How do you feel?

Have you ever fell down hard when running fast, biking, or playing basketball?  Have you ever had a broken leg, or arm?  A painful tooth? A tumor that had to be taken out?  Did you ever think you just wait these out and your body will take care of them?  Does the tooth get any better without you either taking care of it or pulling it out?  Do you expect your friends, your family, or neighbors with no medical training help you fix it? 

What makes you think when a physical wound, or a toothache won't heal by itself, you can recover fast from emotional wounds and bruises, from difficult tragedies and hardships in your life, or simply hormone and chemical imbalances in your body?  If you are so down and depressed for so many months or even years everyday that you do not look forward to doing anything, or if you are always angry at everyone and everything and constantly stress out and alienate the people in your life and isolate yourself, if you do not remember the last time you had a good time, a good laugh, a good memory, it is time you take care of your mental health; for your own health, for saving your life; for your children who need you to be happy, healthy, strong, and have a good parent and role model in you; It is important to get help from experts and professionals.

Here are some resources about mental health, mind/body health, and family well-being:

www.apa.org/helpcenter
www.youtube.com/apahelpcenter
http://www.ymca.net/healthy-family-home/
http://www.whatadifference.samhsa.gov/index.html
http://www.realwarriors.net/
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/may

May is Mental Health Month, and I am blogging for Mental Health today, because it matters! 


Reference:
http://www.yourmindyourbody.org/mental-health-month-blog-day/

Tesla

Apparently Nikola Tesla did the ground work for the electricity we use everyday (Alternative Current or AC), wireless communication and radio, radar, x rays and more.  Then, how is it that others are credited for each of these inventions?  Was he a smart scientist and engineer with great vision and initiative but just could not finish, package, and sell his ideas?  Or was the author of this site just a big fan of him and not so much of Thomas Edison?

References:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla
2. http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla

Manto y saya

I went to a Peruvian restaurant with some friends on Saturday.  Among us was a lady from Peru who was helping us with the dishes.  I enjoyed a sweet juice of red corn, and saw how Peruvian corns are bigger than those in the U.S. and taste like lima beans.  But more importantly I learned about part of the history of Peruvian women, that I had no idea about; that was surprising; and I did not expect it there from all places in the world.

I learned that Peruvian women used to cover themselves, from head to toe, with something called "manto y saya".  It was black, and they would hold it with their hands and only reveal one of their eyes!  Sound familiar? Is that where/how Iranians got the idea for black chadors/veils?  Is there any relationship between the name of their attire and what Iranians refer to as Manto (long over coats women wear)?

For more information read the views of Flora, Tristan, in Lima, Peru in 1838:

http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/lesson19.html

More here (apparently my guess about the origins of chador is valid):

 http://inmemoryoflatapada.blogspot.com/2010/08/theories-of-origin-of-la-saya-y-el.html

The art of mending

I learned this Japanese tradition and belief from Read, Love and Learn community on Facebook.

Somnambulism!

Yes! There is such a word: Somnambulism, meaning sleep walking! Made of the two words somn (sleep) and ambul (walking), which just made me realize the word ambulance must has something to do with this ambul(ant) too! :-) It means a moving hospital!

تنخواه گردان

امروز واژه "تنخواه گردان"
را به لطف دوستى كه ما را در فيس بوك سر كار گذاشته بود، آموختم :-)

Aging of the Eye and Health!

As we get old, we have increased risks of facing various health problems such as cancer, heart attack, etc. Often times, researchers blamed various factors like lack of exercise, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, ... as contributing factors to such diseases. A recent article suggests that natural light, and how much of it we receive through our eyes is a huge factor in our health and well-being. In fact, aging of the eye does more than just affecting our eye-sight, it affects our health!

For more information, read the full article here.

If you know Persian, you can listen to an informal translation of this article, here.