If you are here, you have probably seen me face down on a table, little needles in my upper back, cups on the rest of my back, and a heat lamp warming me from above. And I want to tell you: it is the best!!!! I am not fully asleep, and not fully out, but in that good place where your brain stops its little anxiety marathon and just... rests. That is what acupuncture and cupping do for me. And if you have been curious, a little scared, or your family says "¿para qué?" every time you bring it up or calls you weird, this one is for you. Let's Talk About the Stigma If you have been following me, by now you know that in Latino culture we do not really talk about mental health. We push through, we pray, we make caldo, or at least we are told to do so. And while there is beauty in all of that, there is also a gap, especially when it comes to actually treating what is going on inside. The stigma around alternative therapies is not just a Latinx thing either. Western medicine has been slow to embrace practices like acupuncture and cupping, even though they have been around for thousands of years across Chinese, Middle Eastern, and Egyptian cultures. The Ebers Papyrus, one of the oldest medical texts ever found from 1550 B.C., documents cupping as a legitimate treatment.[1] Thousands of years, and we are still out here acting like it is weird. The pushback comes from both sides, from families who side-eye anything that is not a prescription, and from Western medicine that has been slow to fund research on these practices. But the research is growing, and what it is showing is worth knowing about. Insurance now approves acupuncture for the most part, even with Medi-Cal or Medicaid, depending on what you call it in your state. What the Research Says I am not going to oversell this. The research is still growing, partly because these practices are hard to study in the traditional double-blind way, and partly because funding for this kind of research has always been limited. But here is what we do know: On acupuncture: A 2024 study found that adding acupuncture to a mental health treatment plan led to a 78.4% drop in depression symptoms, a 41.1% decline in anxiety, and a 53.1% improvement in sleep quality.[2] Acupuncture also helps increase serotonin production in the brain, yes, your favorite mood regulator, which is why it can help with both anxiety and depression. A 2025 review on generalized anxiety disorder found that acupuncture, alone or combined with medication, may actually work better than medication by itself, with fewer side effects.[3] On cupping: Cupping activates the parasympathetic nervous system, your "rest and digest" mode, fighting that fight-or-flight response that is basically the engine of an anxiety spiral.[4] It helps with inflammation, improves circulation, and has been linked to increased dopamine and serotonin levels.[5] Research on fibromyalgia found that cupping significantly reduced pain and improved quality of life compared to standard care.[6] In Reality: More studies are still needed, and most guidelines classify these as complementary therapies, meaning they work alongside other treatment. Which is exactly how I use them. My Situation I "graduated" from my therapist a while back. And I mean that literally. I did the work, got to a good place, and we both agreed it was time. My insurance would also agree, since my anxiety had improved enough that they no longer considered continued sessions necessary. I agree to disagree on that one, but that is another story. Managing anxiety does not stop just because therapy does. It is ongoing. Some stretches are harder than others, and what works for me is a combination of things: exercise, acupuncture, cupping, and daily medication. I have new insurance now, Kaiser Permanente, in the Inland Empire, and we will see how that goes. My history with Kaiser Permanente, LA's mental health department was not great, long wait times, staff strikes, the whole thing. So for now, what I know works is showing up to my acupuncturist's table and letting my nervous system breathe. What It Actually Feels Like You have tattoos, so you should not mind it, right?! I mean, I do not, but I know a lot of people who do not particularly enjoy getting their blood drawn for funzies. But that is the difference: it is a tiny poke, well, a couple of them. If you have a good acupuncturist, you really will not feel most of them. Once the heat lamp goes over my back, I honestly do not feel much at all. The only things I notice are the initial cupping placement, which has a little pinch when the suction grabs, and occasionally when a needle gets pressed to stimulate a specific point. But that is always a conversation you have with your acupuncturist beforehand. Nothing should catch you off guard. It is less scary medical procedure and more accidental nap with health benefits. Should