With the threat of COVID, we need more than ever to strengthen our immune system and prevent any form of colds and flus. Acupuncture can contribute to it greatly.

We know that a healhy lifestyle helps us to do that. What do I mean by healthy lifestyle?

It includes the following:
– a healthy diet obviously (if possible mainly plant-based to avoid any inflammation),
– excercice (which might be tricky given the restrictions)
– as little stress as possible,
– some herbs,
– essential oils
– supplements such as vitamin C, vitamin D3, zinc
– and obviously for me acupuncture.

Indeed, many articles show how acupuncture may play a role in the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of the COVID-19 patients and relieve the symptoms caused by COVID-19. Studies are presently made and published about this role.

There are many effective acupuncture approaches to treat and alleviate the symptoms associated with cold or flu, However, if used early enough, it may potentially prevent the symptoms and condition from developing at all.

One effective approach to a successful treatment is self-stimulate the following points throughout the day:

There are more common points throughout the studies, however, every patient is different and needs to be carefully examined.

Should you want to know more about it, you can always contact me.

“Our battles are not fought by challenging others to change their beliefs or behavior; rather, our own personal behavior is all we really have power over in the end.” ~Max Strom from A Life Worth Breathing

What is Ethics? And how does it relate to yoga? 
Ethic are defined by “the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, …”

I feel blessed as I had the chance to attend Max Strom trainings and workshops. I have been greatly influenced by his teachings and his kindness.
Basically Max ask us to define our code of Ethics.
What are the virtue that are important to us and how do we integrate them in our daily life.

When I think of yoga, I believe that yoga is rooted in ethics, namely kindness, respect, honesty, gratitude, discipline and integrity.
And that every yoga studio and every teacher will behave with integrity, competence and respect.
With more experience, I realize that, yoga being an amazing tool of transformation, I have probably have had too high expectations about any persons involved in the yoga business.

What I want to share is that everything lies in the practice.
May it be the physical practice of yoga which is a great start,  meditation, or eventually the code of conduct that we define for ourselves. What is important is to choose a code of ethics and to follow it with all our heart, revising it on a regular basis, so that we can stay authentic and true to ourselves.

To help you do that, I strongly advise to read Max Strom’s book: “There is no app for Happiness”. It simply guides us to define ourselves by what we stand for, instead of by what we are against.

Every day, I am touched by a smile, a look, a kind word, a touch, a gesture, a meeting with a friend and it does make me happy. Yet I forget to tell it… While those things apparently anodynes have an impact on each of us.
I sincerely hope that I have impacted someone else life without realizing it, as Drew Dudley explains so well in the following (short) Ted Talk:

So thank you for being part of my life!

When we look at ourselves in the mirror, we always look good, don’t we?
It’s just a way to speak. What I mean by that, is simply the fact that we feel relaxed and we can’t see our jaw tensed or our frowning or our wrinkling forehead. This happens when we are stressed, or anxious, or even simply concentrating (often looking at the computer screen.)

Yet, watching people in the street, especially after a certain age, we can read those signs of stress or anxiety on the faces. We can indeed watch those people having a neutral expression, yet the down-turned corners of their mouths give us the impression that they are feeling extremely unhappy. Or people constantly frowning and looking pretty anxious.

So how can we prevent those facial expression? I keep repeating “Relax your face” or “Relax your jaw” during a yoga class, but how can we do if we don’t really feel it?

1. Smile
It seems pretty basic and it works very well. When people smile, they engaged different muscles than the one used to frown or to clench their jaw and they immediately look more relaxed.

2. Facial exercices (in front of a mirror)
Some facial exercises really help to release facial tension especially into the jaw. I remember this yoga teacher in India doing those exercises and I was completely impressed. Here is funny video. Yet nothing is better as imitating Mr. Bean…

3. Facial massage
Last week, I had an amazing back massage and I have the tendency to clench my jaw at night… going through a rather stressful period in my life. I simply said that to the woman taking care of me and she has helped to release a lot of tension by pressing on trigger points. I can only highly recommend it.

4. Cognitive therapy –  Mindfulness
Every time you feel anxious or stressed, pay attention to your face and where you concentrate your stress.

5. Medicine or herbal strategies.
Apart from drinking plenty of water, some herbs can help, namely the one helping to relax like Valerian.

All these helps us to release our facial muscles and increase our awareness. To prevent facial tension caused by stress or anxiety, I believe that it is important to recognize the cause of it. Deep breathing and Meditation as always help us to get rid of stress and prevent those symptoms.

I simply wanted to share this article from Thich Nhat Hanh with you about the perfect moment. Enjoy and simply click Here.

It is interesting how synchronicity works. Today I have had a few interesting philosophic discussion with different people. We were developing our thoughts about life perception and, with our different backgrounds and experiences, we were agreeing on how important it is to look at things in a positive way. We all know that eventually all that we experiment is a way to teach us how to better interact with people and to learn more about ourselves. (Actually I feel I could sometimes benefit of a break from those learning experiences, don’t you? )

And I have just been remembered of the power of words as I have received the Goop update, that I encourage you to read as it expresses perfectly what I want to share with you. It is all about Dr. Emoto’s experiences of words and music over water. Yes our body is constituted of 70% of water in average, so words have a huge impact on us. So when we discuss about looking at things in a positive way, let’s start with expressing ourselves and communicating with positive words.

I let you enjoy this article!

I am addicted, or at least I was.

Until that weekend where I decided to disconnect. Disconnect but from what? I had simply decided to shut down my computer for two single days – and actually my (smart)phone as well.

I was flabbergasted! Indeed, I have then realized that I was totally addicted: I missed checking my phone – messages, different social networks – as soon as I woke up and just before going to bed. And I have re-discovered how much more time I have on hand with none of those constant distractions. It is interesting to observe the possible negative impact of our interaction with the Internet and social medias in our life, on our well-being, and on our relationships with others.

Back at university, everyone started to get a cell phone, and as I was studying in Italy, it was said that some people even got a fake one, just to show how “in” they were. I remember that sunny day, where a group of friends and me were gathered at a beautiful terrace. We were all having an entertaining conversation (and nice drinks…) I felt happy and privileged to share this moment… until someone decided to send an SMS to a friend to join us, which seemed a good idea after all. That led all my friends around the table to do the same, one after the other. And I suddenly saw them all looking at their phones, escaping this moment. Watching that, I promised myself never to get a mobile phone. Obviously, despite my reluctance, a few years later, I had to adapt and I eventually got a smartphone! But am I becoming this this very person checking her phone despite nice social interactions? Hmmm, it seems so.

We are massively connected nowadays, yet virtually connected. I am always surprised at the number of messages, phone, email, Skype, What’s app, Facebook. Studies show that  our concentration span diminishes, and our feeling of loneliness increases.

Should we then completely disconnect and unplug all our devices? I don’t believe so, yet I believe that we can use technology in a wiser way that serve us, instead of “slaving” us. Here is an article of the benefits of technology http://www.trendhunter.com/course/technology-keynotes

So this weekend, let’s get off the phone. Still looking forward to meeting you so we can watch our phones together. Kidding, simply looking forward to sharing, enjoying and living every single moment at the fullest.