This story was initially printed on 2019/07/06 7:00am PDTJul 6, 2019 and final up to date 2020/04/09 2:25pm PDTApr 9, 2020.

With many people working from house, it may be exhausting to get paperwork signed and despatched the place they should go if you do not have a scanner round to show them into PDFs. Paper remains to be a persistent a part of life nowadays, even when it would really feel a bit dated, and coordinating the conversion from real-world object right into a file youll be able to e-mail may be obnoxious, however your telephone can really deal with it for you. The truth is, you could not even want to put in a separate app.

There are many methods youll be able to generate PDFs in a pinch, and possibly 100 apps that declare to do it, however well be specializing in three good methods from three particular and well-known apps to generate PDFs from real-world paperwork: Google Drive, Adobe Scan, and Microsoft Workplace Lens.

Since every has its personal benefits, youll be able to determine for your self. Basically, I would suggest Drive for those who solely have to scan a doc a few times, because its most likely already put in in your telephone and can prevent time. Nevertheless, our readers favourite is Workplace Lens, and for those whore coping with scanning paperwork continuously, it is undoubtedly your most suitable option.

The explanations to make use of Google Drive in your PDF wants are:

Creating PDFs in Google Drive on Android is straightforward:

Left: The floating motion button opens a menu (proper) which incorporates the Scan possibility for creating PDFs.

Simply open the app, faucet the + floating motion button within the nook, and within the ensuing menu, choose scan.

Line up, assessment, and tweak the images youre taking for PDFs in Drive.

Line up the doc within the viewfinder, making an attempt to verify all 4 corners are seen and that your view is largely flat, and take the photograph. (Holding the doc together with your fingers whereas scanning is feasible, however you may must be cautious.) After a little bit of processing, Drive then offers you the choice to assessment and settle for or reject the photograph earlier than importing it into the PDF. Faucet the large checkmark whenever you assume the photograph is nice sufficient, and the app will appropriate for some distortion and import the doc in black and white (by default) to the PDF.

Drive can robotically appropriate for perspective, too, so that you neednt fear too a lot if you cannot snag the proper shot, it would stretch and tweak issues to compensate all by itself, although some content material would possibly find yourself a bit off-kilter.

Extra choices are nested in different menus.

From this display youll be able to add extra pages to the present doc (+ icon), re-capture any web page that has already been added (the reload/redo icon), alter the crop/distortion correction (crop icon within the prime proper nook), change shade settings (palette icon within the prime proper nook), and delete, rotate, or rename the scan (all by the overflow three-dot menu prime proper). Additional choices within the nested settings menu can help you change paper dimension, orientation, and picture high quality, although the defaults must be high-quality for many of us.

When youre pleased with the outcomes, simply faucet the checkmark within the backside proper. Drive will ask you the place to put it aside in Google Drive and what to call it. After you faucet Save within the backside proper nook, it must be there. Congrats, youve got simply made a PDF together with your telephone.

Google Drive can do OCR, but it surelys a separate operate.

You may also get PDFs captured on this method to generate into textual content paperwork through OCR, but it surelys a multi-step course of. You may have to both open the PDF once more later in Google Docs as a doc or toggle a setting in Google Drive to vary how uploaded paperwork are dealt with (Convert uploaded information to Google Docs editor format in Settings -> Normal from the desktop website). Googles OCR is fairly good with textual content, however unusual formatting or uncommon languages, symbols, or graphics can typically confuse it, so plan to assessment it later for errors.

In the event you want a distinct set of options than what Google Drives app can present, and also youre keen to surrender the deeper integration with G Suites providers, Adobe Scan could also be extra your type. Its benefits embody:

The method for Adobe Scan is not rather more sophisticated than its on Drive, however Id say its a little much less user-friendly.

Adobe Scan can seize images robotically and do perspective correction, too.

While you open the app (and grant it the permissions it requires to operate), you may be introduced on to a digicam viewfinder. Scrolling left or proper by the carousel on the backside lets you choose between sorts of paperwork. The Aperture icon subsequent to the shutter button controls Auto-Seize, which permits Adobe Scan to take images of paperwork robotically as soon as theyre in body, and I would encourage you to have it on since it may possibly save a while. Both means, youll be able to nonetheless seize paperwork manually with the shutter button.

Adobe Scan is not fairly pretty much as good at selecting up the perimeters of paperwork for perspective correction in my expertise, but it surely affords the possibility to appropriate the crop for every merchandise as its scanned (by default, after sufficient scans it would ask if you would like to disable that).

