Yesterday I went berry picking. It was a sunny breezy day after heavy rains and the berries were plump and relatively untouched by critters and bugs and summer’s dank heat. The flora and fauna were lush enough to give me pause as I trailed along in shorts and hiking boots vigilant for the poison ivy… Continue Reading →
Yin Time
A foundational principle of Chinese Medicine is balance. Specifically balance between yin and yang. Yang is life force, movement, action, activity. It is light, ephemeral, intangible. Yang is what moves the leaves in a breeze, it is the spark that awakens us from slumber. Yang is summer, hot, bright, open. Yang reaches to… Continue Reading →
What it is…
In my current field of study, the Holy Spirit’s work and evidence might be termed Qi. In Daoist thinking, all is qi. It is as if Creation itself and what creates it is all qi. Everything is qi, has qi, contains qi, gives qi. Qi is energy, flow, force.
She told stories of various things that had happened to her in years of practice. Giggles, tears, breathing, chattering, silence, even the occasional whoo! of a patient.
“It’s all qi” she said. Everything is qi. Just remember that.
Ritual and Reverence: points from within and without
This weekend marks the annual Greek Festival in our neighborhood. Allen and I walked to the festivities in the perfect afternoon as the sugar maple trees started donning their brilliant autumn splendor. With the smell of Greek food cooking at demonstrations and the sound of Greek dancing music playing to our ears we headed into… Continue Reading →
Heart
My nephew picks up his shoes and ceremonially takes them to the kitchen sink, in which he drops them with wild giggles. He is a full on heart song at times like this. He is a kid with that kind of spirit that can crack one’s heart open. I’m vaguely aware that this week is… Continue Reading →
water- wood- moon moments
I last left these pages in October, writing about Fire. This afternoon we saw one, blazing across the seagrasses toward our view, lapping its orange flames against our boardwalk, encroaching with gusts of wind and black smoke. We moved our car. We called the fire department. We waited. We watched. We smelled the scorched scent… Continue Reading →
Fire
In Chinese Medicine, the way the life source courses through our body is divided into a circuit through five ‘elements’: earth, fire, water, metal, and wood. Each of these elements has some responsibility for specific internal workings of the body, a part of the spirit we contain, and has a special relationship with actual organs… Continue Reading →
Changing
I am coming off of a full weekend of seminars by Jeffery Yuen. Jeffery Yuen is the guru of sorts for my school. I don’t mean guru in the mascot sense, but in the foundational sense. He is an 88th generation Doaist monk who is also a clinician of medicine. He lectures for hours without… Continue Reading →
First Things First
I have completed my first week of Chinese Medicine. I am reflecting on some of the points of parallel and the points of divergence to my first Masters degree which was boldly called ‘Divinity’. There is room for what I call magical thinking in Chinese Medical school when studied from the Classical tradition. As we… Continue Reading →
10 things I am reminded I missed and spirited lines
Here is a list of 10 things I forgot to miss while we were out west: 1. the smell of freshly cut grass2. the luxury of a well lit large enough bathtub3. how HUGELY tall trees are where we come from4. bright green moss growing on damp rocks5. the mixed colors of people I have… Continue Reading →