaurants will be able to reopen for dine-in service starting Monday with 50% capacity restrictions in place. Regions 6 and 8 of the MI Safe Start have moved into phase 5 of the plan which allows gyms, salons and more to reopen in the Upper Peninsula and parts of northern Michigan. Salons, tattoo parlors and other personal care businesses can reopen throughout the state on June 15.

However, in this new normal of safety, business owners recognize there cant be any mistakes if they want to survive.

They know the biggest challenge they have is creating the confidence that people are safe returning to these environments, Winslow said. They know that they need to meet or exceed these new standards if they want these guests to come back.

Meeting the Standard

Being able to convince customers of their safety starts with being able to properly clean the facility throughout the day. While that sounds like a simple enough plan, the finances and logistics of doing so make it tough on a gym like Blue Lion Fitness.

That adds up really fast. We expected it, but people dont realize the prices on those things increased too. Were paying inflated prices and spending an additional $2,500 a month on cleaning supplies, Roth said.

Roth and his business partner Ryan Van Bergen say theyre not only going to experience an increase in cleaning costs, theyre going to have to pay for it while offering significantly reduced class sizes and class offerings. Because of social distancing, the gym has transformed its setup so that each person who attends a class has everything they need in one area that only they may work out in.

Its your own little fitness lane, Van Bergen said, explaining each station is at least six and a half feet apart from others.

But because of distancing, the gym will only be allowed to have seven people per class. With additional cleaning measures and time needed to ensure the facility is thoroughly cleaned between classes, Blue Lion will offer six classes a day as it reopens.

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the gym could handle 30 people in a class at a time and offered 10 classes a day. They had 180 customers on an autopay system for membership pre-coronavirus, but that too will change as they adapt to the climate. Theyre now pivoting to a drop-in system where customers pay for each class.

Even if we sell out every single class we are significantly down from what we were making before, Roth said.

Blue Lion was able to secure loans offered through the government to help retain staff and pay bills, but Van Bergen says its not enough.

Trying to even get close to our numbers before COVID is going to be tough, Van Bergen said. Percentage-wise what we received in help was 30-35% of what were going to miss for the fiscal year. We got some help but at the end of the day, were not sitting pretty by any means.

That means having to adjust class schedules and asking for more money for customers with not as many services available. Roth and Van Bergen acknowledge how difficult that ask is of customers, but also say its a problem the industry will face as a whole.

Regardless of what (gym) you put in the situation, everybodys price per hour has gone up for fitness," Van Bergen said.

Customer confidence

For the restaurant and hotel industries, earning customer confidence is not just about cleanliness, its going to come from customers overcoming perceptions about being around other people in close proximity.

While restaurants must keep tables apart, require masks and social distancing, the customer must also get used to those measures. Winslow said the industries are already focused on cleanliness so thats not a concern in his mind. Especially considering reports he received from Traverse Citys first weekend of reopening last month.

The ones that have opened already, really made me pretty proud especially given how little notice they were given to open up, Winslow said.

There is concern about how quickly the public will begin to adjust to the new normals. Tourism is the second largest industry in the state, according to Winslow, who added hotels already maintain a strict level of cleaning and will certainly increase those efforts. So while maintaining cleanliness throughout the property isnt a major issue for the hotel industry, people needing hotels is concerning.

With tourism severely impacted in the Midwest through stay-at-home orders and an overall fear of spreading the virus, hotels are experiencing steep declines in occupancy. In April, hotel occupancy rates were in the single digits and arent likely to return to normal until late 2021, Winslow said. Typically, occupancy rates were in the mid-60s prior to COVID-19, he said.

Hotels are currently allowed to accept guests throughout Michigan, however their gyms, pools, spas, dining, entertainment facilities, meeting rooms or similar facilities are not available to guests.

Even with Michigan relaxing restrictions and allowing for more activities and travel in the state, theres no guarantee that people will start staying in hotels again right away as vacations and work trips may not resume right away.

The confidence is going to have to come with time, Winslow said.

Aside from spending money locally to support restaurants and taking trips inside Michigan, Winslow said one way the public can help is to be mindful that these businesses are taking the health and safety of guests seriously and you should too.

Make sure as a customer that you are considering the health and safety of others, Winslow said.

Will demand be there?

Paul Glantz is the President and CEO of Emagine Theaters and a member of the National Association for Theater Owners of Michigan. Emagine operates more than 20 theaters in four states including 10 in Michigan. As a business that requires people to be in an enclosed space with strangers, Glantz understands there may be some hesitation for people to return to the cinema.

As with other industries, his properties are well aware of implementing social distancing and ensuring people are wearing masks, etc. In fact, because Emagines theaters feature oversized reclining chairs, the seats are already more than six feet apart from arm-to-arm, Glantz said, so theres no need to reconfigure.

The bigger concern for the movie industry, Glantz said, is the availability of movies that will draw people back to the cinema. Many major movie studios have announced delays on films that were scheduled to be released this summer. That means the summer blockbusters that typically ensure busy theaters wont be there and arent expected to hit theaters until later in 2020 or next summer.

While some big-budget films like Mulan and Tenant are still scheduled for release this summer, theres no guarantee that will stick. Or that guests will want to go to the theater in such uncertain times.

To combat that issue, Glantz says his company has considered a handful of options to draw guests back. That includes possibly hosting special screenings of movies that are no longer in theaters or havent been for years. Or hosting special screenings of concerts or sporting events that can be held inside of theaters.

Glantz said not every cinema chain is taking the same approach because they all have different challenges facing them aside from simply being allowed to open.

