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January 2006 Volume 1 Issue 1 Hello and welcome to our new e-newsletter! I am Brad
Gilbert, Master of Medical Qigong. My wife Lori Gilbert, Licensed
Acupuncturist, is the editor and a contributor to our newsletter. This
is our first issue, where we hope to share insights with you into
healing and holistic health, on a regular basis. Happy New Year! 2006 begins with new
opportunities, new ways of thinking and feeling. Winter time is a time
to go inside (despite the fanfare of the holidays) and see what is
working and what isn't in your life, your personal life. Is
it time for a change? Are things going just the way you would
like them?
His
Holiness the Dalai Lama
There is a difference
between conscious concern with appropriate action that will take place,
and worrying. What makes us worry, and not act to correct what we
are worrying about? Is there some benefit to staying stuck in our
feelings? Actually there is. Often, fear of the unknown is
greater than our fear of death. "What would my life be like without the
familiar worries and fears? The idea of my whole life changing is
too scary." Most of us are operating from this way of
thinking at some level. We are programed from an early age what
is
"normal" and what is not. For some, abuse is normal, and anything
else seems boring or unsatisfactory. We have then been "wired"
for an attraction to pain. Again, not many of us are aware of such a
process, since
it is outside of our conscious perceptions.
We all have within us a defined amount of energy. When a lot of it is used for worrying, anger, or jealousy, we lose energy. What we have left over is not enough energy to live life to our fullest. We are stressed with little motivation to do anything about it and eventually can contribute to dis-ease. In Chinese medicine we call the vital energy within us Qi (chi). The Qi we all have is used to keep our organs working properly, joints filled with enough fluid, mind thinking clearly, and so much more. It does not serve our highest good to waste our energy on unproductive (and just darn unpleasant!) things like worrying. Unresolved emotions tend to get stuck in specific organs. In Chinese Medicine, worrying is associated with the Spleen. There are Qigong exercises and treatments that can be used to help release these stuck emotions. Releasing the stuck emotions frees up the Qi that was taking away from out vitality. I know, there are plenty of skeptics out there. I know personally, because I was one, and when I come across something new I still am. Did you know that it is good to be skeptical, in the positive side, which leads to investigation, finding the truth? It is a gift. Just don't let the negative side of skepticism, which is suspicion, stop you from looking into new things or ideas. We skeptics need to go out there and find out what is "real" and what is a hoax. We are at the forefront of finding the people who will help us change the world as we know it. "When positive or joyous feelings and attitudes pass through each organ and circulate throughout our whole system, our physical and chemical energies are transformed and balanced."
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