There’s no shame in reaching out for help during this time. From booking emergency sessions with a therapist to calling a friend at some ungodly hour, we’ve all had to improvise while navigating the murky waters of a global pandemic. Take it from Ali Vingiano, writer on the Emmy award-winning series The Morning Show starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell, and star of the pandemic-era rom-com The End Of Us, which depicts the dysfunctional cohabitation of two exes: Some of the best help doesn’t come from people at all, but things.
“Beyond the massage guns, headphones and musical instruments were big props [in the film],” she says. “My ex in the film, Nick, played by Ben Coleman, finds refuge in playing a Melodica and a Rhodes piano, whereas my character finds refuge by using headphones to block out his noises.” Vingiano’s character also uses her phone and headphones to meditate, learn Chinese, and get lost in classic Criterion Collection films.
Whether you can relate to being stuck in tight living quarters with a dysfunctional ex, roommate or family member, or just straight-up struggle to stay emotionally afloat as the world turns upside down, Vingiano’s product picks are sure to provide some solace during these bizarre times.
Rent or buy this rom-com, which chronicles a couple handling the ups and downs of the "new normal."
In the End Of Us, you’ll notice the characters resort to miscellaneous objects for immediate comfort. “There was a massage gun and muscle hook that my character used as props—she had a bad back,” Vingiano says. “The massage gun in particular is featured in one of my favorite shots in the film, but these props also doubled as our real-life massagers when we wrapped for the day. We were all addicted to them and they became so crucial to the shoot.”After filming, Vingiano says the massage gun became so instrumental to her daily routine that she bought one of her own. “The massage gun became a staple of our time making the movie,” she says. “Ben Coleman brought his personal one from home, and we all shared it, soothing our sore backs, exhausted from shooting 12 hours days. This was especially crucial for our directors of photography, Henry Lovener and Steven Kanter, who shot handheld every day for 12 days straight in addition to building lights and running sound. The massage gun was king.”She uses the LifePro massage gun to soothe tension in her neck, shoulders, back, hamstrings and hip flexors both post-workout and whenever she needs a little extra TLC. It offers up to six hours of run time, operates quietly, features five levels of intensity, and comes with eight massage heads. For a more affordable (and equally effective!) rub down, she also uses the ergonomic GoFit muscle hook, which allows you to manually “dig” into muscles for a feeling of full-body relief—no batteries required.
Your yoga mat doesn’t need to hide in your closet until it’s time for an in-studio session. Take it from Vingiano, a certified yoga instructor, and whip it out whenever you need some extra grounding.“During the pandemic, I drove from Los Angeles to New York, and then traveled between an apartment in the city, my parents’ house in New York and my partner’s family’s home in Pennsylvania. Having any semblance of a routine was very difficult, as was getting in any regular exercise,” she says. “Having a yoga mat I could travel with easily might’ve just saved my mental and physical health during this time.”She goes for the Manduka ProLite Mat because it’s small enough to travel with, yet thick and comfortable enough to use by laying it down anywhere for an impromptu One Down Dog class or Headspace meditation. The rubber mat comes in either 71 or 79 inches, measures 4.7 millimeters thick, and uses closed-cell technology to keep your mat dry—even when you aren’t.
Sure, mastering balance poses on your new yoga mat is definitely one way to ward off pandemic-induced stress, but another type of balance Vingiano recommends is indulging in fresh pasta. Cappello’s Pasta, specifically, ended her quest for homemade pasta immediately, ultimately freeing up some extra time and eliminating the mess and headache associated with DIY-ing. The best part? The fresh pasta is frozen, and only takes two minutes to cook.“I knew it would be impossible to make anything better than this,” she says. “Cappello’s not only tastes exceptional, but is made from almond, eggs and tapioca flour, which means it’s also higher in protein and lower in carbs. Both me and my non-Celiac partner agree it’s the best-tasting pasta you can buy, gluten-free or not. The fettuccini is my go-to, but I also like the spaghetti, gnocchi and ravioli.”
Like Vingiano, you, too, may have dabbled in “wasting time” this pandemic. Look: that’s okay! Whatever gets you through the day! However, Vingiano did eventually begin to crave more meaningful interactions with her phone beyond doom-scrolling Twitter.“I didn’t have WORDLE during the throws of Covid, but I did have Chess.com,” she says. “I got into chess because of my dad, who taught me how to play and ran a chess club at the school he worked at for years. Then, The Queen’s Gambit came out in fall 2020, and I was one of the thousands or millions of people who turned to Chess.com afterwards.”She says she appreciates how her first instinct upon waking up or waiting in a long line is to now solve a chess puzzle. “It’s a good way to waste time on my phone while actually improving my brain instead of destroying it,” she says.
Scouted selects products independently and prices reflect what was available at the time of publish. Sign up for our newsletter for more recommendations and check out our coupon site for more deals. If you buy something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.
