There have been many theories created on how Theater came to be an integral part of human civilization. As a student of theater in my early days a particular theory rang out with much truth. And the ideas that spring from it touch upon my early post regarding bonding and independence.

The theory arises from the “city states” period in Greek history, when the well known cities of Athens, Thebes, Corinth, Sparta were each states unto themselves. During this time it has been suggested that young ones grew up in their city, their “mother city” until they reached a certain age, and then it was their destiny to go out from that city to explore the world.

At some point, in their explorations they would be called once more back to the mother city, there to tell the tales of their adventures in the world. This retelling of their adventures was a dramatic performance and it served the purpose of both entertaining, and instructing those who lived in the city, and forwarding progress and connection with the world at large.

Here we see the journey of life reflected. We are raised in the relative safety and shelter of the mother. We strike out independently to discover what there is to discover. And we return with stories to enrich and enliven the home from which we sprang.

I’m wondering… Did you venture out from your “Mother City” to discover the world on your own? What is the story you discovered on your journey? Were you able to bring it back home? How has it been received? Are you still upon the trail of your destiny?

Take time with these questions if you will, and consider where you are on your journey. If only to entertain and instruct yourself on the nature of your findings. If you find you care to share your revelations or get support in discovering them, I would be happy to hear from you.

Blessings for a most intriguing path to spread before you!

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One song goes “No man is an island, no man stands alone” and another goes, “I am a rock, I am an Island.” In truth, we all swing between these two extremes. The beauty of the wholeness of life is that both are required. If I melt into a bond, I lose myself. If I stand out alone for too long, I may go mad!

Curiously, healthy bonds lead to healthy independence, and vice versa. Unhealthy bonds, that smother individual expression lead to unhealthy independence, a life lived in reactivity and fear. To balance these two aspects of life is to cultivate an artful awareness. Strive to create healthy bonds that allow for healthy individual expression, and dance artfully between the two!

In your body, you can access the quality of bonding through the front mid-line vessel. This vessel of energy runs from the root of the torso, forward up through the sexual organs, the belly, the heart center, the throat and the mouth, and rises internally to the eyes. The quality of independence can be accessed through the back midline. This vessel also begins at the root of the torso, but moves back and up past the anus, the tailbone, the sacrum and all the way up the spine, over the top of the cranium down through the third eye, the nose to the mouth. These two midlines together make up what Taoist meditation calls the micro cosmic orbit, or small heavenly circle. Circulating your consciousness through these two midline vessels in a continuous flow balances the energies of bonding and independence within your being and your life.

I hope this brief introduction to the idea of balance between bonding and independence may stimulate some thoughtful action in your day, and bring peace and understanding to your experience of the flow of your life energy.

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In Classical Chinese Medicine there is a beautiful description of this energetic pattern, and coming to understand it and the points you can use to shift the energy pattern can help you to break its grip on your being. There are two sets of Extraordinary Vessels known as the Wei Mai, or linking vessels and the Qiao Mai, or standing vessels. The Wei Mai link all our yin and yang energies together over time, while the Qiao Mai hold us together in the moment.

There is a fabric of time in our lives that we see clearly in the cycles of development from prenatal to early childhood, to adolesence, to young adulthood, to full on adult years to eldership. Each of these stages of our life unfold together with their inherent responsibilities and social pressures. If you experience something traumatic in any of these stages and it takes your attention, you literally begin to invest your energy in the form of thoughts which are the Qi and Blood of your being into this non-current piece of the fabric of time.

Traumatic events can literally rip holes in the fabric of time, and suck your life energy away from your current needs. And just as past events may drain you in this way, so too some dreamy hope filled expectation of a better day tomorrow can drain away your vital essence just as easily. As Yogi Amrit Desai said “Even the pursuit of happiness is a denial of the deep beauty of the moment!” And so with 50 % of your Qi looking backwards, and 30% looking forwards, only 20% is left for the here and now, and what if something big happens right here and now, and sucks away the last 20%?

Luckily there’s a remedy. Readers here are already familiar with CMR and PBR, two powerful remedies indeed. And now you might begin to think about utilizing points on the Wei Mai and Qiao Mai Vessels to regulate the flow of vital Qi energy in your body to balance these various investments of your thought. For a start, I will give the opening points for the Wei Mai Vessels and you can begin to put them to use right away.

