I thought I’d share my October newsletter on my blog. This is a new initiative and if you’d like to join the mailing list please sign up on my website.
I’m spending the weekend hunkered down in my house because the island has been invaded by thousands of people for the motorcycle Grand prix. Like many locals I did my shopping early and will try not to venture on the roads too much. It’s good timing because I have my Chinese medicine exams coming up in a week or so and I really need to study.
I had already written this newsletter earlier in the week but mysteriously it had disappeared from my computer, which has been prone to gremlins recently. I’ve lost a couple of documents I’ve been working on and had sent off some work only to find I had sent an empty file. All that work had disappeared into the ether. I got very frustrated and angry with my computer.
The original newsletter was about Qi and energy flow. Qi is the Chinese concept of the energy that animates all life and connects all our parts and all the parts of the universe. It is a hard thing to define in western terms. The newsletter had been about how to better manage our Qi so that we stayed healthy. It discussed things that probably everyone has read many times before – everything in moderation, meditate, do tai chi, walk barefoot on the earth (beach!), surround ourselves with positive people and energies. All great things to do to calm and ground ourselves and to connect ourselves with people and nature.
Such things are easiest to do when our lives are flowing well. What do we do when things go wrong? How do we manage our Qi and our energy then? Sure my computer glitches aren’t major problems but my rising levels of frustration could have disturbed my Qi even more than it did if I hadn’t remembered to step away from the problem and pay more attention to my feelings. I’ve written at length about this in my book but basically too often we get enmeshed in our problems and fail to step back and look at the bigger picture. We also don’t pay attention to our feelings; we ignore them, or deny we feel them, or use drugs or alcohol to numb them. Feelings and emotions are stirred up energy or Qi. They indicate something isn’t right and we should pay them attention. We can do this by feeling them rather than avoiding them. I took a step back from the problem and went out to the garden to weed and plant some seeds to help process the frustration. I let myself feel frustrated and gradually I became aware of other feelings that I had been bottling up. Once we feel the emotions we often become aware of other issues we have been ignoring. For me it was that I had been working and studying too hard and that I needed to do more positive things – like meditate, tai chi, walk on the beach. And that everything in moderation is a good Chinese habit to aim for; less study and more play.
Now when I am stuck in some way and don’t know what to do and even gardening and planting seeds doesn’t completely get me unstuck I know it is time to write. Writing it out may not be for everyone but most of us have some form of creative expression that helps us restore us to ourselves. It might be singing or dancing or painting or knitting but it sure is good to make space in our lives to do it. Of course I could make time for writing without having computer gremlins bring the lack of writing space to my attention. But like many of us I ignore my energy imbalance until it erupts in some way. Once again I came to the realization that taking time out to do my writing is important for my inner self. I realized that Qi doesn’t just need calming and grounding and connection but also inspiration and passion and creativity.
We can meditate and do tai chi and walk on the beach to calm and ground ourselves. We can nurture our connections to people and nature. But if we don’t also make time to be creative and follow our passions our lives can lack a certain spark. So remember to spark up your Qi with some creativity and passion on a regular basis.
If you would like to buy a copy of my book – Holistic Medicine, Beyond the Physical – copies are available on my website for $30 including postage in Australia or you can pick a copy up at Safflower Clinic for $20.
I acknowledge and pay respect to the Elders and Traditional Owners of the land on which I work and live.
Disclaimer. This newsletter is for research and entertainment purposes only. The information given in this site is not intended to replace a therapeutic practitioner relationship.
