We’ve all heard the saying “you are what you eat” but what may be more true is that what you eat is a reflection of how you feel about yourself.
When we make healthier food choices, we're also making choices about the quality with which we want to live our lives.
A healthy lifestyle comes from knowledge through the proper resources but also through tuning in with the self. Adapting a healthy lifestyle means looking at all aspects of your life – your work, relationships and your diet.
We’ve all heard the saying “you are what you eat” but what may be more true is that what you eat is a reflection of how you feel about yourself.
When we make healthier food choices, we're also making choices about the quality with which we want to live our lives.
A healthy lifestyle comes from knowledge through the proper resources but also through tuning in with the self. Adapting a healthy lifestyle means looking at all aspects of your life – your work, relationships and your diet.
by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac.
We are a culture in the pursuit of happiness. It seems these days that everyone is looking for more ways to find happiness and enjoy life a little more.
We all want to move quickly through those days and times when we’re experiencing the so-called negative feelings, including anger and sadness. And the quicker we try to move through them, the more difficult they seem to get.
Any time we resist how we actually feel and focus on how much better or different we'd rather feel, we suffer.
Ancient philosophies like Buddhism teach us not to judge or label anything, and instead learn to observe things exactly the way they are in the present moment.
Our judgments are simply projections of the past that also manifest fears about our future.
If we’re able to be present with all of our feelings and give ourselves permission to be exactly where we are, we learn to appreciate the full emotional spectrum.
After all, there’s no way to know how good something is without having experienced the bad. We wouldn’t be able to gauge when we’re happy without having experienced what it feels like to be sad.
Life is beautiful because of our experience of the entire spectrum of emotions. Instead of trying to hold onto the positive emotions and set yourself free of the negative, try to embrace them all without judgment and see where they take you.
Learn the exact tools to unburden yourself of anxiety and stress and live a life of joy and peace by joining the From Surviving to Thriving online course now.
We struggle so much to feel great, to be happy, when in reality being well and happy is only one part of the greater picture of our lives.
In darkness we’re vulnerable, we meet our shadows, and find new opportunities to grow. Each time we break through a dark moment, we find our brighter light.
Each moment, good or bad, is important, as it all comprises the story of life in in its entirety. Even chronic sadness or depression is a chapter in life that can be moved through with the right tools and practices.
Sometimes, it’s ok to not feel ok.
Sometimes we need to feel sadness, anger, defeat. And when we judge and resist these feelings because we’ve been taught how “bad” they are, we are actually feeding our demons and making them stronger.
All feelings, like all things in life, are transient.
But we can choose when we let go of each feeling by taking our power back from our minds. When we train the mind through practices such as meditation, Yoga and Qi Gong, we learn that we are not our minds and therefore we don't have to be or do what the mind is telling us.
Feelings of unworthiness and resistance of what is can cause us to feel depressed, anxious and down on ourselves. But when we see these feelings and thoughts come up, we can choose to either to let them run their course and pass by, or hold onto them and allow them to define our lives and who we are.
You can be happy and still struggle, but it's a choice whether or not you want to turn a struggle in suffering.
The difference between a happy person and a person who’s chronically unhappy is that the happy person will always see the light at the end of the tunnel—and even when she can't actually see the light, she has faith that it’s there.
A happy person has perspective on life and is able to see the good even in the hard times and know that there is always a greater lesson to be learned.
The openness to growth, even in one’s darkest moments, brings a sense of hope and enthusiasm for what lies ahead.
By definition, to be happy is to feel or show pleasure or contentment. It doesn’t mean that everything in life is perfect and that there are no challenges. We can learn to allow ourselves to feel contentment with whatever is, even if the feeling makes us uncomfortable.
When we embrace the difficult feelings, we’re able to be fully present with what is. This presence allows us to let go, which then organically moves us toward the easier feelings of joy and peace that we spend so much time struggling to draw into our lives.