In early June, AMC Theaters officials issued a statement warning shareholders the company may not survive the pandemic disruption. With theaters having been closed for months and a potential inability to secure funding to keep the company afloat theres a significant concern before doors can even open again. And once they do, another problem immediately arises.

Even once theatres resume operations, a single case of COVID-19 in a theatre could result in additional costs and further closures, or a second wave or recurrence of COVID-19 cases could cause another widespread suspension of operations, AMC wrote in a statement.

Doubling down

Although the three downtown Detroit casinos are not allowed to reopen, Michigan Tribal casinos across the state have already reopened. Firekeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Soaring Eagle in Mt. Pleasant and Saganing Eagles in Standish all reopened on June 1. Turtle Creek in Traverse City and other northern Michigan casinos have opened over the last few weeks.

While each property has its own standards, across the board casinos say they are monitoring the temperatures of guests as they arrive and requiring face masks to be inside. Smoking is no longer allowed in many of the casinos and self-service drink stations are closed at many casinos as well. Hand-sanitizing stations and hand-washing stations are also available depending on the casino.

Normally, casinos pack as many people as possible next to one another to maximize the number of people gaming. Thats not possible with social distancing, especially at slot machines. As a result, casinos have had to limit how many slot machines are active.

At Firekeepers, players can check the casino website for information on how many slots are available so guests can determine if theyll even be able to get on a machine if they show up. Food buffets, poker rooms, bingo rooms and other special gaming areas may also be closed depending on the casino.

We couldnt distance those places, said Kathleen George, CEO of Firekeepers Casino. But otherwise we look forward to them coming back and being healthy and safe. And just really experiencing a great place to get their Vegas on.

For table games, barriers have been installed at tables in some locations and limits are being placed on how many people can be at a table at one time.

We want everyone to feel comfortable and safe. If someones not ready today or coming (when they open), you know what? In a few weeks or a few months, when they are, well still be here and ready to serve them.

Theres no timetable for when exactly the Detroit casinos will be allowed to reopen. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has said he expects they will be among the last things allowed to reopen in the city, despite the economic benefit to the city the casinos bring.

MGM Grand Detroit has announced preliminary plans for what guests can expect at their various properties across the U.S. however a specific plan for the Detroit location has not been announced.

Whats next?

While the good news is that businesses are beginning to slowly reopen, the struggles are far from over. Whether youre itching to get back to the blackjack table, grabbing an after-work drink with friends or simply resuming your morning workouts things will be different.

Businesses expect long lines, but fewer options for guests as everyone adjusts to the reality that things just wont be the same for some time. The uncertainty across the board means more stress and more strain on business owners whove already spent months being unable to serve customers.

For now, Roth and Van Bergen say the main thing they can do is prepare to reopen and ensure the safety of guests while continuing to provide their service. By doing that, the hope is communities across the state will respond and shop at these businesses who need all the support they can get.

As a community, were very thankful for the people who are supporting us. Small businesses like us are only going to make it with support from the community, Van Bergen said.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued an executive order requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nose while inside enclosed, public spaces.

Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus.

Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

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Reopening their doors is the first of many challenges for Michigans leisure industries - MLive.com

It is no exaggeration to say that we are in a pivotal moment in the history of race relations in America.

George Floyds outrageous, painful, and agonizing murder at the hands of Minneapolis police set off a wave of national unrest that we have not seen in 50 years. Black America has long known that systemic racismfrom early childhood experiences to educational opportunities, to housing and workplace discrimination, to medical discrimination and excessive policinghas cut short the lifespans and ruined the lives of millions.

Over the last few years, this recognition has gained greater traction in the rest of America, due in part to the ubiquity of cell phone videos capturing and broadcasting everyday acts of racial bigotry and violence. But let us not forget the important role that Black youth have played in social movement leadership. Thanks to their cross-racial organizing, young marchers today who identify as Latinx, Native American, White, Asian American, or Pacific Islander are acutely aware of the pervasiveness of anti-Black racism and its effects on their own lives.

The leadership of Black youth may seem like a recent phenomenon. However, a deeper look at civil rights history reveals that Black youth have consistently been at the forefront. In 1963, when the Black civil rights movement began losing momentum, the Childrens Crusade was born. On May 2nd that year, over 1,000 school-aged youth left school to march in downtown Birmingham. Reminiscent of that time, we all watch today with keen interest as Black youth take to our streets to protest, disrupt, and force us to collectively re-imagine our current systems and frameworks, from criminal justice and education to housing and employment.

Since 2007, the Youth Mentoring Action Network (YMAN) has been working to support this tenacity among Black youth. Teaching them about the legacy that they continue, YMAN provides them with platforms and opportunities to utilize their voices, promote their healing and self-care, and allow older adults to be the best co-conspirators in that journey. Indeed, our experience working with youth-serving organizations all over the country and the world has taught us a valuable lesson. Policies and initiatives work best when adults can learn to share space and wisdom with young people. Young people hold us all accountable in powerful ways, pushing us to be better than we would be on our own and making initiatives and policy much more successful than we typically imagine.

The same could be said about Sigma Beta Xi. SBX started as a high school club at Rialto High School in 1998. Instead of disappearing with the graduation of its founders, the organization transformed into a stand-alone nonprofit. Youth energy helped fuel the organization to become a leading nonprofit in the region, providing research-based mentoring and development services for the most marginalized youth. It has also been a vehicle for leadership development; many of the youth involved in SBX are leaders in the organization as well as in the community more generally.

