Lotusflowers

Balance means being in harmony with our environment. How we are inside reflects how things are around us and vice versa. Here in the West, we find it hard to believe we are one with our environment. Individualistic, separate, and dualistic are our favorite ways to think.  But in many ancient cultures, our belief system was different. We were believed to be one with nature, humans, and animals surrounding us, one in one great energy field, living together in a balanced way. Today we still find these beliefs in shamanistic practices. Taoism also stems from shamanistic practices and beliefs.  In the story below we see a beautiful and inspiring example of Taoism. This story was told by C. Jung who heard it from R. Wilhelm, the great translator of the I Tjing and writer of The Secret of the Golden Flower.  As a missionary in China Wilhelm witnessed an event that took place during a drought lasting for months in a Chinese village he was visiting. This story dates back to the be...

I must have been 14 or 15 years old, my world consisted of going to school, hanging with friends, and a lot of horseback riding. I had no clue about qigong, China, healing, Qi, or martial arts.  Even so, I had no clue about paranormal abilities, not even my own. My world was pretty small at that time growing up in a little town nearby the sea in Holland. One of my best friends had to go to the hospital to have the pins removed from her leg. She was born with a crippled leg. The doctors had broken the leg and put pins in it, to straighten the ankle and lower leg, so she would eventually be able to walk better.  My friend was not amused by this procedure and was very uncomfortable. I was there to support her and hold her hand. While we were waiting for the new X-rays to arrive an older woman walked in the room. She must have been 65 or so, but she looked very vital and worldly, she was very calm. I liked her immediately and that is why I was paying attention to her.  S...

Yesterday was lesson two of my Stone Medicine and Chinese Medicine classes. In this lesson, we did a beautiful meditation with stones, learned about the five elements, diagnostics, and much more. Great! In the lesson, we discussed and meditated with the chevron amethyst. It's a stone that helps you focus during meditation and helps you ground (where needed). It's my favorite stone at the moment: the chevron amethyst. You can see it has stripes. A piece of purple crystal, just like a regular amethyst, but with bands of white quartz or feldspar. The photo shows tumbled stones. The rough pieces are pure, while the rounder and more lustrous stones have an extra sheen added during the processing. The rough pieces are my favorite; I feel the stone's energy a little more strongly in them than with the others. But of course, taste is personal. The Chevron Amethyst According to Chinese Medicine As mentioned, the Chevron Amethyst is a more potent amethyst, meaning it can work slightl...

  I’m currently in the recovery phase from the back pain I’ve had for over a month. Below you’ll find my tips, exercises, and approach that helps me with this. Pain Management Number 1 is the pain, the constant pain that makes it almost impossible to think, sit, lie down, walk, or sleep. There’s no position without pain. My system can’t tolerate painkillers long-term, so I have to find ways to manage pain without them. -> Breathe deeply and calmly, open the chakras, and keep them flowing. And chant to supply the organs with sufficient Qi. (I’ll make a recording/lesson of the chant and chakra meditation soon.) The better the energy flows in my body, the better the organs and chakras can keep my body balanced, and the better the self-healing process can function. The more I relax, the less the nerves that send pain signals are stimulated. Movement Pain causes cramping, cramping causes stagnation, making the body stiffer and less mobile. Muscles are used less and lose strength. I h...

  I.. who am I? A question we all ask ourselves. You hobble through life collecting dots, putting them on your canvas. It’s like you have a little dot-magnet on the inside. And this magnet attracts exactly the dots you need …. Our childhood contains the most amazing dots, real gems. The combination of our parents is unique and they respond in an unique way to you. Maybe they make you feel warm and safe, maybe they make you feel scared and unwanted. Or anything in between. It doesn’t matter what the feeling is, or the idea you get from your childhood. They are all dots on your canvas. All your childhood dots contain a lesson for you. Teach you to share your warmth, to create safety, or to feel good about yourself no matter what others think. For some mystical reason all the dots you gather on your canvas make you the person you really are from the inside.