Flying Cranes w/pic

     The cranes are back! I have had a mobile of cranes flying in my office since the beginning. When my former landlord moved she took the cranes, all the way to Oregon! And despite my best efforts and the internet, I haven't been able to find suitable replacements.
     So my very good friend Jen gave me these identical replacements on Sunday and I hung 'em up on Monday. I finally got the wings folded to suit them so they fly level now and don't just hang there, beak down.
     The mobile is from http://www.flensted-mobiles.com/ in Denmark with a supplier, Mr. Torben Nielsen in Highland,Village, TX at 888.664.3573.

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Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. - John F. Kennedy

Woo Way or Wu Wei

     In this type of acupuncture we talk about wu wei, it is the art of doing nothing or no thing. It is our practice that we merely are in the treatment room; we exist. The Tao De Jing says:
From this the wise man relies on doing nothing in the open, it's wu-wei. And he spreads doctrines without true or false words, by a wordless influence. All things appear, and he hardly turns away from the creatures worked on by him. Some he gives solid, good life, he hardly disowns his chosen ones. He hardly takes possession of anyone under fair conditions.

     One one level, it is to give our patients the gift that all is done by themselves, the people accomplish everyting that is done, that there is. They should have the thought that we, the practitioners, do no thing to bring about the changes. When the patient realizes how superfluous we are, our task is finished.

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Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for. - Dag Hammarskjold

Cupping

     There are many ways to stimulate the points, reducing or reinforcing. The use of cupping is very effective in fleshy areas, like on the thighs or calves, abdomen or back, even on the upper arms.
     First, you lubricate skin with some lotion or oil. Then you dip your cotton ball into alcohol and light it (see May 7 for lighted cotton ball!). Now while holding the flaming and dramatic cotton ball (FCB), you move the cup around on the oiled skin to get the patient used to the sensation, then you plunge (too strong a word?) the FCB into the cup to heat the air just a little and then put the cup down on the patient’s skin. Don’t forget to blow out the FCB at this point! As the air inside the cup cools, it creates a vacuum and pulls the skin up into the cup. Now, you move the cup around over the affected area and then let it come to rest over the point where you want the energy affected.
      It doesn’t hurt at all, although it may result in some fairly deep bruising, especially on the back. Can give some good pulse changes too.

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This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative innovation. At first you might find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen. . .Your sacred space is where you find yourself again and again. - Joseph Campbell

Things to Calculate

     One of my patients asked what we were treating and what did we have to calculate. It started my re-examining what the routine was and what I needed to take into consideration. There’s the season, of course, and right now we are moving into the beginning of summer according to the Chinese calendar. There’s also the day of the week (which is the most auspicious number?), where the moon is in its cycle/and where the planets are, and the hour of day.

     Acupuncture recognizes that the life force of all things, the qi, moves in flow with so many variables and one of these is the hour of the day. The organ systems function at their highest and lowest about 12 hours apart. The Large Intestine, for example, is at the height of its cycle from 5am to 7am and at its lowest at 5pm to 7pm, so if you needed to address concerns about this system, it would be best to have a patient in during this window.
     At acupuncture school, there used to be horary (that’s the name for these hour-related treatments) parties for patients late at night.


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I ask myself, What is the - perhaps only one of several but for me the – most interesting technology that shapes the space one usually calls Western culture, as distinct, say, from Chinese culture? The obvious answer – and here Father Ong has been my main modern living guide – is the alphabet. - Ivan Illich, In Conversation

Zen Board

I got this Zen Board (from “Santa Barbara and Sun” it says on the back) given to me by a patient if I recall correctly. It’s great for writing on it with the brush dipped in water. At first, I used to write a greeting in English for the patient like “Welcome Bob!” The small difficulty was that if the patient did not arrive promptly at their time, then the water on the board would form drips – not pleasing. The very good news is that the writing in water evaporated quickly so that I could use it again within a few minutes.

