In an article by Rick Nauert, PHD Senior News Editor, he spoke of an Illinois study that found obese children are slower than healthy weight children to not only recognize when they made a mistake but also differed in the way that they processed their error evaluation. This unfortunately was not shocking news to me. As a mid 20’s female who has struggled with her weight all her life I can tell you how my brain function has felt at different weights and stages of my life. This article contains valuable data that should be mass shared people in higher positions and authority in a compassionate way considering our country’s epidemic obesity problem. Education is power and if people were educated on the hinderance of obesity on their mental capabilities and cognition I truly believe that parents and young adults would make choices that fostered a future geared for learning rather than addiction and coping mechanisms. Being healthy on a budget is tough but not impossible.

I think another point worth noting is that the error evaluation in an obese person is different. This stood out to me as having a spiraling compound effect as a person aged. If a obese person is unable to process their errors as well as someone who is not they may find it more difficult to process and learn from their errors and become discouraged further each time they encountered this problem. The responsibility of making these  decisions falls on the parents since children are unable to comprehend the repercussions of their decisions to such depths.

I know a lot of families do not have the luxury to afford healthy food.  Having personally grown up poor and even experienced what it is like to be homeless at a young age, I know it can be very hard to live a healthy lifestyle on a budget. It is rather heart breaking to read such data. I have always been a firm believer in over coming and being gifted mentally if a person applies themselves but this is very important and relevant data that could contribute to a shift in mentality towards healthier habits in our  country.

I remember when I first moved to San Francisco 5 years ago from a small mountain town I was afraid of radiation from Fukushima when I went to the beach. Do I stick my feet in? Do I dare eat at a sushi restaurant with fish caught from this coast?! I was pleased to learn in class that the levels of radiation in the water have returned back to normal levels of radiation.

“Normal levels of radiation” is hardly comforting to read or say. I was surprised to read about the potassium in bananas being radioactive or that sleeping next to my significant other is also another exposure to radiation?!

The word radiation often invokes a lot of fear. When a person hears the word X-ray they often associate it to an unknown amount of radiation and the thought that it isn’t good. If said person were to learn that it was actually less radiation than a flight from New York to LA they might be able to chillax during their dentist visit knowing that this is a socially accepted amount of radiation and people go on about their day in what appears to be physically unharmed. I mean, how common is it for us to know someone who travels multiple times a week back and forth across the country? Did you know that people who sit in first class are actually exposed to more radiation? Now you have an excuse as to why you’re riding coach, its not that you’re cheap, you’re just health conscious 😉

Upon learning that we are exposed to radiation in more ways than we may realize I was able to come to a sense of “peace” with the word radiation. To put things even more into perspective, one spinal X-ray is roughly around the yearly amount of radiation the government limits per person. One spinal X-ray is less than smoking 1.5 packs of cigarettes per day for a year and the average CT scan is 200 times less than a highly targeted dose used in conventional radiotherapy per single dose.

When I moved to the city I knew I would be exposed to more radiation and now I have a big more of a grasp on just how much that is. Now back to my Qi Gong I go 😉

So this one time, in biology class, we took pond water and observed it under a microscope and watched the bacteria swimming around. From that moment on I never wanted to swallow lake water again. lol!

The relative size link we were given to watch was the first time I have seen the different sizes of bacteria, viruses, DNA, and atoms lined out in such a visual representation. I had no idea that viruses were smaller than bacteria and where they fell on the scale of DNA and atoms which were 10^-6 nm smaller than an ant. WOW!

The most fascinating of all to me was viruses. First off, viruses are not living despite their structure and ability to reproduce. Viruses are unable to reproduce without a host cell which is what makes them so viscous once they make their way into a persons body. HIV, a retrovirus, is fascinating in the way it is able to turn RNA into DNA and permanently transcribe its information into the chromosomes of a host cell.

