CHAPTER 1
Being One with Your Body
When you are well, you feel like you are one with the world and nature. Chinese medicine tells us that the human being is a microcosm within the macrocosm of the earth. It is the same energy and the same life force in different forms.
Now you can understand why depressed people feel worse on cloudy, dark days. If your internal energy is already heavy and low, the outer environmental energy will compound it.
It is so important to keep your internal energy clear and flowing, so the outer will have very minimal impact on it. You can still function normally and stay in the state you want to be in.
Qigong teaches:
"I am in the universe, the universe is in me. I am one with the universe".
You and I share the same breath. The air we breathe in and out connects us all. Are we breathing, or is the air breathing us?
Through sensing the body, you can feel at one with it and stay connected with it. That way you are congruent and comfortable and create a coherent field of energy.
Your body is your vehicle through this life. It works best when you respect and honour it; even better when you praise it. Your mind is your powerful tool to help you navigate, learn, appreciate and grow through your experiences.
Your body is the densest part of your energy field; it is the substantial aspect of you. It takes energy in, releases energy out, constantly moves, actively creates new cells and destroys old cells.
Caroline Myss reminds us very elegantly in her book Anatomy of the Spirit that our "biology" is, in fact, our "biography." The body is a clear, accurate feedback mechanism that keeps you on the health track. It will call your attention whenever you depart from it without conscious awareness of the damage you inflict to your body.
Your whole life experience is stored energetically in your body. The body stores unprocessed experiences that may be felt as residual tension until the energy expenditure becomes too costly to keep them. Then it becomes urgent to clear and transform the old energies into more useful ones. That is when people find a lump, start noticing pain, have a nervous breakdown, and so on.
The body is an external manifestation of your subconscious mind. When it brings something to your attention, it is because you are ready to clear it. And when unresolved issues are processed, they turn into wisdom.
The health crisis point is the last desperate call from your body to save you from dying prematurely. If you do not change now, the prognosis is unfavourable.
The body's intelligence is as highly dynamic, creative, and interactive as your mental and emotional intelligence. You may have noticed that you think more clearly when you move your body regularly. In fact, most inventors get their brilliant ideas while walking!
When you eat beneficial food, it becomes one with you, transforms into nourishment and gets absorbed into your cells, helping the body to function and maintain its structure. When it is an inappropriate food for you, the body will eliminate it fast to save you from being poisoned. When you get a new idea, perception or belief that is in resonance with you and supportive of your growth and well-being, it is integrated into your core self and becomes one with you. When a new idea is imposed upon you from culture, media or tradition, but somehow does not resonate with your spirit or does not feel right to follow, be careful. If you continue to live your life according to it, you will soon notice uncomfortable feelings of frustration, anxiety and unhappiness until you become aware and update to what works for you.
When you connect with your true passion for life, or when you are in that magical state of the open curiosity of a child, you are one with life. Time stops.
And you know when you meet your personal spiritual path or teacher because it feels like you are at home and are at one with your fellow travellers.
The body is a magnificently designed psycho-bio-dynamic organism, equipped to cope with almost anything. It has an inbuilt healing system. So if it is not healing despite proper treatment, what is blocking the healing?
The body collects toxins into a lump to prevent them from spreading to other parts of your body. It keeps in check any abnormal cells, bacteria and viruses that could put you at risk of disease. It warns you constantly of what is happening through symptoms, if you have not noticed. Your part is to pay attention, notice, make connections and rectify the situation back to balance.
Perhaps you get a headache every time you eat a certain food, every time you talk to a particular person or after a certain meeting. Take the time to understand what your body message is. Some people check their e-mails every few minutes. It may be good practice to tune into the body to check if there any unread messages. Your body's "e-nergetic-mails" are more important to check!
A symptom is not something bad that needs to be eliminated at once because it is disruptive. A symptom is the body's alarm system. It works the same way as the red light on the dashboard of your car. What is your first response to it? Do you stop the car, or at least slow down and assess what is happening as soon as possible?
Most people cover the red light with a bandage and keep going, even faster than before, completely missing the warning and heading closer to the cliff of the crisis point.
This behaviour is as dangerous for the car as it is for the body. It is the pattern behind almost every chronic illness I have seen in clinic. You can go back in time and retrace many messages the person received but chose to ignore. The excuse is often, "I did not have time," or, "I did not think it was important." Let me ask, do you have time to get sick?