First there are two aspects of Wei Mai, the Yin Wei Mai and the Yang Wei Mai. Yin Wei Mai is the governing force behind all your internal faculties, your sense of who you are from the inside out. Yang Wei compliments this by governing your relationship to the external world, how events and external influences have effected who you are.

Yin Wei opens at the point known as the Inner Gate, three fingers from the Wrist crease on the inside of the arm. This is a very commonly known point, popularized by its use in stop smoking and motion sickness patches that you can pick up at most modern pharmacies. P6, or Pericardium #6 is its official designation, and it relates to the energies of your body that protect your heart, your emotions and your circulatory functions. As the Inner Gate point, it is the point that turns your focus inward and encourages and supports introspection and self knowledge. Gently but firmly hold it with your thumb and breathe slowly and deeply, practicing what Eckart Tolle might call breathing in to your inner body. Connect deeply with who you are in the vastness of the present moment allowing any noisy inner dialogue related to your most recent social feau pax or deeply buried painful memory gently quiet down as you touch on the infinite power of love and gratitude.

What’s important here is to note that this is the deepest inmost part of yourself that you are looking toward and has nothing to do with external circumstance or opinion, or “The Me that Nobody Knows.” Take time with that deep part of yourself, and bring your Qi, through your thoughts fully into the recognition of your divine personhood.

And I know that that’s probably enough for now, but just for balance, let’s look at the Yang Wei Mai. Its opening point is just on the opposite side of the arm from P6 at a point known as the “Outer Gate.” Imagine that! This is designated as a point number 5 on the Triple Warmer channel. Triple Warmer has to do with regulation and dissemination of Qi energy throughout the body, and by extension has a profound part to play in immune response. Clearly a powerful ally when it comes to reigning in the troublesome challenges of public opinion or outside voices crowding in upon you telling you should do this, buy that, think this way, dress that way. Holding TW #5, the outer gate and breathing deeply as before into your inner being you can begin to honor the extroverted aspects of yourself. Take into account the voice of external perceptions, but rather than being ruled by them, allow your inner knowledge to come fully out to meet them and respond accordingly.

By holding these two points, and breathing deeply you can balance your inner and outer aspects and more fully live into the fullness of your true and authentic self in each and every moment. Recognize that you are at a given place on a long journey. The long journey has indeed brought you to this day, and from this day the long journey shall continue. Take time, hold your inner and outer gates, breathe deeply and become present in the here and now. Send infinite Love and gratitude to the fabric of time and all the rips and tears, large and small that have taken place along the way. Call your Qi and your blood back from the bad investments in past and future, and keep your Qi account in balance with a nice cushion in current time for all that life may send you.

In healing and blessings. Thanks for your listening. Next time, I’ll share more about the Extraordinary Healing that can be accessed through the points of the Extraordinary Vessels.

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The Plain’s Tribes of North America had another idea.  You can’t fix a hole.  In fact there are holes everywhere. Therefore, you need to be very wise about how you manage and navigate the world around the holes that exist.  The Teepee design with its smoke-hole in the top, with flaps for management is a one prime example of this.  Intentionally designing your life and your choices with the hole in mind.  That’s the ticket.

When we take this into our inner experience of life, many of us can directly to attest to a feeling that there is in our inner life what feels like a hole in our being.  This is often experienced in the chest around the region of the heart.  There’s this big empty, dark hollow space that seems to have always been there and often seems to be at the root of much discomfort.  Many of us go to great lengths to “fix this hole.”  The drive to fix this hole can be seen as the source of all of our addictive behaviors. 

If I can just find the right drug, the right food, the right relationship… then this hole in my chest will be fixed. 

Funny thing is, these things don’t fix the hole.  The hole remains.  Perhaps that’s because it is supposed to be there. There’s an intention behind this persistent leak that is the wake up call to the truth of our existence in these bodies, on this earth. The hole is actually that which connects us to all that is around us.  Like the umbilical cord that connects us to our Mother, the hole with the cord attached makes for a two-way conduit of interrelationship.