What you’ll come to realize over time is that it’s actually easier to embrace the difficult feelings than to pretend you’re feeling better than you are. When you embrace and accept what is, you find a greater sense of peace than you could ever arrive at on your own.
Every moment of difficulty has a purpose for the bigger picture of your life. You are always equipped to deal with whatever struggle is put in front of you. Each struggle is specifically in your life because you can deal with it. Sometimes the challenge may feel so great that we deny ourselves our inherent power with which to overcome it because the tools we need are unfamiliar.
Whatever challenge enters your life is there because you have something to learn from it and the capacity to deal with it, even if you don’t realize it at first.
The Universe presents us with hardship to force us to use all of our tools and resources, and to reach a little further to grow each time.
When we stop planning and trying to force things to happen, we realize that delays always have a purpose. There is a magic to seeing things in this way.
When we let go of the struggle and allow the natural order of things to carry us, we’re often taken to places, feelings, emotions and circumstances far better than we ever could have planned.
And thus we're gifted with a state of happiness we couldn't otherwise attain.
Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. is Co-Owner and Director of A Center for Natural Healing in Santa Clara, California, a health and wellness clinic that specializes in Classical Chinese Medicine and Traditional Japanese Acupuncture. Setareh offers clinical services and transformational workshops that blend the ancient practices of Classical Chinese Medicine and Yoga. More information at www.setarehmoafi.com and www.acenterfornaturalhealing.com.
by Setareh Moafi, PhD., L.Ac.
Throughout the month of February and especially on Valentine's Day, we're inundated with symbols and products that we've been conditioned to believe represent love — hearts, flowers, candy, photos of lovers, and fancy dinner dates.
Everything that represents Valentine's Day makes us acutely aware of the need to share love with the ones who matter most.
Whether or not you’re in relationship, this holiday can be more of a trigger than a celebration, let alone the disappointments you may feel around love, including needs and expectations that may feel unmet by your partner, kids, friends or other loved ones.
But the truth is, the love you're seeking from others is already inside you.
Interestingly, the middle of Winter during which Valentine's Day takes place is actually the optimal time to cultivate the most important kind of love — the love for oneself.
Winter is associated with the Kidneys and the Water element. Water is about contemplation, quietude and self-cultivation, all of which are necessary to build our primary energy, known as Jing, which is stored in the Kidneys.
Preservation of your Jing through proper self-care and diet, as well as practices of self-cultivation such as Qi Gong, Yoga and Meditation helps slow down the aging process and prevent a plethora of illnesses and chronic degenerative diseases.
Water is the element that balances Fire according to the Five Element system of Chinese Medicine, and Fire is associated with the Heart.
The Kidney's Water cools the Heart's Fire but if the Kidney energy is drained or insufficient, Heart Fire will blaze, resulting in symptoms such as anxiety and insomnia.
In Chinese Medicine, the Heart not only circulates the blood, but it also houses the spirit, known as the Shen. A nourished, settled Heart manifests as a calm spirit and mind.
When there is sufficient Kidney energy, the Heart is calm and we can sleep more restfully and feel clear and easy with our thoughts and perception of the world.
Sufficient Kidney Qi anchors the Heart Qi and helps us cultivate a feeling of self-love. As this form of love abounds, it easily flows into others.
That's why, like nearly everything else, it's so important to first cultivate love for oneself to then be able to authentically share it with others.
Practices such as Meditation and self-reflection amplify self-love and therefore nourish the Heart.
Heart energy drives our passion and creativity. By cultivating self-love, we're able to generously share love and compassion with others.
“Being in love is the reconnection with the whole of who you really are”
Self-love connects us to the highest form of love from our Source and when we're connected in this way, the love that we're able to share with others is limitless.
Fennel Essential Oil is a powerful natural element that can support you to cultivate self-love.
While it's commonly used to promote digestion and appetite, Fennel oil also strengthens and warms the Kidneys and improves the communication between the Heart and Kidneys. In this way, Fennel can help you feel a sense of comfort and greater connection with yourself.