We also know that one or two organizations cannot do it alone, given the challenges Black youth face in our region, and the need for multiple opportunities for leadership and development. To that end, we have worked and continue to work collectively with powerful organizations like the BLU Education Foundation, Tru Evolution, Youth Action Project, Young Visionaries, and others who are dedicated to ensuring that Black youth voices matter.

Getting there will require strategic and coordinated investments in building a strong youth-serving ecosystem in the Inland Empire. In the coming months, we resolve to work more closely with each other, and in deep collaboration with our community partners, to bring about meaningful systems change in areas ranging from education and housing, to criminal justice and workforce development. This is the kind of transformation our youth are calling for. Lets help them build a future we can all be proud of.

Dr. Torie Weiston-Serdan is Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Youth Mentoring Action Network. Corey Jackson is CEO of Sigma Beta Xi: SBX Youth and Family Services. Karthick Ramakrishnan is professor and director of the Center for Social Innovation at University of California, Riverside

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Engaging black youth will strengthen the Inland Empire - Press-Enterprise

As states begin to relax their stay-at-home orders and communities plan for the reopening of local economies, many may be returning to work and engaging in more regular social activity. While the return to some semblance of normalcy may come as a relief, questions about ones own health or the health of family members may remain.

Upon returning to work, people should continue to be smart and cautious while interacting with others. Following CDC guidelines and maintaining social distancing, practicing good hand hygiene and frequently sanitizing common areas or high-contact items, including doorknobs, hand railings and communal phones and printers, can be good preventive measures to help mitigate COVID-19 health risks.

Business associations, health systems, and governments are crafting guidelines to help mitigate risks associated with reopening communities, but additional resources may be available to help individuals navigate their own physical and mental health during this transition period.

Many may continue to have questions related to potential COVID-19 symptoms. To help, UnitedHealthcare provides an online COVID-19 symptom self-checker to help people gauge their symptoms and consider what may be the next steps for care. The symptom self-checker is at no additional cost for people to access, and users of the self-checker tool will be asked to answer a series of questions to generate feedback on care options to consider, which then assigns assessment levels ranging from self-isolation to emergency care, depending on the severity and urgency of the symptoms recorded. A testing site locator feature provides updated information on nearby COVID-19 testing sites if recommended by a physician.

Some people may still need to see a doctor but may worry about the potential risk of exposure (or the risk of exposing others) with in-person visits to a physicians office or urgent care center. As an alternative starting point for care, some people may continue to consider telehealth, which enables people to connect 24/7 with a health care provider via a smart phone, tablet or desktop computer. Telehealth may be especially helpful as an initial option for medical advice related to COVID-19, and to help evaluate other possible health issues, such as allergies, pink eye or the flu.

Employers also have a tool available for their employees. ProtectWell, a new smartphone app just launched by Microsoft and UnitedHealth Group, screens employees for COVID-19. Employees found to be at-risk for COVID-19 are directed to get a test and the app notifies employers of the results. The ProtectWell app is offered to all employers in the United States at no charge.

Access to mental health resources may also continue to be an important tool for people to have as they head back to work. Being at home and perhaps feeling isolated over the last few months may have had an impact on ones mental health, and the loneliness people may be experiencing, as well as possible stress or anxiety brought on by the pandemic, should be considered alongside physical health.

Virtual mental health resources are available for those experiencing increased stress and anxiety. A free emotional support line (866-342-6892) is available 24/7 to the public courtesy of Optum, which is part of UnitedHealth Group. Staffed by mental health professionals, individuals may receive help without taking any unnecessary trips.

Available at no additional cost, mental health and wellness apps, like Sanvello, may also be great resources for coping with the ongoing stress and anxiety. Equipped with self-care tools, peer support groups, coaching and therapy, Sanvello offers a number of avenues to receive the help and support one may need as they return to work.

For people who used mental health services before COVID-19, some care providers offer long-distance counseling and other resources, enabling for continued care from the comfort of home. Check with your providers regarding options on what may work best for you.

Taking care of physical and mental health needs may be imperative in the coming weeks and months as communities strive to reopen and individuals resume more familiar living routines. Using online and telehealth services may play a role in facilitating a smoother and healthier transition.

Dr. John Chang is the Chief Medical Officer for UnitedHealthcare of California.

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Health Resources Aid In Safer Return To Work - Escalon Times

The streets of Maine are alive with creative energy, day and night. Artists in Portland and across Maine are responding to the moment with street art, graphics, video projections and artful signs, banners and placards that are showing up in the arms of protesters in Portland, Bangor and small towns and crossroads in between.

Portland artists Ryan Adams, Jason McDonald and Mike Rich painted the likeness of George Floyd on a brick wall at Aura nightclub, along with a statement about rising in unity and the names of other African Americans killed by police in recent years. Buxton artist Eamon White made a computer graphic vector portrait of Floyd that former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz shared on social media, bringing Whites artwork an audience of 38,000 views and counting. And Portland projection artist Tina Marie Davidson is showing up nightly to share messages of solidarity and accountability on the streets and buildings of Portland. Who is policing the police, Davidson projected on police headquarters Thursday night. Before that, she demanded Dismantle White Supremacy on a downtown street.

Adams, 35, and his team made the mural quickly on Wednesday afternoon with spray paint, as the protests that began in Portland early in the week continued across downtown and spread into other communities. The portrait portion of the mural is 8 by 10 feet, and the words and names cover another 20-foot section of the wall. This is a time for action, whatever that may be. Anything from protesting and organizing to caring for family and reading books and self-care. Anything on any level, this is a time for action, said Adams, who was born and raised in Portland and lives here with his wife and kids.

