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From April 2020
To my dear clients, students and friends. My deepest regards and love to you all as we go through a profoundly transformative time both in our inner and outer personal lives and in our communities and our global villages. For myself and my qi modalities of acupressure & sōtai practices I have had to stop seeing people because of the close personal proximity that is required. Also the offices that I have sub-leased for years have had to close down. It is difficult times, but I personally am healthy, breathing well, practicing qigong and meditation and reaching deeply into my own internal spaces. I am trusting in the Tao and universal qi to see what happens next. Please do not hesitate to be in touch if only just to talk and check in. Here's my link to email. Even in my retreat mode I miss you all and hope that everyone is well.
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 The Five Elements in Chinese Wellness theory is a path to health, well being and self knowledge. Learning the qualities of each element opens us up to a new understanding of how our body works, what our emotional expressions mean and how our mind thinks. Learning The Five Elements gives us insight in to the unique balance that each of us have. Even in the fast and chaotic world we live in we can use this ancient wisdom to help us to know our authentic self.
We are now in the Wood Phase. It is the spring time, the time of childhood, the time of beginnings. From seed to flower, bud to leaf, from vision to strategy energy moves quickly, resplendent with expanding. The wood phase is windy, blowing from here to there, breezy to forceful. The image for wood is often trees. It is the flexibility of the tendons and sinews in the body and the adaptability of the mind. Eyes are the sense organ and seeing is the ability. Naturally vision is included, so planning and strategizing allows vision to be initiated. For the past year I’ve added a new technique to my acupressure practice called Sotai. In September I was in Boulder for a Sotai Symposium taught by the foremost practitioners in this fairly recent addition to the pantheon of Japanese Qi Medical tradition. Sotai uses the breath, gravity and isometric movement to open the body’s qi flow. It is a progression of qi healing techniques from the Japanese Qi Medical tradition that Shiatsu and Jin Shin Do come from. Because of my interest in deep body-mind work and trauma, I’ve looked for gentle, whole body-mind ways to support deep knowing and healing.
What appeals to me is the healing partnership, and the immediate feeling of balance for the client that happens with this technique. Sotai supports your body’s wisdom of what wants to shift and honors what is in this moment. I am so grateful for everyone that I have had the privilege to be in a healing partnership with that I’d like to offer special Sotai sessions to you: an hour session of Sotai for $60 from April 1 to 20 . Email me at: [email protected] or go to the contact page and let’s set up an appointment. Try this Mung Bean Soup for winter cleansing: warming, anti-inflammatory, and satisfying. If we are especially depleted as we go into winter, raw and juice cleansing will deplete our qi more, so this is delicious medicine that nourishes qi.
Between birthdays and holiday parties, I need something that is going to ground me, tone down my inflammation and keep me going. That's when I make my mung bean soup. It's fairly easy to make and very tasty! Try it and let me know what you think. Ingredients 1 cup whole green mung beans - soaked overnight 2 cup water + 1/2-1 to taste tsp. salt- to cook beans in pressure cooker 2 cup water - to achieve the soup 1 tbsp sunflower oil or ghee 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 1/4 tsp hing (known as asafoetida in the West) 1 bay leaf 1/2 tsp Turmeric 1 tsp mixed cumin and coriander powder 11/2 tsp ginger - chopped (or pressed through the garlic press) 1/2 tsp garlic - chopped (or pressed through the garlic press) 1 tsp or to taste Salt 11/2 tsp. lemon juice Preparation Time: 45 minutes Directions Soak the mung beans overnight in water. Clean and finely grind ginger and garlic. Drain the mung beans, wash them two times and cook in a pressure cooker with the indicated amount of water until tender. It takes around 25 minutes, according to your pressure cooker. (The beans have to be broken.) If you use a regular pot, it will take 40-45 minutes for the beans to be fully cooked (I use a regular pot). Heat the oil or ghee in a large deep saucepan and add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds pop, add hing, bay leaf, turmeric, cumin, coriander, ginger, garlic and a pinch of black pepper. Mix well and do not allow to burn. Place the cooked beans with the fresh water and the remaining ingredients into the saucepan. Bring to a boil then simmer for a few minutes more. Add Lemon and Enjoy  Walking to the farmer's market as a humid wind carries the scent of a thunderstorm, I note that the Earth Phase is beginning. The ending of summer and the beginning of autumn is considered an energetic time in and of itself. It is the Earth Element or Phase. Some of the qualities of Earth are humidity, shorter days, the sun shifting lower in the afternoon sky, and the sweet flavor of ripening squashes and grains. The organ system is the Spleen-Pancreas/Stomach that is connected to nourishment of not only the body, but of spirit and mind. Earth Element represents the balance of yin and yang and is therefore connected with overall balance of our body, mind & spirit.
