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SACRED SEPTEMBER
Ah, September
Crisp mornings
Leaves turning
A time of harvest
A time of gathering up in preparation for winter
One of the most inspirational aspects of Chinese Medicine is discovering the connection between the seasons and their influence on specific organ systems, emotions and spiritual qualities. As we begin to understand how the seasonal cycles of the Earth greatly impact our physical and emotional lives, as well as encourage certain aspects of our healing process, we are able to truly grasp the nuances of how our physical and emotional bodies bring subtle, yet clear communications from our spirit.
In Chinese Medicine, Autumn is the season of the metal element. The lungs and colon are spotlighted during this time of year, serving to take in vital energy and release what is not needed. Imbalances in the metal element can manifest as a decreased immune system allowing colds and flu, excess mucus, sinus and ear infections, skin problems, headaches, constipation or diarrhea, allergies, asthma, chronic cough and bronchitis, to name just a few. It is a time to support the lungs by incorporating more qigong or yoga. It is also a great time of year to schedule an appointment for a qi healing session or acupuncture treatment that will support the lungs or cleanse the large instestine. Nutritionally, staying healthy in Autumn means letting go of the Summer. Autumn is a time to transition away from raw, cooling foods. Fortify your body with more pungent foods this season such as onions, garlic, turnip, ginger, radish, and daikon root and enjoy more dark leafy greens such as kale, broccoli, chard, and spinach. The golden and orange vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes and yams are also supportive. Good grain choices are oats, rice, amaranth and quinoa.
As the leaves turn and fall silently to the ground to await the depths of winter, so we can learn from the Mother around us. This is a time of turning inward; a time to gather what is good, healthy, abundant and pure to our centers. Let go of what no longer serves you well and release what holds you back. It is a great time of year to check in with yourself regarding forgiveness, non-attachment, and letting go. It is a natural time to receive what is pure and sacred from the heavens while giving up the heaviness to the earth through the dance of embracing opposite energies - receiving and releasing.
As we step onto the harvest field the season,
May we acknowledge the silent teachings from within that show us our true spirit.
May we be inspired to reflect - gaining clarity and cultivating creative expression.
May we contract into our depths and
expand into the purity of the Dao with each breath.
May we experience the alchemy of transformation,
by treasuring what is truly sacred in our hearts.
Love All Ways,
Jennifer and Jay
Sharing both the mysteries and the very practical uses of the classical metaphysical arts and sciences of China.
The Breath of Change
The Breath of Change
Are you breathing? Of course you must be or you wouldn't be alive and reading this article. But please, take a closer look at your breathing. Note the quality of breathing and the pattern of your breathing. Start to notice how often you find yourself holding your breath: When you sit down? When you stand up? Putting on your shoes? Writing a check?
So why don't we breathe properly?
There are two basic types of breathing obstructions:
1. Psychological breath disruption
This breathing pattern usually disrupts your breathing cycle in response to any stressful factor when something unexpected happens.
2. Physical breath disruption
This breathing pattern occurs when you have areas of restriction in your body - physical tension, disease, pain, or fatigue. This restriction blocks the natural flow of your breath.
Breathing is more than a mechanical process, more than merely filling your lungs as two bags of air. It is a complicated chemical process that involves every cell in your body. Breathing connects the Respiratory System to the body's six major physiological systems (Circulatory, Muscular-skeletal, Nervous, Endocrine, Digestive, and Genital-urinary). Your breath does not stop at your lungs. The inhalation continues into all the tissues and the exhalation dispels wastes from all the other systems. Every time you unconsciously hold your breath you are causing stress to all your body's systems.
How do we experience the breath of change?
First we need to be able to identify or recognize the dysfunction. In order to do this, we will take a closer look at the body's systems in relation to Classical Chinese Medicine's Five Element Theory and 6 specific dysfunctional breathing patterns.
Dysfunctional breathing patterns:
1. Hyperventilating (or rapid breathing)
This pattern causes an imbalance in the heart/fire element. By breathing rapidly it intensifies the emotion, therefore allowing energy to rise to the heart causing a buildup or stagnation of what Chinese Medicine refers to as fire energy.
2. Mouth breathing
This is a pattern which can be seen by the collar bones rising. This pattern causes a dysfunction of the lungs/metal element. Someone who is sad or depressed will often take air in through the mouth and let it out with a sigh. You will also notice that these people are often tired or fatigue easily.
3. Chest breathing
Just think of someone who is angry and you will most likely conjure an image of their chest rising and falling. This dysfunction affects the liver/wood energy. Imagine the picture of the cartoon bull with the steam coming from his nose and you'll be able to spot this pattern easily.
