Noah's Notes: Tis The Season to Slow Down!

Too many of us are going too fast right now; we've made it through Thanksgiving holidays and are now focused on surviving the Christmas struggle.  Did I get the right gifts for everyone?  Will there be enough food for the holiday parties?  How can I get to three parties on the same evening?

I'm reminded of my teacher Stacey Mills years ago.  We came out of a workshop she led to find an advertisement on the windshield of my car, advising us of a workshop teaching us how to deal with stress.  Stacey said, "I have a two word answer to stress--so what?"  It's true.  We've all heard that we shouldn't sweat the small stuff, and that it's all small stuff.  Can we internalize that message?  Can we decide that we are enough, we do enough, and we are satisfied with who we are and what we do?  Can we enjoy the season for the joy it should be bringing instead of the guilt we feel when we don't do enough?  Can we allow ourselves to have a joyous holiday season?

Health Update: Chinese medicine could double the chances of childless couples conceiving

Couples with fertility problems are twice as likely to get pregnant using traditional Chinese medicine as western drugs, say researchers.

They found a two-fold improvement in pregnancy rates over just four months of treatment from practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine.

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Health Update: Deafness cured by gene therapy

A stroke of pioneering science, researchers have managed to restore hearing to a significant level in guinea pigs by using gene therapy, bolstering hope for a similar procedure to cure human deafness in the future.

The therapy works by promoting the regeneration of hair cells in the cochlea, the part of the inner ear which registers sound. These hair cells act like tiny dishes that catch infinitezimal fluid motion and transmit them into nerve signals to the brain, which we typically recognize as sound. These tiny hairs are incredibly sensitive, and it’s common for them to deteriorate or even get completely distroyed when exposed to loud sounds, certain drugs or old age, ultimately.

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Health Update: Stretching the boundaries of yoga

Because many yoga postures stretch and strengthen the muscles affecting the back, at least 10 published studies have been done on yoga and chronic low-back pain, says Saper. But though the majority have shown yoga to be promising as a low-cost treatment, all have been done on predominantly white, educated, affluent populations, he says.

“In our patient population, it’s unusual to have back pain alone as a single problem,’’ Saper says, noting that many patients also suffer from hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, and anxiety. And while he emphasizes that he doesn’t consider yoga a “panacea for everything, ’’ he says that “because of the mind-body component of yoga, we’re aware that [it] may be helpful for a variety of patients with co-morbidities. And that it may help with depression, anxiety, and resilience.’’

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Health Update: Happiness Lessons from Around the World

As a correspondent for National Public Radio, Eric Weiner often traveled to war-torn or famine-ravaged countries. To cleanse his spirit, he decided to travel to some of the world's happiest places to find out just what made them so joyful.

Weiner's journeys from Iceland to Qatar to Bhutan are described in his book The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World.

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