Qi, That's Swell

2011-09-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

Treating disease after it has manifested itself is like waiting to dig a well until after one is thirsty.
- Huang Di Nei Jing

2009-07-16T11:27:00.000-07:00

Use your weight, not your strength.
- John Ellis, LAc

2009-05-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

One of the most potent curative aspects of qi gong, that catchall phrase used to describe a wide variety of breathing and yogic/meditative practies intended to develop, accumulate, and cultivate an indivuals qi, is simply the concentration and strengthening of the capacity for breathing. The breath of life: qi. And when you can no londer draw it in or let it pass without, life has ceased to be in that small sector of the universe known as your body.
-- Ken Rose, "What is Qi?"

2009-05-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

This term "philosophy," describes the entirety of intuitive insige, intellectual knowledge, and all concrete activities associated with the art of nourishing life. Medicine, from the perspective of the Neijing, is the science of how to safeguard one's body through the wisdom of the ages -- philosophy.
-- Zhang Xichun, translated by Heiner Fruehauf

2009-04-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

We have to recogniaze the difference between clinicians and scholars. Clinicians need practical skills. Scholars like to drink tea and sit around thinking about things.
-- Ken Rose, Professor of Chinese history

2009-04-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

Treasure your essence, nourish your shen, and take medicinal herbs. All these may lenghten your life, but f you do not follow the Dao of sex none can truly benefit you.
-- Peng Zhu, Su Nu Jing

2009-01-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

Yi shi tong yuan; loosely, "food and medicine come from the same source."
-- Chinese saying

2008-11-03T15:43:00.001-08:00

'Treating' doesn't mean 'curing'.
-- Yefim

2008-10-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

If you chase two rabbits, you catch none.
-- Confucius

2008-10-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

As Heroin Overdoses Double, Some Addicts Turn to Acupuncture

2008-10-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

It is important (but difficult) to make patients understand that health and fitness are two different things and they do not necessarily coincide.
-- Fundamentals of Chinese Medicine Theory

2008-10-09T13:05:00.000-07:00

"It is recorded that the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang (259 BC-210 BC), who is credited for the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, established a health care system in which physicians could only accept payment or donations from patrons who were kept healthy and, vice versa, were not paid when someone fell ill.

This system remained in effect for centuries. The people of each village would provide shelter, food, clothing and money to the local physician for maintaining the health of the community. Physicians risked punishment or execution when someone died and were required to wear a mark for their failure. You could essentially see a physician’s track record before you chose to use their services!

In 1680 missionaries in China wrote, “Chinese physicians were flogged after treating members of the imperial family unsuccessfully. When subsequently summoned to treat another relative, the physicians performed better and were released, but they were ordered to wear a small chain around their necks as a warning.”
--ACTCM Newsletter, October 2008

2008-10-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

The sages of antiquity did not treat those who were already sick; they instructed those who were not yet sick.
-- Huangdi Neijing

2008-10-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

To treat disease that has already developed is comparable to the behavior of those persons who begin to dig a well after they have become thirsty, and of those who begin to cast weapons after they have already engaged in battle. Would these actions not be too late?
-- Huangdi Neijing

2008-09-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

He respects Owl, because you can't help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn't spell it right; but spelling isn't everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn't count.
-- "The House at Pooh Corner", A. A. Milne

2008-09-22T22:50:00.001-07:00

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
-- Aristotle

2008-09-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

Creativity + Restraint = Beauty
-- "Style Statement"

2008-09-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

Be ruthlessly committed to who you are.
-- "Style Statement"

2008-09-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

Weak decisions can be costly.
-- "Style Statement"

2008-09-17T09:29:00.000-07:00

Stand in the place where you live.
-- R.E.M., via "Style Statement"

2008-09-16T09:25:00.000-07:00

When a question is posed ceremoniously, the universe responds.
-- Chinese proverb, via "Style Statement"

2008-09-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

Breakfast like a king, lunch like a merchant, dinner like a pauper.
-- The Chinese attitude towards dining

2008-09-14T14:13:00.000-07:00

Just relax. Focus on letting go. So simple, but rarely easy.
-- Jessica, Mission Yoga

2008-09-13T19:04:00.000-07:00

The secret to a great adventure? ...Begin it!
-- Dan Scott

2008-09-12T05:01:00.000-07:00

Korngold's first law: watch your ass.

2008-09-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

Strength is evidence of a resource that's still available -- always focus on strengths, not simply problems.
-- Korngold

2008-09-10T05:59:00.000-07:00

If you're having a party and there's not one fire type there, there's not going to be a hell of a lot of sparkle. But the problem with fire-types is that they burn out.
-- Korngold

2008-09-09T05:58:00.000-07:00

The drive to eat is a need for gratification.
-- Korngold

2008-09-07T05:57:00.000-07:00

...And I told him, if you're having lung problems, perhaps you should consider taking cannabis in another form...
-- More Korngold Wisdom

2008-09-06T05:53:00.000-07:00

One tends to magnify the effect one has or doesn't have on other people.
-- Murray Korngold

2008-09-05T05:51:00.000-07:00

A true friend will tell you the truth, but will tell you in a friendly way.
-- Murray Korngold

2008-09-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

Warfare is simply politics by violent means.
--Murray Korngold

2008-09-03T05:44:00.000-07:00

How unsettling that what you know you know, you might not know.
--Me, inspired by Murray Korngold

2008-09-02T05:39:00.000-07:00

I like stories! Tell stories.
--Murray Korngold

2008-09-01T05:36:00.000-07:00

From a point of view of consciousness, this is the only life we've got. And to waste it -- on bureaucratic bullshit -- is simply unacceptable.
-- Murray Korngold

2008-08-31T09:34:00.000-07:00

What I don't know is considerably more than what I do know.
-- Murray Korngold

2008-08-30T21:24:00.000-07:00

The patient has a story. There's always a story -- don't forget that. You want to know the patient's story.
-- And thus begins our focus on Murray Korngold, one of the most brilliant men I have ever met (at age 89 no less)

2008-08-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

Pain kills pain.
-- Sean, Mission Yoga instructor

Pain lies.
-- My anatomy teacher on how to treat symptoms vs. causes

2008-08-21T21:55:00.001-07:00

Gestalt (noun)

A configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that it cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts.

