Connect the Dots

Life is about growth. In order to grow we need to go through lessons and learn from them.  According to Daoist philosophy there are 9 Palaces - also referred to as Heart Pains - that ones master through out the soul's journey.  In this episode - the first Palace - Health. 

Blood is a vital substance in the body. It needs to circulate properly around the system. Lack of circulation can cause stagnation and stasis.  In Chinese medicine stuck blood also means stuck experiences and stuck emotions... how do we make sure it keeps moving?

Since the body, the mind and the Spirit are really one thing, it is impossible to separate the disease from the feelings and emotions that come up in the process of one's illness. In reality, no two people have the same condition exactly for this reason. 

When we are off, or sick we mostly want to get back to "normal". What is normal? Who dictates this "standard"? And if you ended up somewhere, don't you think your "Normal" got you there???

Nature is marvelous. It is here to guide and help us. There is a principle in Chinese Medicine that says that anything in nature that resemble an organ or a part on the body would benefit it. This is the Law of signatures.

Let's talk about identity. How do we know who we are? Are you your name? Are you your gender? Are you your ethnicity, race, or religion? And if we are not all these things, who are we really?

We spoke of Mind Body connection, but the Spirit is also part of the picture. It is said to reside in the body and through issues in the body we can learn about spiritual issues we might face.  

Sometimes after a treatment we start feeling worse. Acupuncture, as part of a healing journey, is meant to move old stagnations. Getting rid of pain sounds like a good idea, but that pain can reveal something you may have forgotten. Now that it was unblocked - are you willing to look at it? You can't just pretend you haven't seen it....  It's a process, and that process is yours. 

We all have closets. Thats where we put anything we don't want to deal with. The body also has closets. There we store any conflict that wasn't resolved. If we fail to resolve a cold or a virus it can hide in the body and become latent.  It comes out of latency usually - when we are exhausted, stressed or sleep deprived. You know those issues that show up when you are stressed out? they have...

When we get a treatment we first communicate about what is wrong and what we need help with. Talking is one way of communicating this information.  But the body also gives the practitioner information via the pulse.  Yes - the pulse at the wrist tells much more than just if you are alive... 

There are rules in nature. And the most ancient rule says that the only constant in nature is Change. Changes happen all the time. But most people don't like change, or might have resistance to change. That clash between what we want and nature causes pain.

Many do not like the idea of Binary when it comes to gender. It seems very limiting, and narrow to only have two ideas of gender roles.  But everything in nature, every phenomena can only be understood in binary - or rather, through contrast. Check my project ichingofgender.com to explore your binary code of gender presentation. 

We always want to know, how long is it going to take - to get better, to heal? At times it seem like it is hard, and difficult and long. Why is that?   

Acupuncturists do not like cold things. We don't recommend drinking icy drinks, and juices or eating salads. Why is that?  

Did you ever feel not quite like yourself? Have you had weird obsessions with things that never called your attention before? Those might be signs of a foreign energy that entered your field. In Chinese Medicine we call these ghosts.  

You are perfect, now change.  Well... doesn't this sound weird? Which one is it? Am I perfect or should I change???

Do you feel grounded? Are your feet and ankles align and support your every step?  There are three points located around the ankle that convey the idea of walking firmly on your path. Like all acupuncture points, they have unique names, poetic in nature, that explain this idea.

How do you feel about yourself right now? What do you think about the world right now? Where you stand on these topics shows up in your body as you literal stance - your posture, your gait. Energetically, the way you see yourself in the world is registered in these two channels Yin Qiao, and Yang Qiao, or in english: the Heel vessels. 

Guest House is a name of a point on the Yin Linking channel. The name conveys the idea of this channel. One meaning is reflected beautifully in a Poem by Rumi, with the same name. 

Continuing from last episode, the Yin Linking channel records the responsibilities and roles we assume as we went through cycles of growth. Growth cycles in the body occur naturally every 7 or 8 years. We move from childhood to puberty and from adults to elders. Each of these phases call for a personality shift of sorts. Can we stay true to our "Original Self"?

As we grow and our lives unfold, our body records important information.   We don't need to learn how to do things twice. Once we learn it, the body remembers how to do it - like riding a bicycle. The channel of energy that recalls and remembers the activities throughout our life is called the Yang Linking channel or Yang Wei Mai in Chinese.  If a movement is associated with a traumatic...

The earliest energies to develop are also the ones that color our view of the world. Any imbalance that may occur early on in life can affect our future relationships. Our own yin and yang deficiencies can attract our exact opposite into a relationship that might end up being co-dependent rather than independent and healthy. 

After the Sea of Yin comes the Sea of Yang.  The Governing channel helps us move about in the world, and gives us a sense of adventure and the curiosity to explore. This is a natural evolution after being raised with assurance that we are taken care of and everything is provided.  This energy runs along the spine, this is the Du channel.

The first channel to develop right after birth has the frequency of wholeness, perfection and oneness. This channel is called Ren, that means Humanity. For most of us, the idea of being perfect is something unattainable - no one is perfect.  But Ren is a channel we all have. We are born perfect. Somehow we just forgot....

There is a plan of you, before you became you. This plan is stored energetically in our body. The catch is, that the plan is unconscious... it's unknown to us. It is for us to explore and unfold. This blueprint is a channel of energy called the Chong. it is part of a set of channels that are our constitution.