The Marrying of Left & Right Brain

Forest Bathing... ahhhh  I had never heard of the term "forest bathing" before reading the article this week.  Though the act of spending true quality time with oneself and nature is incredibly important for one's wellbeing, I had some issues with this becoming a new phenomenon in Britain.  The way they described incorporating forest bathing for people's health care raised flags for me. It seemed as if it's becoming a resort-type excursion only for those who can afford it.  I started thinking about accessibility to nature in the Bay Area.  We have so many beautiful places to forest bathe, though it requires a car, time off from work, or time free of the kids.  It is not by chance that our nature is furthest from our poorest & most sick communities who are most in need.  I wish that instead of solely creating programs to properly forest bathe, that our tax dollars could go into incorporating nature within our urban areas.  There are plenty of e...

"California will halt sales of new gasoline-powered passenger cars and trucks by 2035,  Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday,  a move he says will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 35% in the nation’s most populous state” Is this a realistic target, do you feel?     This is the first I've heard of this statement + initiative but I'm happy to hear it.  I do think 15 years from now is a realistic target.  It allows time for car  manufactures to get creative and innovate their new cars using electric motors instead of gasoline.  Do I think the luxury car manufactures will be angry about this?  Yes.  But California, especially LA holds a huge market for luxury cars.     My one worry would be that the rest of the states don't follow suit on this initiative.  If this is the case, which I'm sure many of them won't, we will have car companies continuing to make their gasoline-powered cars knowing that consumers will travel outside ...

 " Misophonia , meaning 'hatred of sound', is a neurological disorder in which certain sounds trigger emotional or physiological responses others may deem unreasonable. Reactions to trigger sounds range from anger and annoyance to activating a fight-or-flight response." 👂👀 Have you ever come across “misophonia”?  👀👂 Indeed.  How do I go about writing this without sounding like a complete crazy & neurotic person?  There have been a few noises and sounds from people I love dearly (💓) that have drove me absolutely crazy inside.  It almost gets to the point where I'm fixated on the noise.  It drives me nuts in my head but I don't dare say anything about it out loud.  I just sit there and wonder how it doesn't drive them crazy as well.  How are they so oblivious to it?  How are the unfazed by the action creating this repeated annoying noise.  I've noticed these noises are usually repetitive and occur often.  To be honest it...

 “Clearly something has gone wrong, very wrong, with Venus. It’s the victim of a  runaway greenhouse effect.” – what will we learn from Venus, in your opinion? I think those that are already aware and concerned about global warming would see Venus' issues and exclaim "see, this is what will happen on our planet too!"  Unfortunately, a majority of those in power will read about these issues and make no correlation to our planet Earth.  I believe the runaway greenhouse effect happening on Venus is an extreme version of what might happen to our planet, though I entirely believe we're headed that direction.  We need such an extreme change to help the planet, our o-zone layers, and the gases we're emitting in order to save our sweet and magical Pachamama. 

The human brain is a powerful beast (with a mind of its own, if you will), that can unconsciously trick our bodies into experiencing side-effects.  I 100% believe that our brains have the power to create both positive and negative side-effects. In the article "Can placebo pills help cancer survivors manage fatigue," it mentions multiple hypotheses for why the placebo effects occur within human beings.  My favorite we discussed was the feeling of being take care of when seeking medical attention and the effect that that has on the chemicals of the brain.  We discussed this chemical and neurotransmitter reaction perhaps being ingrained in our brains since childhood.  Perhaps the same brain reaction from when our caregivers took care of us as babies and young children, are the same reactions taking place when we receive care from a doctor or given a sugar pill.  The article mentioned the release of endorphins when feeling taken care of, and furthermore how endorph...

:  Biochemistry   :  the chemistry  of life, a bridge between biology and chemistry that studies how complex chemical reactions give rise to life.  This field of study bridges two separate yet interdependent sciences: one that studies life and growth, and one that studies atoms, molecules, and chemicals.  Biochemistry is a "case of emergent properties" into something living, growing, and physiological.  You can break it down into molecules, or you can build it up into something living.  : Week 1 Topic Reflections  : Our group read "Acquired traits may be transmitted to future generations," which described studies conducted on worms, their offspring, and acquired traits that had been passed on.  Specifically, these traits were passed on without being a DNA trait.  When relating this same idea to human beings, my mind went a few different directions. 1. The idea of ancestral and generational trauma.  This is something I've been i...

Would you Support the development of a "bionic" person? I am going to have to say... NO, I would not support the development of a "bionic" person.  I understand the mind of an engineer and those interested in robotics, but I wish those minds could be used for something more beneficial to society.  Watching the direction our corporations and factories have gone with technology replacing the jobs needed by human beings is horrifying.  We have so many people on our planet living far below the poverty line, yet corporations are using technology to not have to pay for a minimum wage or health insurance.  My fear, if we create a bionic person, is that we will continue to replace modes of making a living for those in need.  Based on human beings' actions of greed without thinking about the long term repercussions, we'll likely have bionic people roaming around out of control... which is an extremely scary thought.  We have so many more important issues that we ...

::I know I'm a "Living System" because...:: I survive on the oxygen that is produced by trees.  Those trees are produced by the earth, by water, and by sunlight.  I survive on water just like the trees do, in fact my body is 60% water.  The other mode of survival is eating and gaining energy from other living systems like plants and animals.  I am a living system because those like me (aka other human beings) are living systems. ::Acupuncture as an Effective Energy Medicine:: This is a topic that could be talked about for days, and there would continuously be different ideas and different ways to talk about the energetics of acupuncture.  As I wrote in my self reflection from this week, I remember my first experience with acupuncture, and being amazed that my ailments were cured in 3 or 4 sessions.  I remember saying "it could be a placebo affect, but even if it is... who cares?!" because it works.  In my past year of education however, I've l...