Fennel can be used in a blend as prescribed by a healthcare practitioner and used topically along the Kidney meridian.
This Valentine's Day, take some time to reflect and be with yourself to nourish your Kidneys and settle your Heart. Remember that you have everything you need to feel loved and that your true love lies within.
If you’re struggling to open your heart, listen to episode #7 of The Natural Healing Podcast for tangible tools to support you right now.
Let me know in the comments below — how are you cultivating the greatest form of love in your life?
Download this free audio guide to learn 4 pillars that’ll transform your health & life.
Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. is Co-Owner and Director of A Center for Natural Healing in Santa Clara, California, a health and wellness clinic that specializes in Classical Chinese Medicine and Traditional Japanese Acupuncture. Setareh offers clinical services and transformational workshops that blend the ancient practices of Classical Chinese Medicine and Yoga.
Whether you drink it for the caffeine, the flavor, or the ritual, coffee is undoubtedly a culture of its own.
And while there are certainly benefits to this popular beverage, according to Chinese Medicine, coffee may do your body more harm than good.
Don’t get me wrong. I love coffee, but it’s not something I would drink (or recommend you drink) every day. Even if you’re an organic, fair trade, shade grown, decaf Swiss water process coffee connoisseur, there are some important factors to consider before you brew your next morning cup of Joe.
For one thing, drinking a lot of coffee may lead to accelerated aging. The nature of coffee is bitter, warming and dry, so even if you drink decaf, it can actually deplete your body's Yin/moisture, which can prevent your body from nourishing its Liver blood. This is especially important to consider for women who are menstruating, pregnant, nursing or postpartum.
According to Chinese nutrition, the bitter taste drains dampness, but too much bitterness can lead to dryness in your skin, hair, and nails. Lack of moisture/Yin is one of the key causes of accelerated aging. (Click here to learn more about this and how to slow down the aging process).
While the bitter taste in Chinese Medicine helps relax the Heart, excess bitter can actually deplete the Heart Qi and lead to anxiety, restlessness and insomnia — key symptoms that also become present with excessive caffeine consumption.
Dryness and heat are factors that in excess can negatively impact your health (click here to learn more about these factors and how they can impact your health). These factors become more prominent during the Spring and Summer, which is why it’s especially important to cut back on drinking coffee during these times of the year.
In addition, the caffeine in coffee in particular can excite your nervous system and activate your Liver, which can lead to Liver Qi stagnation thus resulting in more stress, more allergies, and can impede your Liver’s detoxification process. Since the Liver is most active during the Spring season, detoxifying your Liver is essential during springtime and reducing or eliminating foods and drinks like coffee (and caffeine in general) can be especially beneficial during this time.
Though it may be fine to enjoy a cup of coffee on occasion, you might reconsider making coffee part of your daily ritual, especially during the warmer months of the year.
Here are five alternatives to coffee to change up your morning ritual.
Green tea comes from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, a native of East Asia and India. It’s high in antioxidants, as well as other nutrients. The phytonutrients in green tea may also help you lose weight and maintain weight loss. A 2009 meta-analysis of studies found that catechin-rich green tea significantly reduced body weight (Hursel et al., 2009) and helps to maintain a healthy weight after significant weight loss.
In a study of 40,530 Japanese individuals followed over seven years, drinking three to four cups of green tea per day was associated with a 31% lower risk of dying of cardiovascular disease (Kuriyama, 2006).
The flavonoids in green tea, including epigallocatechin gallate, have been shown to decrease the liver’s glucose production, helping to regulate blood sugar more effectively (Waltner-Law, 2002).
According to Chinese Medicine, unlike coffee and black tea, green tea is considered to be cooling. If you tend to have a lot of Cold in your Stomach (diarrhea, bloating, cramping), you might want to consider adding a little spice to your green tea, such as cardamom to add a warming effect that’ll balance its cooling nature. (Click here to learn more about spices)
The skyrocketing popularity of matcha brings wonder to the health benefits fo this trendy alternative to coffee.