We have so much to learn when it comes to genetics but I can’t wait for the breakthroughs in genetic markers and processes that will allow us to better treat viruses and cancers.

Scientists are saying that due to the fact that humans now live 90% of their lives in their homes that they are developing more allergies due to their lack of exposure and over use of antibacterial/hygiene products. My grandma always used to say, “let the kids play outside in the dirt, its good for them” and it sounds like she wasn’t just crazy. Observations have been made that children who grow up with pets are found to have less allergies. It is also noted that dogs also change the make up of dust bacteria and overtime will lead to  fewer allergies and asthma. This really makes sense to me as long as a persons immune system is strong enough. It works similar to that of vaccines. Expose a person to small amounts of antigens and the body will make antibodies against it. Dogs will constantly be tracking in new allergens with their indoor/outdoor traffic and could absolutely benefit a young childs immune system by exposing them to small amounts of different bacterias. It is hypothesized that this theory about benefiting the child’s immune system is even greater if she lives with a dog during the pregnancy.

Gross! GROSS! GROSSSSS!!!!

It makes so much sense that after washing my hands in a public bathroom that using an air hand dryer to then dry my hands off is a bad idea. I am so disgusted at the thought of sucking up bathroom air and blowing it on to my hands. Many comments have been made about how particles travel when you flush a toilet as to not leave your tooth brush out on the counter in your bathroom. It is also well noted that the air blown from air conditioners can cause allergies to flare up due to all that they circulate in the air. Why on earth with the public bathroom hand dryer be any different? Out of sheer laziness and lack of time I have always just dried my hands off on my pants (something i used to feel embarrassed about like that was unsanitary-HA!). For the sake of my health, and the planet ;), I will continue to just use my pants from here on out!

Sometimes I ponder what it would be like to be born in a different era or time period. I love all the privileges and conveniences of living today. The ability to fly across the world, eat foods from many different countries nearly every day of the year or the ability to board a tour bus and see exotic animals in the ocean, mountains, plains… its all so mind blowing and amazing. However its really sad to think that my generation is living at a time where all these beautiful wonders of the world could be  disappearing for good right before our very eyes. Although I don’t know what time period I’d travel to where I could still enjoy some of the privileges I love today, I do know that I’m glad that I’m not going to live with some of the issues and standards future generations are. I do my best to be proactive in preserving the earth with my decisions but the amount of change we need to made as a whole is often over whelming.

Herbalism is such a big part of my schooling in Chinese medicine and we’re already not using a lot of the herbs that were once listed in the  classics do to contamination or extinction. I’m so thankful for the people who are doing their best to preserve plants, species and ecosystems the best they can because its a really big issue. Its truly hard to imagine a life without these resources. We’re either going to need to develop an entirely new system once we fully exhaust this beautiful planet or make some truly dramatic changes that we can stay dedicated to. As scary as it is, I’m also really inspired and empowered by the efforts and ideas that our generation is making to create a change.

Our problem with the bee population being affected by GMO’s and Monoculture is something I never thought I would see in my lifetime. Its all so real and hard to imagine naive and careless humans who can turn their cheek to such a impacting large scale problem. As gene editing becomes a things for humans now I can’t help but to think to myself, “ya… and look how well it worked for our food”. I’m just fine with my future offspring turning out however they do with their own personal characteristics or mutations. I at least can prepare for those a little better than anything that we’re yet to truly have enough data on when it comes to gene editing humans.

Hello! Welcome to the 21st century where so many things are being taken over by automation and robots. I’m so thankful that robots cannot perform acupuncture otherwise I’d be screwed. Although you can get a pretty good massage from a machine nothing will ever replace human touch. I have seen a huge progression in touch sensitivity and even temperature in robots… however thats a different topic…

Although I am pretty against robots taking over the place of humans I am in full support of people having the option for the use of bionic body parts. With the technology we have it seems cold to deny a person the right to a new leg or arm who has been disabled. My heart smiled so big reading about kids feeling like super hero’s with their new bionic arms. I can’t imagine how amazing it would feel if I  had a child who’s life was changed with something as a bionic body part.

