[Unedited] Christine Runyan with Krista Tippett

<p>The light at the end of the COVID tunnel is tenuously appearing - yet many of us feel as exhausted as at any time in the past year. Memory problems; short fuses; fractured productivity; sudden drops into despair. We’re at once excited and unnerved by the prospect of life opening up again. Clinical psychologist Christine Runyan explains the physiological effects of a year of pandemic and social isolation - what’s happened at the level of stress response and nervous system, the literal mind-body connection. And she offers simple strategies to regain our fullest capacities for the world ahead.</p><p>Christine Runyan is a clinical psychologist and professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She is a certified mindfulness teacher. She co-founded and co-leads <a href="https://tend.health/">Tend Health</a>, a clinical consulting practice focused on the mental well-being of health care practitioners.</p><p>This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode “Christine Runyan — What’s Happening in Our Nervous Systems?"</p><p><a href="https://onbeing.org/programs/christine-runyan-whats-happening-in-our-nervous-systems/#transcript">Find the transcript </a>for that show at <a href="https://onbeing.org/programs/christine-runyan-whats-happening-in-our-nervous-systems/#transcript">onbeing.org</a>.</p>