A painter, designer and sign maker known for colorful geometric images that he shares on beer cans and brick walls from Maine to Virginia, Adams said he was moved to collaborate on the mural in a high-profile public place out of a sense of obligation, desire and an overwhelming need to respond to the moment. Empowered by colors, Adams has always expressed himself visually. The COVID-19 crisis, its impact on the African-American community and Floyds murder under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer have given purpose to his anger, sadness, exhaustion and frustration, he said.

I do feel a level of responsibility to act during these times, as I feel most people do. Being that I am a native Mainer and African-American muralist, I feel responsible to use my skill set to bring attention to the things that I feel are important to be addressed, he said. Being able to spray-paint something large and fast is a skill set that can be used to make a very impactful statement pretty quickly. I have utilized that ability to express myself about previous issues concerning race in the past, and I have also used it to highlight individuals or topics that honor and celebrate people.

White, 31, jumped on the computer after he heard about Floyds death and made a vector portrait, using a rainbow of colors and deep, penetrating black for the eyes to represent Floyd. An athlete and coach, White responded to former National Basketball Association player Stephen Jacksons call for action. He said, Use your platform to make change. My platform is art, said White, who played football at the University of Maine and Merrimack College and has coached across the region. He learned to paint from his father, Stephen White, and his late grandmother, Jane Murdoch, who lived in Damarsicotta. White studied studio art and new media at UMaine and got his degree in digital design from Merrimack.

As an athlete and team player, Whites instinct is to bring people together. Art allows him to do that, and responding to this moment of cultural crisis enables him to do it in a powerful way. He chose to make a colorful portrait of Floyd to represent all people who have been oppressed, as well as the range of people outraged by his murder and standing up for change. Its a picture of George Floyd, but I wanted to represent every background. Its a tragedy of one, but people can relate to it in a certain way if theyve ever been called a (racial slur) or were treated wrongly by police.

He was thrilled when Ortiz shared the image on Instagram. Its been reposted all over. It feels good when your ideas can help people, he said. Were all part of this together. Like football, if one person does something wrong, the whole team falters. Everybody has to be together on this one.

Natasha Mayers, who helps organize the Artists Rapid Response Team to make art for protests and demonstrations, said her group has made 25 signs and banners for recent demonstrations in Lincoln County, and artists are hurriedly making more for use across the region. Our group responds to the important issues of the day and of the moment, Mayers said on Friday. It is what we are compelled to do as artists and members of the community. As one member wrote me this morning, Its profoundly sad that we continue to have to make these messages in 2020.

On Friday, that artist, Doreen Conboy, was making a banner using the plea from civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis, We are one house, one people.

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This pandemic presents many reasons to expect greater empathy from each other. Since the crisis began, weve heard heart-wrenching stories about those we care about losing loved ones, getting sick, or losing their jobs. We also feel for people who are outside of our communities, such as the elderly, working class, and essential and frontline workers, all of whom are more vulnerable to COVID-19 With suffering surrounding us, we find reason to ask ourselves: What can I do to help?

However, juggling kids, working from home, parental caregiving and homeschooling, can make it challenging to turn good intentions into positive actions. Why? Because unlike previous crises, such as Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, or the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting among so many others, the pandemic directly affects us all. Even if traumatic loss hasnt knocked on our door, were caught in a whirlpool of anxiety and danger about a deadly virus, feeling isolated during the stay-at-home orders, or contending with greater domestic strife.

According to researchers, grief, stress, and uncertainty catapult the body into survival mode, scrambling our emotional radar in the limbic region of our brain, making it harder to feel for others. These conditions also impact the prefrontal cortex that fosters rational thought, the kind that helps us step back and take in another persons perspective before responding. Empathy is both feeling for, and imagining another persons point of view. For many of us, living in a pandemic makes it that much harder to empathize with others. That said, the pandemic doesnt need to turn us into empathy withholders, because we can do a lot to alleviate this problem:

We can become the caring people we were prior to COVID-19 by honoring the ways the pandemic has turned our lives upside down.

First, we must acknowledge how the pandemic has affected us. A recent survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that nearly 50 percent of Americans believe the crisis has impacted their mental health. As a result, we may feel scared, irritable, angry, and exhausted.

Being able to identify and name these feelings releases neurotransmitters in thebrain that quiets the bodys fight-or-flight response, which typically springs into action during times of stress. Once the body is no longer on high alert, we can tune in to other peoples experiences and suffering. As paradoxical as it may seem, research shows that self awareness enhances our awareness of others, too.

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When stress is constant and life is unpredictable, self-care can go out the window. However, tending to our own needs expands our ability to care for others. Now, this doesnt mean we should overly indulge and drink our troubles away while the world around us crumbles. But its scientifically proven that spending time outdoors, listening to music, or practicing mindfulness can calm and nourish the soul.

The good news: we dont need to block off hours each day for self-care. As with any new goal, starting small can make a difference. To begin, consider taking ten minutes to step away from stimulation, like social media, and replace scrolling through Instagram with a soothing activity. Not only will doing so improve your mental health, it will also benefit the well-being of those around you.

During this unprecedented time, we have fewer impromptu discussions with colleagues, friends, or neighbors that might reveal their grief. Even those closest to us might find themselves turning inward, because theyre feeling exhausted, anxious, depressed, or numb.

In order to be a resource to others, we have to actively seek them out. That means checking-in regularly with our loved ones via text, phone or Zoom, and cutting past small talk by asking, What have you read or watched this week that you enjoyed or hated? or What feels different about this week from last week? or What surprises you about living with your family (or working alone, or being designated an essential worker?