The UI is not fairly as clear as Drive relating to advancing steps. The gallery icon is how you progress ahead as soon as youve got taken all of your images.

Upon getting captured the entire paperwork you wish to be included in a given PDF, faucet the gallery icon to the underside proper and it takes you to a display the place youll be able to assessment the contents.

Adobe Scan could make PDFs from photos youve got already taken or downloaded.

(In the event youd desire to make a PDF from photos that have been beforehand taken, the icon to the underside left on the seize display which appears to be like like a stack of images lets you import them into the app to generate a doc from.)

Choices for tweaking PDFs are higher labeled in Adobe Scan.

From the assessment display, youll be able to rename the PDF (textual content/pencil icon prime middle), or use the navigation bar on the backside to do issues like add extra pages, reorder gadgets, change the crop, rotate photos, choose shade settings, or delete pages.

When you may have the PDF and its contents in a spot that you just prefer it, tapping Save PDF within the prime left nook saves it domestically, dumping you to the default current record of paperwork in Adobe Scan.

A number of methods to open and share PDFs.

From right here youll be able to share present paperwork, open them in Acrobat, and fill them out/signal them through the Adobe Acrobat app. After a brief little bit of processing, the information listed right here additionally embody OCR textual content. If you might want to get them off of your machine (which might be the entire level of producing a PDF), youll be able to share the information through that aptly-named share button. Choices embody capturing off a hyperlink to the file saved on Adobes Doc Cloud, sending the file through E mail, or youll be able to cross the file to a different app through an intent with Share a duplicate.

One phrase of warning: Ive run into points with non-link, standalone PDF information generated by Adobe Scan. It is clear that Adobe tries to push customers into sharing PDFs through hyperlinks over providers it may possibly cost for slightly than the information instantly (there is no possibility to simply save/export the PDF as a file to a selected location, for instance). Nevertheless, a few of the information it has generated for me have had points and could not be opened, although the web hyperlinks created on the similar time labored high-quality. YMMV, in my expertise, Drive does a greater job dealing with PDFs as precise information.

Adding Microsoft Office Lens

Originally, this list didnt include Microsofts app, but we were urged to add it by our readers. They werent wrong, its the easiest and most intuitive scanning solution weve tried, and were sorry it took so long to check it out.

Of the three options here, Microsoft Office Lens is probably the best. Whether youre deeply integrated into Microsofts Office suite and services or not, its pretty fast and easy with a dead-simple interface and all the tools you probably need.

If youre scanning documents regularly from your phone, this is the app you should be using. Its perks include:

Of all of the apps on this record, it is the simplest to make use of:

Left: Firing up the app for the primary time. Middle: Viewfinder. Proper: Deciding on photos from the digicam roll.

Simply obtain the app, hearth it up, grant it the required permissions, and also youre off. Other than an interstitial display that you will see the very first time you launch it (above left), you may at all times be dumped straight to the viewfinder (above middle), as with Adobes app.

The viewfinder has all of the instruments you want instantly accessible with only a few faucets. Alongside the underside of the viewfinder, beneath the shutter, are completely different modes youll be able to change between primarily based on what you are scanning. You may most likely simply use the default doc mode, however youll be able to shortly change to scanning enterprise playing cards, images, and whiteboards as effectively, every of which triggers its personal preset modes. Above the shutter is your digicam roll, providing easy accessibility to photographs youve got already captured together with your digicam app simply faucet the photographs you want so as to add to a doc after which faucet the orange arrow that seems to the best of the shutter button (above proper). You may also faucet the /gallery icon to get to a file picker if you might want to manually navigate to photographs exterior the digicam roll.

While youve obtained the doc lined up within the viewfinder, an orange-red rectangle signifies that it has a stable lock on its perspective and dimensions (which it may possibly robotically crop and proper for). Simply be aware that for those who take images on a grid-like background such as you see pictured above, it would bug out a bit with that computerized cropping. Theres a guide crop instrument if that occurs, although, and solely very particular circumstances like that triggered any misbehavior for me.

Tweaking photos earlier than you flip them right into a doc could be very straightforward.

While youve captured a web page in your doc, the workflow to tweak its easy. If you might want to add one other web page to your doc, faucet the Add New button, and youre taken again to the viewfinder so as to add one other picture repeat that course of as obligatory with every web page of the doc.