I’m on the fence about using bionic people for military purposes. As a person who is not a fan of war, I’m a bit uneasy about saying that we should load up bionic people whom we will feel no remorse blowing up when engaging in even more violent behavior. It could become really irresponsible. Although the bionic person wouldnt be “harmed” most likely many people and families would be harmed in the line of war. Id like to think that, at least to some extent, that we are a bit more reserved in our military choices when we have to stomach the thought  of jeopardizing the lives of innocent people on the line for our freedom. If I had to choose though, Id  rather use bionic people so that my heart would ache a whole lot less each time i learned someone loss their life fighting for their country.

Talking about acupuncture and its efficacy as an energetic medicine makes my heart sing. It is so amazing to see the leaps and bounds it has made in being accepted over the years. When I first told my family I wanted to go to school to become an acupuncturist they laughed and thought I was crazy. I honestly couldn’t get more “woo woo” to them. The fact that we have technology now to show whats going on when a needle is inserted or to measure the different pulses is amazing! Being able to combine western and eastern medicine to gain the most benefit from both is ideal to me. With time we are building more and more case studies and experience to validate even further the efficacy of this ancient medicine that has obviously stood the test of time. I am honored to be able to learn such an effective energetic medicine.

When I first learned about this method of photography I was fascinated. Then the skeptic side of me was like prove it! With some deeper research it seems to be consensus among scientists that the amount of sweat and humidity in the air that day is what produces the amount of colors. I am intrigued by the way certain colors and patterns are associated with different objects and situations.  The fact that a leaf can have a piece of it ripped off and it will still show the full outline was rather fascinating. The change in image after acupuncture or a kiss also seemed very convincing.

What I do find worth exploring is the possibility of detecting cancer (even if it only has a sporadic success rate). Anything that uses less radiation would be worth exploring in my opinion. Until I can play with my own Kirlian photography I will be on the fence about what kind of information I could truly draw from this type of photography.

I have met people who claim to see auras and always called quack. I’m not saying I don’t believe in super human powers but those whom I met did not do a good job in convincing me that they had true talents to see such a thing. I believe fully in the energy that we give off, or energetic field around us but I have no idea as to what extent we have these aura of colors that are possible to be seen. It’d sure be cool if we did!

Intention is everything. The good ol saying “half assed” didn’t come about for no reason. Its really easy for people to lose their intention with the weight of  societal pressures and day to day tasks. Depending on one’s intentions, day to day tasks can either be a chore or the small every day things that eventually turn into something big and wonderful. Mindfulness meditation has become a really big thing in our culture today as we as a group have come to the conclusion that the wrong intentions can have a dramatic effect on health.

With the boom of technology and social media our focus as a culture turned to some really unhealthy habits that seemed appealing but really brought minimal satisfaction behind the screen. “Do it for the gram”, aka creating this unrealistic image of what life is really like has distorted the minds of many people. Slowly, through trial and error, we are finally going without the “filter” in life and realizing that raw real intentions bring so much more to be thankful for.

As Chinese medicine practitioners we are constantly working on being mindful with our intention. Through Qi Gong we cultivate Qi and health through intention. When we perfect our intentions and capabilities then we are able to put that intent to use with the application of needles. With intention we can do things like guide Qi up or down the channel or disperse stagnant Qi. Even if a person doesn’t have much experience with natural healing most people have an innate sense of a touch with good or bad intention. When reading the article about how Qi gong masters were able to affect and benefit people even if they weren’t in front of them I was so impressed! I had yet to see such data  and thought it was really thought provoking. It reminded me of the power of prayer. Call it what you will, however it resonates to you, there are some really powerful things that can happen when humans apply themselves in groups with the right intention. Call it a miracle but there may actually be some science to all of it 😉