And that is the key lesson of the hole.  The way in which we are intimately connected to all that surrounds us is represented by the ever presence of the holes that connect us to one another.  If we believe that we can “fix the hole” we are usually talking about some sort of seal that can separate us from that which is on the other side of the hole.  If instead, we begin to understand that there is no way to really exist separate from the other, then we can begin to be wise about the way in which we interrelate with all the world that surrounds us and of which we are an integral part. 

There is no separation in the natural world.  It is one great web of life.  Like the teepee of the plains, there is a natural outlet for the smoke that rises from our inner fire.  It’s up to us to step up to the plate, realize the true depths of this interconnection and begin to deal with this world wisely and in relationship. 

So, then next you find a hole, don’t try to plug it up.  Rather seek to see what is on the other side of it, and discover what it means to be in right relationship to what you discover there.  And perhaps, where there are no natural holes in place, it is a good idea not open up such conduits. 

That hole in the bottom of the seabed is a good case in point.  Other examples are the man-made canals that have brought about infestations of exotic species in hitherto pristine environments.  Yet, though not opening these holes in the first place may have been prudent, now that they are present, we have to use the intercourse of species through these holes as a lesson to us about the deep interrelationship of all things.  For instance, just because we think we can contain oil through all our neat little manufacturing processes, the truth is we cannot manage 100% of the toxic interactions brought about by opening such massive holes where nature previously had maintained an effective balance. 

When it comes to the hole in the chest, a great teacher once taught me that this hole is actually the in-dwelling place for Spirit.  If I keep filling it with all the flotsam and jetsam of my addictive behaviors, then Spirit is shut out, and ultimately my life is flat and uninspired.  Coming into relationship with my emptiness and making there a welcome place for Spirit is the teaching that sustains and inspires me to this day. 

Perhaps if we could all do this, the collective answer to our modern dilemmas could arrive from the wisdom and intelligence within that recognizes our connection to all things.  The illusion of separateness, strangeness, and power differentials would dissolve into the reality of the fact that we are all in this together.  Once we realize that, and we allow the true Spirit of heart wisdom to guide our actions, we will no longer have holes that need fixing. 

 Rather we’ll have conduits that honor our deep interrelatedness and common in-dwelling life force.  And it is the very presence of all these holes that makes us a whole people. From this perspective there is nothing that can disrupt the balance and harmony that are our birthright.  So let’s be careful with the idea that we can “fix a hole”, and rather let’s learn to manage and support the harmonious interrelatedness of all things in our vast and beautiful world.

-Matthew

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When we are feeling strong, we feel like we can do just about anything at anytime.  We feel on top of the world and ready to go at a moment’s notice. For most of us, however, this kind of lifestyle has a short lifespan.  We might feel this way through our 20s, even into our thirties for some.  But sooner or later, there probably comes a day, when you just feel wiped out.  A good night’s rest, a decent meal, a little time to relax, and a good shiatsu treatment and we may bounce right back.  But the old youthful strength and enthusiasm just doesn’t carry the day as it once may have.  The old phrase, “My get-up-and-go, just got-up-and-went!” comes to mind, as we search around for some way to get that good old vital energy back. When a good night’s rest, a decent meal and a little time to relax just doesn’t restore you; when a lack of vital energy just drags on… then a good dose of rhythm is the answer!

Now just what do I mean by that?  Rhythm is a well-known concept to some, and completely foreign to others.  It may even seem a little old-fashioned. But it’s a time-honored trick that busy Moms learned long ago. And it has sustained and stabilized the raising of the next generation for many, many years.  Do you remember the old TV commercials for Prince Spaghetti Sauce?  If you do, you’ll recall, “Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti day!”  That in a nutshell is the art of rhythm. Now, just extend it out to all the tasks and activities of daily life.  

If you were raised in a family like mine, you may recall that Monday through Friday was the work/school week. Bedtime, wake up and meal times were set in stone. Weekends were always Friday afternoon through Sunday evening. Vacuuming and Mopping day was Monday, Laundry day was Tuesday, Ironing day was Wednesday, grocery shopping was Friday. Coupon clipping days were Sunday through Thursday. Sunday was church in the morning, chicken dinner for midday meal, and cake and ice cream for dinner.  And from there, the meal schedule was pretty much the same for the given days of the week.  I remember well the routine way in which my Mom’s standard meal plans arrived on the table, day after day, week after week.  And that was the rhythm that helped her to raise her large family, while maintaining her vital energy.