You Try It? Yes. Especially if you are managing anxiety or depression and want complementary support, if you have been curious but nervous, or if you feel like something is still missing even after trying what your doctor recommended. The physical and emotional sides of stress are not separate, and it helps to treat them together. Consult your doctor before adding anything new to your routine, especially if you are on medication. I have tried acupuncture many times before and have never had an issue, so adding it back into my routine was not a question for me. Find someone you actually trust, that part matters more than anything else. Search Google reviews, Yelp, etc. That is my strategy when looking for a therapist, psychiatrist, or any kind of doctor. I also have personal preferences around gender, ethnicity, and other factors, and that is completely okay too. Come See My Acupuncturist You can also just take a recommendation from a friend, like mine! If you trust me and know me, I will point you in the right direction, among the many other things that I have information on. If you are in the Riverside area, go see my acupuncturist, Dr. Yu,at: Healing Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Clinic 4193 Flat Rock Rd, Riverside, CA 92505 (626) 662-5365 If you caught the video on my Instagram, I hope it made it feel a little less intimidating. We do not have to be scared of the things that help us heal, whether that is therapy, medication, cupping, acupuncture, a good ugly cry, or all of the above. Healing is hard enough. It might as well feel good too. — Educated Chola 🧠 Made with love and your salud mental in mind. Sources [1] Hometown Chiropractic. History of Cupping Therapy. https://hometownchiropracticnc.com/history-of-cupping/ | Britannica. Ebers Papyrus. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ebers-papyrus | ResearchGate. History of Cupping (Hijama): A Narrative Review of Literature. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317064060_History_of_cupping_Hijama_a_narrative_review_of_literature [2] Lu, M. et al. (2024). Effectiveness of acupuncture in treating patients with pain and mental health concerns: the results of the Alberta Complementary Health Integration Project. Frontiers in Neurology. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11333307/ [3] Annals of General Psychiatry (2025). Efficacy of acupuncture for generalized anxiety disorder: a systematic review. Springer Nature. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12991-025-00614-5 [4] SOHMA Integrative Medicine. Can Cupping Help with Anxiety? https://www.sohma.org/therapy/cupping-therapy/can-cupping-help-with-anxiety/ [5] Cupping Warehouse. Cupping Therapy, Hormones and Neurotransmitters. https://cuppingwarehouse.com/blogs/library-and-articles/cupping-therapy-hormones-and-neurotransmitters [6] Lauche, R. et al. (2016). Efficacy of cupping therapy in patients with the fibromyalgia syndrome: a randomised placebo controlled trial. Scientific Reports. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5112514/

Why You Need a Night Guard Like, Ayer First things first, a customized night guard  is an absolute must if you’re dealing with teeth grinding or jaw clenching. Wearing a night guard creates a protective barrier between your upper and lower teeth, preventing further damage, which can range from tiny cracks in your teeth, cracking your teeth, full-on jaw pain, and/or headaches. It’s like putting on armor before you go to bed—because even though your mind may be on some stressful stuff, your teeth don’t need to suffer for it. Unlike those cheap, one-size-fits-all ones you might grab from the drugstore, a custom-fitted night guard (from your dentist) is molded to your teeth, so it’s comfier and does its job more effectively. You wouldn’t wear shoes that don’t fit, so why let your teeth grind against something that isn’t made for them? Trust me, this is a game-changer! While I did get my first night guard from my dentist, it was not cheap! It was not cheap and I made a crack in it, 3 to 4 months into having it. About a few months later, like now I just received my two new night guards via a small business company that is way cheaper, that I researched and I am happy with. I am not sponsored by them but happy with the results of my night guards. The company is called Remi. Mental Health & Bruxism: The Real Connection So what’s up with this connection between your mental health and your jaw acting like it’s bench-pressing in your sleep? Stress, anxiety, and unresolved tension  are major players. When we’re stressed, we tend to carry that tension in our bodies, and for a lot of us, it’s in our jaws. That tightness often doesn’t go away just because we’re sleeping. Here's the deal: our mind is powerful. Even when we’re unconscious, it can keep working through emotions and anxieties, which manifests physically—hola, clenched jaw! Some studies even suggest that people who suffer from anxiety or depression are more likely to deal with bruxism. If you’re out here grinding your teeth like there’s no tomorrow, it’s your body’s way of saying, “Hey, we need to deal with this stress!” How To Deal With It: Protect Your Mental & Dental Health Now that we know mental health can have your teeth grinding away at night, what can you do about it? Here are some tips to help you protect those pearly whites and  address the underlying causes. 