How Might Sacred Geometry & Classical Physics Assist you in your Practice of Medicine? Learning about classic physics and sacred geometry can help greatly in the practice of healing, especially in Chinese Medicine.  Classical physics incorporates connectedness to the universe, to the past, to nature, to those around us, and to ourselves.  It helps us understand that a symptom isn't a singular thing, but one that is connected to the larger microcosm or macrocosm.  Sacred Geometry holds an ancient wisdom of similar connectedness to the universe and everything within it.  Within it we can find patterns of the mind, body, and spirits connection to nature.  All of this knowledge and understanding can only benefit our healing practices when seeing how our patient fits into these patterns.  My E-Prime Day The sun behaves as an alarm clock in the morning, Its beams of light seem to penetrate through my eyelids. My cat appears ready for breakfast ...

::Ordered Chaos:: Ordered chaos is a very familiar concept to me.  The first time I used this term was when I was living in Hanoi, Vietnam.  When you first arrive to the city and experience the motorbikes zooming past with what looks like no rules or regulations, you think - CHAOS .  You think to yourself, how will I ever cross the street without getting hit.  But then you watch a local cross the street and you see everyone swerving around them.  As long as one is confident and consistent in their stride, the sea of motorbikes will see you through.   I experienced the same idea even stronger when I started to drive myself around the city.  From an outsiders' perspective, nothing seems more chaotic than the the traffic in Hanoi.  However, like a massive school of fish, the traffic there is nothing other than organized chaos.  There are less rules and no lanes, but you're able to stay safe if you're in constant flow of those around ...

First off, I LOVE the word loafing . I am so thankful to Larry for introducing me to the word and concept.  When I think of the word, I imagine a picture I saw of an chunky orange cat among loafs of bread.  Cats are the ultimate loafers. It took me a few days for my indecisive self to finally say " YES " to joining two of my friends on a mini backpacking trip by the Yuba river.  I was hesitant as I looked at my list of school work to attend to - but ultimately decided, my soul needed it ! And I printed & brought herbology reading with me :) Getting out of the city and being one with nature was so needed.  We went the wrong direction to start, making our trip 3x as long (with heavy backpacks), allowing for movement and sweat my body was yearning to release. We loafed around the fire, we loafed in the sunshine, we loafed as we jumped off of rocks and into the river.  Glorious loafing with my best friends.

::Are all vibrations "good" ?:: Vibrations are such a strong force.  They are the strongest force I have ever felt.  Some of the strongest vibrations can be difficult to explain because they aren't something you can see or something you can touch.  There are a lot of "bad" or negative vibrations constantly within the good.  Sometimes they bad are much stronger, while other times the good vibrations prevail.  I few this relationship as something similar to the theory of Yin and Yang.  There is always a seed of positive vibration within the negative.  This is obvious to me in the state of our country today: vibrations are extremely heavy, with lots of negativity coming from our government, from violence, from racism.  However, the seed of goodness, retaliation, fighting for justice and for change lies within.  The "good" vibrational seed is growing.  ::Resonance in my world:: I've been relating resonance in my world to the idea of...

uncertainty.  One's life is filled with uncertainties, life itself is uncertain, the future of our planet is uncertain, in fact "there is nothing certain, but the uncertain."  For those of us living today, this is the first time we are having a collective feeling of uncertainty on a global level.  There are two ways to approach and react to uncertainty: one is to feel anxious, stressed, and panicked about the unknown, the other is to surrender to the uncertainty.  In times of great uncertainty such as the effects of Covid-17, one can feel as though on a roller coaster ride, surrendering for lengths of times, and feeling anxious the next. To be able to surrender to the uncertainty, to fall into it, to move and adapt with it, is the greatest goal.  connectivity.  I love the idea that larger connectivity is something that's being discussed in the quantum physics world.  The understanding of connectivity is left in the eye of the observer.  ...

I am going to be completely honest and start off by saying that I felt completely out of it during our first class together.  As interesting and stimulating the topic and conversations around 🕒time🕒, the transition into my new shelter-in-place space & diving back into the zoom-student mindset had my brain a bit foggy and lacking concentration. Since class I've been trying to wrap my head around having days that seem to last 'forever,' yet those days are submerged into a month that goes by in an 'instant.'  Since shelter-in-place, months have been flying by; but when I reflect on all that I've done and the memories I've created - there have been so many!  This year has felt incredibly fast too.  But then I think about all that I've learned in Chinese Medicine school (a lot), the new and incredibly impactful relationships I've made, the deepest feelings of grief I've felt in my lifetime... all in that same "fast" year.  What is it...

:⚬◊⚬: Hello my fellow physics classmates : ⚬◊⚬: My name is Giselle and I identify as a Mayan-Jew, a daughter, a friend, a Chinese Medicine student, an animal whisperer, a gardener, a roller skater, a traveler, and a lover of all things food (except watermelon).   I was born & raised in Oakland / Berkeley, and returned to the homeland in 2019 to try 'adulthood' in the community I loved so much growing up. My decision to study acupuncture came from a Public Health & Community Health lens.  I was overjoyed to find a medicine that could provide holistic health at affordable rates and accessible to populations undeserved (if served at all) by our current Western healthcare system.  However, the deeper I dive into Chinese Medicine, the more it answers things & makes connections I didn't even know I was looking for.  This current semester has me feeling a BIT overwhelmed and like I'm in need of a 'break-up' talk with my family & friends - but I...