According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the world is a harmonious and holistic entity where all living beings are viewed in relation to the surrounding environment. Since ancient times, the Chinese have tried to explain different complicated phenomena by creating yin yang or the five elements theories. Man is part of the holistic entity, and takes his cue from nature. He is influenced directly and indirectly by changes in weather and needs to make corresponding physiological and pathological responses. For example, a change of season causes the rate, rhythm, volume and tension of the pulse to vary. The pulse tends to be taut in spring, full in summer, floating in autumn, and sunken in winter. TCM physicians will take this into account when distinguishing the abnormal pulse from the normal. The occurrence, development and change in the pattern of many diseases are seasonal such as wenbing (Warm Disease Theory / Febrile Disease) occurring in spring, sun strokes in summer, dryness-related symptoms in autumn, and cold stroke syndromes in winter.
Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen!
I heard this on Chris Evans Radio 2 programme this morning and had to share it with you.
Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen!
By Mary Schmich (Chicago Tribune) - Baz Luhrmann
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97
Wear Sunscreen!
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, "sunscreen" would be it.
Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen!
By Mary Schmich (Chicago Tribune) - Baz Luhrmann
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97
Wear Sunscreen!
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, "sunscreen" would be it.
Spring Equinox
CYCLES: SPRING
THE SEASON OF WOOD ENERGY
As the days become warmer and brighter, nature rouses from her winter slumber and looks ahead to the new growth of spring. The Wood, which has been at rest, storing and concentrating its energy under a winter blanket, now bursts forth with new buds, new life piercing Earth's crust. The swelling Wood of spring initiates rebirth - a surge of rising energy, like the young lamb staggering up to nurse, like the dandelion whose growing edge can burst through concrete if it must. Wood is the energy of youth and growth: a new beginning, a vision of a whole new cycle. The Wood energy of spring is an expression of life at its strongest.
If we have followed nature's way and taken a winter rest, we too emerge into spring “raring to go,” with clear vision and a sense of purpose. This is the season to plant seeds for a future harvest, to look ahead and make new plans, formulate new ideas, make decisions, and determine our direction for the coming year - and to take action.
Spring's increasing warmth encourages us to stay outside more than we did in the winter. Warmth comes not only from physical heat, but also from the interaction of friendships and relationships. In this season, we want especially to take advantage of opportunities for growth through the observations and insights that come from others as well as from ourselves. It can be painful to see ourselves through different, and perhaps clearer eyes, particularly aspects of ourselves that we are unaware of. Similarly, it can be difficult to convey an unpalatable truth to others. While the energy of spring supports and challenges us to grow and change, we may feel discomfort from these processes. We can temper our pangs with the warmth of friendship, as well as with the recognition that we all experience growing pains in the process of realizing our potential.
After a winter rest, the power of springtime surges through nature - through us
THE SEASON OF WOOD ENERGY
As the days become warmer and brighter, nature rouses from her winter slumber and looks ahead to the new growth of spring. The Wood, which has been at rest, storing and concentrating its energy under a winter blanket, now bursts forth with new buds, new life piercing Earth's crust. The swelling Wood of spring initiates rebirth - a surge of rising energy, like the young lamb staggering up to nurse, like the dandelion whose growing edge can burst through concrete if it must. Wood is the energy of youth and growth: a new beginning, a vision of a whole new cycle. The Wood energy of spring is an expression of life at its strongest.
If we have followed nature's way and taken a winter rest, we too emerge into spring “raring to go,” with clear vision and a sense of purpose. This is the season to plant seeds for a future harvest, to look ahead and make new plans, formulate new ideas, make decisions, and determine our direction for the coming year - and to take action.
Spring's increasing warmth encourages us to stay outside more than we did in the winter. Warmth comes not only from physical heat, but also from the interaction of friendships and relationships. In this season, we want especially to take advantage of opportunities for growth through the observations and insights that come from others as well as from ourselves. It can be painful to see ourselves through different, and perhaps clearer eyes, particularly aspects of ourselves that we are unaware of. Similarly, it can be difficult to convey an unpalatable truth to others. While the energy of spring supports and challenges us to grow and change, we may feel discomfort from these processes. We can temper our pangs with the warmth of friendship, as well as with the recognition that we all experience growing pains in the process of realizing our potential.