We might also make an extra effort to smile behind our masks, and inquire about the well-being of service workers in the stores, post office, and in medical settings. Make a mindful decision to connect, knowing that as tired and exhausted as you may feel, others may be feeling worse. We have to invest in the karma of kindness, in order to reap its rewards.

Once youre mentally prepared to be present for someone else, consider how you want to help. In the past, you may have been the chef who made and provided homemade meals, the caretaker who took care of your friends kids, or the listener who stopped at the drop of a hat to console a suffering colleague. However, these times call for some ingenuity.

If youre tired, consider penning a text, instead scheduling a virtual happy hour. Feeling bored? Consider creating and mailing a card, instead of sending another kissy-face emoji. If youre sheltering in place, think of ways to help unemployed friends by offering to connect them with others, read their resume, or loan out funds if you can spare them. Another idea, sing to a loved one on voicemail, or share a soothing mantra. Life has been turned upside down; lets make the most of it by mixing up how we deliver empathy.

When life is tough, empathy can be hard to muster. Acknowledging this challenge is the first step in making a more conscientious effort to connect with others. To do this, you have to make self-care a discipline, which means tending to your needs, even when you dont feel like it. When we feel nurtured, we can then extend more to those around us. This may mean being more demonstrative with those you encounter, reaching out to loved ones more regularly, or engaging in community service by donating to charities and organizations in need.

These emotional exercises will help build an empathy muscle that grows stronger each week. We need each other now, and that wont disappear. We may not have a vaccine for the virus, but empathy and love are strong elixirs that can help us survive this unchartered time.

Dr. Kelsey Crowe is an empathy expert, and founder of the training group on Empathy Intelligence. She is co-author with Emily McDowell of the book "There Is No Good Card for This: What to do and say when life is scary, awful, and unfair to the people you love." She and her team work all over the world bringing empathy focused perspectives on interpersonal trust, power and privilege, and resilience in the workplace, and in life. Using her work to help people center, connect, and empower themselves, she hopes for a day when no one suffers alone simply because others didnt know what to do or say.

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4 ways to develop more empathy during this difficult time - NBC News

Bev Aisbett is an authority on anxiety and depression, who has sold more than 500,000 copies of her many books, which include Living with IT: A Survivors Guide to Overcoming Panic & Anxiety and Taming the Black Dog: A Guide to Overcoming Depression. Her latest, Worry-Proofing Your Anxious Child, is published by HarperCollins.

Self Help for Your Nerves Claire WeekesThis 1962 book helped thousands of people overcome anxiety, including me. Her facing down a tiger concept influenced me to create IT, the cartoon version of the Inner Critic in my illustrated books. Ive actually come to see IT in a friendlier light over the years hes just an obedient servant doing what hes told to do: worry or dont worry.

Bev Aisbett's 'up-front' style was influenced by Luke RhinehartCredit:

The Book of est Luke Rhinehart Around 1993, on a visit to the Gold Coast after a relationship breakup, I was awash in self-pity and misery when this book jumped into my hands. A fictionalised account of the 1970s est workshops, it was both a slap in the face and an awakening. It snapped me out of my angst and to a degree influenced my up-front style in my later work.

First Love, Last Rites Ian McEwan Prior to fate steering me in the direction of writing self-help, I had aspirations to be an author of fiction and had a few published pieces. In 1983 I came across Ian McEwans first collection of short stories and this began a love affair with McEwans works that has lasted to this day. His ability to explore the minutiae of the human mind is beyond peer.

Understanding Comics Scott McCloud My first work as a freelancer after years of paid employment (a move that initially unleashed my anxiety) was as a cartoonist and my work appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sunday Age and The Bulletin. Scott McClouds extraordinary treatise on the history, vocabulary and versatility of cartoons in the form of a 215-page graphic novel elevates the humble cartoon to its rightful place as an art form worthy of the deepest exploration.

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Books That Changed Me: Bev Aisbett - Sydney Morning Herald

The general consensus has been that once autonomous cars take over the roads, car accidents will almost be a thing of the past. But according to a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), not only is that not realistic, but its likely that self-driving cars might only prevent a third of crashes if the systems are set up to drive the way people drive now.

The IIHS concluded that, while self-driving vehicles would be better at detecting the world around them thanks to a suite of sensors that produce a 360-degree worldview, they'll still get into crashes. That's even if all the vehicles on the road were autonomous.

The IIHS reviewed more than 5000 police-reported crashes from the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey. The collisions must have resulted in at least one vehicle being towed away and emergency medical services called to the scene. They split the factors that contributed to the crashes into five categories:

The insurance nonprofit deduced that 2 percent of crashes are unavoidable and 4 percent are from unknown causes. Apart from those, the group determined that sensing and perception error collisions account for about 24 percent of crashes and incapacitation for an additional 10 percent. Those would essentially be wiped out by vehicles that can see the world better than us and won't get drunk. In other words, autonomous vehicles could cut crashes by one-third, potentially.

The remaining 60 percent, according to the IIHS, really rely on those building the systems and the person sitting in the car. The study found that 40 percent of crashes were caused by planning and deciding errors like speeding and illegal maneuvers. The study states, "The fact that deliberate decisions made by drivers can lead to crashes indicates that rider preferences might sometimes conflict with the safety priorities of autonomous vehicles."

In other words, if costly autonomous vehicles are built to be as aggressive on the road as human drivers, crashes will continue. "Our analysis shows that it will be crucial for designers to prioritize safety over rider preferences if autonomous vehicles are to live up to their promise to be safer than human drivers," IIHS research scientist Alexandra Mueller said in a statement about the study.

