Couple Yoga Road to Bliss 雙人瑜伽

(今天 是七夕)

Fairy-tale couple eye long road to bliss

TO HAVE AND TO HOLD:In keeping with tradition, a young Amis (阿美族) man is training for the day when he must carry his partner (愛人) 3km on his back (背負) on their wedding day (婚禮).

By Huang Ming-tang and Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer (Taipei Times)

(Demonstrating a Paiwan marriage custom, Chen Chin-yu carries Lai Chien-yi on his back in Taitung County yesterday.) Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times

Keen to follow traditional Paiwan( 排灣)  customs (舊俗), Chen has to wait until March next year before going to Lai’s house and taking her away as his wife. This is because Lai is a Paiwan princess (公主) and her family has ruling royal status in the local community. For a man to marry a Paiwan princess he has to carry her away on his back (背負), and so must have the physical strength and stamina (耐力) to manage the task.

“According to Paiwan tradition, the groom (新郎) must carry the bride (新娘) on his back from her parents’ house to the site of the wedding ceremony,” Lai said.

“The groom  must place both of his hands behind his back so the bride  can kneel (跪下)on his palms(手掌) while being carried." 

1. Follow 跟著

他 對 計程車 司機 說 ：「跟著 那 輛車 !」

"Follow that car!", he said to the taxi driver.

2.Wait until 等到

可惡 , 不知道 我 要 等 多久 。

Damn, don't know how long I have to wait. 

3. taking 帶 

請 帶 我 去 桃園國際機場 。

Please take me to Taoyuan International Airport.

4. wife 太太 , 老婆,妻子, 

老婆 永遠 是 對 的 。

The wife is always right.

5. family has ruling royal status / royal family/ 皇室

千萬 別 講 皇室 的 壞話 ！

Never speak badly about the royal family!

6. local 當地

他 在 當地 的 學校 教 數學 。

He teaches math at the local school.

7. physical strength 體力 

她 生產 完 後 就 沒有 體力 了 。

After giving birth she no longer had any strength.

8.task 耐力

你 什麼時候 可以 完成 這個 任務 ？

When can you finish this task?

9. according to 按照

按照 中國 的 傳統 ，人們 參加 喪禮時 會 穿 黑色 或 白色 的 衣服 。

According to Chinese tradition, people wear black or white clothes when going to a funeral.

10. parents 父母 

我 跟 我的 父母 會 定期 通電話 。

I speak to my parents regularly on the phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Downward Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

Taking dogs to work reduces employee stress 帶狗上工有助員工紓解壓力

Dogs are pictured in the hatch back of a car during an event promoting safe travel for pets in cars at the New York International Auto Show in New York last Wednesday.
狗兒們上週三在紐約國際車展的一場寵物乘車安全活動中，坐在一輛斜背式車的後廂內。

Photo: Reuters
照片：路透

Bringing pet dogs to work can reduce stress and make the job more satisfying for other employees, a study suggests.

US researchers found those with access to dogs were less stressed as the day went on than those who had none.

The preliminary study published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management looked at 75 staff workers. The researchers suggested access to dogs boosted morale and reduced stress levels, whether people had access to their own pets or other people’s.

The study was carried out by a team of researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University who looked at a manufacturing company where people are allowed to bring their pets to work. They compared those who brought in their own pets, with those who had dogs but left them at home, and staff who did not own pets. Over a week, the researchers compared employees’ stress levels, job satisfaction and feelings about support from and commitment to the company.

In the morning, there was no difference between the three groups. But during the course of the work day, stress levels appeared to decline for employees with their dogs present and increased for non-pet owners and dog owners who did not bring their dogs to work.

(Liberty Times)

研究顯示，帶寵物狗上班可降低壓力，且工作表現也讓其他員工更加滿意，美國研究人員發現，可以帶狗上班者的一天過得比不能帶狗的人更沒壓力。

這份初步研究刊登在「國際工作場所衛生管理期刊」，研究觀察七十五名職員。研究人員表示，可接近狗提高士氣，也降低壓力程度，不管是接近自己的狗或是其他人的狗。

這份維吉尼亞聯邦大學研究團隊的研究，觀察一間允許帶寵物上班的製造業公司。團隊比較帶自己的寵物與有狗但是放在家裡的職員，以及沒有寵物的員工。一週後，研究人員比較職員的壓力程度、工作滿意度，以及對公司在支持與承諾方面的感覺。

在上午，三組沒有區別，但一整天工作下來，帶狗的人壓力程度似乎逐漸下降，而沒有寵物或是有狗但沒一起帶來上班的員工壓力程度增加。

（自由時報／翻譯：國際新聞中心）

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

1. access n.