Every culture has a definition of what health looks like. You may have a sense of what that looks like. What does health feel like to you? Each culture has a definition that fits the philosophies and ideas that allow the culture to flourish. The traditional and indigenous cultures of the world have a practical and holistic understanding of what health and wellness means. While Chinese medicine is not native to me or my United States culture, I have chosen to study and practice it because I have found that it works. My experience of using the practices and theories of health and wellness from a tradition that is at least six thousand years old has been inspirational and practical. The Chinese Medicine view is holistic and comprehensive in understanding of what a healthy person is. Chinese Medicine has developed health practices that anyone can do and shift their wellbeing.
So what does it feel like to feel healthy? What does a healthy person look like? The breath is unencumbered, the skin is clear, digestion is good, elimination is complete, the eyes convey a sense of awareness. There is flexibility not only in the body, also in the mind and emotions. Even when there is illness in the body, disturbance in the disposition, confusion in relating to any aspect of our lives, our recovery is quick. We can say we are in balance and we feel alive just because we are alive. In Chinese Medicine we work with the life force or qi (chee). When we have a sense of peace, vitality and openness to our lives, our qi is flowing. Our qi is in balance and we can meet ourselves, family, friends and the world with clarity and confidence, even when challenges arise. When we feel “off” or continually out of sorts or feel pain, our qi is out of balance and we feel depleted or stagnant. If this continues we become sick and require healing. To keep our qi balanced we require good breath, unadulterated food, good sleep and relaxation. In life our qi balance is always changing, so there are additional ways to support our everyday equilibrium. Such practices as qi cultivating exercises like qigong, taiji, and yoga, herbs that nourish and move the qi and getting seasonal qi balancing work like acupuncture, acupressure, shiatsu or some form of qi based bodywork all help to keep us healthy and balanced. It can’t be emphasized enough that in maintaining health and wellness, prevention is key. Our qi (life force) naturally moves the body/mind toward health and balance. Each of us has a unique constitution and qi flow and we inherently want to flourish. So taking good breaths into the belly, eating vegetables, fruits and unprocessed foods, moving our bodies both for strength and flexibility, resting the thinking mind and deep sleep all contribute to staying in balance. As we become more mindful of our state of health we can know when we need support and guidance from a Chinese medicine practitioner. It is interesting to note that in “ancient” times you paid your doctor when you were well, and if you became sick, you didn’t pay him. You trusted your healer to partner with you to be your healthiest and fullest self. To achieve that end practitioners learn to observe all parts of the body. Similar to a detective we are looking and listening for clues. To name a few things we notice your posture, your skin, your clothing, your eyes. Some practitioners look at the tongue. We listen to what you have to say and the quality of your voice. We train our nose to “listen” through smelling. We feel your pulses and palpate the abdomen. Naturally, we ask many questions about your symptoms, your diet, your sleep, your relationships, your work and your health practices. And it is important to contribute any information that you feel is relevant to your path to healing. From all this information we can determine where qi is not enough, or maybe too much, or not flowing smoothly. With this assessment we can determine what acupoints to use, what qi channels to palpate, what herbs to proscribe, what movements may be helpful and what meditations may be supportive. And we may give home work to support the continuation of healing. Complying with the guidance is not only empowering, but it is another way of cultivating qi. One of the virtues of Chinese medicine is that it empowers us to thrive as human beings so that we can be our best selves. As we grow we may even send out an unnoticeable ripple of healthiness to our friends and family and beyond. Of course, in our modern world there are many obstacles to being healthy, clear, open and fulfilled. Our everyday urban life is overwhelming to our bodies, minds and spirit. Breathing in auto fumes, the myriad toxic chemicals from herbicides and construction; eating food that has too much sugar and unpronounceable names of chemicals and has had the life force processed out of it; being so busy that we can’t connect with family and friends; working to exhaustion so that relaxation becomes numbing out. And then there is the aggressive and violent action that we see constantly in our world that keeps us in states of anxiety, worry, despair, fear and anger. All of this depletes our qi, our life force. It’s so overwhelming that I sometimes feel that the big sigh we take is the unconscious need for a deep breath. Take a conscious breath now…really, relax your belly and breathe! What I find so heartening about Chinese medicine is the recognition that everything is interdependent and interconnected. Our health and well being, our qi is formed from our inheritance: our parents, grandparents, etc… This is called our prenatal qi. And as science keeps discovering we are impacted by our surroundings: our nourishment, our natural habitat(or lack of) our families, our schools, our neighborhoods, our society and even our whole world. This is our postnatal qi. Lastly there are situations that are unexpected like natural disasters, traumatic activities, misfortunes or good fortunes, lucky occurrences. We could