But not everyone agrees with the studies findings or how the IIHS came to its conclusion.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a organization dedicated to helping innovation come to market safely and cleanly that counts BMW, Toyota, Ford, GM, Honda, and others as members, sent Car and Driver the following statement: "This study confirms the life-saving value of advanced vehicle technologies, but we believe that reducing traffic fatalities by even a third would be something to be proud of. We aim to do even more."

And it's true that reducing crashes by as much as a third would be huge. According to an NHTSA early estimate, 36,120 died from motor vehicle crashes in 2019. If that could be reduced, thats an impressive feat.

The Alliance continued, "We all know this about autonomous vehicles: they hold tremendous promise in saving thousands of lives on our roads every year, and the promise will be even greater as the technology matures. Aside from saving thousands of lives annually, AVs can help usher in a new era of mobility for those currently limited due to physical challenges, as well as contactless movement and delivery, which is more important now than ever."

The Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE) a coalition of partners created to help educated policy makers and the public about autonomous vehicles also finds issue with the study: "The IIHS study helps provide better insight into the cause of road crashes, but falls short in its application of these insights to autonomous vehicles by assuming that superior perception and the ability to avoid incapacitation are the only ways in which autonomous vehicles can improve on human driving performance. This is simply not the case."

PAVE continues, "one of the great advantages of autonomous vehicles is that their behavior can be programmed to never speed or break the laws, behaviors that this study blames for 38-percent of crashes. The assumption that these behaviors can be altered by passengers in ways that so drastically reduce safety is inconsistent with what our members tell us about the culture they bring to AV development, as well as the goals and practices of their development programs."

Jack Weast, vice president of autonomous vehicle standards at Intel's Mobileye, told Automotive News, "crashes will never be zero until we have no more human drivers on the road," he said. "But (self-driving cars) can combine physical laws with behavioral studies and do much more than a human driver."

Still the IIHS has its reservations. "Building self-driving cars that drive as well as people do is a big challenge in itself, Mueller said. But theyd actually need to be better than that to deliver on the promises weve all heard.

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IIHS Study: Autonomous Cars Won't Avoid Majority of Vehicle Crashes - Car and Driver

Editors Note: This story is part of the 50 Businesses, 50 Solutions series that aims to highlight how business leaders have adapted to meet the challenges and disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus in the hopes others may be able to replicate these ideas and innovations

Child Light Education Company is the rare pandemic success story. Before coronavirus, the business ran about 80 in-person teacher trainings for yoga and mindfulness, both at its Dover studio and in partner studios around the country. Since April, Child Light has switched to all online trainings. Since the trainings are not limited by a physical space, people from around the world can attend and the average class size has doubled in some cases. That means for Child Light Education Company, business isbetter than ever.

Its been overwhelmingly successful, said Megan Morris, who co-owns Child Light with Sally Delisle.

Morris and Delisle purchased the company in October, although both had worked for the business before then. At the time, Morris thought of Child Light as a local business with a national reach, since about 85% of revenue came from teacher trainings, many of which took place outside of Dover. Now, Morris thinks of Child Light as a national business, with an international flair. Since the pandemic, people from Asia and the Middle East have signed up for Child Light classes.

Broadening their pool of potential clients has opened the door for the business to expand. Child Light will conduct roughly the same amount of trainings this year as it did in 2019 about 80 but with the number of participants up and the price of training the same, Morris expects revenue from private trainings to be higher than it was last year.

Morris and Delisle had toyed with the idea of offering virtual teacher trainings before the pandemic, but they worried that some of the value of face-to-face interaction would be lost. In April, they looked at their calendar and realized that they needed to either cancel trainings, or switch to virtual.

We never really took the leap to online until we had to, Morris said. The trainers were able to adjust their curriculums and feedback was very positive. After that, Morris and Delisle were confident in their virtual trainings.

Having the space to be creative and see what was possible for our future was a blessing, Morris said. Its what allowed us to see the big picture in a different way.

Child Light offers certification through the Yoga Alliance, a trade organization that doesnt allow for virtual trainings. The Yoga Alliance made an exception through September because of the pandemic, but in the future Child Light will likely return to some in-person classes, especially if thats required by the Yoga Alliance. However, Morris believes online classes will be a bit part of the business during and after the pandemic.

Theres still so much value in being together in person, but it will always be part of our curriculum that people have the option to learn online, Morris said.

In addition to offering public trainings, Child Light also runs continuing education trainings for school teachers. That side of the business has decreased significantly, even though Child Light has offered some of those classes online. Because of that decrease. Morris expects overall revenue to be consistent with 2019.

Thats what is keeping us around the same range, she said. Were adding more public trainings, but the private trainings are much lower.

Child Lights participation in online yoga classes for kids has also decreased. Kids short attention spans, parentsoverwhelmed with online obligations, and competition from free online yoga are all at play, Morris said.

Morris has some reservations celebrating her success when many other New Hampshire businesses are suffering.

Thats the part thats hard for me to reconcile, she says. In turn, shes tried to give back, supporting other local businesses and helping to promote causes like Yoga In Action, a New Hampshire non-profit.

At the same time, Morris is focused on continuing to grow Child Light Educational Company, taking advantage of a newly unlocked pool of potential customers.

I know this has been earned, she said. This is hard work paying off.

From sole proprietorships to large corporations, we want to hear from all New Hampshire business leaders whove found solutions to their Covid related challenges. Tell us your story here. A reporter may follow up for a future article in this series.

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.