Like green tea, matcha comes from the Camellia sinensis plant. However, it’s grown differently and has a unique nutrient profile.
The tea plants of matcha are covered for 20–30 days before harvest to avoid direct sunlight. This results in an increase in chlorophyll production and amino acid content.
Once the tea leaves are harvested, the stems and veins are removed and the leaves are ground up into a fine powder. This means that the resulting matcha contains nutrients from the entire tea leaf, making matcha both higher in antioxidants and caffeine than green tea, which is harvested from the leaf, stems and veins of the Camellia sinensis plant.
Yerba mate is a tea made from the dried leaves and twigs of the Ilex paraguariensis plant, and is an excellent substitute for coffee, black tea and other high caffeine drinks. Plus, its slightly bitter, smoky flavor makes it less of a compromise than most coffee substitutes.
It’s traditionally consumed in South America from a container called a gourd and sipped with a metal straw with an attached filter at its lower end to strain out the leaf fragments.
The health benefits of Yerba Mate are extraordinary, and its ability to give you a kick of energy without compromising longevity is one-of-a-kind. Click here to learn five key benefits of drinking Yerba Mate.
Rooibos is a caffeine-free alternative that’s been consumed in southern Africa for centuries. Rooibos, aka red bush or red tea, is made using leaves from a shrub called Aspalathus linearis, usually grown on the western coast of South Africa. Traditionally, it’s fermented to create the popular reddish-brown color and is most commonly sold and consumed in this way.
Rooibos is packed with antioxidants (50 times more than green tea), which include aspalathin, quercetin and luteolin, which in test-tube studies have been shown to kill cancer cells and prevent tumor growth.
Rooibos also contains alpha hydroxy acid (AHA), one of the main ingredients in skin treatments such as chemical peels. Not particularly common in foods, alpha hydroxy acid in rooibos tea supplements your skincare routine and its hydrating quality can moisturize your skin and help to reduce fine lines and wrinkles.
According to Chinese Medicine, your digestive system is supported by your Stomach Fire, the ‘cooking pot’ which is the foundation through which nutrients are produced and absorbed in the body. This cooking pot needs its fire constantly stoked to have the Yang energy to break down and transform your food and thoughts. Consumption of cold foods and liquids puts out the Stomach Fire, leading to digestive weakness as well as symptoms that include diarrhea, bloating, malabsorption, bloating, gas and weight gain.
Healthy digestion is the key to gut health, which is the foundation for healthy immunity, mental health and sleep (Click here to learn more about this).
Drinking warm water in the morning is a powerful way to kick-start your digestive fire. Warm water aids blood circulation and as circulation improves, so does your body’s ability to detoxify as well as reduce muscle pain and contractions. Consumption of cold fluids, on the other hand, slows organ function and causes muscles to contract.
Aside from its soothing ability, warm water helps to flush toxins out of the body, relaxes the muscles and expands blood vessels to improve blood circulation. In addition, drinking and eating warm beverages inhibits taxation on the digestive system and can aid in weight loss and weight maintenance. Warm fluids soothe the intestines, which can also help with digestive upset and constipation.
In addition to any beverages you enjoy drinking, I suggest you add warm/hot water to your routine and consider drinking it as a daily morning ritual. Drinking warm water in the morning can help improve your circulation, relax your body and mind, and prepare your digestive system for the day ahead.
What’s your favorite morning drink? Let me know in the comments below.
Interested in learning more about Chinese medical nutrition?
Click here to get on the waitlist for the Yin & Yang of Nutrition online course.
References
Kuriyama, S., et al. (2006). Green tea consumption and mortality due to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all causes in Japan: The Ohsaki study. Journal of the American Medical Association, 296(10), 1255-1265.
