My first experience of snow came as I was 21 and I had just arrived in Reno, in the US to start university. I had theoretically seen snow on a TV screen but never touched or felt it. The moment I saw snow for the first time, I picked it up from the side of the path. There are many words to describe what I felt but I recall most clearly the word "cold." Till that point in time I had lived all my life in the tropical climate of Malaysia; this means 365 days of over 30-degree Celsius as a high, low of 25 degrees and almost 100 percent humidity. I recall not so long later, while trying to adapt to the cold, dark winter. I was standing on the corner of a street waiting to cross over to go to class. I felt extremely cold. In between shivering I was saying to myself repeatedly, "It's cold." I questioned myself in that moment as to why I was doing this, and began saying to myself like a mantra, "I feel warm, I feel warm..." Suddenly, a warmth rolled up my spine and in that instant, I became aware of the power of words.
 
Words are sound and sound is vibration. Sound waves enter into our ear, vibrating the structures of our ear in order to produce a stimulus in the brain, which we then perceive as sound. Sound waves can travel through matter, fluid and air; they need a medium to travel through. In a vacuum, where there is no air, sound cannot be produced. Our bodies do not just perceive sound and vibration through our ears, we also feel it on our skin and our eyes help to distinguish sound details too. If you think about how vibration can travel through matter, fluid and air, you realize that our bodies are also made of matter, fluid and utilizes air. As such, vibrations affect us all the time, even if we are unconscious of it. 
 
Returning to the subject of words being vibrations, if you tried saying a word like "good" and placed your hands on your throat, you would feel the vibrations from your vocal cords, larynx, which are 2 bands of muscle tissue, directly on your hands. If you change the placement of your hands onto your cheeks or chest, you would still feel the vibrations. It may be less pronounced the further you move away from your larynx but if you think about it, 60 percent of our bodies is made up of water not to mention the other structures (matter) that our bodies are made of, so the sound waves would still be travelling through our bodies. When you take this into account, you may realize how words/ sound can play such an important role in your life.
 
One of my teachers, Elen Sentier, a Celtic Shaman describes what happens when we create a vowel with our voice:
 
"Vowels are sounds we make without obstructing the breath with our tongue, teeth or lips; the air comes out from our lungs without hindrance and is shaped only by our mouths. The vowels are about air, spirit, coming straight through you..." (Sentier, 2014: 4)
 
Before I read this description from Elen, I had never thought about what a vowel is except in terms of its grammatical function. She might be coming from the Celtic tradition but I see the connections to air and spirit with the Chinese idea of Qi. Not only Chinese and Celtic but also many other spiritual traditions of the world, use word, song, mantra, chanting as ways to invoke or be closer to the Divine.   
 
"Unlike the vowels, the consonants work by the air passing through or across some sort of barrier formed by the tongue, teeth and/or lips as well qs being shaped by the mouth. This is significant for breath-spirit...it means you get quite involved with the production of sound, beyond allowing the air to pass through your vocal cords. They are about how you form and inform the air as it passes through you...this is a big responsibility."  (Sentier, 2014: 4)
 
As with the description of vowels, Elen describes so potently what consonant are; it is about us humans working together with the Divine to create sound/ vibration. When we look at sound this way, we become aware of the importance of words. We apply our Qi with that of the Divine to create Words, which is sound/ vibration that also determines our reality. Elen is right, it is "a big responsibility." Words have power; they express how we feel, our wants, needs and what may be or may not be in our reality.
 
As I described at the start of this post of my own simple experience of snow, I was given a profound lesson of the influence of words on my own reality. Become aware of how words affect your every day and use your words consciously to create the reality you choose to experience in your life.  
 
 
Reference
Sentier, Elen (2014) : Shaman Pathways - Trees of the Goddess. Winchester, UK: Moon Books, John Hunt Publishing Ltd.
 
 
 
Image by Elaine

                                                                                Dao De Jing, Chapter 11 by Lao Zi
 
In Chinese philosophy and Qi Gong there is a concept of Wu Ji, which can be translated as "The Great Nothingness" or "The Supreme Emptiness." You may often see a Chinese/Japanese calligraphy of a circle, like the one above, this is Wu Ji. This calligraphy hangs on our wall at ICM in the space where we practice Qi Gong/Tai Ji Quan/Yoga. On a few occasions, as I was practicing with students, I began explaining this concept of Wu Ji and only through my explaining this profound subject have I begun to see a fragment of the larger picture that the ancient philosophers were referring to. 
 
As we look at the image above, we see the black ink of the circle but what of the space inside of the circle? That is Wu Ji. It embodies that Great Emptiness. It is both space and time. One of the insights to Wu Ji came to me one day as I was attempting to explain it as I was teaching. I realized as I looked at the image that Wu Ji is "filled emptiness"; the circle may be empty but it is not deflated. 
 
