Qi Gong
What Do You Need Right Now?
I learned a long time ago
the wisest thing I can do
is be on my own side.
~~ Maya Angelou
Greetings to all my precious people!!
What do you need right now?
When was the last time you took a moment to check in with your Self and make a gentle inquiry? We can be very attuned to the needs of others. We know when the baby needs feeding, when the dog needs walking and when our loved ones need a good hug, a long nap and maybe a snack!! But what about us? How often do we touch base with our precious Self and ask what needs to be tended to? continue reading
Hope in the Time of Overwhelm
Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.
~~ Mary Oliver
Greetings to all my precious people!!
My mini summer sabbatical is underway and it seems I am not well practiced in the “being mode” versus “doing mode”. Despite having a daily practice of meditation and qigong, there is still evidence of ‘busy-ness’ that feels hardwired in my brain. It is a very humbling reckoning!! The escape to the shoreline of Connecticut offered me glimpses of emotions, dreams, and memories, all waiting to be seen, heard, and acknowledged ‘when there was time’. So I am grateful for the opportunity to choose to listen to the whispers of ‘if not now, when?’ and I encourage all of you to consider the same. While our habits and routines of daily life keep us on track and serve us, there is something magical about being away from obligations and responsibilities – even for a short time. continue reading
Cultivate Your Inner Stillness
Greetings my precious people!!!
For the first time ever, I decided to take a ‘summer sabbatical’ in the month of June to cultivate some much needed rest, and experience “being” instead of “doing.” Chinese medicine extols the value and virtue of living in accordance with the seasons, and while Summer is the high point of the active yang energetic, we are also in the year of the Yin Water Rabbit, where we are reminded of rest, retreats, and the gifts of cultivating an inner stillness. So a summer sabbatical seemed quite appropriate!!
You Have the Ability to Heal Your Self: A Simple Qigong Practice to Support Immunity
One of the oldest and most famous of all qigong sequences is ‘Ba Duan Jin’, or ‘Eight Pieces of Brocade’, also known as ‘Eight Treasures’. This practice can be traced back to the Song dynasty, which lasted in China from 960-1279CE. During this period, China was noted as the most advanced civilization on earth and responsible for the invention of the mass printing of books, gunpowder, and the compass. General Yue Fei (a Song era military general, poet, and calligrapher) is often noted as the originator of the set of exercises that became Eight Pieces of Brocade as a way to keep his soldiers healthy and ready for battle.
The Benefits of Qi Gong
Acupuncture is one of three branches of ancient traditional medicine. The other two are herbal medicine and the practice of a physical and mental discipline called Qi Gong. The main objective of each branch is to bring about a harmonious flow of Chi. continue reading