Hursel, R., Viechtbauer, W., & Westerterp-Plantenga, M.S. (2009). The effects of green tea on weight loss and weight maintenance: a meta-analysis. International Journal of Obesity, 33, 956-961.
Waltner-Law, M.E., et al. (2002). Epigallocatechin gallate, a constituent of green tea, represses hepatic glucose production. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 277.
Where do you carry your stress?
If you're like most people, you accumulate a lot of tension in your neck and shoulders. And with more Zoom calls and time behind a desk, this tension can accumulate to a point that can leave you feeling stuck.
Luckily, something as simple as this 10 minute Yoga warmup sequence can help you open your neck and shoulders — and shift your mood.
We often think making a change in the body or mind takes time that we simply don't have.
But the reality is that doing a simple practice for just 5-10 min daily is all it takes to make a difference.
It's the little steps you take towards your self-care that lead to the biggest transformations.
Once you've practiced, let me know in the comments below how this short sequence left you feeling.
Want to learn more practices like this? Join the waitlist for the From Surviving to Thriving online course and be the first to know the details as soon as enrollment opens for a very limited time on March 16th.
by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac.
“The first wealth is health.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The topic of health can instigate a variety of feelings and responses. If you’ve ever struggled with your health, the word alone can be a trigger.
You may even feel shame and guilt about your choices with your health or think that being healthy may be too costly.
And quite frankly, with all the information that’s available about the topics of health and wellness, it can be challenging to know what to believe or even where to begin.
By definition, health is “the condition of being well or free from disease.” But to be healthy means “enjoying health and vigor of body, mind, or spirit.”
So, to be healthy is to be free from disease and have vigor of body, mind or spirit.
Note that the spirit is embedded in this definition, which is why we’re going to look at why being healthy is fostered through a deeper relationship with yourself.
Having a healthy lifestyle does not mean letting go of all the fun and pleasure in life and it certainly doesn’t mean making healthy choices all of the time.
Being healthy simply means doing things that keep you feeling good physically, mentally and spiritually.
The World Health Organization’s definition of health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” illuminates just that.
We are all comprised of a physical body, a mind and a spirit. So why is it that most of us forget about at least one of these parts of ourselves throughout the day?
The most complicated element of the human experience is the mind—and it’s also the most difficult to condition. Luckily, if you notice that your mental state is imbalanced early on, you can use your physical body to reshape your thinking. Ancient practices such as Yoga, Qi Gong and Meditation are designed to help with this.
The ‘monkey mind’, as many of these ancient traditions call it, needs to be trained. Otherwise, the mind will run in all directions and lead you to the demise of both your physical body and your spirit.
But what if you have a problem with your body physically, perhaps as a result of an illness, an injury or some type of chronic pain?
When your body suffers, you have two choices—you can dwell on the pain or dwell on the process of healing.
When you’re able to change the station that’s playing in your head to focus on healing, you can more effectively uplift your spirit to then help your body recover. This can be done through a variety of spiritual practices and very simply through the daily and routine practice of gratitude.
Gratitude creates space for positivity and joy to flow into your life.
The more you focus on the good you have, the more you magnify those things and begin to cultivate better things to come into your life. This is the fastest way to heal your body, which is a reflection of the health of your mind and spirit.
To be healthy then does not necessarily mean eating the right foods, exercising and sleeping well.
In its very essence, health is cultivated through a sound, peaceful and positive body, mind and spirit.
Health is the state of ease you cultivate through an intimate relationship with your body and mind.
This means that you care about and pay close attention to both the body and mind.
To pay close attention, you have to be fully present.
When you’re present, you feel what you need and want in each moment and are therefore far less likely to make decisions based on impulse.
When you’re present, you often choose nutritious foods because you’re in tune with the impact of food on your body and mind.
When you’re present, you’re more more mindful of the people with whom you spend your time because you want to feel nourished by your relationships.