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50 Businesses, 50 Solutions: Dover yoga instruction goes from national to international - Concord Monitor

Given our current stay-at-home orders, establishing an at-home yoga practice is no longer an afterthought for yogis, its necessary. Whether

Given our current stay-at-home orders, establishing an at-home yoga practice is no longer an afterthought for yogis, its necessary. Whether its self-guided or online, yoga students have been forced to roll out their mats at home. And for good reason.

Practicing yoga regularly is a lifestyle choice that can help boost your immune system by keeping your body lean, flexible and pain free. Yoga also helps with memory and mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, which could surface for anyone during this time of uncertainty.

While a home yoga practice is a game-changer for your health, there are certain dangers to be aware of as you develop your home yoga routine.

[READ: How to Maintain a Yoga Practice at Home.]

Here are the most common at-home yoga mistakes and how to fix them:

Mistake: Looking up During Poses and Compressing Your Neck

Why it happens: In an effort to follow your teachers instructions while practicing at home, youll be tempted to look up at your screen. Besides checking your alignment, you may find yourself continuously looking up to see if your technology is working correctly. Its the most common misalignment during live classes at home. This torques on the back of your neck, especially if its done suddenly. While it may seem slight, it could be detrimental for your shoulders and neck in poses where you should be looking down, such as down dog, standing forward-fold, pyramid, pigeon and seated forward-folds.

Solution: Practice yoga at home with teachers whom you already know using online apps like Zoom. Because youre familiar with their cues and perhaps even the way they modulate their voice, it will help prevent you from looking up and hurting your neck. Listen to the instructors cues and follow along carefully. Most experienced teachers will say the name of the pose before they give you refinements.

Trust your experience but have an open mind, knowing that every teacher is different. During class, when you need to see the teacher on your screen, take your time and lift your whole torso as you look up. Make sure your neck is always in line with your spine. Place your device where its easy to see while you practice. Somewhere about three feet off the ground, ten feet away and facing the side-edge of your mat. Trust your technology is working and practice letting go of checking on it obsessively.

[Read: Best Fitness Apps and Home Workouts.]

Mistake: Pushing Yourself Beyond Whats Healthy

Why It Happens: Overexerting yourself during a home yoga routine is a common and costly mental-error, especially if youre an experienced student. Seasoned practitioners find that their physical practice plateaus more easily, even while they have a strong desire to advance. If youre in this category, you may become overzealous and your ego can cloud your judgment.

It happens when you disregard safety landmarks or push yourself while youre short of breath. Ignoring physical pain to achieve a pose is another common misstep. All of these scenarios are more likely to happen while youre practicing at home without a teacher present to keep you honest.

Solution: The most important tool in your yoga practice is your breath. It is a built-in gauge to make sure you are not forcing yourself into poses. Always breathe deeply in and out through your nose. It should be intentional, but it shouldnt be harsh. The person next to you shouldnt be able to hear it. Its OK to exhale out your mouth if you find yourself clenching your jaw or if youre pushing your limits. But if you cannot breathe deeply, come out of the pose and re-establish your expansive breathing technique. When it comes to physical pain, move slowly and always trust your intuition. Even if it means going against what the teacher is instructing.

[SEE: What to Expect at Your First Yoga Class.]

Mistake: Not Challenging Yourself Enough to Keep Your Practice Rewarding

Why it happens: When you are left to your own devices at home, it is challenging to stay motivated. Without an instructor to encourage you or hold you to a certain standard of effort, you may become complacent. This is more prevalent with beginners. You may find that you attempt certain poses with a healthy work-ethic while others are more of an afterthought. It could become such a bad habit that you only practice the poses you enjoy and neglect the ones you dislike, but need to do. This leads to bigger problems like physical asymmetries, tightness and injuries.

Solution: Consider enrolling in a yoga course or live classes. Almost all yoga teachers have started teaching online since the pandemic started. If youre taking live classes, set-up your camera so that your teacher can see you and give you tips and support. Teachers usually mix-up their sequences frequently enough, so that within a months time, youll attempt a variety of poses. If you have to practice without any guidance, go through a weekly focus of poses. I generally cycle through sequences that target hips, hamstrings, twists and shoulder openers or backbends.

Mistake: Allowing Interruptions

Why it happens: If you do not organize your day to accommodate for your yoga practice, distractions will inevitably derail you. Whether its your kids, phone, tablet or computer, theres many ways that your technology-saturated life pulls you away from what you want to get accomplished. Without a reserved time and space for your home yoga practice, other seemingly more urgent things take precedence over taking care of yourself.

Solution: Create an uninterrupted home yoga experience by planning ahead. Establish a morning yoga routine, so you minimize the chance that something will change your schedule. Reverse-engineer your day around your yoga practice. Set out your yoga clothes and mat the night before, eat dinner earlier, get to bed earlier and wake up earlier to ensure you get your practice in. Designate a separate area for yoga, free of technology. If you are using a device to take a class, then that is its designated purpose for that time. Keep all of your other devices in a different room or shut them off all together, so you are not tempted to look at them. Even if you only have time for a 15-minute yoga session, commit to getting it done without stepping off your mat for the entire time.

Mistake: Inconsistency

Why it happens: When youre not in a community, its difficult to hold yourself accountable. Without a social or financial commitment, theres often not enough at stake for you to stick with your practice.

Solution: Join a class that meets up regularly and invite a friend to go with you. Invest in a monthly pass to an online live class or pre-recorded course. Yoga International offers many quality courses with a variety of teachers and styles to choose from. Sign-up for or establish a 30-day yoga challenge to keep you focused and excited to practice. Most importantly, take the time to acknowledge that youre worth the time and effort spent to keep yourself healthy and happy. Stick with your home yoga practice, and you will see profoundly positive effects on your mental and physical health.