After a winter rest, the power of springtime surges through nature - through us
Be Still.
Be Still.
Be still.
Just for a moment.
Listen to the world around you. Feel your breath coming in and going out. Listen to your thoughts. See the details of your surroundings.
Be at peace with being still.
In this modern world, activity and movement are the default modes, if not with our bodies then at least with our minds, with our attention. We rush around all day, doing things, talking, emailing, sending and reading messages, clicking from browser tab to the next, one link to the next.
We are always on, always connected, always thinking, always talking. There is no time for stillness — and sitting in front of a frenetic computer all day, and then in front of the hyperactive television, doesn’t count as stillness.
This comes at a cost: we lose that time for contemplation, for observing and listening. We lose peace.
And worse yet: all the rushing around is often counterproductive. I know, in our society action is all-important — inaction is seen as lazy and passive and unproductive. However, sometimes too much action is worse than no action at all. You can run around crazily, all sound and fury, but get nothing done. Or you can get a lot done — but nothing important. Or you can hurt things with your actions, make things worse than if you’d stayed still.
And when we are forced to be still — because we’re in line for something, or waiting at a doctor’s appointment, or on a bus or train — we often get antsy, and need to find something to do. Some of us will have our mobile devices, others will have a notebook or folder with things to do or read, others will fidget. Being still isn’t something we’re used to.
Take a moment to think about how you spend your days — at work, after work, getting ready for work, evenings and weekends. Are you constantly rushing around? Are you constantly reading and answering messages, checking on the news and the latest stream of information? Are you always trying to Get Lots of Things Done, ticking off tasks from your list like a machine, rushing through your schedule?
Is this how you want to spend your life?
If so, peace be with you. If not, take a moment to be still. Don’t think about what you have to do, or what you’ve done already. Just be in the moment.
Then after a minute or two of doing that, contemplate your life, and how you’d like it to be. See your life with less movement, less doing, less rushing. See it with more stillness, more contemplation, more peace.
Then be that vision.
It’s pretty simple, actually: all you have to do is sit still for a little bit each day. Once you’ve gotten used to that, try doing less each day. Breathe when you feel yourself moving too fast. Slow down. Be present. Find happiness now, in this moment, instead of waiting for it.
Savor the stillness. It’s a treasure, and it’s available to us, always.
—
From the Tao Te Ching:
—
From the Tao Te Ching:
It is not wise to dash about.
Shortening the breath causes much stress.
Use too much energy, and
You will soon be exhausted.
That is not the Natural Way.
Whatever works against this Way
Will not last long.
Shortening the breath causes much stress.
Use too much energy, and
You will soon be exhausted.
That is not the Natural Way.
Whatever works against this Way
Will not last long.
What is Tensegrity?
The word tensegrity was coined by Buckminster Fuller for sculptor and artist Kenneth Snelson and it is a contraction of tensional integrity. A tensegrity structure stabilizes itself mechanically because of the way in which tension and compression forces are distributed within the structure. When a continuous pull (tension) is balanced by a discontinuous push (compression) the result is a stable system that is maximally strong.
Imagine a cobweb and this structure for instance.
The human body is a tensegrity structure. Muscles in tension and bones in compression act in unison to increase the strength in one another. In treating the body as a continuous structure it is easy to understand how tightness or instability in one area of the body can affect dysfunction in another area that appears to be unrelated.
The human body is a tensegrity structure. Muscles in tension and bones in compression act in unison to increase the strength in one another. In treating the body as a continuous structure it is easy to understand how tightness or instability in one area of the body can affect dysfunction in another area that appears to be unrelated.
