I’m a big fan of TED talks, so I’m very excited to announce that I’ve been invited to talk at this Saturday’s TEDxUIBE conference here in Beijing on their campus. Their theme is Impressions of Beijing, and my 18 minute presentation, awkwardly titled Healthy Living in Beijing: Yes, You Can! will focus on what I think is an “idea worth spreading” — you can live a healthy life here in Beijing, despite all the endless stories suggesting otherwise. I’m still finalizing the details but I think at least it won’t be boring, and my slide show is full of lovely photos of nature as a backdrop to my discussion.

One of my chief points is that much of our suffering is actually self-inflicted. In other words, we can be our own worst enemies with negative thoughts and stress, which in itself can harm your health potentially far worse than any environmental scandal-of-the-day. Waking up here every day thinking, “oh gosh, life here in Beijing sure is hard” just isn’t a healthy way to live. The good news, as I will discuss, is that you have control over whether you wake up happy or sad every day. I’ve made this personal change myself, and I’d like to share my story as an example for others. I hope that after these 18 minutes, people will take a new look around what they thought was their usual routine, and find some nuggets of joy and happiness they never noticed before.

All are welcome! Tickets are in short supply so please RSVP quickly. Mine is the only English lecture on the list, as the others are all in Chinese. You can find their English information here.

Here’s their Chinese blurb on me:

#TEDxUIBE事儿北京# @圣西睿智全科医生 Richard Saint Cyr是来自美国的家庭医生，2007年起定居北京，现工作于北京和睦家医院，同时是《纽约时报》中文版健康专栏作者，创立健康网站www.myhealthbeijing.com。下周六，他将首次走进大学，告诉大家即使是在雾霾锁城的北京，也能健康生活。Yes, You Can！