Healing with the Seasons: Summer (Part 1) Such a buzz of busy-ness this time of year! More hours of daylight and yet not enough hours in a day. Sometimes, I feel like a pup leaning out a car window, with the world speeding past so fast, all I can do is hang on and grin as it flies by. I want to ‘Make hay while the sun shines.’ But I still have pots of little plants on the porch, waiting to root in my garden. Summer flies. So …
Wellness
Working with the Hara
Working with the Hara is a central idea in Shiatsu. Hara is a Japanese word that physically refers to the abdomen. However, it means more than the physical. In Western thought the lower abdomen is important, called the “core” and the center of gravity of the physical body. Here, Hara is an important core and center of a person’s entire being. …
Finding our Balance in Tumultuous Times
Tension. Opposition. Violence, even. It may come as a surprise to some readers that all of these have a place in the life cycle of a healthy organism. At least they do in the paradigm of Asian Healing Arts. It’s not all sweetness and light in here! Without any tension, we’d collapse like rubber chickens. Without opposition, we’d miss the full spectrum of our life’s possibilities. And without violent muscle contractions, none of us would have …
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A Picture of Health
Being able to envision ourselves as healthy is crucially important to our prognosis. This best-kept secret of healing is finally out of the bag. Numerous recent studies have headlined research confirming this phenomenon. Which comes as no surprise to traditional healers! So how do we cultivate a vision of wellness for ourselves that serves our healing processes? …
Winter: What’s the Point?
Winter can feel like we’re just trying to get by. Especially after the holidays, our energy reserves are wiped out. When we try to ‘get things done,’ we find our concentration low and our nerves frayed. We just hang on, waiting for longer days. Warmer temperatures. Brighter skies. Taoists viewed Winter a little differently. This tradition, the source of Asian healing arts like acupuncture, held Winter as a time of great power. And believed our …