PASSION, PLEASURE & HEALTH 
Cheers to All of Life's Pleasures
BONJOUR & CHEERS FROM PARIS! I began writing this issue of the newsletter a few weeks ago while here in the city of love, romance, passion, and pleasure! Now that I'm back home in Los Angeles, I feel so incredibly blessed to have been in Paris and elsewhere in Europe these past five weeks for some business and holiday. Back when I was a college student, I had the incredibly good fortune to live and study in Paris for a year. Whenever I return to Paris, I'm always reminded of the famous quote by Ernest Hemingway: "If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, FOR PARIS IS A MOVABLE FEAST!" Indeed, Paris is a veritable feast for the body, mind, soul, and palate. I'll admit that my time in Paris has been spent thoroughly enjoying phenomenal gourmet food and wine; reveling in the city's incredible art, architecture, and culture; and generally engaging in a passionate affair with the majestic beauty of Paris itself! Where else but in the City of Love are life's passions and pleasures elevated to an art form. So what better topic to explore for this month's newsletter than passion, pleasure, and health!
Did you know that your brain is actually wired to experience pleasure? According to the latest research in neurobiology, it turns out that pleasure appears to be a biological necessity for our human survival. In fact, moderate and regular doses of pleasure might be crucial for your general health and wellbeing. My blog piece on How Pleasure Is Good for Your Health explores the latest findings into the neurobiology of pleasure. Specifically, by mindfully activating the pleasure centers of the brain, you can actually reduce stress, promote health, and increase longevity! Be sure to check out the video of the month where you'll enjoy discovering how your brain responds to pleasure, music, and sex, while the article of the month shares the latest research on how pleasure stimulates the brain to help ward off stress and depression.
So even if we all can't be in Paris enjoying a gourmet French dinner, savoring a glass of outstanding red wine, or just strolling along the banks of the Seine admiring the beauty of life, just know that you can manifest the healing benefits of pleasure and passion wherever you happen to be...now I'll drink to that!
As Neal Diamond Walsch eloquently states, "Give yourself abundant pleasure, that you may have abundant pleasure to give others."
May you always be Living Your Light as you enjoy all of life's passions and pleasures!
Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
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Why Pleasure Is Good For Your Health
PART ONE of
THE NEUROBIOLOGY OF PLEASURE
So what do good food, chocolate, watching a sunset, and getting a massage all have in common? In addition to perhaps being the key ingredients for a romantic and memorable evening, recent studies indicate how they all appear to promote health by decreasing stress and stimulating the pleasure centers of the brain. We all enjoy passion and pleasure in life, and I am the first one to admit that! I actually began writing this blog piece while in Paris, the city where food, wine, romance, art, passion, and pleasure are considered the very fabric of life. Of course, uncontrolled and excessive passion and pleasure in life can lead to unhealthy addictions. While I am not advocating you lead a hedonistic or excessive lifestyle, however, the latest research in neurobiology and in social neuroscience finds that by mindfully experiencing moderate doses of pleasure in your everyday life, you can promote a healthy immune system and even increase your longevity of life. In the first part of this series on the Neurobiology of Pleasure
we start by defining what is pleasure, its relevance for human survival, and how pleasure positively affects the brain and health.
When we speak about passion and pleasure in neuroscience, they are not the hedonistic, excessive aspects of revelry and debauchery. Rather passion and pleasure in neurobiology are defined as feelings or sensations, opposite to but also closely associated with pain. Just like pain, pleasure appears also to be a biological mechanism wired into our human nervous system and brain for survival. It's easy to understand how the human brain's pain mechanism is essential for survival, e.g. think of the first time you accidentally placed a hand on a hot stove and quickly learned as something not to do again. You might, however, wonder how can pleasure be an evolutionary tool for survival? I'll offer two good examples to illustrate this point - food and sex!
Read Full Article
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"AWAKE w/ Dr. Jay Kumar!" on Doug Stephan's Good Day
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THURSDAY 6:30am PT/9:30am ET
Dr. Jay Kumar wants you to become AWAKE! Join me every Thursday morning as a regular guest on the nationally syndicated Doug Stephan's Good Day radio show.
Each week we explore how the latest discoveries in mind-body medicine and brain research can empower you toward authentic health and happiness! Show Details.
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WOW!! What an amazing and incredible week we had celebrating love, life, good food, and wine in the beautiful Loire Valley of France. Tremendous thanks to everyone at
for making this retreat so incredible in every way. A special MERCI BEAUCOUP to the Centre de Yoga du Marais for hosting the successful weekend workshops in Paris. Lastly, a very special thanks to the awesome Amanda Dates for making this all possible!
Hope you can join us next year...
A BIENTOT!
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Quote of the Month
Be a passionate Lover in life and You will be a Lover in death, a Lover in the tomb, a Lover on the day of Resurrection, a Lover forever!" Rumi
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Article of the Month
Medical Research Shows How Pleasure Reduces Stress
Whether it's food or sex, pleasurable activity provides more than just pleasure, University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers say it actually reduces stress by inhibiting anxiety responses in the brain.
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Video of the Month
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Music As Good As Sex:
The Neuroscience of Pleasure
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So what do music, sex, and art all have in common? It appears that they all trigger the same "pleasure centers" of the brain! Find how in this insightful video...ENJOY!
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