The Zen of Healing

Its an uncharacteristic winter here in Seattle. We generally don’t see temperatures below freezing, let alone snow (usually small amounts) until the mid to end of the season. I did a bit of digging and this is the whitest Christmas in the Pacific Northwest since 1861… estimating between 10-20″ (depending on how north) inches of [...]

Jennifer Dubowsky L.Ac, a wonderfully experienced practitioner out of Chicago, does a great job of talking about the esoteric concepts of Yin and Yang: The concept of Yin and Yang is said to date back nearly 6,000 years and has been attributed to a philosopher named Fu Shi. It is a familiar symbol that expresses [...]

This poem was written by Lindsay Davis, a kindred spirit in my life, just a few days ago. She brings the healing power of Nature and the essential teachings of Zen to her words without even trying. Whispers from burnt sienna leaves Central Park’s trees standing tall and proud as mother nature drops November rain [...]

This is a favorite quote of mine… and sums up the energetics of the Autumn season/Metal element from a Five Element Acupuncture perspective very nicely. “..In the end what matters most is, How well did you live, How well did you love, How well did you learn to let go…” – Unknown I feel this [...]

The Autumn season and Metal element in the body is governed by our Lung and Colon meridians. They have a reciprocal relationship of receiving (or inhaling) the very highest quality of life, of Spirit, and then a release of what is no longer useful for us. And if we are not letting go, then we [...]

A personal day to share. Last Sunday at Blue Heron Zen Center in Seattle, myself and 5 other Zen practitioners took what are called the Five Precepts. They are five foundational vows of not only Zen, but life in general – in a nutshell… to not take life, to not steal, to not lie, to [...]

After the harvest, the time of bringing in nourishment and filling our storehouses, Nature continues its decline and starts to let go… into the season of Autumn. The air is cool and crisp accompanied by misty rains falling from the Heavens. The leaves turn from greens… to fiery yellows, oranges, and reds… giving us their [...]

As we are on the cusp of Late Summer (Earth) into Autumn (Metal), there are some really important aspects of Earth to touch on. And this is the notion of “receiving” as it relates to our Stomach meridian. On a physiological level, the Stomach receives our food, churns it up, and turns it into something [...]

Easily one of my favorite times of year, especially here in Seattle. In typical western culture, we talk about four seasons. The Chinese include a fifth… the Late Summer. There is no set calendar date for the beginning (or end for that matter) of the Late Summer… it is a shift that many of us [...]

One definition of a symptom is stated as: A change from normal structure, function, or sensation as would be experienced by the patient and indicative of disease. This is very interesting. The first thing that stands out to me is, what is considered “normal”? And what is considered “disease”? There are a vast majority of [...]