1. Get a Custom Night Guard (Yes, I’m Saying It Again) We already covered this, but seriously—don’t sleep on this step. It’s the first line of defense and can prevent long-term damage while you work on managing stress. And again, I just got mine at the age of 35 because I didn't know I had this issue... 2. Consider Muscle Relaxers Sometimes, your muscles just need a little help to chill out. If your jaw feels tense or you’re waking up with headaches, your doctor may suggest a muscle relaxer  before bed. These can help loosen up those tight jaw muscles, so you’re not clenching in your sleep. But remember, consult with your doctor first to make sure it’s the right move for you. I personally only use these sparingly, as they can be addicting, so I leave them for when I really need them, again, consult your primary care doctor. 3. Stress Management Techniques Because the root of bruxism is often psychological, addressing your mental health is key. Here are a few ideas: Meditation and Deep Breathing:  Practicing mindfulness before bed can help ease the anxiety that might be causing you to grind. Exercise:  Physical movement is a proven stress-buster, and getting those endorphins flowing can help take the edge off your anxiety. Journaling:  If your mind is racing, try writing down what’s stressing you out before bed. Sometimes just getting it on paper helps your brain stop obsessing over it. 4. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) For people dealing with chronic stress or anxiety, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)  can be incredibly helpful. It’s a type of therapy that helps you identify and manage negative thought patterns that might be contributing to your stress (and jaw tension). It’s like mental exercise to retrain your brain into handling stress differently. 5. Check Your Diet Certain substances can make bruxism worse. Things like caffeine, alcohol, and sugar  can keep your nervous system activated, making it harder for your body to relax—yes, even when you’re asleep. Try reducing these, especially before bed, and see if that makes a difference. 6. Create a Calming Bedtime Routine Creating a chill vibe before you hit the sheets is a good way to prep your mind and body for restful sleep. Essential oils  like lavender, a warm bath, or some light stretching can all help release that pent-up tension. The goal is to make bedtime the ultimate relaxation zone, so your jaw doesn’t feel the need to join a grind-off. I personally don't care for lavender, I use eucalyptus, if lavernder doesn't work try eucalyptus, give it a shot. Final Thoughts: Addressing the Mind-Body Connection Grinding your teeth or clenching your jaw while you sleep might seem like just a dental issue, but it’s often a signal that something else is going on—something deeper that’s linked to your mental health. While a night guard  is an excellent first step in protecting your teeth, don’t forget to explore ways to manage stress, whether that’s through muscle relaxers, therapy, or lifestyle changes. Your mental health and your physical health are intertwined, and sometimes your body sends you signals in unexpected ways—like turning your jaw into a workout machine overnight. So take care of yourself, inside and out! Feel free to drop any questions in the comments or share what’s helped you manage bruxism! Gracias

On being medicated, the stigma of it as a POC and how I got there. I am pretty sure that anyone that is reading this already has assumed that I take medication for my mental health issues. I would think so since I do have pill capsule earrings that are supposed to represent ‘Prozac’ and ‘Lithium’. What I won’t mention is exactly what type of medication I do take or have taken. But really, I wouldn’t even be able to take either one of those medications mentioned because it would literally be too much ‘serotonin’ and yes, you can OD on too much serotonin. I’ll dedicate another blog to discuss, ‘serotonin syndrome’. Questions you may have: Do you take medication? Yes Have you always taken medication? No When did you start taking medication? In college, I was having a hard time one particular semester and I was balling tears so much I took myself to my on-campus doctor (yay! for student medical insurance). After going to him once, he told me about Xanax and