call this fate, coincidence or karma. All of these influences swirl around in infinite ways to make us uniquely us with unique patterns of qi flow. Some of us will have better health and some of us will have more challenges, but how we meet these challenges, how we manage our qi will be crucial to our sense of wellbeing and unique balance. Plus, because we are interconnected and in relationship with others our healing may quietly germinate a shift towards health for others. Another important recognition that Chinese medicine expresses is the interconnectedness in our human systems: our body, mind and spirit are not separate parts, but intertwined as a whole. While any experience that we have in our lifetime may or may not be held in our mind’s memory, it will be held in the body’s memory and will influence our qi or behavior patterns. What we witness in our lives our bodies also witness. When it comes to trauma what we forget or hide may be our mind and spirit’s way to regulate trauma. What science is beginning to discover, but what Chinese medicine understands is that our nervous system and body holds the response to trauma and that it reverberates through our whole bodies. It may show up as physical symptoms, emotional or mental dysfunction, and existential suffering. We also know that what is traumatizing to one of us may not effect another. Remember our unique qi patterning? Those are the different ways that it can show up. Some of us have more resiliency than others for all kinds of reasons. The healing journey is our way to resolve and balance so that we come back to who we are. The principles of qi flow can helps on our healing journey. Qi can become stuck and stagnant or depleted and empty through poor nutrition, lack of exercise, shallow breathing, held emotions, difficult experiences and traumatic events. Qi work such as acupuncture, acupressure, herbs and movement can be a powerful part of our healing process. Choosing to use Chinese medicine or any healing modality means initiating a healing relationship with a knowledgable and compassionate practitioner. This relationship becomes the space or container that allows healing to unfold and help guide us to our authentic and good selves. Trust and kindness are important in this relationship. Through the guidance of a healing practitioner (in the case of Chinese medicine an acupuncturist, acupressurist, herbalist, bodyworker) we can open to the method that shifts the qi flow and imbalanced patterns whether it is needles, fingers, hands, herbs, movement or meditation. We become an active partner in our own healing as we comply with the prescriptions for health and open to knowing more about ourselves. We have so many ways to create health and wellness in our culture. Often it is hard to make choices as to what would be best. Certainly modern medicine has contributed greatly to how humans work and how they can be healthy. The technology is miraculous. There are times when we need those modern miracles. There are also times when we can and should support our own healing using the wisdom and the knowledge of Chinese medicine. Health is not just physical efficacy. Wellness is not measured in how often we can push ourselves to the brink of exhaustion. It is about learning who we truly are, what our innate wisdom and compassion is, what are our limitations are. Because our breath is natural and deep, our bodies are flexible, our mind is clear and our hearts open we can touch into our innate goodness and radiate our gentle confidence in the world. So take a good breath, appreciate where you’re at, and take a step toward your own health and wellbeing. In Chinese medicine we understand that we get qi from breathing & eating. So it is important to eat food that the spleen can transform and transport for our nourishment, health and vitality. Ideally, we eat organic, unprocessed and fresh foods. Food temperature is important. Since the stomach is the 1st processor of food, the closer to body temperature it is, then the less qi is required to “ripen & rotten” it for further digestion. Often we are prone to eat lots of raw and cold foods in the summertime. I’ve seen many clients in the late summer coming in for digestive imbalance, especially stomach cramping and loose stools. This is what happens when we eat food too cold for our system. If you find yourself in this situation, begin to eat cooked foods more and see if that will help.
And, here’s a recipe for all that zucchini you’ve been getting…that will warm and balance the spleen. This is a recipe that I’ve used from the Kitchn. It’s simple and energetically balance! Enjoy! Zucchini Garlic Soup makes 1 1/2 quarts 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 white onion, sliced 8 to 9 large cloves garlic, sliced thinly 4 medium zucchini, about 1 1/2 pounds 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger Salt and pepper Melt the butter in a heavy 4quart pot over medium heat. When it foams, add the sliced garlic and onions and cook on mediumlow heat for about 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent. Keep the heat low enough that the garlic doesn't brown; you want everything to sweat. When the onions are soft, add the zucchini and cook until soft. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer at a low heat for about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly, then blend with an immersion blender until creamy, or transfer to a standing blender to puree. Be very careful if you use the latter; only fill the blender half full with each batch, and hold the lid down tightly with a towel. Taste and season with ginger, salt and pepper. Like most soups, this is significantly better after a night in the refrigerator to let the flavors meld. click here for the original page & recipe on Kitchn.com |
Jennifer O'HaraSharing my explorations of Qi for everyday living and self-healing. Archives |
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