It’s really quite excellent at writing brush strokes to practice calligraphy.

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The characters are formed out of the magical seven strokes which we know are the seven mysteries. It is said that the horizontal stroke should be like a cloud that slowly drifts across the sky, the dot should be like the falling rock, the vertical stroke should have the growth of a strong vine stem, the sweeping stroke should rise and fall like the ocean waves, the hook should be like an animal’s claw and the diagonal stroke should have the energy of an arrow.

Acupuncture Point, ST-36, Zu San Li, Leg Three Mile,

     There are 365 main points plus another two dozen extra points and a whole galaxy of additional points in the ears and hands. Now, I would have preferred that the Chinese had named the points according to function, like “Fixes Frozen Shoulder” or “Stress Relieving Point” or “Ensures Fertility,” that kind of thing. What you get instead mostly are things like ST-36, “Zu San Li,” “Leg Three Mile,” a point near the knee used to provide stamina for walking another three li or miles, perhaps.

     “The use of this point [c]an gain a lot ground and cover great distances. For people to walk and move arms more easily. Means for patient to move on – whether physical, mental or spiritually. Shakes up and revitalizes the energy. Use where there is laziness or an apathy. Feeds the Earth meridian in order that things can grow more richly. Feeding the muscles when working on the Earth element. One of the points for the Sea of Nourishment, according to the Chinese it bestows longevity and endurance, keeps you free from disease, conserves vitality and revitalizes the energy, the Official and the entire system. Brings stability and security to the element. Used with moxa, this point steps up the white blood cell count.” – Thank you J.R.Worsley

     The alternative name of Ghost Evil indicates its use in such disharmonies as epilepsy, manic depression, schizophrenia, depression or when heat in the Yang Ming is causing wild behavior. This point both calms the mind and strengthens the body. Regulates Blood pressure. It brightens the eyes and can be used for blurred vision and declining eyesight in old age.

     “In ancient times strong runners were used to deliver important messages from village to village. Here is the stamina to walk the length between two villas in ancient times. Zu San Li is to walk in the stillness of the way between heaven and earth with strength. Walking our path takes reserves and here are the nourishing energies to finish and accomplish our goals with these reserves of strength.
     The character Zu is drawn as a foot that walked in stillness or along its path in balanced mediation and means the foot or let. San is drawn as three lines. The upper stroke represents heaven, the lower stroke earth, and the stroke in the middle is man created out of the two. It means three or to treble. Li is drawn as a field and earth. It means a hamlet of eight families working together to cultivate the land, a place of residence, neighborhood, and street, melancholy and the distance between two villages or a Chinese mile.
     Here we gain our ability to be stable, receptive, caring, nourishing and balanced like the earth beneath our feet. Here the earth herself gives us the stamina to walk the fullness of our path.” - Thank you Debra Kaatz

     Schizophrenia, blood pressure, blurred vision, white blood cell count? It does get complicated.

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Healing is possible even in the absence of cure. Cure is about the recovery of the body. Healing is about the recovery of the soul. - Rachel Naomi Remen

View Me As Movie Star

The folks at Acufinder where I advertise have been offering the promotion about making a free video of your business (with annual add-ons at a premium).

So, I spent an exhausting Friday talking to the videographer on Friday about acupuncture. We looked at coming at it from several different angles. He shot a lot of footage, mostly of me blowing the lines, until it got comical. He did a bunch of office shots and movement shots and a whole lot a material to use. He did a really fine job of cobbling it together.

Admittedly, I look like I’m asleep (visit www.acufinder.com and search on zip code 21045 and pick me for a bit a laugh) while I’m trying to talk to you about the exciting world of acupuncture, but the rest of video is really good. His name is Charles Kim and you can reach him at 877-559-9898 if you need a video for your business.

Movie material, I’m not.

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Death is more universal than life; everybody dies but not everybody lives. – A. Sachs