When a number of photos are loaded in, youll be able to swipe between pages by scrolling left and proper. There are filters for those who desire to transform your paperwork to black and white, and many others., simply accessible with a fast swipe up.

Alongside the highest of the display, you may have many of the different, much less continuously used choices. You possibly can delete photos within the present doc, change their crop, rotate photos, change their doc kind (which adjusts pre-set filters), make a textual content overlay, or draw on the doc. With pinch-to-zoom working, youll be able to even add a signature or annotate, if you might want to.

Easy export course of.

While youre achieved, faucet Achieved, and also you get choices for how one can save your doc. In the event you reserve it to your Android telephones gallery, that saves it as a JPEG picture, however there are alternatives to save lots of a PDF file to your telephones storage as effectively. You may also ship the picture to OneDrive, PowerPoint, or OneNote, and paperwork may be imported to Microsoft Phrase for OCR for those who desire to transform it into textual content.

When the doc has been saved in a selected format, you are dumped to a listing of information youve got created within the app, from there youll be able to share or delete them through the three-dot menu on every. If I needed to provide you with one grievance about this app, it is that a share possibility may very well be built-in into the export display earlier than this one, however that is a really minor concern.

Now you already know three other ways of constructing a PDF in your Android-powered telephone. Drive is probably going essentially the most handy alternative for customers in a pinch, however for those who scan paperwork commonly, you owe it to your self to strive Microsoft Workplace Lens, it is simply the very best doc scanning resolution we have used.

No matter you select, youve got obtained choices greater than we even listed right here. So the following time you assume you may should discover a scanner to place collectively a PDF, keep in mind that the telephone in your pocket is completely able to dealing with it.

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Top 10 Best Weight Loss And Thermogenics 2020 - Best gaming pro

Intermittent fasting (IF) is not new. Many religious traditions, including Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and Orthodox Christianity have practiced forms of it. These methods were predominantly due to food shortages or spiritual pursuits. Today IF is most often promoted as a weight-loss regimen, and there is some evidence that it is useful in that capacity. One extensive review found that it not only helps with obesity, but also hypertension, inflammation, and insulin resistance.

Proponents swear by its efficacy. In reality, intermittent fasting is just about closing your feeding window: don't eat first thing in the morning (or breakfast at all), don't eat for two hours (or longer) before bed. It's a practical approach to eating, yet, as with everything in our time, it has to be packaged and marketed to be sold as a lifestyle. That's not to say that IF isn't effective. It's just not miraculous.

One honest debate that has persisted for years is how long to fast for. Twelve hours? Sixteen? Twenty? A new study, published in the journal Brain and Behavior, set out to answer this question with a specific goal in mind: how does intermittent fasting affect neurogenesis?

While neurogenesis is most active in embryos, neuron creation is possible throughout life. The more you can achieve this as you age, the better, especially in areas like your brain's hippocampusthe focus of this study. The main duties of the hippocampus is the consolidation of experiences and information as you store short-term memories as long-term memories and spatial navigation, which is another form of memory. In Alzheimer's disease, your hippocampus is usually the first brain region to suffer.

For this study, three groups of rats were tested, with a fourth control group receiving no eating restrictions. One group fasted for 12 hours, another for 16, and the final group fasted for 24 hours (on the second day they ate without restriction as well). All groups were given the same number of calories.

The three restricted groups all fared better in terms of hippocampal neurogenesis than the control group. Interestingly, the 16-hour group performed best, especially when tested for increased activation of the Notch signaling pathwayspecifically, the NOTCH1 pathway (mammals have four). This pathway is implicated in the brain's ability to form new neuronal connections. This process allows us to form new memories, which is one reason why hippocampal neurogenesis helps to keep dementia at bay.

The study adds another piece to the puzzle of how dietspecifically in this case, when you eataffects cognitive health. Judging by these results, it appears that restricting your feeding window to eight hours a day can have profound effects.

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

The benefits do not stop with neurogenesis. As the Singapore-based team writes,

"Prophylactic IF has been shown to promote longevity as well as ameliorate the development and manifestation of agerelated diseases such as cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and metabolic diseases in many animal studies. It has also been postulated that IF is able to cause changes in the metabolic pathways in the brain, which leads to stress resistance capacity of brain cells."

This follows up previous research that found intermittent fasting has positive effects on the liver, immune system, heart, and brain, as well as the body's ability to fight cancer. While specifics, such as fasting duration and caloric load, remain to be seenmost likely, those will have to be decided on an individual basisthis is another win for the IF crowd. Closing your feeding window appears to have many beneficial effects for overall health.

