The surprising way Fox News’ Dana Perino takes her lunch break

Anyone who works in media (this reporter included) is likely in a toxic relationship with their phone. But Fox News personality Dana Perino sometimes puts her phone down for a luxurious 90 minutes in the middle of the day.

Why? To ballroom dance.

“It’s like being at a jury,” she says, marveling at all the people she meets in a world outside her typical bubble. “It’s the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker, and it’s taken about a year or so for me to now have little fun friendships with people from all over the world and people all different walks of life in New York who gather at this place, and are super encouraging to each other, and it’s fun.”

She encourages people to go out and escape their pandemic habits in her new book “I Wish Someone Had Told Me … ” (Fox News Books, 263 pp., out April 22) to reset their career and life goals. And in her case, taking her own advice helped her fix her posture and back issues.

“I carry a lot of tension in my upper back, a lot of us do,” she says, noting her back pain grew chronic. She didn’t take any medicine but tried Pilates, acupuncture and saw a chiropractor. Instead, Perino ballroom danced her way into a solution.

“The only thing that has sustained this actual better posture and comfort, I have to say, it had to have been adding the dance to my routine,” she says. Bad posture can lead to more than just back discomfort, but neck pain, problems with balance and overall flexibility, according to Cleveland Clinic. On the flip-side, though, dance on its own can lead to injuries, including ones involving the back, per Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Before you try anything yourself, of course, consult a healthcare provider.