When you’re present, you listen to the cues to exercise not because you feel you have to, but because you actually enjoy it.
Paying close attention to your body and mind means being present with how you feel moment to moment, and this cultivates self-love. Self-love brings ease to the body, mind and spirit and prevents disease manifestation.
Self-love means that you care enough about yourself that you fill your life with the people, things, foods and activities you enjoy.
It’s more important to have your life be fullfilling than to have it be full.
For many of you this may mean that you do less, rest more and spend time in fewer yet more nurturing relationships and surroundings.
Tips on what foods will give you energy, which exercises are appropriate for your body, element and age, and which practices will help recondition your mind are certainly helpful.
But the truth is, no matter what I or anyone else tells you, the choice to be healthy must authentically come from you.
And once you really slow down and pay close attention to yourself, the realization of a truly fulfilling life simplifies making healthy choices.
by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac.
I’m sure you've experienced lower back pain at some point in your life. You may even be experiencing it right now.
In a society where we spend most of our time sitting on chairs and couches, tightness and pain in the lower back is all too common, and one of the most popular complaints from patients in our clinic. And while more chronic cases may not resolve so quickly, my hope is this article will empower you to better understand your pain as well as to provide you with a simple exercise to alleviate some of the discomfort right away.
There are many reasons why you can develop lower back pain.
One cause is too much compression from excessive sitting or standing that causes the area around the lumbar spine to tighten up.
As we get older, not only do the Yin or fluid components of the body naturally diminish, but your spine (byway of gravity) also starts to compress. This is why it’s so important to preserve and replenish your Yin constantly through proper diet and rest and to prevent this compression in your spine through elongation exercises and movement practices like Yoga and Qi Gong.
By elongating your spine through these various practices as well as by hanging upside down or front a pull-up bar regularly, you’ll maintain the integrity of the intervertebral spaces in your spine. This helps prevent abnormal narrowing of the spinal canal or neural foramen, which can lead to spinal stenosis resulting in pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots causing pain, numbness or weakness in the limbs.
Another cause of lower back pain may be related to burnout from a lack of sleep, excessive work, exercise or sex, or a diet filled with processed foods — all of which contribute to adrenal fatigue.
If you’ve been pushing your body too hard for too long or you’re not sleeping enough, you may start to excessively tax your adrenal glands, which can lead to hormonal and metabolic dysfunction.
The adrenal glands are a pair of endocrine glands located above your kidneys that produce a variety of hormones, including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol, that help regulate your metabolism, immune system, blood pressure, response to stress and other essential biological functions.
Your adrenal glands are associated with your Kidneys in Chinese Medicine so excessive taxation on the adrenals burdens your Kidney Qi, which can lead to lower back and knee pain, fatigue and premature aging, among a variety of other symptoms.
Lower back pain may also result from injury, as well as from psychological and emotional upset that’s mostly associated with fear.
Fear is the emotion of the Kidneys according to Chinese Medicine and since the Kidneys are located in your lower back, fear can trigger tension in this area of your body.
According to Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life, lower back pain may reflect your fear of money or lack of financial support.
And since I always believe that moving your body is essential to shifting your mind and mood, I think one of the best ways to shift out of an emotional state like fear that may be keeping you stuck is to move your body, simply and gently.
The simple exercise I'm sharing with you today takes 2 minutes and can be done sitting on the floor with your legs crossed or sitting up on the edge of a chair.
It'll not only free your lower back, but it also helps to send energy up your spine to bring Qi to your brain for greater alertness, focus and concentration.
So if your back is tight from sitting around (or even standing) too much during this pandemic, you'll want to make this simple exercise part of your daily routine.
Often called Opening the Heavenly Pillar, this is an excellent exercise to help alleviate lower back pain, tension and stiffness and is gentle enough to do sitting in a chair or on the floor.
Make sure to go slowly at first then work up to more rapid rotations.
This is one of the easiest exercises for lower back pain and to release tension in the spine in general.