You and your body form an amazing team to be and stay well as long as you work as one. Your body is not a nuisance when it causes discomfort or pain. It whispers first and then shouts. Finally, it has no other option than to scream at you, because it will do anything to warn you when you get off balance. It will never give up on you and will go to extreme measures to get your attention, like giving you a heart attack, nervous breakdown or intense panic attack.
Imagine the following scenario. You are in your house, busy with plugs in your ears, and reading a book on a stationary gym bike. Your best friend is outside the main door, knocking to deliver an important message that you must get now. But you cannot hear him. He knocks harder and shouts your name. If there is still no response, he starts breaking windows. If he still cannot get your attention, he sets the house on fire as a last resort. Maybe then you will smell the smoke and rush to the door — and get the message.
That is exactly what happens when people come out of the doctor's office completely shocked by a devastating diagnosis. (The body is on fire!) It's not the ideal way to live an enjoyable life. It pays to be aware of the first subtle changes and attend to them early, so as to avoid unnecessary suffering. It may not feel comfortable to attend to what is happening when you notice it, but everything will get much more uncomfortable if you wait.
Symptoms are metaphorical messages from your body wisdom, wrapped in misperception. The messages are delivered through discomfort, so you will pay attention.
Listen to your body. Trust your body; it never lies. Nobody knows your body as well as you. You are the expert on your body.
Body tension is a very common symptom. It manifests in many forms over time: chronic headache, elevated blood pressure, chest discomfort, neck ache, and so on.
Body symptoms are metaphors for what is occurring at psychological or emotional levels. Your body always knows what the core issue is. You do not need to know it when you start tuning in. In fact, most of the time you do not know it, even if you think you know!
Repressed anger for instance may show up as locked jaw, blood pressure, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, skin rash or liver tumour.
There are lots of books that list what possible issues relate to specific areas of the body and they are very helpful ideas and suggestions to stimulate your thinking. You also need to tune into your body to find out "specifically" what is the message for you, within the context of your own unique experience and situation.
Many times the intense emotion or shock felt while the person is involved in a particular activity will block that specific area energetically. The following case is a great illustration.
Here is another example:
The body can also be shocked by a physical sudden shift as it happened to a friend of mine.
The lower back is a common complaint in clinic. Possible causes that will drain energetically this area will involve experiences like the following:
• Physical trauma in the back
• Poor posture sitting or lifting
• Over drain from work or sexual activity
• Lack of emotional support
• Attempt to control a person or situation that is beyond your control
• Lingering pain from uncompleted emotional residue
You may have noticed that allergic "reactions" to "normal" foods are getting more and more common. If you have any, tune in, and notice when it started. What specifically are you allergic to — food, animal, dust? And check: "Am I overreacting to something else in my life? Is my system confused? Am I hypersensitive to criticism or a specific behaviour?"
When you feel a symptom, notice the energy of that sensation. Is it irritating? Does it feel blocked, heavy, or weak? You may ask: "If I could see it, how would it look like?" The image you get will give you a clue to the issue or context it may be related to in your life.
If you are not sure if a past event is still affecting your energy, remember the event and tune in. How do you feel, calm and neutral, or emotional, heavy or tense? Very often we mentally believe we have cleared the issue, but when we check in with the body, we find that it is not the case!
Ponder these questions:
• "In what ways do I push my body beyond its limits?"
• "Do I know my strengths, my weak spots, my capabilities, my qualities, my needs, my values?"
• "In what way do I connect to my body?"
• "How well do I know my body?"
Any unbeneficial behaviour done for too long or in too extreme ways will eventually cause an imbalance and over time illness.
Your body is not just a vehicle for your head to go where it wants! (That was the perception of one of my patients, and her body was in a dire state!) The body is in fact part of the energy of your deeper mind and reflects unconscious patterns that do not serve you any longer, and you must update them consciously.
So please, be nice to your amazing body.
CHAPTER 2
Balance Is Key
Yin and Yang symbol
Most people have seen this famous Chinese symbol of the cosmic yin and yang principle representing the harmonious balance and dance of the energy of life. That dynamic equilibrium is the major key to wellbeing and happiness, as it is in the practice of martial arts.
Yin energy is form, substantial structure. It is the nourishing, cooling, slow moving, receptive energy. Here we can relate it to the body.
Yang energy is more to do with non-substantial function, warming, fastmoving, directive and active energy. Here we can relate it to the mind.
Yin and yang are the two complementary aspects or qualities of the one universal energy that flows through you. They complement each other, and you do need both to enjoy life. They transform into each other. The body state impacts your thoughts. Your thoughts have an immediate specific chemical signature in your body.