--

Stay in touch with Derek on Twitter and Facebook. His next book is "Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy."

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How intermittent fasting changes your brain - Big Think

The 2021 Lexus LC 500 and LC 500h luxury-performance coupe are now equipped with modest performance updates. Its now 22 pounds lighter than last years model, and it thankfully receives Android Auto along with standard Apple CarPlay and Amazon Alexa. Lexus refused to tinker with the LCs glorious 5.0-liter V8 engine, but it gave the new model a lighter and fresher set of legs to improve handling, stability, and driving feel.

Now, the Lexus LC was never intended for track duty, and nor was it conceived to break lap records. Instead, the LC is a fabulous GT car with dollops of comfort and the muscle to back up its supercar-inspired styling. But the biggest news for the 2021 LC is reduced unsprung weight, so maybe less is more in this case.

The weight loss is courtesy of lighter suspension components. Lexus installed new aluminum lower suspension arms and hollow stabilizers to shave weight. It also replaced the old coil springs for a set of high-strength springs crafted from new lightweight material. Oddly enough, Lexus replaced the 21-inch rear wheels for a set of lighter rims, but only in the back of the car, which may have something to do with weight balancing.

Once the weight loss regimen was complete, Lexus shifted its efforts is recalibrating the suspension tuning. The goal was to provide a supple ride without disconnecting the driver from the road, so Lexus tinkered with the electric front shocks and lengthened the suspension stroke, optimized the bound stopper rigidity, and firmed up the rear stabilizers. According to Lexus, the changes were enough to enhance the front turn-in stability of the coupe while providing a linear steering feel.

If all of this sounds like the recipe for tuning a track-ready sports car, youre right. But then again, the LC is not meant for track duty, but its clear Lexus was aiming for more athleticism without ruining the LCs aristocratic road manners. Theres also a new vehicle stability control system for the LC 500 and LC 500h. The new system now has active cornering assist (ACA) that automatically applies braking pressure on the inner wheels when cornering.

Next, Lexus shifted its efforts to the standard 10-speed automatic gearbox. In the 2021 LC 500, the transmissions new shift logic software allows the engine to cream further before shifting into the next gear. Meanwhile, the 2021 LC 500h will now execute downshifts in second gear (instead of third) when attacking fast, hairpin turns, allowing the hybrid coupe to rocket more aggressively like a true sports car.

The changes continue inside the car. New leather options include Circuit Red instead of the usual Rioja Red upholstery in the old car, but you can still have Black or Toasted Caramel upholstery if you dont like red leather seats. Theres also a meatier steering wheel to further bolster the new LCs athletic demeanor.

The 2021 Lexus LC 500 remains powered by a 5.0-liter V8 engine with 471-horsepower and 398 pound-feet of torque. With a revised 10-speed automatic gearbox and rear-wheel-drive, the LC can rocket to 60 mph in 4.4-seconds while still achieving a highway-rated 25 mpg.

Meanwhile, the 2021 Lexus LC 500h is equipped with a Multistage Hybrid System. It has a 3.5-liter V6 gasoline engine and two electric motors. With a combined output of 354 horsepower, the Lexus LC 500h is a technological showcase with a high-power battery pack and a revolutionary CVT transmission with four conventional gears.

Both the 2021 Lexus LC 500 and LC 500h are arriving at Lexus dealerships later this year. Pricing and other specifics will be announced at a later date. New paint colors for 2021 include Nori Green Pearl and Cadmium Orange.

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2021 Lexus LC 500 and LC 500h receive modest updates and Android Auto - SlashGear

Many of us are experiencing heightened anxiety during this global coronavirus crisis. In response, Tricycle is offering free access to select articles to support your practice during this uncertain time.

On March 5, 2020 at 7:23 p.m., I receive a WhatsApp message from a close friend in Bangkok:

Hey guys I think youre either just about arriving in the States or already there; hope the journey went smoothly. Ive been seeing a number of news articles lately about coronavirus-related racism against Asians in the US so be sure to stay safe both from the virus and the racism!

My husband and I do indeed land safely in California. Were wearing face masks, as are the majority of our fellow passengers on both legs of the journeyBangkok to Taipei, Taipei to San Francisco. I expect as much. Over the past two months, noses and chins and cheeks had been disappearing with increasing regularity on my metro rides in Bangkok; Id taken to admiring the colorful coverings on the faces around me.

