Valentines day challenge
In the United States we celebrate valentines day on Feb 14. It is a day that is supposed to celebrate romantic love. The first rush of excitement at seeing someone new, holding hands, first kisses. It is the excitement of infatuation. Valentines day can be fun, enticing, and filled with chocolate...what's not to love about it?
I was thinking this morning in the shower, as one often does, about the nature of the universe. No really, I was. I was thinking about the nature of love, awareness of self, and forgiveness. Give me a full pot of tea and this is where my mind wonders to.
As a Chinese medicine practitioner I often see the world through the lens of symptoms. I see someone obsessing about something and wonder about the spleen. I hear someone go off on someone for a trivial reason and I wonder about that person's liver. If someone is talking about not feeling connected to the world around them I wonder about their kidneys. As you can see I often spend my days secretly diagnosing the world. No judgement. I just find the lens of Chinese medicine that cool!!
I have a very prestigious teacher, Heiner Fruehauf, who wrote an article that states that all disease comes from the heart. This is a fairly big statement, and while at the time I found it fascinating, I don't think I really got it. I mean I was only a second year student, maybe I wasn't supposed to get it yet? Chinese medicine teaching is often circular in nature after all. I have been practicing now for a year and a half and I think I'm starting to have some glimmer of understanding, maybe not all of it but just enough understanding to want to challenge how you spend your Valentines day this year. Bare with me as I explain.
In my practice I have come to understand that the body is the coolest thing ever. Seriously, hands down, wondrous! It tells us exactly what it needs and is thoughtful enough to give us hints when things are out of alignment. For some reason here in the West we have the silly idea that our body is something that needs to be quieted. When we have a headache we take a pill, our stomach hurts we take a pill, we feel depressed we take a pill. See a pattern here? The thing is our bodies are really persistent and the more we tell it to be quiet, the louder it speaks to us.
In Chinese medicine there are 6 major organ systems, each has a yin and yang pair so in reality there are 12 organs. Each has a slue of things that go along with it from color, taste, direction, time of day, official, and emotion. Everything is connected after all. So, as it is Valentines day let's look at the Heart. The Heart is the Emperor and its emotion is Joy which you have to admit does kinda make sense. The cool thing about being the Emperor, beyond the cool hat, is that it is the actual physical manifestation of the Mandate of Heaven/God/the universal Big WOW. Needless to say, when the Emperor speaks... everyone listens. When the Emperor is in line with Heaven's mandate, the lands are abundant and the people are happy. When the Emperor is out of alignment, not speaking truth, then the land is in disarray and it is the responsibility of the people to rebel. Lets just state that again, when out of alignment it is the responsibility of the people to rebel. Keep that in mind.
The emotion of the Heart is Joy. There are many kinds of joy in he world so lets look at this more closely. There is the joy of a good meal, a compliment given or received, the joy that eating the chocolate hearts you get from your Valentine gives you. But this is a fleeting joy and doesn't seem worthy of the Emperor. Instead, if you look at the root of joy I think that you will find love. Not the fleeting rush of first infatuation, but the deep and mature love that is present in the very fiber of our being. The love of a mother for her children, or cats as is the case for me, that is a part of our chemical makeup. So, at the heat of the Emperor is Love. Makes sense to send hearts for Valentines day now doesn't it?
Now here is where things start to get interesting. Since the Emperor (Heart) is in charge of the country (insert your body here) and its voice is in alignment with the heavens and its message is Love. What happens when that message gets warped? Yep, good question, I know!
In our society we are inundated by images of excess. We are told to work harder, do more, consume more, plug in and tune out. We are given false examples of beauty, wealth, and happiness. If you aren't happy or are sick its your fault for not wanting it enough or even worse, having the dreaded negative thought when you don't measure up to the god of advertising. Slippery slope indeed. We look in the mirror and don't like what we see. How often have we called ourself fat, stupid, less than, or think our needs unimportant? Its better to look good and happy then to really be healthy. All of this consumption, all these lies are injuries to the heart. The Emperor has been disposed, the message isn't self love, and the body is rebelling.
All disease comes from the heart.
Profound in the deepest sense of the word!! What if every time your body twinges you stop and remember that you love yourself? Your body is a perfect manifestation of the Mandate of Heaven and the voice that you choose to speak to yourself is that of love.
Where in Love is blame? Where in Love is hate? Where in Love is shame? Nowhere. What is in Love? Forgiveness. You can Forgive yourself. Every time you come to these negative emotions, don't be pulled out of your heart. Don't be pulled out of alignment with Heavens Mandate. Choose Love and Forgiveness.
Every time you pass a mirror greet the Emperor in you with Love and Respect.
I challenge you on Valentines day to choose profound love and forgive all the rest.
Good luck and happiest of days!!