Taking just two minutes to open your spine can also reset your mood and help you feel more embodied.
Once you’ve practiced, let me know how this exercise made you feel in the comments below!
by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac.
Recently I had the honor of taking part in a live online class taught by one of my heroes, Julia Cameron.
Julia is the author of the international bestseller The Artist’s Way, as well as over 40 other publications. Her work has impacted my life more than any other writer and if you know me well, you know how often I recommend her to others.
I had the pleasure of meeting this humble soul in person a couple years ago during an Artist’s Way workshop she hosted near my hometown. At that time, I was celebrating over a decade of writing Morning Pages and was able to let her know personally how profound an impact this practice had (and continues to have) on my life.
My morning writing practice drops me every day into silence to listen to my inner truths, regardless of how uplifting or painful they may be.
Throughout this new course, Julia talked about the power of deep listening to hear the sounds in your surroundings, your mind, your heart, to guidance, and even the sound of silence.
It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes by Ram Dass: “The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”
As I got quiet and listened, I started hearing sounds I’d never heard before in my home, during my yoga practice and on my walks.
I began to have a greater appreciation for simple things, like the scratching of my dogs’ feet as they walked across our hardwood floors and my mother’s voice as she spoke to me on the phone.
I began to listen more deeply to my inner wisdom for what I wanted or needed. And I started to listen more acutely to the guidance that comes constantly from Source.
To me, deep listening is at the heart of presence.
To be able to hear what others have to say without needing to respond or do anything is freeing.
How liberating to simply be present with what is rather than feel I have to control everything!
Silence is powerful. More often than not, simply listening to someone share rather than speaking creates space for clarity to arise for that person. The same goes when you listen to yourself.
At a time in history that’s perhaps louder than any other — with the blaring sounds of the news, social media, and a landscape filled with fear, anxiety and worry, it’s essential to stop and listen.
While you may not be able to turn off the noise, becoming more aware of the sounds in both your inner and outer worlds can change how you experience them.
Taking time to slow down and truly listen helps lower the volume of distraction and tune you in to the wisdom that lies within.
Then, you can reveal the truth of not just what you truly feel, but also what you truly need and want.
Listen & Write
With a pen and paper in hand, sit in a quiet corner of your home.
Close your eyes.
Take three deep breaths.
Now, open your eyes and write down every sound you hear in your environment—the fan of your heater, cars driving by outside, birds chirping, the rain or the breeze, the sound of your children walking or dogs barking, etc.
Write down every single sound you hear for the next 3-5 minutes.
Then pause and take another three breaths.
Be still with all that is in the moment.
Now write down what you feel – physically, emotionally and mentally.
This may stir up some emotion, especially if it’s been a while since you’ve taken time like this for yourself. Invite in all the feelings.
Listening deeply is essential to hearing your personal truth. Writing it down clarifies the path to your authentic self.
10 Minute Meditation (BEME Meditation): the meditation below will help you listen more closely, more often.
I like to call it The BEME Meditation; it’s a practice I developed that invites you to listen to your body, emotions, mind and environment, without judgment.
While judgments and inner narratives can distort reality and cause you to suffer, the process of quiet observation supports you to be authentic by simply being more present.
So feel, hear, be.
And know that everything will be OK, even if you don’t feel OK in this particular moment.
What’s the soundtrack that’s playing in your life right now? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
Feeling grounded means that there’s a strong connection between your Lungs and Kidneys so you can be more present in your body and breathe more deeply.
In Chinese Medicine, the Kidneys are said to grasp the Qi of the Lungs, which allows you to take deeper breaths.
The Lungs also direct body fluids downward to Kidneys and Bladder. Dysfunction in the communication between the Lungs and Kidneys can result in wheezing and asthma or accumulation of fluids either from the failure of the Lungs to descend the Qi or weakness in the Kidneys that prevent the grasping of the Lung Qi.