Arriving in America, I anticipate coronavirus questionnaires, screening stations, informative signs from the Centers for Disease Controlhaving encountered all of these when I arrived at Taiwans Taoyuan airport on a February trip to Taipei. I am met with none of these at San Francisco International Airport. Its disconcerting. The level of concern about the rapidly spreading coronavirus seems strangely low here.

I suddenly feel self-conscious in my mask.

Most of my relatives live in China. Thailand, where I had been living since October 2018, was the first country outside of China to confirm a case of the novel coronavirus. It was on my radar well before the World Health Organization coined the names for the disease and the virus on February 11: COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2.

On March 16, the US president started using his own termthe Chinese virus. Despite the widespread use of an existing appellation that doesnt besmirch a geographic location or an entire group of people. Despite the stigmatizing effects of his word choice and the corresponding rise in verbal and physical attacks against Chinese (and other Asian) Americans.

Still, after eight months abroad, its good to be back in the country where I grew up, the country whose primary language became my mother tongue after I immigrated here at the age of four. I greet my in-laws at the airport with elation but, just to be safe, not hugs. At their house, showering is the first order of business, followed by washing my fabric mask in the sink and replacing its charcoal filter. I fight the urge to fall asleep at 5:00pm. I go for a walk outside, greedily breathing in the cool, fresh aira scarce commodity in Bangkok.

both from the virus and the racism

Reading our Thai friends text, I feel my breathing constrict. I may not be able to speak the national language with ease in Thailand, but I enjoy a privilege there that I seldom access in the US: being a member of the racial and religious majority, as a person of Asian heritage and a Buddhist. I wonder if this is what it feels like to be a white Christian in Americanever having to give a second thought to whether the shape of your eyes or the religious icon around your neck makes you a target for harassment.

***

The unrelenting air pollution in Bangkok that ushered in the new year, compounded two weeks later by coronavirus fears that only increased with each passing day, kept me almost entirely homebound for the first two months of 2020. Finishing my book manuscript kept me occupied. Without realizing it, I was practicing what would soon be known as social distancing.

In those two months, I spent a lot of time on Angry Asian Buddhist. My late friend Aaron J. Lee started the blog in 2009 to counter the underrepresentation and misrepresentation of Asian American Buddhists, who make up two-thirds of American Buddhists. Contrary to what his online moniker might suggest, Aaron was motivated to speak up out of love and concern for American Buddhist communities. His work inspired me to write a masters thesis on young adult Asian American Buddhists. Aarons death from cancer at the age of 34 impelled me not to give up in the struggle to secure a publisher for the book that emerged from that research project.

Contrary to some of his detractors accusations, Aaron did not hate white Buddhists. In fact, he often praised their efforts, as in an August 2011 blog post where he celebrated an essay by Soto Zen priest Alan Senuake titled On Race and Buddhism. In the essay, Rev. Senauke writes about how racism and white supremacy are rooted in seeing people as Otherand reminds us that American Buddhism is not free from these pernicious ideas, which are like a virus in society. Revisiting Alans words, I realize that SARS-CoV-2 is not the only virus we need to confront and protect ourselves against.

***

Eleven days after landing at SFO, our Bay Area county is placed under shelter-in-place orders. By March 19, all of California is under shelter-in-place orders. As the number of infections and deaths rise, and as the likelihood of my returning to Bangkok plummets, anxiety overwhelms me.

On March 22, I seek solace in a Zoom meeting for a recently established dharma circle for Buddhist practitioners of Asian heritage. The organizers had expected a handful of attendees, but there were fully eighteen of us on the call. After a lovingkindness meditation, each of the practitioners checks in one by one. I hear concerns about family members (How to make sure Mom and Dad and the in-laws stay safe? How to keep the kids entertained?). Aspirations to deepen Buddhist practice (How to meet empty shelves with greater equanimity? How to practice generosity when others are hoarding?). Someone relates her fear and frustration at the presidents repeated use of the phrase Chinese virus, and her hurt from an incident in which she was regarded with alarm and suspicion by a stranger on the street. Onscreen, heads nod in empathetic agreement.

At the end of our meeting, we read the Karaniya Metta Sutta together. For me, this moment of taking refuge in Buddhist teachingsand practicing with spiritual friendsprovides succor amid the panic.

