Life-hack: Rituals Spell Anxiety Relief
(World News Cezch Republic)

With graduation ceremonies, weddings, funeral, annual parades, and many other gatherings called off in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is apparent that our lives are going to be without familiar rituals - just when we need them most. UConn Assistant Professor of Anthropology Dimitris Xygalatas studies rituals and how they impact our health. In new research published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Xygalatas and collaborators from Masaryk University, Czech Republic, including former UConn student Martin Lang, examine the important roles rituals play in reducing our anxiety levels. `In the current context of the pandemic, if you were a completely rational being -...