 Tensegrity Skeleton The complete tensegrity skeleton demonstrates a surprising similarity to a human skeleton. It can walk, sit, stretch, and contort ; most amazing it will stand self supporting with all of the compression elements floating in the web of tension that is woven around it from top to bottom. This model is difficult to make and difficult to balance, but it clearly demonstrates the principle of biotensegrity in its fullest form to date. Models and description from www.intensiondesigns.com |
The Tao of Exercise & Self-Care
There was once an efficiency expert who visited a chocolate factory and watched the women hand dipping chocolates. Their gestures always included various spirals and twirls in order to prevent drips as they lifted the chocolate from the vat to the paper.
Considering this a loss of time and efficiency, these women were taught to make a more direct in, out, over, down pathway. Within a week they were complaining of wrist pain (carpal tunnel symptoms). Having fallen out of interplay with their core creativity, the small, ingenious variations within each repetitive task were eliminated, and the women became more prone to fatigue and damage.
In the accelerated pace of our nanosecond world, if our goal is truly to be one with the nature of the Tao, we must be mindful to never lose the fluid, water-like language of the body. For in Taoism, the closest thing in nature to pure effectiveness is water. Water is the communicator, the informer and the transporter all in one.
Considering this a loss of time and efficiency, these women were taught to make a more direct in, out, over, down pathway. Within a week they were complaining of wrist pain (carpal tunnel symptoms). Having fallen out of interplay with their core creativity, the small, ingenious variations within each repetitive task were eliminated, and the women became more prone to fatigue and damage.
In the accelerated pace of our nanosecond world, if our goal is truly to be one with the nature of the Tao, we must be mindful to never lose the fluid, water-like language of the body. For in Taoism, the closest thing in nature to pure effectiveness is water. Water is the communicator, the informer and the transporter all in one.
Taming the 'Monkey mind'
With more than 2,500 years Taoism and Buddhism has been teaching people about the human mind so that we might understand ourselves better and discover that there is a way out of suffering. These two philosophies are intelligent insights into human nature.
Both trains of thoughts describe the human mind as being filled with drunken monkeys 'The Monkey Mind', jumping around, screeching, chattering, carrying on endlessly. We all have monkey minds, with dozens of monkeys all clamouring for attention. Fear is an especially loud monkey, sounding the alarm incessantly, pointing out all the things we should be wary of and everything that could go wrong.
Meditation through sitting, Qigong and deep breathing tames the drunken monkeys in our minds. It's useless to fight with the monkeys or to try to banish them from your mind because, as we all know, that which you resist, persists. Instead, if you spend some time each day in quiet meditation -- simply calm your mind by focusing on your breathing and/or Qigong -- you can, over time, tame the monkeys. They will grow more peaceful if you lovingly bring them into submission with a consistent practise of meditation.
Meditation is a wonderful way to quiet the voices of fear, anxiety, worry and other negative emotions.
Learning to manage your monkey mind is one of the best things you can do to transform fear, anxiety, stress and tension. Take time to practise simple meditation on a regular basis. Learn how to change the conversations in your head.
Practise kind, loving, positive mindfulness and see how it can transform you.
Both trains of thoughts describe the human mind as being filled with drunken monkeys 'The Monkey Mind', jumping around, screeching, chattering, carrying on endlessly. We all have monkey minds, with dozens of monkeys all clamouring for attention. Fear is an especially loud monkey, sounding the alarm incessantly, pointing out all the things we should be wary of and everything that could go wrong.
Meditation through sitting, Qigong and deep breathing tames the drunken monkeys in our minds. It's useless to fight with the monkeys or to try to banish them from your mind because, as we all know, that which you resist, persists. Instead, if you spend some time each day in quiet meditation -- simply calm your mind by focusing on your breathing and/or Qigong -- you can, over time, tame the monkeys. They will grow more peaceful if you lovingly bring them into submission with a consistent practise of meditation.
Meditation is a wonderful way to quiet the voices of fear, anxiety, worry and other negative emotions.
Learning to manage your monkey mind is one of the best things you can do to transform fear, anxiety, stress and tension. Take time to practise simple meditation on a regular basis. Learn how to change the conversations in your head.
Practise kind, loving, positive mindfulness and see how it can transform you.
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