This is what should be doneBy one who is skilled in goodnessAnd who knows the path of peaceLet none deceive another,Or despise any being in any state.Let none through anger or ill-willWish harm upon anotherThis is said to be the sublime abiding.By not holding to fixed views,The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,Being freed from all sense desires,Is not born again into this world

***

Of course, you and I have been born into this world, with a host of desires that may be asserting themselves more acutely than usual during this pandemic (Who knew a mountain of toilet paper could provide such a sense of security?). The practice of lovingkindness, which involves not holding to fixed views and loosening attachments, is just that: a practice. The fear and uncertainty and xenophobia that COVID-19 have unmasked present a challenge to practicea challenge in the sense of both obstacle and impetus.

The day after the Asian American dharma circle, a headline appears in the New York Times: Spit On, Yelled At, Attacked: Chinese-Americans Fear for Their Safety. That day, March 23, the president refrains from saying Chinese virus at his press briefing, but doesnt publicly condemn the racist attacks. Many wonder if it is too little, too late. The Times article explains that Asian Americans are afraid to wear face masks for fear of being targetedthough those who arent wearing masks have also been attacked. As Chinese American high school student Katherine Oung puts it, Not only do we have to be afraid about our health, we have to be afraid about being ourselves.

Reading the statisticsChina having flattened its curve, Italy and Spain and the US failing to do soone might imagine a world in which it would be white people who are being spit on, yelled at, attacked. Not that this thought brings any comfort. More to the point, such reverse racism scenarios erase historical and systemic realities: as many scholars and activists have pointed out, anti-Asian discriminationthe concept of the yellow peril and the lumping together of Asians into a monolithic mass of perpetual foreignershas a long history in America. Yet the saddest part of the Times article may be the reported rise in gun sales to first-time Chinese American buyers. A gun shop owner recounts how one woman teared up upon being asked why she was there: To protect my daughter.

Even as a mother protects with her lifeHer child, her only child,So with a boundless heartShould one cherish all living beings

In this surreal time, we hold these timeless wishes to be safe and happy, protected and cherished. Time marches on. We tune in to the news with heavy hearts. Time stands still. We pause to reflect on how we might alleviate even the tiniest portion of this crush of suffering. Time circles back. We turn to faith and ritual and story and the other inheritances that we are stewarding for future generations, at once retaining them for posterity and adapting them to ever-changing circumstances.

***

On March 5, 2020 at 9:40 p.m., I receive a WhatsApp message from a dear friend in San Francisco. Id hoped to see her in person this coming weekend, but shes already sheltering in place. Being overseas, Id missed our ten-year college reunion the previous autumn. I was especially sad not to be there to open the time capsule a small group of us had been saving for the occasion. Among the treasures in the capsule was a letter from one of our dorm mates who died in 2016.

The Whatsapp message my friend sends is a photo of that letter.

For the first time, I feel like I am letting myself feel the weight of a major life change as it is happening

What will these next years bring?

How will I do in life?

My health?

My friends health?

Its a letter to herself, but its also a letter to all of us. On the bottom third of that single sheet of lined notebook paper, each of us gets a line, our names followed by a string of qualities: honesty, caring, vigor, sincerity, dedication. And then, the last line.

Me: scared, loving, sad, grateful.

I read in that whisper of a word, me, the collective voice of this world in limbo that she isnt here to witness. I allow myself to be racked by sobs. I let myself grieve.

***

There will be grief to come. There will be sickness and death, the loss of jobs and dreams and lives. But there will also be hope. There will be health and (re)birth. There will be new livelihoods and new visions. Destruction will not foreclose creativity, tears will not eradicate laughter. Suffering sows the seeds of change; what these seeds will yield depends on how each and everyone one of us chooses to conduct ourselves in body, speech, and mind.

If this novel coronavirus is a Chinese virus, we are all Chinese. More accurately, it is a global virus that has already impacted all of us. The American president declares us at war with an invisible enemy, but I prefer less martial metaphors.

The Buddha is often likened to a physician. He diagnosed the unsatisfactoriness of the human condition and revealed its cause. The Buddha was no doomsayer, however: his teachings were treatments that promised a cure, an ultimate freedom from that which ails us. SARS-CoV-2 is a truth-teaching virus. It has revealed to me a deep well of fear: of my loved ones dying, of dying myself (or, during more mundane moments, of running out of brown rice). More incisively, it has revealed societys disturbing inequities and gross iniquities, forcing us to confront the truth of how the most vulnerable among usthe poor, the disabled, the unhoused, and the otherwise marginalizedbear the brunt of this crisis.