To understand how Yin and Yang operate together, just watch any world champions dancing on ice, moving effortlessly in a beautifully coordinated flowing dance.
The martial artist embodies yin and yang energetic flow perfectly: walking relaxed yet moving into immediate action when needed, and able to return to calm afterward.
The yin energy relating to the body is the tangible part of your wellbeing: breath, food intake, doing exercise, and exposure to sunlight, nature and environment.
The yang energy of the mind is the intangible subtle aspect of your wellbeing: thoughts, feelings, attitudes, values, beliefs, perceptions and spiritual connection.
Information is carried from one to the other:
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Energy is what links yin and yang. Energy carries information back and forth from mind to body and from body to mind. Be aware of what thought is directing your body and even more aware of the body feedback to your conscious mind. Without awareness, the subconscious default program will run automatically, and it may not be what you would select were you making a conscious decision.
When people believe stress is harmful, their bodies show physical damage from it. People who believe stress makes them more resilient and strong have very little or no physical damage from it. Choose your beliefs carefully!
Creativity and flexibility will help you deal with stress and maintain balance. Create your own menu of food, ideas and feelings, stretch your body and your perceptions and practice lateral thinking. You can activate the energy you need by remembering a time when you felt it, or just thinking of a person (or an animal) who has it and stepping into that energy field! It is that quick!
Energy flows constantly. Nothing is static. You want to keep track of how well the yin and yang are dancing energetically.
How do you know you are out of balance? You feel uneasy, tense, tired, moody and tight. You also tend to attract people who will trigger you into processing the cause of the imbalance. When you are more balanced within yourself, you attract people who resonate with your energy field and help you move in line with your purpose and destiny.
Aiming for balance is especially critical prior to menopause, because at that time any imbalance will show dramatically as the body changes gears and steps into a different stage of life.
A healthy woman has no menopausal symptoms (like hot flashes, depression, decreased libido, weight change, mood swings). The body just stops its ability to conceive. If you experience those symptoms, the treatment needs to restore the whole body's internal balance. Just taking extra hormones is energetically a limited approach that can give you a false sense of balance, when in fact if you do not incorporate an overall healthy life change, you move away from balance without realizing it (very dangerous).
Let us have a look at balance in different contexts.
Balance within Relationship
Do you spend time with yourself? Do you have a hobby, a passion or something you love doing? Are you able to enjoy private time as well as spending quality time with significant people in your life?
Is there balance in your intimate relationship, giving and receiving, directing and following, being serious and having fun?
How would you rate the balance in the relationship with your family?
At work, what area do you sense lacks balance? Do you work extra time without extra pay? Are you sitting too long at a computer, then go home and read for two hours? Your eyes will get overloaded.
Do you feel there is a work/play balance, activity/rest balance? (The body heals and rejuvenates at night.)
Is there a sense of balance with the various groups you connect with? Do you feel that you contribute to the group and feel stimulated and empowered by the group? Is the energy of the group supportive or restrictive?
Is there a healthy balance between saving and spending? This applies to financial as well energetic contexts.
Is there balance between what you learn and receive and how you share that in service to others?
Balance within Your Mind
People frequently use rational thinking, often neglecting to tap into their creative, intuitive imagination. Tuning into your body regularly will activate that brain function. You can also read poetry, paint, draw, play music or dance.
If you use your rational mind a lot, balance it with regular meditation, relaxing the mind by focusing on a peaceful image or memory, enjoying the beauty of a flower, or following your breath, making space in your head.
How do you rate your mind balance? Are you firm in your values, yet flexible with ideas and able to stretch into lateral thinking?
Balance in Your Daily Intake
Physical Intake
If you go out for a big dinner, the next day have a light meal of fruits and vegetables. Ongoing overeating drains your digestive function and dramatically imbalances pancreatic functions. Always choose quality over quantity. That actually can be applied to everything.
You bring nourishment into your body, hopefully high-quality nutrients, gentle sunshine and a supportive social environment. You also need to have a good elimination system and also maybe occasionally do a gentle detox program. You may also choose to leave a toxic environment or a toxic group.
Mental Intake
Are you ingesting foreign ideas, limiting beliefs, thoughts or unbeneficial perceptions that may be harmful to your wellbeing? Check the metaphors you use often in speaking or thinking. Ask yourself, "Where did I learn that?"
It is hard to stay well if you live your life according to other people's ideas and beliefs. Always check whether it resonates with you and take action to release what does not.
The metaphor you live by runs your life. Make sure you select the one that fits your energy.