In the United States we celebrate valentines day on Feb 14. It is a day that is supposed to celebrate romantic love. The first rush of excitement at seeing someone new, holding hands, first kisses. It is the excitement of infatuation. Valentines day can be fun, enticing, and filled with chocolate...what's not to love about it?
I was thinking this morning in the shower, as one often does, about the nature of the universe. No really, I was. I was thinking about the nature of love, awareness of self, and forgiveness. Give me a full pot of tea and this is where my mind wonders to.
As a Chinese medicine practitioner I often see the world through the lens of symptoms. I see someone obsessing about something and wonder about the spleen. I hear someone go off on someone for a trivial reason and I wonder about that person's liver. If someone is talking about not feeling connected to the world around them I wonder about their kidneys. As you can see I often spend my days secretly diagnosing the world. No judgement. I just find the lens of Chinese medicine that cool!!
I have a very prestigious teacher, Heiner Fruehauf, who wrote an article that states that all disease comes from the heart. This is a fairly big statement, and while at the time I found it fascinating, I don't think I really got it. I mean I was only a second year student, maybe I wasn't supposed to get it yet? Chinese medicine teaching is often circular in nature after all. I have been practicing now for a year and a half and I think I'm starting to have some glimmer of understanding, maybe not all of it but just enough understanding to want to challenge how you spend your Valentines day this year. Bare with me as I explain.
In my practice I have come to understand that the body is the coolest thing ever. Seriously, hands down, wondrous! It tells us exactly what it needs and is thoughtful enough to give us hints when things are out of alignment. For some reason here in the West we have the silly idea that our body is something that needs to be quieted. When we have a headache we take a pill, our stomach hurts we take a pill, we feel depressed we take a pill. See a pattern here? The thing is our bodies are really persistent and the more we tell it to be quiet, the louder it speaks to us.
In Chinese medicine there are 6 major organ systems, each has a yin and yang pair so in reality there are 12 organs. Each has a slue of things that go along with it from color, taste, direction, time of day, official, and emotion. Everything is connected after all. So, as it is Valentines day let's look at the Heart. The Heart is the Emperor and its emotion is Joy which you have to admit does kinda make sense. The cool thing about being the Emperor, beyond the cool hat, is that it is the actual physical manifestation of the Mandate of Heaven/God/the universal Big WOW. Needless to say, when the Emperor speaks... everyone listens. When the Emperor is in line with Heaven's mandate, the lands are abundant and the people are happy. When the Emperor is out of alignment, not speaking truth, then the land is in disarray and it is the responsibility of the people to rebel. Lets just state that again, when out of alignment it is the responsibility of the people to rebel. Keep that in mind.
The emotion of the Heart is Joy. There are many kinds of joy in he world so lets look at this more closely. There is the joy of a good meal, a compliment given or received, the joy that eating the chocolate hearts you get from your Valentine gives you. But this is a fleeting joy and doesn't seem worthy of the Emperor. Instead, if you look at the root of joy I think that you will find love. Not the fleeting rush of first infatuation, but the deep and mature love that is present in the very fiber of our being. The love of a mother for her children, or cats as is the case for me, that is a part of our chemical makeup. So, at the heat of the Emperor is Love. Makes sense to send hearts for Valentines day now doesn't it?
Now here is where things start to get interesting. Since the Emperor (Heart) is in charge of the country (insert your body here) and its voice is in alignment with the heavens and its message is Love. What happens when that message gets warped? Yep, good question, I know!
In our society we are inundated by images of excess. We are told to work harder, do more, consume more, plug in and tune out. We are given false examples of beauty, wealth, and happiness. If you aren't happy or are sick its your fault for not wanting it enough or even worse, having the dreaded negative thought when you don't measure up to the god of advertising. Slippery slope indeed. We look in the mirror and don't like what we see. How often have we called ourself fat, stupid, less than, or think our needs unimportant? Its better to look good and happy then to really be healthy. All of this consumption, all these lies are injuries to the heart. The Emperor has been disposed, the message isn't self love, and the body is rebelling.
All disease comes from the heart.
Profound in the deepest sense of the word!! What if every time your body twinges you stop and remember that you love yourself? Your body is a perfect manifestation of the Mandate of Heaven and the voice that you choose to speak to yourself is that of love.
Where in Love is blame? Where in Love is hate? Where in Love is shame? Nowhere. What is in Love? Forgiveness. You can Forgive yourself. Every time you come to these negative emotions, don't be pulled out of your heart. Don't be pulled out of alignment with Heavens Mandate. Choose Love and Forgiveness.
Every time you pass a mirror greet the Emperor in you with Love and Respect.
I challenge you on Valentines day to choose profound love and forgive all the rest.
Good luck and happiest of days!!