Did you ever wonder where our tradition of celebrating Christmas comes from? How did Santa and Jesus end up sharing Christmas? I definitely enjoy questioning some of the things we do as a society, including our traditions. Traditions are usually passed on to us by our parents, and many of us never really ask ourselves where they come from or why we are celebrating certain events the way we do. But maybe we should! Christmas is one of these traditions. I have already posted about ...
WHICH WAY OUT? 10 scientific facts that tend to be ignored (Part 2)
Part 2 - Facts 6-10 (For part 1 click here) We have been in this pandemic for two years already, and even if this seems like a long time, we still can’t know yet what the long term consequences will be. Before looking at further scientific facts that shouldn't be overlooked when talking about the pandemic, first, a brief reminder of how gene expression works. Gene expression is the process by which the information encoded in DNA is used to produce a protein. In the cell ...
WHICH WAY OUT? 10 scientific facts that tend to be overlooked (Part 1)
Part 1 - Facts 1-5 How are we going to get ourselves out of the mess of this pandemic? The debate is ongoing, some think the way is clear, and others hesitate. As with every debate, there is always some truth on both sides, but fact for everyone is, there are many things we still don’t know. Only time will tell! So maybe, we shouldn’t be too stuck in our ways of thinking. Here are the first five of ten important facts we do know but tend to overlook. 1 - Viruses have been driving ...
Surprisingly, we seem satisfied with one side of the story
Why are we listening to just one side? Why not take the best of everything into consideration? In the Western world, we are very focused on modern medicine. But why? Why not take the best from both, modern and alternative medicine, to preserve health and fight disease? Can't we see that all the different approaches come with various tool kits that will be helpful for different health problems? Modern medicine surely has powerful tools for acute situations, while alternative medicine has many ...
How an attitude of gratitude affects our health
Emotions turn into molecules, chemical messengers, in our bodies. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), emotions are primordial in evaluating a person’s health. They are considered a normal, internal, physiological response to stimuli from the external environment. And of course, both, positive and negative emotions influence our wellbeing and health. Gratitude Gratitude is one of many positive emotions, and it has measurable effects on: mood regulating neurotransmitters like ...
Some drink it hot!
Drink hot water! In the Chinese culture, this advice is given to anyone who is feeling unwell. Yes, a glass of cold water sounds heavenly and refreshing at times, however, the benefits of drinking hot water can't be ignored. And, there is no cheaper and healthier drink than a cup of hot water. Drinking water keeps our body hydrated and healthy Water keeps the systems in our body functioning properly by doing the following jobs: it regulates blood pressureit carries nutrients ...
How to keep germs, vampires, and humans away
Eat garlic! Garlic has been used by humans for thousand of years for cooking purposes and for its medicinal benefits. It has also been known for a long time that garlic keeps vampires away. Today, we can take advantage of yet another powerful effect of garlic: it helps keep fellow humans 6 feet away! Medicinal benefits of garlic Garlic (Allium sativum), is closely related to onions, scallions, chives, leeks and shallots. The allium family plants all contain sulfur compounds, the most ...
What we need to know about sleep
Sleep is essential for survival and good health. There are several explanations for why we need to sleep, including conserving energy, restoring cellular and brain function, maintaining emotional well-being, as well as a healthy weight, proper organ function, and a strong immune system. (1) What happens while we sleep? the body rests, digests, and restores energythe body repairs and regenerates cellsthe brain stores new information, memory is builtproteins and hormones are released, ...
A parent’s challenge beyond homeschooling
Kids are sitting there, isolated in a room, talking to their friends, their world, through electronic devices. You can call it homeschooling, distant learning, virtual learning or whatever you want, fact is kids are learning from home instead of from school. Parents have become educators, coaches, entertainers, schedulers, planners, supervisors, and play mates over night, and no one signed up for this! But here we are, doing it anyways. So, of course, it comes with a few challenges. ...
When planning becomes nearly impossible…
...it's time to plan for change. Planning helps to keep peace of mind. The mind wants to be in control, it wants to know what's going on, what's going to happen next (see my blog Minding the Mind). But during the present times of constant change, planning with confidence is more challenging than ever. And of course, this causes anxiety and stress. So if you can trick your mind by including change into your plans, it will help you keep your peace of mind. You know, create plan A, plan B, ...