Long Covid Tips

I recently shared an introductory article on the benefits of sound and music therapy for Long Covid.  It occurs to me that it would be helpful to share some specific examples of methods and music and tips for how to enjoy it. Spotify Playlists for Relaxation and Sleep Here are some Spotify playlists featuring hours of Singing Bowls and Binaural Beats.  If you are not a subscriber, Spotify offers free ad-supported accounts.  If you choose not to sign up for an account, the links below will still allow you to see the names of songs and performers so you can search for them elsewhere.   Tibetan Singing Bowls for Sleep https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4lTadCehORo1j4XtjO6nki  Tibetan Bowls https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX3JNwc30ddaO   Binaural Beats: Sleep https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX8h3zQNo57xG Binaural Beats: Deeper Sleep https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DWYILo9WhOOw6 YouTube Videos for Relaxation and Sleep While videos...

Music and Sound Therapy Has Real Benefits For thousands of years music and sound have been used in traditional healing and meditation practices across many cultures.  In the past few decades, modern scientific studies are confirming that there are legitimate therapeutic benefits to such practices.  This is a huge boon to patients because: music and sound are drug-free, so there is little concern about negative interactions sound is almost free as content is widely available on the internet benefits require minimal effort, mostly just finding some quiet time to relax and listen it is proven helpful for just about everyone with hearing, possibly even for some without For me, trying it was an obvious choice as I had nothing to lose and any benefits I received, however small, would stack on top of my other methods. Pleasing music and sounds have been shown to: lower cortisol, a stress hormone associated with depression, anxiety, binge eating, nausea and more lower blood flow to th...

My last article discussed how to use pacing and energy budgets to improve performance and reduce symptoms.  However, I did a poor job of listing common signs of brain fatigue and how to recognize when a rest and cognition break might help so I decided to remedy that with this post.  Many of the warning signs are counterintuitive, so without a list it can be challenging to recognize when a symptom might be caused my mental fatigue and thus when a mental break is needed. Below is a list I copied nearly verbatim from a handout from a long-COVID recovery program from a highly respected research hospital.  It is not copyrighted nor proprietary, so I am free to share it here: Common Signs of Brain Fatigue Cognitive Symptoms of Brain Fatigue Difficulty concentrating Forgetfulness Slow speech Headache Word-finding difficulties Emotional Symptoms of Brain Fatigue Irritability Nervousness Withdrawal Physical Symptoms of Brain Fatigue Loss of appetite Low energy Nausea Balance ...