And herein lies the secret.  Rhythm replaces effort!  When you do something with little or no effort, there is little or no drain on your strength. 

In this endeavor, it always helps to have a road map as well.  When you’re sailing into the rhythmic waters, it’s best to consult with those who have gone before. The Daily Cycle of Meridian Energy Flow and the seasonal cycles of Five Element Energies are vital tools at the foundation of Shiatsu Therapy and Qigong Exercise Practice that can provide you with the roadmap you need to enlighten your choices, and understand your own personal rhythms on the background of the great Rhythms of Nature.

The Daily Cycle provides a lot of clues to the natural rhythms of the organ networks of the body that you can track on a day-to-day basis.  Understanding each of the organ networks and their place in the daily cycle can add a tremendous power to the shaping of a good daily plan.  The best idea is to start where you are, and get an idea of the cyclic nature of your own energy flow.  Do you have times of day when you feel particularly weak or even particularly strong?  Tracking these energy shifts can give you a major clue into which systems are most in need of attention.

For instance, if you regularly have trouble getting out of bed before 9 am, then you might need to take a look at the Earth Element function in your life.  Particularly anything related to the function of your Stomach meridian, that is strongest between the hours of 7 and 9am.  Here’s a list of related questions you might explore. How is your appetite?  What are you hungry for?  Are you nourishing yourself? Are your meal times irregular?  Do you tend to eat a large meal after 6pm? Answers to any of these questions can give you valuable clues into the reasons behind your difficulty in rising before 9am.  

Beyond day-to-day concerns, the Five Element rhythms can offer great clues into the nature of your annual flow.  To apply the wisdom of Five Elements it is most simple to check in with your awareness of how you respond to seasonal changes.  Challenges with winter, for instance, are both common and a red flag for vital energy reserves being low.   In the past, it’s clear we were actually much better adapted to cope with the intensity of extreme cold than most people demonstrate these days.  Modern conveniences of central heating and hot running water, and electric appliances have worn down our natural strength in this regard.  Winter is directly related to vital energies through the Water Element and Kidney Meridian energies.  If you are deeply challenged during winter, there’s a strong indication that you have compromised your Water Element and there are specific strategies you must put into place if you wish to replenish and rejuvenate your vital reserves.

Skilled Shiatsu Therapists are thoroughly trained in both the Daily Cycle and the Five Element functioning, and can be excellent guides in applying the depths of this ancient knowledge system to your pursuit of the best rhythm for your life.   

As you pursue the idea of creating a more healthy rhythm in your life, you’ll also do well to consider the old adage, “Practice Makes Perfect.” If you practice a certain skill or method of living day after day for a period of time, you’ll have a chance perfects it to the point where it becomes second nature. The guesswork and mistakes are weeded out, and the effort is reduced to a comfortable working ease. The energy reserves are properly distributed throughout the project and no noticeable drain on your reserves is evident.  My Mom, for instance, with her ordered household rhythm, lived to the ripe old age of 96, and that’s a pretty good endorsement for Rhythm.  

Another stress factor that rhythm helps to reduce is the stress that comes from having too many decisions to make on a daily basis. We all know the feeling of energy drain that can come from an unmade decision. An important decision left looming over your head for any length of time, for whatever reason, places a drain on your energy reserves that is evident and palpable.  As soon as you do make that decision, a tremendous weight is lifted off of your shoulders, making more energy available for you to live the rest of your life. What rhythm can do for you is to help you pre-decide an entire set of life choices in advance so that the drain of your vital resources in regard to these day-to-day decisions is reduced or eliminated altogether.  

Of course, this all involves a willingness to make a commitment well in advance of how you might be “feeling” about any given choice, at any given moment. And that takes a tremendous amount of self-knowledge, as well as a reasonably educated understanding of the choices that will feed your vital energy reserves and what would drain you. 

You may begin to see why I’ve suggested that this idea of rhythm is a bit old fashioned.  The idea of being committed to a routine, or held to a pre-made plan is generally distasteful to most caught up in a youth oriented, freedom oriented society. What has been lost in this perspective however is an important bit of common wisdom. The aphorisms “Freedom comes from discipline!”  and “If you set your own limits, you are completely free!” are two bits of wisdom that we would do well to come to appreciate.  