More from U.S. News

How to Practice Yoga When You Have Arthritis or Another Chronic Condition

9 Strategies for Coping With Fibromyalgia Pain

The Many Ways Exercise Fights Depression

Common At-Home Yoga Mistakes and How to Avoid Them originally appeared on usnews.com

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Common At-Home Yoga Mistakes and How to Avoid Them - WTOP

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Yoga, often brushed off as easy by people who enjoy more intense forms of exercise, actually holds the power to change your whole life: A consistent yoga practice can significantly reduce aches and pains, improve balance and flexibility, improve your fitness, keep your brain sharp, relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety, reduce stress, help you sleep better and, unsurprisingly, considering those benefits, improve your overall quality of life.

If you've been thinking about starting a yoga practice but feel too intimidated, don't be: Yoga is for everyone. Big or small, young or old, flexible or not, you can do yoga -- and you can do it in the comfort of your own home.

Having yoga tools and props can help you get started, but know that you don't necessarily need any of these items to cultivate a yoga practice at home. For that, all you truly need is yourself -- think of the items on this list as tools that can strengthen your yoga practice and make it something you look forward to each and every day.

This is the one thing you actually do need. Whereas the rest of the list serves as a guide to tools that can make yoga more fun or relaxing, a quiet, uncluttered space is necessary for a distraction-free yoga flow.

Your space can be indoors or out, cold or warm, decorated or bare, but one thing remains essential: Your space should help you relax. You should feel at home wherever you decide to do yoga. Set it up in a way that fosters focus and comfort for the entirety of your yoga flow.

While you can do yoga on any surface, a good yoga mat may make all the difference. This is especially true for people who struggle with achy bones or joint pain: A dense yoga mat can support and cushion your body while still offering support and stability. To learn how to choose the right yoga mat for you and browse some of the best, head over to CNET's guide on the best yoga mats in 2020.

Yoga blocks are a must for anyone who struggles with limited flexibility or range of motion. Place these foam blocks beneath your hands, chest, hips or back -- wherever it makes sense for the pose -- to help get into position.

You can find yoga blocks all over the internet. Most companies that sell yoga mats also sell yoga blocks: Gaiam, Manduka, B Yoga, Yoga Hustle and many other yoga brands sell branded blocks. Other online retailers stock them, too: Find some at Amazon, Yoga Direct, Walmart, Target and YogaOutlet.

Gaiam's yoga blocks are simple and durable yet aesthetic. They're also affordable, making them a great choice for the everyday yogi.

Another great yoga prop for improving flexibility is yoga straps. A yoga strap, like this one from Manduka, hooks around your feet or ankles to assist in poses that require a wide range of motion, particularly in poses that open up the hamstrings, hips and upper back.

A yoga strap can help beginners avoid the common mistake of trying to force themselves into a pose their bodies aren't ready for, thereby assisting in injury prevention and establishing good yoga technique. Even people who have long had a yoga practice can find benefit in a strap, especially when trying to branch out into more advanced poses.

Tend to slip all over your mat during yoga sessions? You may benefit from a yoga towel, which wicks sweat as you practice, preventing your hands and feet from slipping around. An extremely grippy mat usually cuts it for most people, but for some, no amount of nonslip mat material will do the trick.

A yoga towel is a thin, moisture-wicking piece of material that's about the same size as most yoga mats. You simply place it on top of your mat before you practice and you're good to go. Some yoga towels are thick enough to replace a mat, but most are not.

Like yoga blocks, you can find yoga towels at most retailers that sell yoga and wellness gear. Amazon has a nice selection, as do Walmart and Yoga Outlet.

No more shivering in savasana: A cozy blanket is the cherry on top of your at-home yoga practice. Keep one nearby your dedicated yoga space so you can slip under it when it's time to end your practice in savasana, or corpse pose, the act of slowly relaxing your body one joint at a time.

You can also use your at-home yoga space for deep breathing practice or meditation, both of which are great complements to yoga. Any blanket will do as long as you find it comfortable, but many yoga brands have their own blankets for sale, such as Kakoas, Lotus Crafts and Open Road Goods.

A bolster pillow can support your body during restorative yoga, particularly during flows that include a lot of supine (upward-facing) floor poses. A yoga bolster is basically a support pillow but firmer and usually closer to the size of a full-body pillow. Like yoga straps, a yoga pillow can help you sink deeper into postures without compromising form. It can also be your pillow for an afternoon nap -- hey, it's your home yoga studio, so anything goes. Yoga Direct, YogaOutlet and YogaAccessories all have a big selection of yoga bolsters.

You wouldn't go out for a run or hit the weights in workout clothes you hate, so don't try to practice yoga in clothes you hate, either. Good yoga clothes are stretchy, cool, moisture-wicking, comfortable and somewhat form-fitting -- you don't want your shirt slipping over your head in a forward bend.

There's no need to buy yoga pants that cost upward of $100. In fact, you can find inexpensive but high-quality workout or yoga clothes from many stores online. What you have in your closet already will probably work, too. Start there and treat yourself to some new yoga clothes when you're sure you'll stick to a practice.

Starting yoga at home can feel intimidating and overwhelming. If you're not quite sure where to start, consider using an at-home yoga app or at least following along with some yoga videos on YouTube. You can find many yoga apps out there for free, but a premium subscription might be worth the money if you're really ready to commit to an at-home yoga practice.

Here are some yoga apps I love:

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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How to do yoga at home: What you need and what you don't - CNET