I recall my teacher, Shi Fu Donald leading us in meditation many years ago. He led us to that moment/place before Yin and Yang, before the "I" becomes. It was a very profound moment for me; I was pondering what would be before Yin and Yang, a sense of wonder manifested in me. All through our training in Qi Gong/Tai Ji Quan, we first find Wu Ji and then begins movement, physical or energetic. It has come to me that Wu Ji is "before the beginning." It is even a specific position in sitting or standing, as well as a moment, space or state before we begin a practice. Shi Fu Donald also taught us a Qi Gong form called Wu Ji Qi Gong or Primordial Qi Gong. 
 
When we read the Chapter of the Dao De Jing (Pin-Yin for Tao Te Ching) above, this is what Lao Zi is trying to convey to us. He is trying to show us that the space in the middle of the wheel, the emptiness in the cup, the space in the house and non-being is what creates us as well as our reality. Lao Zi was a famous Chinese philosopher who lived around the 6th century BCE. He is said to have founded Daoism and wrote the Dao De Jing, which has 81 chapters written in verses like the one above, each barely filling a page. It is, after the bible, the second most translated text in the world. As with many things in life, "less is more."
 
Next time you look at your hand, look into the spaces between your fingers. Your hand exists because the spaces between your fingers exist. This time of winter invites us to look into the spaces in between. There are very few leaves on the trees but there is more space between the branches. Just as we can give ourselves more time and space in our lives between appointments or work to find Wu Ji in our everyday.
 
 
Reference
Lao-Tzu, translated by Stephen Mitchell (2011): Tao Te Ching - The Book of the Way. London: Kyle Books.
 
 
 
Image Wu Ji by Elaine 

Many years ago, as I was reading books on Chinese Nutritional Therapy, which is a big part of Chinese Medicine, a "lightbulb" moment occurred. One book was about treating children's issues by Bob Flaws and how about 90 percent of the time children's ailments have to do with digestive/ nutritional issues. This by the way, in my experience with working with children over the years, is true. The author stated, and I may be paraphrasing it, that "cooking is the beginning of the digestive process." It sparked an awakening in my understanding of food and its transformation within our system. I had never thought about cooking as being food digestion before we ingest it inside us. 
 
In Malaysia, possibly most of Asia and many other parts of the world, food is more than just eating to get energy. It is culture, identity, a socially-binding force, the joy of life...the list of descriptions goes on and on. People in Malaysia talk, cook, eat, breathe and live food. Food is boiled, steamed, braised, stir-fried in a wok, deep-fried, baked in clay...you name it, it gets done. I was exposed to this creativity in cooking early on in life and I too enjoy cooking, as well as eating. But I had never thought of cooking as digestion. What a revelation! But it makes sense! Take rice for instance, if you just took raw grains of rice into your mouth and chewed it, it would be hard and arduous, probably crack your teeth, before you could even swallow a few grains. Would it even taste good and could our digestive system even be able to break it down for energy?
 
The process of cooking is not just a hobby, it is an essential part of life as a human being in order to survive. It goes even further when you look at the theories that have been suggested over the past few years. One such hypothesis was proposed by biological anthropologist and primatologist Dr.Richard Wrangham. He suggests that the human brain evolved to its current size as we began cooking our food. As heating/ cooking what we ate, whether meat, grains or tubers, breaks-down starches, denatures protein and helps kill pathogen, the human body began having more energy to develop other body parts, such as the brain. Through this evolution came other changes in human development and social structure. Crazy to think that something so normal and under- appreciated as cooking could have such an impact on a whole life species and also the whole of the living world since our brain development led us to create a more complex style of living. I watched a documentary on the evolution of the digestive system. Part of Dr. Wrangham's research is featured at the end of the documentary.
 
One of the trends that we have at the moment is the Smoothie/ Juicing trend. I hear and read of many who swear by these methods of obtaining nutrients. As with many things in life, what fits some may not fit others. In Chinese Medicine, we have the view that some individuals tend to have heat in their system and others cold; these individuals who tend to heat may benefit from smoothie/ juice drinking, as most fruit and vegetables that have not been cooked have a cooling nature. From the Chinese medical nutrition perspective, this time of year requires us to eat warm food; one aspect is to have food in a certain temperature that our bodies do not have to expand more energy to warm the food further in order to digest and another aspect is that we receive warmth that will help our bodies stay at the ideal temperature of ca. 37 degrees Celsius. This is not to say that we do not eat any fresh vegetables and fruit, but that our food should be predominately warm and then supplemented by raw produce in winter. This will change as the season changes and the temperature warms up. If we look at the nature surrounding us right now in Switzerland, we will notice that there are little to no fruits growing on trees. They have all been harvested before the end of autumn. What fruit we have that are still fresh here, such as apples and pears, are harvested and stored in special conditions to last through winter. Tropical fruits or citrus fruits that we get from the supermarket are imported from places that are still having warm/ temperate climates currently. Therefore, it is best to eat these sparingly, like 1 to 2 fruits a day. Too many will cool our systems down too much and we will either feel cold often or be unable to digest the fruit well, leading to loose stools or diarrhoea.
 