I still declined it. I had another situation where I was uncontrollably crying, and finally said, I need to take this. And that’s how I got Xanax for the first time. Aren’t you afraid you’ll become addicted? No, as discussed with my psychiatrist, they have and do inform me, of when a specific medication can lead to addiction. Some medications like Xanax can be addicting. Xanax was first prescribed to me with the doctor at the time mentioning that, he didn’t see me as someone to abuse the medication and that I practiced many self-care methods that he knew I was trying to ‘fix’ myself in positive ways. Just to clarify, Xanax is typically not prescribed as a daily medication, but more so when one is having an anxiety attack or some kind of episode, that despite maybe the person’s daily medication routine, they need a little extra help. At the moment, they are unable to or weren’t able to manage it, whatever the reason may be. Do I have to tell anyone? While you may feel like you are lying, you really aren’t. Your personal business is no one’s to know unless you want them to. For myself, my immediate family were the only ones that knew up until now, because of my personal rule of it being on a need-to-know basis. What happens when you don’t take your medication? Nothing really unless I realize it. I may end up having a bad day, or end up worrying the entire time if I did take it or not, but usually, nothing awful happens. It’s usually just thoughts of not being sure if I took it, and if I should take it? Just in case, I didn’t. This does impact my day when I am at work(physically) and forget to take it, so if I can, I will run back home. If I can’t go back home, I will try and take my day one step at a time and try to acknowledge triggers if possible. Do you regret taking medication? A big fat ‘NO’ I genuinely believe it has been the best decision of my life. I do regret having waited so long. So here is the rest of the blog explaining my journey about getting on medication. Continuing from above… I finally decided to get a daily medication prescribed to me about 3 or so years ago. I had what I call some type of breakdown. I couldn’t and didn’t want to do anything for myself, I just wanted to cry, and while I mainly suffer from anxiety, my anxiety at times does lead to depression. At this point in my life, I had just finished a difficult summer at work, and I was burnt out. In addition to being burnt out, I also knew my relationship, with the person I refer to as, cough* cough* ‘Trash’, was soon to end, had made me change my plans to go seem my favorite band, Arcade Fire in Berkeley because he wanted to go to Laughlin for a weekend trip -_-. I ended up purchasing two tickets to the show in Berkeley, and two plane tickets, as well as booked an AirBNB. After this, we eventually broke up. but before that happened, he told me he couldn’t make it, he paid off his portion to me of all the expenses, and I went alone because you can have fun on your own. No regrets! Amazing show. But what most didn’t see of the trip on my Instagram, was the crying I was doing whenever I was back at my AirBNB. I managed to get myself back to L.A. in one piece but knew something was off. When it’s this bad, I know, something is off. I took myself to the ER, spoke with my acupuncturist that day because I had an appointment, and she agreed with me that I needed help. Trash, never once checked in on me when I took myself into the ER, nor did he bother to ask. Hence, why he is still ‘Trash’, and these are only two of the many other things he didn’t do as a partner for me. But back to the me. I feel lucky, to never have had any suicidal tendencies/attempts. Even with medication at times stating it’s a side effect, it’s not likely for me. With this, I will say that having experienced the physical and mental pain that comes with depression; I fully understand why people would choose to end their lives. The pain is so great, it’s unexplainable unless you’ve gone through it. This is not to encourage it, but just to say I understand. Once I got out of the ER, my mom was wonderful and came to stay with me for a while as I waited to get my psychiatrist appointment and tried to function up until then. This came with spurts of random crying, not wanting to eat, not sleeping well, and overall depression. When I finally got to see my psychiatrist, I was so relieved. Not only was she kind, but she was a woman of color, in a typically white-dominated field. She listened and never pushed anything on me. I told her my concerns, including addiction, and how I had never taken medication, so I wanted to start on something simple and a small dose. We went ahead with that plan, and the moment I started to take the medication; I was pretty numb to anything that would have caused me any type of mental hurt. I honestly felt wonderful, even if I was having