Hot Air Balloon

The Special Place We Live

I love hot air balloons. Their bright colors against our blue, desert sky always bring a smile to my face, and I can’t help but pause to watch them float by. This spectacular shot was taken in our backyard. You know you live in a pretty cool place if it’s hot air balloon worthy. And… Read more »

May is Stroke Month

Know the Signs of Stroke

In medicine, when research is conducted and systems improved, lives are saved. Such is the case with the acronym FAST which was first launched nationally in 2013 to generate awareness for the signs of stroke: face dropping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, time to call 911.   Now, research has identified symptoms missed and two have… Read more »

There is No Shame in Struggle

We all go through tough times. It is normal to feel anxious, sad, grief, uncertainty and a host of other feelings within the same month – or even the same day.  Throughout the pandemic, many individuals have struggled with isolation, financial hardship, and simple boredom. To top it off, political strife, human rights violations and… Read more »

Emergency Room or Urgent Care?

On Sunday afternoon, your cold seems worse, you have a headache and are vomiting with a fever.  Do you head to the emergency room (ER), urgent care or call your doctor in the morning?   This dilemma is common and can be costly. In fact, the cost difference can be well over $2,000 in some… Read more »

Still Moving Forward

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a challenge; however, students at the Palm Desert High School Health Academy (PDHA) are trying to make the best of the situation and continue to push forward despite adversity. The pandemic has created many obstacles to how the academy typically runs, but despite these unique circumstances, students are… Read more »

Mental Fasting

We have been hearing a lot about the benefits of intermittent fasting as decreased inflammation and weight loss often accompany eating less or eating in less hours of the day. The main reason this works is because of autophagy (“aa-TAA-fuh-jee”), which is the self-cleaning our body does when we have fasted more than 10 hours.… Read more »

Improve Our World with Random Acts of Kindness

What if kindness were a muscle? How could you strengthen your kindness muscle? Muscles develop through repetitious exercise that is focused and disciplined.  Can you imagine the world if everyone exercised their kindness muscles daily? Our homes would be more joyful, marriages would be thriving, workplaces would be more collaborative and engaging. Even the news… Read more »

You Are Not Your Trauma

Do you find yourself repeating past hurts, habits and hang-ups? Maybe they only show up in some areas of your life, or maybe they are showing up in all areas. Maybe you think that it’s everyone else’s fault, and you did not create the experience you are having. Do you feel down and heavy because… Read more »

Do You Know Your Qi?

Most people understand qi (chi) to be “oxygen creating life force energy,” or simply breath. But did you know there are many types of qi that help our body function properly? Knowing how they work helps traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners, and each of us, correlate symptoms with deficiencies. In traditional Chinese medicine, radiant health… Read more »

The Effect of Resonance

What exactly is resonance? You may be familiar with a demonstration that features a vocalist singing a particular note where upon a crystal wine glass breaks into pieces. What actually happens is that the atoms in the glass begin vibrating at a frequency identical to the frequency of the note sung by the vocalist. This… Read more »

Fibromyalgia: Calming the Storm

A client recently described fibromyalgia as “widespread pain throughout my body which feels like my nerves are on fire.” She further stated, “Myofascial release seems to send a message to my nervous system that says, ‘You are safe.’” Fibromyalgia is a chronic, debilitating condition that affects approximately four million adults per year. It is more… Read more »

Lowering Blood Pressure Naturally

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide. While heart disease may be asymptomatic until a heart attack strikes, there is often an early warning sign that shouldn’t be ignored—elevated blood pressure. Blood pressure consists of two numbers. The first is called systolic blood pressure, which measures the amount… Read more »

Living Life with Intention

We all have the ability to create the life we wish through the words we speak, the emotions we feel and the energy we put into them. That energy can be spearheaded by intentions —affirmative statements of what you would like to experience in life. Whereas goals are specific things you wish to achieve, intentions… Read more »

Business As Usual

Trouble Returning to Normalcy?

“Return to normalcy” was a campaign slogan used by President Harding in 1920 after World War I and the Spanish Flu; both he felt had altered the perspective of humanity. The phrase was used again in the 2020 presidential campaign when the goal was to address the COVID-19 pandemic and end divisiveness between people.  But,… Read more »

Nature Wants Us to Be Fat

Nature Wants Us to Be Fat

We are all survivors of food scarcity as our ancestors lived through multiple periods of famine. We survive by storing body fat.  Richard J. Johnson, MD, of the University of Colorado, is a leading physician and scientist who studies fat storage as the “survival switch” to protect us from starvation. He shares his findings in… Read more »