Bicycles, e-cars & masks: Environment-friendly MPs go green for Winter Session of Parliament

While exercising is an essential aspect of life, dire situations call for dire measures. Your daily morning walk may do more harm than benefit in these extreme weather conditions.

For the upcoming days, refrain from any outdoor activity to ensure for the sake of your health.

The air quality has deteriorated to such an extent that remaining outdoors for more than an hour can cause immediate irritation to your respiratory system.

While we can’t avoid leaving the house, it is prudent to wear mandated masks- N95/99, while stepping out.

While outdoor air pollution is a grave issue, what’s worse is that indoor air too affects your respiratory system at a rapid scale. To combat this, it is important to ventilate your home, especially closed spaces such as the kitchen and washrooms.

Make sure you have an exhaust fan installed for the kitchen and bathrooms, as this helps in air recirculation, improving the air that you breathe.

Thinking that you can avoid the pollution outdoors by maintaining bare minimum ventilation at home is bad not just for you, but also for your loved ones.

It is important to open let your house breathe. However, avoid doing so during peak pollution hours, and rather open the windows and doors between 3 pm-5 pm, as the pollutant level is generally low during this period.

Certain practices, passed over from our grandmothers, can be beneficial during this period. Choosing modern remedies and discarding traditional ones isn't always the smartest choice.

Inhaling steam is an important aspect of respiratory purification as it helps in relaxing your air-passages while removing the harmful particulate substances. Try taking steam with a few drops of eucalyptus oil regularly in the evening and you’ll see the difference.

Maintaining one's private garden has various benefits, with air purification being one of the primary ones.

So, go all out when it comes to bringing the garden into your home. Several indoor plants are excellent air purifiers.

If you're looking for names, Aloe Vera, Ivy and Spider plants can be of great use to the respiratory system as they help purify indoor air.