4. Reverse breathing
This breath is caused by fear, fatigue, shock or stress. The abdomen contracts or move toward the spine on the inhale, and the abdomen expands, or moves away from the spine, on the exhale. This pattern affects the kidney/water element. Imagine someone jumping out and scaring you and this is the breath you would take right before shouting obscenities and hitting the person for scaring you. Another example of a time when this breath is apparent is when you're really tired and you still have just one more thing that needs to be done - you will find yourself breathing this way.
5. Rapid shallow breathing followed by a breath hold and then a heavy sigh
This dysfunction is brought about by continued anxiety or post-traumatic stress. This pattern causes a dysfunction in the spleen/earth element.
In the Five Element Theory, all elements exist within each other and although the 6 breathing dysfunctions can happen independently they more often happen in conjunction with each other. That being said, let's take a look at number 6.
6. Holding and bracing
When a stressful situation presents itself, holding the breath is the first apparent dysfunction. The pressure caused by holding the breath causes the energy to become stagnant within each system/element. When the stressful situation is over, the breath will regulate itself, but the energy will still have created a pattern which will affect your structure/posture. Over time, your body will posture itself to brace against the perceived emotion further cementing the dysfunction. This type of breath dysfunction disrupts the balance of yin and yang or fire and water elements within the body.
Once you have created an awareness of these dysfunctions in your own breathing, you will need to normalize the reflexive breath - freeing yourself of the dysfunction and allowing your breath to flow freely from your movements and your structure/posture. How is this done?
This is accomplished by moving what has existed unconsciously in your daily life and bringing it to a conscious level. Begin to practice the breathing patterns consciously. Then start to feel the breath move and awaken in your belly, lower ribcage, chest, upper chest, and whole body. Start to feel the wave of your breath moving into and out of your body. On a physical level use your breath to open different parts of the body and then by just using visualization begin to feel your breath moving up the back of your body from the heels to the head with your inhale and down the front of the body from the head to the toes with your exhale. Then imagine the breath moving down from the head to the toes with the inhale and up the back of the body from the heels to the head with the exhale. Do this conscious breathing every morning before you get out of bed and then again anytime throughout the day to help you break through old patterns.
Breathe in easily. Breathe out effortlessly. Feel the shift as you breathe consciously. Feel the breath of change.
Jennifer and Jay Bartholomew
The Gentle Spirit
800 Main St., Suites 101 and 105
Hellertown, PA 18055
610-838-4975
www.thegentlespirit.com
The Mysterious Powers of Spring
Internal Martial Arts Workshop
East Meets West on February 14th
Welcome to Valentine’s and Chinese New Year weekend! This weekend promises a big swell of celestial energy waves for all of you free-spirit surfers. First, we have a wonderful New Moon today around 10pm EST. New Moon always brings a fresh new outlook at life and since it is a New Moon in Aquarius, it will allow you to easily access new friends, reconnect to groups, community, as well as other areas of Aquarian aspects of life that include intuition and innovation. However, this weekend has many more surprises. The New Moon in Aquarius always marks the Chinese New Year. This weekend begins the year of the Golden Tiger. I think it is interesting that this year the Eastern Chinese New Year happens to be synchronized with the Western celebration of relationships and friendship. I see it as a great sign that relationships between the East and West are becoming stronger. Happy Year of the Tiger! Happy Valentines! xoxo
Autumn Moon Festival
The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, which is usually around late September or early October in the Gregorian calendar. It is a date when the moon is at its brightest, fullest and roundest. The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake (pictured above), of which there are many different varieties. Traditional mooncakes have a filling made from lotus seeds as well as an egg yolk in the center - symbolic of the full moon.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the few most important holidays in the Chinese calendar, the others being Winter Solstice and Chinese New Year, and it is a legal holiday in several countries. Farmers celebrate the end of the summer harvesting season on this date. Traditionally on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon, and eat moon cakes and pomelos together. Accompanying the celebration, there are additional cultural or regional customs, such as eating mooncakes outside under the moon and carrying brightly lit lanterns.
The Autumn Moon Festival is associated with many legends. Here is one that appears in written form in two Western Han dynasty (206 BCE-24 BCE) collections; Shan Hai Jing, the Classic of the Mountains and Seas and Huainanzi, a philosophical classic.