-- http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Gestalt, via Logan Lo

2008-08-20T08:50:00.001-07:00

Some days are gray,
and beautiful.
-- Compliments of Ms. Vecchiarelli.

2008-08-19T01:39:00.000-07:00

The fashion choices for an Amazonian warrior are different than those for a fairy princess.
-- A friend commiserating on a tall woman's wardrobe options.

2008-08-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

--Max Ehrmann, Desiderata

2008-08-12T00:34:00.000-07:00

It's because she really stays present. I mean really, how often are we totally present?
--A classmate, on why his 49-year-old girlfriend is so hot, and, erm, libidinous.

2008-08-11T21:34:00.001-07:00

Enjoy your bed.
--Penina

Think about it...

2008-08-08T00:08:00.000-07:00

Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
-- Albert Einstein

2008-08-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

Ultimately, I'm not interested in your strength. I want to know about your sensitivity.
-- Scott Phillips, Tai Ji instructor

2008-08-06T00:07:00.000-07:00

The heart mirror recognizes the true nature of the external environment when calm and undisturbed. When clouded by the winds of the seven emotions, reality may be obscured.

2008-08-05T00:09:00.000-07:00

Actually he was a pessimist, and like all pessimists, a ridiculously unobservant man.
--Vladimir Nabokov, An Affair of Honor

2008-08-04T00:15:00.000-07:00

We are our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.
-- Tom Robbins, Still Life With Woodpecker

2008-08-03T00:23:00.000-07:00

In the beginning there was the end,
and in the end there was the beginning.
-- Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco

2008-08-02T00:16:00.000-07:00

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.
-– Chang Tsu

2008-08-01T05:10:00.000-07:00

There is evidence that the development of secondary sexual characteristics is harder psychologically for girls than for boys. Body dissatisfaction goes up for females at this time, and down for males; moreover, body dissatisfaction is more closely related to self-esteem for girls than for boys. Much of girls' dissatisfaction with their bodies comes from their realization of the discrepancy between our society's ideal of a thin, pre-pubescent body shape for females and the fact that they are gaining fat as they mature sexually. In addition, this is a time of an increase in sex role socialization. Girls tend to have increased pressure to assume a feminine sex role, and if they accept this somewhat nonassertive, dependent role they may be predisposed to anxiety and depression. But if they reject this role, they may in turn be rejected by the opposite sex. One piece of evidence consistent with this hypothesis is that adolescent girls do perceive competence as a liability and tend to conceal their intelligence. Indeed, one study showed a significant positive correlation between IQ and depression in adolescent girls. For boys, by contrast, there was a small negative correlation between IQ and depression.
-- Sex Differences in Unipolar Depression

2008-07-31T02:47:00.000-07:00

The Heart is like the Monarch and it governs the Mind.
--Nei Jing/Simple Questions

2008-07-30T06:17:00.000-07:00

A step in the wrong direction is better than staying on the spot all your life. Once you’re moving forward you can correct your course as you go. Your automatic guidance system cannot guide you when you’re standing still.
-– Maxwell Maltz

2008-07-29T06:21:00.000-07:00

“You don't attach any importance to cell structure?"
"Yes, sure, I do. But doctors talk about cells as if they had such unlimited importance all by themselves. As if they didn't really belong to the person that has them." Teddy brushed back his hair from his forehead with one hand. "I grew my own body," he said. "Nobody else did it for me. So if I grew it, I must have known how to grow it. Unconsciously, at least. I may have lost the conscious knowledge of how to grow it sometime in the last few hundred thousand years, but the knowledge is still there, because--obviously--I've used it."

-- Salinger, "Teddy" from "Nine Stories"

2008-07-28T10:14:00.000-07:00

We always think about ourselves as a torso on two sticks. But there's really a lot going on in that whole pelvic area.
--A recent massage client. Yes! This is why everyone has hip/lower-back pain!

2008-07-27T06:13:00.000-07:00

Memorize first, understand later.
--The TCM student's credo

2008-07-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Either you will
go through this door
or you will not go through.

If you go through
there is always the risk
of remembering your name.

Things look at you doubly
and you must look back
and let them happen.

If you do not go through
it is possible
to live worthily

to maintain your attitudes
to hold your position
to die bravely

but much will blind you,
much will evade you,
at what cost who knows?

The door itself
makes no promises.
It is only a door.

--Adrienne Rich, "Prospective Immigrants Please Note"

2008-07-25T06:50:00.000-07:00

"TAKE the breath. Take it!"
--Skye Sturgeon, my chemistry professor

2008-07-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

Of women experiencing a severe event, there were four factors associated with not becoming depressed: having an intimate relationship with a spouse or lover, having no more than three children still at home, having a part-time or full-time job outside the home, and having a serious religious commitment.
--Causal Factors in Mood Disorders

2008-07-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

Health is: the ability to trust your appetites.
--Tai Ji instructor Scott Phillips

2008-07-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

Where there is light, there must be darkness.
--KT, Mission Yoga

2008-07-21T23:08:00.000-07:00

Illness contains the seed of health.
--The Web That Has No Weaver