Each of the organ systems according to Chinese Medicine house an aspect of your soul.
The Lungs house the Po, the physical or substantive aspect of your soul, while the Kidneys house your willpower, known as Zhi.
Zhi drives the intention and effort required to accomplish things in life. This includes both effort and perseverance.
The connection between these two aspects helps you feel embodied and grounded.
Embodiment is essential to authentically practice mindfulness as well as gratitude.
This 10 minute Yin Yoga practice nourishes the Kidney meridian and opens the Lung meridian to help you strengthen your Kidney-Lung connection.
Yin Yoga is a powerful practice for all levels that calms your nervous system to reduce stress and even help you digest a variety of foods during the holiday season and beyond.
Once you’ve had a chance to practice with this video, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below —was your experience with this practice?
Growing up I could hardly get past the front door without hearing my mother, my grandmother or one of my aunts yell at me to put on a jacket.
You might relate — the tradition of wearing a jacket, coat or scarf to protect you from catching a cold when you go outside crosses over many cultures.
The idea is not to just to avoid getting cold, but more importantly we’re told that keeping your body warm will help prevent catching a cold.
Western medicine mostly writes this theory off as an old wive’s tale. Naturally, colds come from viruses, not from a strong breeze, right?
The answer isn’t so simplistic.
According to the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic, one of the most prominent texts of Chinese Medicine, “Wind is the chief [cause] of the one hundred diseases. When it comes to changes and transformations, other diseases result…[whatever] sets in does so because of Wind Qi.” (Unschuld, 2011, 631).
Wind is therefore considered to be one of the greatest challenges to healing according to Chinese Medicine. Wind can be associated with acute diseases like colds, flus, allergic reactions, and even chronic health disorders.
But how in the world can a breeze, or Wind Qi, cause illness?
Well, it’s because of how pathology can enter and move through your body’s meridian system and the protective barrier that constitutes your immune system.
Your Sinew Meridians are a system of channels that cover the entire surface of your body and are responsible for bringing information from your external environment to your senses.
Most importantly, the Sinew Meridians are conduits of Wei Qi, or defensive Qi, which protects you from your external environment much like your immune system.
When stimulated by Cold, Wind or Dampness - all of which are considered pathological factors in Chinese Medicine - these meridians instigate a defense that manifests as sneezing, sweating or a fever.
The pathological factor of Wind most easily and commonly enters your body through the back of your neck.
If the Bladder Sinew Meridian, which runs along your back and is your first line of defense, is not able to push the pathological factor back out (via a tight neck, sneeze and slight sweat), it enters the Tai Yang zone (Bladder & Small Intestine sinews).
If the pathological factor continues to challenge your body and cannot be pushed out, it can become a cold that impacts your sinuses and respiratory system.
One of the simplest things you can do to protect these meridians from invasion by external pathology is to wear a scarf, especially when it’s cold or windy.
By covering the back of your neck, a scarf helps prevent Wind from entering an important area that’s transited by the first protectors of your Wei Qi in the Sinew Meridian system — your Bladder Sinew Meridian.
Wearing a scarf armors this first line of defense to ensure that the factor of Wind doesn’t go into your body to become a cold or another type of virus.
Even if it’s warm and windy, you can still protect yourself by wearing a light scarf.
The health of your Kidneys is also vital to maintain strong Wei Qi, or defensive Qi, so it’s also essential to keep three additional areas of your body warm—your lower back near your kidneys, your lower abdomen where your kidney energy is stored and your feet through which your Kidney meridian runs.
In essence, keeping your neck contained by wearing a scarf, and making sure your lower back, abdomen and feet are warm helps protect your Wei Qi and immune system so as to prevent compromising your wellbeing during cold seasons.
Therefore, if you go out on a windy, cold day unprotected, the potential to catch a cold is not a myth.
Now that you know, I’d love to hear in the comments how you’re going to take action with these insights—does this empower you to keep your immune system strong?