There is a caution here.  As creatures of habit, we do indeed thrive on rhythm.  But rhythm can also become sedentary and lead to stagnation.  So, we must be willing to review our choices and their consequences on a regular basis.  Remember, in addition to “Practice Makes Perfect”, we must beware that “Practice Makes Permanent”.  In other words, if you practice imperfectly, your choices will be permanently imperfect!  So, it is well worthwhile to undergo a periodic review of your choices, and make sure that they are consistent with your lifestyle needs and personal goals.  A skilled Shiatsu practitioner or other health provider can be a great ally in this endeavor.

Take time to consider your daily life.  If you are less than pleased with the vital energy available to you at any given moment, then it’s a safe bet that you’re out of rhythm. It is time for you to implement a well thought out regular plan of diet, rest, exercise and bodywork to rebuild your reserves once more and put you back on the road to balanced health, strength and vitality.

And as you walk down this road, I encourage you to take advantage of the service of receiving regular Shiatsu treatments as a vital component to the success of your personal revitalizing plan.  Such treatments can give you the time and introspection you need to connect with the wisdom of your body, and the reflective assistance of your trained Shiatsu therapist. 

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Many years ago, in my first Sweat Lodge, I listened to a Native American elder speaking of the “Earth Changes”, a period of upheaval and change, of catastrophe and break through.  Events of the era in which we now find ourselves point to these Changes being underway.  The out of control man-made oil gusher at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is perhaps the most poignant example of man’s involvement in this tumultuous time.  No doubt, the last five centuries or more have been replete with events that “try men’s souls”.  From the time of the Conquistador’s invasion of Central America and the burning of the libraries of the Maya, to today’s modern technological catastrophe, we’ve see whole ways of life often come to an end.  And in these times, we have seen the seeds of culture go into hiding to await rebirth.  

 As the elder spoke of the Earth Changes, he made it very personal.  ”We will all have a part to play,” he said.  ”Some will be movers and shakers and do great things.  Most of us will just be helping people out day by day.”  These words came into my listening and a light bulb went off inside me.  Raised with grandiosity and schooled in the classics of English literature I had long labored under the delusion that I was destined for greatness.  Many times I have crashed upon the shores of disillusionment, with the greatness I had built in my mind crumbling into ashes before even amounting to a fire that could warm a few needy souls. In this moment, as the elder spoke, my life’s work came into perspective.  I could do that, I could “help people out day by day”.  The impossible grandiosity that I had cooked up in my head did not match the destiny that was laid out for me.  The simple path was indeed more doable. My life helping out day by day began, and my practice in Bodywork Therapy flourished. 

Fast forward to today, and just prior to going on this recent Vision Quest, I have found myself once more back in that trap of grandiosity.  In the last few years particularly, I have dreamt of being at the center of the great and grand movement to bring forth the changes that I believe we all seek and need right now:  a return to natural connection, a return to natural healing, a return to a sustainable relationship with the world in which we live.  And I do believe this great movement is upon us whether we like it or not.  We have become soft as a people, softened by the comforts afforded us by our technological genius.  And, I fear we have bought these comforts at a cost too high, and their ultimate sustainability may be beyond even our brightest minds.  

Yet, these grand scale questions are surely beyond my grasp.  It shall not be by my invention that breakthroughs in green technology bring about the revolution of sustainability.  No, this is not my task in this life.  Mine is much more personal.  It is mine to simply be a presence for those with whom I come into personal connection. I have been given knowledge and skill in the art of healing touch, and the art of Qigong; life energy cultivation, awareness and connection.  With these, I humbly reach out to each one who comes within my sphere.  To those I offer the simple message of connection, inter-relationship, slowing down, and knowing we are right where we need to be when we are cultivating our deep connection with all that is.  I will hold you as you cry, as you go through your bliss, your fears, griefs, worries, angers and concerns, and together we will find some peace in the storm.  

The learning of new skills and life ways will likely be forced upon us all before too long.  On the way, I offer a helping hand to ease weary mind and body through the stress and strains of these times. No great moving and shaking and doing of great things.  Just a simple hand to hand, heart to heart energy connection to help out, day by day.  

Many blessings on the journey. -Matthew

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