no feelings. Nothing could hurt me. It was amazing! But I was ok with that momentary absence of feeling because as I’ve probably have stated to friends and family, I feel and think too much sometimes, and it was nice for it to stop for once. That non-feeling feeling, lasted about two weeks. If it had gone on for longer, I would’ve mentioned it to my doctor. This was just the adjustment my body was doing, and from there on I felt, ‘normal’, and even this normal, was something I had never felt before. My brain was quiet, I would still think of things that would typically worry me, but I would not go into the unnecessary rabbit holes that I was typically on. All of this to say, I was no longer too stressed out, I was able to focus and not freak out about a specific comment someone made that I would overanalyze throughout the day, and I was no longer as tired/fatigued. Fast-forward to now, that medication stopped working. I was told it just had worn off, which is fair after the amount of time I had taken it. I only realized this after I had a similar episode to the one above, except I didn’t take myself to the ER, rather I just laid at home crying knowing I needed to talk to a psychiatrist. Now I have a different medication and dose. Being on medication can be tricky, as they can wear off over time, they may not even work for you, you have to try a variety of them to get your dosage right, and it’s usually helpful when it’s partnered with therapy. But yes, you may wonder, why the heck did you wait so long to get on medication?! It took me long because I really didn’t know what was going on. In high school, I only knew about depression, with no idea of what anxiety was, and only knowing that I had been depressed momentarily at some point in high school. On top of this, the reason for the creation of ‘Educated Chola’ is to help and bring awareness into Latinx homes about mental health, its symptoms, and how you can try and manage it. But we can’t do any of that, without removing the stigma of mental health and medication. Coming from a Latinx household, and at the time in the culture, mental health was seen as a disgrace, that you were ‘crazy’, there’s something wrong with you. (This was the 90’s). While that was never really the case in my household, what was happening is that no one really knew what mental health was all about. I have always had a supportive mother, but we just didn't have the resources to access mental health help nor knew about it. My personal reason why I didn’t take or ask for medication up until college has been because I didn’t want the stigma. I was afraid of what people would say, if I had to tell people, that I was weak, they would treat me differently, etc. After acknowledging the fact that up until going to college and then graduate school, without taking medication on a daily basis, I finally felt comfortable taking it. I realized how much ‘easier’ my life would have been if I had done this earlier. By ‘easier’ meaning, I would not have had to struggle so much mentally from all the stress and pressure put on myself as a Latinx woman, trying to be the best, and overworking herself to get even close to her white and male counterparts in society. Also ‘easier’, by not having to overthink all the time, cause me to have headaches, not sleep, not eat because I was too sad to eat, ending relationships and being ok, and not distraught, and many other things that may sound simple but aren’t to me. I do want to point out that even deciding to go to Graduate school was stressful because I knew how stressed and anxious Undergrad had been, that I didn’t want to experience that again. But my high functioning side said, ‘No, if other people can do it, you can too’ and the fact that the deferment for NYU was $1,000, I said here I come! Regardless of all the amazing friends I made, that are still friends and supporting me in the Educated Chola journey, like many of them too can relate, Grad school was MISERABLE! even if you don’t have a mental health issue, you were MISERABLE. I don’t know exactly what it is, definitely, a good portion for me was the pressure I always put on myself, but everyone was either drinking, working and studying, or crying somewhere or about to break down out of the stress. I don’t regret it, but as I said, I could’ve made it ‘easier’. A part of normalizing to myself that it was ok to take medication was this logic: if others like diabetics, people with kidney disease, heart disease, cancer, etc. all can take medication for their health, I can take medication for my health. They clearly need it to continue living, and that’s what I want to do. With that, I hope that you gain something from my story and if you feel like you need help or would like to try medication to cope with your mental health issue, reach out to a psychiatrist to discuss. Abrazos, Your Educated Chola