I hope we do everything we can to support these vulnerable populations, and to demand that our elected officials do the same. I hope we remember to wash our hands thoroughly and often, practicing physical distancing and social solidarity with inspiration and joy. I hope we stand against instances of racism against Asian Americans and other racial minoritiesduring this crisis, and after it has passed. I hope we seek support in Buddhist (and non-Buddhist) friends and teachers, stories and rituals, art and music.

May we be free from the ills that plague us. May we find and make the refuges we need, not only to survive the difficult now, but to thrive in our yet-to-be-determined shared future.

See more here:
Stay Safe Both from the Virus and the Racism - Tricycle

These days, death and the rites that come with it are quieter, more cautious affairs than before the coronavirus pandemic struck.

Many factors have combined to make this a bad time for funerals, whether someone has died from the coronavirus or not. There's a shelter-at-home order in effect to deter travel, and a Bay Area-wide limit of 10 people for funeral services. Households that have been exposed to the coronavirus are expected to self-quarantine.

And yet, with 43 COVID-19 related deaths in Santa Clara County and 21 reported in San Mateo County, as of Tuesday, the need for funerary and mortuary services remains high.

Local representatives from cemeteries, mortuaries and funeral homes spoke about the difficult balance they must strike as they seek to help survivors grieve for their loved ones in traditional manners without jeopardizing anybody's health or safety.

Death in the age of coronavirus

When someone dies from the coronavirus, a whole network of agencies, all well-adapted to minimizing exposure to germs, springs into action.

At the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office, staff are following existing sanitation protocols, according to Chief Medical Examiner Michelle Jorden. The medical examiner's office requires staff members to wear personal protective equipment when examining those who have died and practice good hand-washing hygiene. Now, they've also implemented social distancing protocols.

The county's morgue can hold about 112 bodies, said Jorden, and the medical examiner's office does have a mass fatality plan in place. It is prepared to handle an increased number of deaths, she said in a statement.

For people who work in mortuary or funeral industries and regularly interact with the bodies of those who have died from the coronavirus, the latest guidance on personal protection and hygiene is more or less in line with existing best practices.

Taking precautions to avoid infectious diseases isn't anything new, said Matt Cusimano, funeral director at Cusimano Family Colonial Mortuary, which has been in operation in Mountain View since 1957.

During the peak of the AIDS epidemic, when people still had many questions and fears about the HIV virus, there were similar concerns about how to keep those who work with decedents who had the virus safe, he said.

The mortuary follows the practices laid out by the California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau and takes what are called universal precautions. Embalmers wear personal protective equipment such as a respirator and face plate, double their gloves and wear a smock.

"We're very careful with every case. I would imagine that when we do get a person who's passed away from coronavirus, that's what we would use," he said.

If there were to be a large number of deaths in Santa Clara County, Cusimano said, he believes that local funeral directors would come together to serve families and help them make arrangements.

"It'd be a really unusual funeral director that wouldn't want to participate in something like that," he said. "We all know each other."

Right now is a hard time for families and communities, he said. "It's just tough on everybody."

For family and friends of people who die from COVID-19, though, the latest public health guidelines may be new.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the coronavirus is believed to be transmitted primarily through an infected person's respiratory droplets. Therefore, getting sick from proximity to a person infected with the coronavirus through this mode of transmission is not a concern after death.

However, the CDC is still figuring out how the virus spreads, and it may be possible to get it from touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching one's nose or mouth. It advises people who are at high risk of developing complications from COVID-19, such as seniors and people with underlying health conditions, to consider not touching a body that has died from the coronavirus.

"There may be less of a chance of the virus spreading from certain types of touching, such as holding the hand or hugging after the body has been prepared for viewing," the health agency reports. It also advises avoiding kissing, washing or shrouding the body.

"If washing the body or shrouding are important religious or cultural practices, families are encouraged to work with their community cultural and religious leaders and funeral home staff on how to reduce their exposure as much as possible. At a minimum, people conducting these activities should wear disposable gloves," it adds.

Grieving-in-place

In many situations, figuring out how to celebrate the life of the deceased is the next big challenge. And it's a challenge made more complex by a strict shelter-in-place order that limits the number of people who can attend funerals to 10. Grieving families are faced with another difficult decision: Who gets to attend the service?

Cemeteries like the Gate of Heaven in Los Altos are having to adjust their procedures and help people find new ways to grieve and mourn that don't increase the risk of spreading the disease.

