INSPIRATIONAL STORY 

Julie's story
 

When I discovered this place in Sweden for my retreat, I had no idea that my excitement wouldn’t stop there. When I met the owner, Julie, I immediately connected with her and we’ve discovered that we share a lot of things. She is a young doctor, passionate about cannabinoid science, prevention, as well as mindfulness and yoga! But here is the story :)

Julie developed a strong interest in mental health problems and stress therapy during her medical studies. Working with the traditional medical system during her residency, it became clear to her that she believes in practising holistic medicine, treating her patients as a whole person and not just a symptom.

Searching for answers while also dealing with personal stress, Julie found a deep interest and love for mindfulness and yoga, leading her to become a yoga teacher and taking courses in mindfulness. After her first year as a resident doctor, Julie moved to southern Sweden where she took over the family farm and business. She spent the following year learning about forestry, diving deep into the history and the many small details of the farm.

For a long time, Julie imagined the beautiful manor house and its calming lake surrounded by forest as the perfect setting for luxury and mindfulness retreats, and when she realised that there is no better moment to start living your dreams than now, the Mindfulness Manor was born.

So that’s how I chose my first retreat location, and I must say, I couldn’t have even dreamed of finding such a perfect place.

Besides that, Julie and I are planning some projects, you’ll hear more soon :)

NEURONAL RNAs CONTROL BEHAVIOR OF FUTURE GENERATION

Could we have learned things from past generations in an unexpected way?

This discovery of an RNA-based mechanism could have major implications for understanding heredity and evolution: researchers at Tel Aviv University have identified a nervous system mechanism that enables neurons to pass messages to future generations and affect the behavior of progeny during multiple generations in nematodes (worms). In other words, the researchers demonstrated that small RNAs in neurons regulate some genes involved in heredity to control behavior of future generations.

Weismann Barrier, one of the researchers, wrote that the idea “that the nervous system can control the progeny” directly challenges “one of the basic dogmas of biology”. This exciting discovery in worms opens plenty of questions: Is this true for humans? What this will change in our understanding of genetics and epigenetics? Further research is needed and I’m more than excited to find out more.

CHRONIC INFLAMMATION REDUCES DOPAMINE LEVELS & MOTIVATION

A new study  published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences shows that low-grade chronic inflammation reduces the release of dopamine in the brain and therefore motivation and reward mechanisms will be impaired.

One explanation could be that during an inflammatory episode, the body will make an effort to optimize its energy expenditure.

GUT ENZYME THAT CAN TRANSFORM BLOOD TYPE

An easier access to transfusions? With this discovery, it will be possible to convert a blood type A or B into O - the universal donor - thanks to an enzyme from the human gut microbiome ( Flavonifractor plautii). Once again, the power of microbiome can amaze.

VITAMIN D COULD HELP CANCER PATIENTS LIVE LONGER

 MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
 

• Writing: Raising my voice about burnout- I wrote an article about the confusion around the World Health Organisation’s announcement regarding burnout’s new definition and classification in the revised ICD-11;  

• Talking: Over the past 2 weeks I have been speaking every week at 2 events and it happens that I will be keeping pretty much this same rhythm for the next month or so, have a look and see where you can join me:

                   - I will be in Paris this week for Mona’s Bodies Week organised by My Little Paris and Gina

                   - also in Paris on Saturday, I will be speaking about the microbiome and metabolic diseases (for medical professionals only, but I promise I will tell you about it in a future newsletter, podcast, etc.)

                 - on the 25th, in London, I will be organising an event about stress, come and join the conversation, you can book your place here

                  - between July 4-7, in Sweden, I am organising a mindfulness & yoga retreat, you can find more info here and if you want to book a place, write me an email: lavinia@drionita.com

• My podcast - keep an eye on your Itunes Podcast, by the end of the week, you’ll be able to listen to 2 episodes about stress in the English version; and if you missed last week’s episode, here it is: Does the alpha male really exist?