We all need to care for ourselves.   Self care  involves eating and drinking right, getting good sleep, breathing clean pure air, moving our bodies, and  enjoying and being interested in our lives and the world around us.  If we suffer from chronic conditions, low back pain, irritable bowel syndrome, headaches, or just plain old stress (the source of so many different problems today) then we need to do a little extra in order to take good care of ourselves and enjoy our lives.   Here are some jewels of self-care from Chinese medicine.   I’ve broken them down into 4 categories: qi gong (gentle flowing exercises to heal the body), self massage, eating right and meditation techniques.   These jewels can give you the little extra that will help you be healthy and happy.   Enjoy!

Qi Gong -- Becoming Flow

Qi gong is a traditional Chinese practice that aims to build energy and purify those energies in the most relaxed and gentle way. This is accomplished by blending our awareness with slow and subtle movements, and letting our breathing patterns naturally match those movements. The qi gong practices I’m sharing here are health oriented. The movements of the exercises easily stretch and relax the body, allowing a flow in your muscles and bones as well as acupuncture channels and internal organs.

The first step is becoming familiar with the basic pattern of the movements. You can watch and follow the videos and learn the forms in that way. The next step is to pay attention to how it feels to do the exercises. What happens to the sense of your body and mind? What is the least amount of effort that you can extend to do the move? Is there a way you can ease your mind to change the feeling of the form?

Qi gong is moving meditation and when you learn the steps of the form you are introduced to a world of ease and natural flow. I first learned qi gong when I moved from Boulder to New York City in 1985. I missed the mountains so much and felt sick with longing for nature. With qi gong I found nature inside my own body and mind. I hope you enjoy and appreciate what you find here as well.


Self Massage

It is remarkable to note that the word “massage” has entered the English language very recently, in the late 19th century. Perhaps it derives the French word massage meaning “friction of kneading” or the Arabic word massa “to touch, feel or handle” (from the Online Etymology Dictionary). At any rate I’m glad we English speakers have adopted the word! Massage is incredibly therapeutic, increasing circulation, releasing toxic waste from tissues, reducing inflammation. There is nothing as wonderful as getting a good massage. And we can enjoy the benefits of massage by treating ourselves as well.

In this section I will introduce you to several massage routines to enhance your health. In some I’ll show you techniques using a baby food jar lid. Really. Traditionally the practice of gua sha involved the use of a coin or porcelain spoon to rub the body but I have found that baby food jar lids are ideal. When the thick muscled areas of the body are rubbed in this way produces strong stimulation at the surface that dredges the sluggish blood from tight muscles. In the process small petechia — red or purple bruises — may show up. This is considered a good thing and helps to speed up healing. There are particular techniques you should use so I have provided videos to help you.

But for the most part we will be using our hands. Many of these techniques act to smooth out the acupuncture channels. This keeps the energetic blueprint of the body clear and bright. Like brushing our hair or teeth, this is great to do every day!

Meditation

A key to living a healthy and happy life is cultivating the natural mind. The natural mind is both calm and centered, open and spacious. We can easily understand what the natural mind might be like by observing the natural world. A mountain has qualities and characteristics — solid, still, self contained. Clouds move effortless and change — appearing and disappearing into the openness of the sky. Water flows around and over obstacles and fills up vessels losing the shape of the vessel when it empties into lakes and seas. Trees stand firmly in the ground and stretch towards the sky and the sun, changing with the seasons. Fire dances, warms and brightens when it appears. These are the characteristics of the natural mind as well. We need to cultivate each of these aspects in order to enjoy the power and pleasure of the natural mind.

Mountain Mind is calm, unmoving, still. Developing it cultivates compassion.

Cloud Mind is spacious and change is neither sought out nor denied. Developing it cultivates wisdom.

Water Mind is flowing and without an ego. Developing it cultivates the will.

Tree Mind is both grounded and expanding. Developing it cultivates freedom.

Fire Mind sparkles with light and and enlivens all it touches. Developing it cultivates joy.

It’s important to begin with Mountain Mind. Without it we won’t be able to appreciate the other elements of the mind, but will be tossed about and distracted. As you practice these meditation experiences, have fun. Enjoy them, they are your natural inheritance!

Food is Good

“Before you serve the food you must check the condition of the person eating the food - their likes and dislikes and what is tolerable and what is not.  Thinking of such things is what is involved in cooking food.  Even water becomes food when it's in a bowl.  Food is the attitude of the heart toward a person.”

This wonderful quote is from a Korean series based on the life of Dae Jang-Geum, a 16th century physician and reportedly the first female physician to treat the King. It’s one of my favorite series of all time and I recommend it -- it’s a great story and is very uplifting.

And that quote encapsulates what is important about food from the Chinese/Asian medical point of view. Different foods have different characteristics. Here I will share the Chinese medical point of view about food. But just as important is understanding the condition of the person eating the food. Most people in the west are used to a rich diet. And that diet rarely supplies the basic nutritional value we all need from the food we eat. We are, in a manner of speaking, both obese and malnourished. So that complicates the answer to the question “what foods should I eat?”. Any information about food and eating needs to be an inquiry into how the food effects our very own body and mind.

One day oatmeal might be the perfect food for me, the next day it may make me feel sluggish or tired. The nature of the food will stay the same, but the season changes, my needs change and our understanding of the foods we eat needs to be flexible to accommodate those changes. Maybe I’m feeling a bit chilled today. Well if I add some ginger and cinnamon to my oatmeal it might become the perfect breakfast for me once more. So there are ways to make subtle adjustments to food, adding spices and changing how it is prepared, to make it the perfect food for you right now -- today.

There is no answer when it comes to what you should eat. Instead there are endless possibilities. What is essential is being attentive to the condition of the person you are serving. That attentiveness is born of listening with feeling, listening with the heart.