Houyi was an immortal, while Chang'e was a beautiful young girl, working in the Jade Emperor's Palace as the attendant to the Queen Mother of the West, just before her marriage. One day, Houyi aroused the jealousy of the other immortals, who then slandered him before the Jade Emperor. Houyi and his wife, Chang'e, were subsequently banished from heaven, and forced to live by hunting on earth. He became a famous archer.
Now at this time, there were 10 suns, in the form of three-legged birds residing in a mulberry tree in the eastern sea; each day one of the sun birds would have to travel around the world on a carriage, driven by Xihe, the 'mother' of the suns. One day, all 10 of the suns circled together, causing the earth to burn. Emperor Yao, the Emperor of China, commanded Houyi to shoot down all but one of the suns. Upon the completion of his task, the Emperor rewarded Houyi with a pill that granted eternal life, and advised him: "Make no haste to swallow this pill; first prepare yourself with prayer and fasting for a year". Houyi took the pill home and hid it under a rafter, while he began healing his spirit. While Houyi was healing his spirit, Houyi was summoned again by the emperor. Chang'e, noticing a white beam of light beckoning from the rafters, discovered the pill, which she swallowed. Immediately, she found that she could fly. At that moment, Houyi returned home, and, realizing what had happened, began to reprimand her. Chang'e flew out the window into the sky.
With a bow in hand, Houyi sped after her, and the pursuit continued halfway across the heavens. Finally, Houyi had to return to the Earth because of the force of the wind. Chang'e reached the moon, and breathless, she coughed. Part of the pill fell out from her mouth. Now, the hare was already on the moon, and Chang'e commanded the animal to make another pill from it, so that she could return to earth to her husband.
As of today, the hare is still pounding herbs, trying to make the pill. As for Houyi, he built himself a palace in the sun as "Yang" (the male principle), with Chang'e as "Yin" (the female principle). Once a year, on the 15th day of the full moon, Houyi visits his wife. That is why, that night, the moon is full and beautiful.
BE Your Dream
Be Your Dream
Stay connected to these nine things on your dream journey:
- BE you: There is only one you. You are a gift, an original, no one else is qualified for the job! We need you. So embrace the world with your own genuine style, do it your way, show us a new way and leave your mark on the world.
- BElieve in yourself: Let go of fear and let your skills, talent and ideas shine. If you believe in yourself, you will do the thing that you dream to do.
- BE passionate: Go for it, live life like it matters, put your heart into everything you do, feel life, taste life, hear it and celebrate it.
- BElong: Join organizations, clubs and groups whose ideas, friendship and values mean something to you.
- BEgin today: Every day is an opportunity to dream, to learn something or discover something or someplace new.
- BE curious: Play, go out on a limb, walk a new way to work, try a new food at dinner and keep learning and growing.
- BEdazzle with your smile and laughter. Laughter is an instant vacation. Have fun, play and enjoy life. Fill the room with sunshine and that beautiful smile, and remember a smile is a little curve that straightens everything out.
- BEhave like it's your last day on the planet. Live in the moment, celebrate you and the people you love. Connect, hug, tell people that you appreciate them, sleep late or get up early. Watch the sun rise or set. Use your senses and taste, hear and see the beauty all around you.
- BEcome what you dream to be. Set goals, identify what matters, focus on where you want to go and go there. You are in the driver's seat—you are not the passenger when it comes to following your dreams. You are in charge, so take a detour, take the back roads, get lost or decide your dream has changed. Just be sure you stay on the dream journey.
(Artist Sandra Magsamen shared these nine things you can do to not only pursue your dream but be your dream.
Thank you for the reminder Sandra!)
Autumn Divides
| 180° | 秋分 qiūfēn | September 22, 2009 | autumnal equinox | literally: central divide of autumn |
Ener-Qi Boost
Qigong is one of the most powerful self healing traditions ever developed in human history. It is literally a health wonder of the world and anyone can do it. Its movements are simple yet very effective — studies have found that practicing Qigong reduces stress; improves balance and coordination; increases flexibility, ease of motion, and strength; improves body awareness; burns calories; and enhances mental well-being. (That's some list!)
Qigong movements are performed in a position that helps strengthen the back and improve posture. Another important element of the practice is to breathe in a slow, controlled fashion — not unlike the breathing you do during meditation or yoga. Together, these elements make practicing Qigong a good way to wind down at the end of a long day.
So where can you learn Qigong? At our studio of course - The Gentle Spirit: Healing Arts for Inner Peace in Hellertown, PA. Even if you usually shy away from exercise classes, you may want to try Qigong since the classes are slower-paced and noncompetitive.
Touched By An Angel
