Happy New Year to all of our dear friends!

Happy New Year to all Earthlings on a little Blue Planet!

Didier and I are busy packing and juggling the numerous challenges that come with an international move. We have both recently become Americans and have lived in the States for over 40 years. Our roots have remained French of course. I have also lived 6 years in Japan and quite a bit in China, so this move is reminding me that, more than ever, we are at a time of ever-increasing global awareness that includes all of us as citizens of our little blue planet. Ecological problems are international and know no walls nor boundaries.

I have kept a clear memory from my travels in China, in Xishuangbanna, near the Thai border. I was truly amazed at how suddenly we had stepped into into a different century. A land of amazing beauty, men and women still wearing century old ethnic clothing with intricate embroidery and patterns. Little black piglets were running free in the villages. Hardly any traffic, difficult access to villages on dirt roads. Yes, we were far away from civilization, or so it seemed. Yet I was struck

I am grateful that I took up Shawngela's 21-day gratitude challenge indeed! I loved it.

Mind you, I did not do it perfectly and I was not a star student. I did not write things down, nor did I always come up with 5 things as suggested; sometimes just 2 or 3. Nevertheless, in this busy time of my life, the quotes chosen by Shawngela and her suggestions to look at what to be grateful for on a consistent basis gave a "color" to my days and a way of looking at the half full glass as well as the half empty!

Even when things were often difficult or stressful; Shawngela's gratitude challenge hovered like a daily fresh breeze, helping me to breathe deeper and open my heart.

Thank you Shawngela for helping me flex those muscles of smile and gratitude! They do need practice and the whole soul responds and loves it.

Take the Gratitude Challenge too! You will not regret it!

• Feeling irritable and moody? "Oh! It must be my hormones."
• Gaining weight? "My hormones must not be working properly."
• Hot flashes? "My hormones are really out of whack."
• Sugar, salt cravings? "My hormones are off again…they make me want to eat anything in sight."
• Difficult period? Homonal imbalance....
• Rough menopause? My hormonal changes feel like a tsunami!

That’s the litany I hear from my women patients to the point that I swear I can sometimes visualize little hormones with wings flying in the ether, a bit like Eros, sending arrows to make women’s lives miserable.

It was those comments from so many women that led me to the upcoming Women’s Hormonal Wellness Retreat where we are going to define and demystify those tricky little hormones and find ways how we can make peace with them and turn them into friends as opposed to pestering nuisance. A fantastic and beautiful journey into the deep and rich anatomy of our female bodies.

We are lucky to live at a time when we can access Eastern wisdom together with modern science, today and yesterday’s knowledge, an amazing crossroad where we can pick the best of both worlds and find many pearls of

Summer heat is wonderful: it is an expansive energy that makes us want to go outside, get up early or stay up late to enjoy morning and evening freshness...midsummer nights, in particular, as Shakespeare well knew, vibrate with magic...fireflies are dancing, it is warm and pleasant. Evenings are long and lend themselves to social gatherings. Everywhere we see picnics, people travel and go to the beach or the mountains, seeking both freshness and ways to enjoy this special time of year.

Like any season or climate, though, summer heat has both positive and negative aspects and is considered one the six external and climatic pathogens in Chinese Medicine. It belongs to the energy of Fire, that can weaken the Heart when out of control. Symptoms of Summer Heat ? diarrhea (often called “explosive diarrhea”) and digestive upsets are the most common. Summer heat can easily spoil food, in particular meat and fish. It is also easy to get caught in a summer storm and suddenly get chilled. People who leave for long hikes without preparedness might suffer from that. We can see that easily in the Western desert in higher altitudes where there is such a difference between day or

A Chinese Medicine Perspective

If the levels of Viagra advertising and sales are any indicator, modern men are still very actively searching for aphrodisiacs. As for women, a few voices have been heard protesting against bias and lack of research to find a female equivalent of Viagra. They want their own!

Our means might be a bit more sophisticated and “scientific” than witchcraft, potions and aphrodisiacs but not by much. Men are willing to risk the health of their heart and overlook the fine print that comes with Viagra. The old age quest remains the same: how to awaken and keep alive that obviously often flickering light of sexuality. Glossy magazines continue to feature regular articles on sexual secrets and never seem to exhaust the topic.

To the risk of sounding rather boring I would like to infuse a few ounces of common sense mixed with a few drops of Chinese Medicine

1. Health and sexuality go hand in hand. This is the basic tenet and there is no short cut. Lack of energy, lack of breath, fatigue, weak heart, weak lungs and wheezing, constipation or diarrhea, migraines, bloating or acid reflux are all guaranteed killers of any remotely romantic “performance”.