"We were one of the first to have to figure out, 'What is this going to look like? What kind of procedures do we need to put in place?'" said Heather Gloster, director of cemeteries for the Catholic Diocese of San Jose, which operates the Los Altos cemetery.

A member of the diocese was the first person in Santa Clara County to die of the coronavirus, said Gloster. She was a woman in her 60s who died March 9 at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View.

"We have to protect ourselves and the community," Gloster said, which means making some changes to how faithful Catholics might minister to one another. "We can't provide the physical comfort of a hug, or really cry with the family, (but) we can still pray with them," she said.

In some situations, even a limited number of family members are barred from attending. For instance, if a person dies from COVID-19 in their home, rather than at a hospital, where they may have been in isolation for some time, immediate family members in that household may be directed to self-quarantine for weeks, Gloster said.

In those scenarios, the diocese may conduct a direct burial, in which nobody is present except for cemetery staff and a priest. Families can livestream the burials, she said.

The shift to virtual services has happened rapidly. It was only a few weeks ago, when gatherings for mass were canceled, that the diocese acted to quickly adopt Zoom and video conferencing to provide religious services to homebound parishioners, she said.

Other local mortuaries have yet to see their first death from COVID-19.

"We're worried about it," said Sarah Tapia, an administrator at Spangler Mortuaries, which has locations in Mountain View, Los Altos and Sunnyvale. "We're unsure of what to expect."

The mortuary has switched to making funeral arrangements remotely, which has made the logistical work of funeral arrangements more difficult, Tapia said. "It's easier for things to slip through the cracks."

In addition, the mortuary recently set up the technology to offer livestreamed services. According to one staff member, the facility was in the process of organizing a livestreamed Hindu funeral service, which would be able to be attended virtually by friends and family members in India.

Delayed grief

Not being able to gather to mourn the loss of a loved one, on top of so much community upheaval, Gloster said, may lead people to experience a delayed sense of grief.

Pointing to the concept laid out in Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, she said, people often need to have their basic physical needs met before they can move on to addressing their emotional and mental health needs. Many people who lose a loved one right now are already dealing with so many changes a lost job, financial stress. As a result, many are focused more on surviving than grieving.

"Hopefully it won't be that long, and our churches will open back up," Gloster said. "Until then, people are repressing it to kind of survive."

Without hugs, religious rituals or large gatherings where survivors can see their loved one's impact on the community, traditional bereavement practices are being interrupted, said Monica Williams, director of Catholic cemeteries for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which includes Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties. The archdiocese also oversees the Holy Cross Cemetery in Menlo Park.

"We really need, as a people, rituals to say goodbye and help our grieving process," she said. "Grief is difficult on a good day. Grief is much more complicated right now."

As alternatives, she said, they're encouraging families that can't meet in large groups to consider gathering on FaceTime or Zoom at a specific time to share remarks, tell stories, pray, or to plan a gathering of family and friends at a later date to celebrate the deceased.

"We all need to support each other safely and kindly during these times," she said.

Resources and best practices

If you are feeling grief due to the loss of a loved one, or fears, worries and anxieties because of the coronavirus pandemic, Nick Arnett and Janet Childs of Kara, a local grief support nonprofit in Palo Alto, in a recent blog post offer people a few pieces of advice:

Know that you're not alone.

Make sure you're choosing good information sources and getting the facts, not rumors.

Be gentle with yourself and realize that forming new habits in response to change is difficult.

Understand that stress from the pandemic can trigger past trauma that can "cause you to notice and feel the weight of old injuries much more than before the world changed," Arnett and Childs write. That may mean a tendency to become grumpier and more irritable. You can help by being a safe person for others to talk to, talking to a supportive person who will keep your conversation confidential or writing in a journal.

People can also work on strengthening their physical, mental and/or spiritual strength and resilience by getting enough sleep, exercising, eating well, staying connected with friends and family, and thinking about one's values and priorities with a big-picture perspective. Gratitude and generosity help, too.

To request grief support services, call Kara at 650-321-5272 or fill out an online form in English or Spanish.

Find comprehensive coverage on the Midpeninsula's response to the new coronavirus by Palo Alto Online, the Mountain View Voice and the Almanac here.

Kate Bradshaw writes for the Mountain View Voice, the sister publication of The Almanac.

Read more:
'Grief is difficult on a good day.' How the coronavirus pandemic is reshaping the ways we mourn - The Almanac Online