•○●° ¤ Egy emberöltőnyi life on earth..° •○●

No. 541

From a personal perspective, I’d already gone on a bit of a health kick a few weeks back, which has meant trying to eat healthily (lots of fruit and veggies), exercising regularly, and quitting smoking and drinking (yes I do recognise the hypocrisy of being a doctor who occasionally smoked!).  

I think one of the best things you can do during this time is to quit smoking or vaping because smokers are more at risk of respiratory infections. I wrote a little tweet-guide as to how I did it.

Vitamin C has been shown to help stave off the common cold. In general, I’d suggest you make sure you’re eating healthily. You can get natural sources of vitamin C, which include citrus fruits, kiwi, and broccoli. 

Zinc has also been shown to be beneficial for colds. Natural sources of zinc include pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate, and chickpeas. 

If you’re eating a sufficiently varied diet, then you won’t necessarily need to take oral multivitamin tablets. However, as we’ll all be indoors more, we may find that we benefit from a vitamin D supplement (which we usually get from the sun). 

If you’re living in an area where you can still go outside, then walks can be good for your physical and mental health. Try to maintain a good distance from others, and wash your hands for 20 seconds—especially when you get back home. As we still don’t have all the information about how long COVID-19 remains in the air, if you’re particularly at risk, I would perhaps advise staying at home. 

I know COVID-19 is really scary; make sure you’re taking the right precautions, but also be sure to try and spend some time every day doing things you enjoy and taking your mind off the virus. My friend has put together a guide to ensuring good mental health at this time: 

Also includes the answer to questions from: @pretty-mattsun, @originalityisadirtyword, @missshadowsdarling, @brendanicus, @farawayleaf, @commie-cosmo 

Friday, February 21Maha Shivratri 2020

Different legends describe the significance of Maha Shivaratri. According to one legend in the Shaivism tradition, this is the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance of creation, preservation and destruction.[4][13] The chanting of hymns, the reading of Shiva scriptures and the chorus of devotees joins this cosmic dance and remembers Shiva’s presence everywhere. According to another legend, this is the night when Shiva and Parvati got married.[4][14] A different legend states that the offering to Shiva icons such as the linga is an annual occasion to get over past sins if any, to restart on a virtuous path and thereby reach Mount Kailasha and liberation.[4]

The significance of dance tradition to this festival has historical roots. The Maha Shivaratri has served as a historic confluence of artists for annual dance festivals at major Hindu temples such as at Konark, Khajuraho, Pattadakal, Modhera and Chidambaram.[15] This event is called Natyanjali, literally “worship through dance”, at the Chidambaram temple which is famous for its sculpture depicting all dance mudras in the ancient Hindu text of performance arts called Natya Shastra.[16][17] Similarly, at Khajuraho Shiva temples, a major fair and dance festival on Maha Shivaratri, involving Shaiva pilgrims camped over miles around the temple complex, was documented by Alexander Cunningham in 1864.[18]

[adjective]

deadly; bringing death or destruction; bearing death.