接近的機會 (jie1 jin4 de5 ji1 huei4)

例: The tax inspector gained complete access to the company files.

(稅務稽查員取得查閱此公司檔案的全部權限。)

2. commitment n.

承諾 (cheng2 nuo4)

例: I’d like to thank the staff for having shown such commitment.

(我想謝謝職員們如此的奉獻。)

3. during the course of prep. phr.

在...期間 (zai4 … qi2 jian1)

例: During the course of the interview it became clear that he was not suitable for the job.

(面試時明顯看出他不適合這工作。)

Shingles not only afflicting the elderly 熬夜看劇、忙消糖 小心皮蛇找上你

A doctor at Tungs’ Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital points to a picture of a patient with shingles in Greater Taichung on Aug. 11, 2010.
台中童綜合醫院醫師二０一０年八月十一日指著一位感染帶狀皰疹病人的照片。

Photo: Ou Su-mei, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者歐素美

It is a huge mistake to assume that herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles, only occurs among old people. Doctors say that, aside from children who are studying too much being treated for shingles, in recent years office workers are also getting shingles because they stay up late watching TV dramas or playing Candy Crush Saga, which gives the virus ample opportunity to strike.

Dermatologist Chao Chao-ming says that more than half of his patients being treated for shingles in the past were usually over the age of 50, but that in recent years many young people are getting shingles, including elementary school students. One young female employee working for a foreign trading company, typically under a lot of pressure at work, was finally able to get three days off from work, but after staying up every night having fun she eventually got shingles after returning to work for a week.

Many people mistake shingles for another virus when it first infects them, or even assume it is caused by allergies, and after waiting another week before going to the doctor they miss the opportunity to use antiviral drugs to treat the virus.

Taiwan Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics secretary-general Chang Hao-hsiang says that the risk of shingles increases with age. Around a third of people in Taiwan over the age of 80 have had shingles and nearly half of them will experience postherpetic neuralgia — excruciating nerve pain caused by damage to the nerves from the virus.

If shingles infects the forehead or the area surrounding the eyes, it can do damage to the eyes and affect one’s eyesight, and if it infects the auditory vestibular nerve it can damage your hearing, so that is why the National Health Insurance program provides antiviral drugs when the virus infects these organs.

Besides making sure you keep a regular lifestyle and do not stay up late at night, it is also important to regulate stress and maintain a balanced diet to keep your body’s immune level normal and keep shingles at bay.

(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

1. allergy n.

過敏 (guo4 min3)

例: Most food allergies are caused by milk, fish, eggs or nuts.

(食物過敏通常是牛奶、魚肉、蛋與堅果引起。)

2. eyesight n.

視力 (shi4 li4)

例: Barry’s eyesight is terrible. He can’t see anything without his glasses.

(巴里視力頗差。他若沒戴眼鏡什麼都看不到。)

3. keep at bay idiom

不使迫近；牽制 (bu4 shi3 po4 jin4; qian1 zhi4)

例: Economists hope the economy will slow down enough to keep inflation at bay.

(經濟專家希望經濟發展減速，以防通貨膨脹。)

如果以為俗稱皮蛇的「帶狀皰疹」是老年人的專利，可就大錯特錯了！醫師表示，臨床上不僅有小學生因準備課業，而長出皮蛇，近年上班族壓力大，晚上又捨不得睡看劇、打candy，一樣可能讓病毒伺機而動。

皮膚科醫師趙昭明指出，早年皮蛇患者幾乎一半以上超過五十歲，但近年有不少年輕人罹患，甚至連小學生也有罹患。一名在外商公司工作的年輕女性，平時工作緊張、好不容易湊到三天假，卻夜夜不睡、盡情玩樂，恢復上班一週就冒出皰疹。

皮蛇發作初期、很多人會誤以為是其他疾病，甚至有病患以為是過敏，拖了一週才就醫，就診時已錯過使用抗病毒藥物的時機。

台灣老年學暨老年醫學會秘書長張皓翔指出，皮蛇發生風險與年齡老化相關，以台灣來說，到八十歲，約三分之一可能罹患過帶狀皰疹，其中近一半可能會留下令人痛不欲生的後遺症─帶狀皰疹後神經痛。

此外，長在額頭及眼周的帶狀皰疹，可能侵犯眼部、影響視力，若侵犯到第八對腦神經，還可能影響聽力。因此，病毒侵犯這些器官時，健保會給付抗病毒藥物。

除需注意生活規律、不要熬夜，適度調節壓力，此外，均衡飲食維持身體免疫力正常，才能遠離皮蛇上身。

(自由時報記者洪素卿）