One of the most beloved food for the Chinese is Congee, Bái Zhōu in Mandarin, Jūk in Cantonese or just simply rice porridge. It's rice cooked in a lot of water over a longer period of time. When I was ill as a child, this was the food my mother cooked for me, as I do for my children. But we cook a hardier version with meat in regular life in winter. It is easy to digest, yet very nutritious, providing enough fluids and nutrients. I have fasted on just water and plain Congee over a span of a week, and felt that I could actually perform everyday activities, including working, without feeling drained. It is simple, wholesome and easy to incorporate into your diet, even and especially if you are not used to cooking regularly but want to begin. Be creative, use the classical recipe as a base and then modify the ingredients to create your own personal Congee. Try it and start enjoying the warming nourishment!

Congee Recipe as pdf in English  

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Image Chicken Congee by Maria & Elaine  

As we go through the seasons of the year and I observe the changes of the climate, it reminds me of the Wu Xing or 5-Elements or 5-Phases. This philosophy is not just a Chinese medical theory but one that was/ is observed in all areas of life, as with the Yin-Yang philosophy. The 5-Element philosophy is very old. Historical records display writings and observances of it since the start of the Han Dynasty in 206 BCE, but the ideas of this philosophy are much older.
 
I am impressed by how so many, if not all areas of our lives are influenced by the 5-Elements; whether it be seasons of the year, cooking food, making medicine, breathing techniques or making day-to-day objects/ crafts that we use in our lives. There are traditions all around East-Asia (i.e. China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea) where the 5-Element philosophy is part of normal, daily life. As I contemplate the element that we are experiencing at the moment, the Metal element, I can't help being reminded of the skilled Bladesmith, one who works with Metal to create tools/ weapons. The Japanese are famous for making the best knives and swords in the world. The Katana, the Japanese long sword, is most celebrated for its artistry as well as its sharpness and ferocity. It is a blade so fine and flexible but so resilient, in the hands of a skilled swordsman (or woman), you would be unaware of its cut until it is done. You can tell how many martial arts movies I have watched growing up in Asia. What fascinates me most is not the end product, the sword, itself but the process in which it is made; how the 5-Elements are present in the process to transform raw Metal into a tool, an art form. The Metal is put into Fire to be smelted, then comes the process of the forging, which involves more Fire, Water, Earth and of course to begin with there was Wood for Fire. In the process to create this tool, the 5 Elements were going through the generating and controlling cycles, all in movement towards a creation and transformation guided by the human hand/ mind.
 
I feel this often when I practice Qi Gong, Tai Ji Quan or Yoga. I sense the Elements in me, helping me transform my body, my mind, my being to connect/reconnect within and without. What then manifests outwardly is simply a product of the process, there is no product without the process. So if I perform a headstand, it is a coming together of the elements within and around me to find an inward balance, which then manifest as me balancing on my head in the physical realm. 
 
Another of the Breath practice that I have gathered on my journey is the 5-Element Breath Sounds. It is a practice that involves the exhalation as a sound. Many of us make sounds quite instinctively, in the form of a sigh or a groan. This practice is a conscious manifestation of Breath to balance the organs and elements. Practice the sounds like it is listed from above to below, as this is the generation cycle. You may notice that the Fire element comes twice. There are reasons for this that I won't get into in this post. Do try the breath sounds and sense how they affect you! 
 
 
 
 

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5-Element Breath Sounds

Element   WOOD 
Organ       Liver
Sound       Sheeee 
Element    FIRE                        
Organ       Heart                     
Sound       Haaaa                               
Element   EARTH
​Organ       Spleen
Sound       Hoooo
Element   METAL
​Organ       Lung
Sound       Tssss 
Element    WATER
​Organ        Kidneys
Sound        Huuuu
Element     FIRE
​Organ        Triple Burner
Sound        Heeee


Image Smith by Dirk Hoenes from Pixabay
Image 5-Element Sheng Cycle by Elaine

​When you look at a baby calmly sleeping, you will observe how her/his breath is deep and concentrated in the belly. When we come into the world, we are physically connected to our mothers through the umbilical cord at our navels on our abdomen. About 5 weeks after conception, the umbilical cord begins forming and connects the embryo to the placenta and its mother, to received nutrients, water and oxygen, as well as to excrete waste. This continues on until that moment the cord is cut after birth. At this point in time, the child becomes its own being in itself and must begin its own respiration. When a child is calm, we will see that it breaths deep into the abdomen. However, life happens; stressors occur throughout our childhood into adulthood and we begin to forget that place in the abdomen where we were/are connected to life, if we are unaware. Then, we begin to breathe more superficially, moving the chest in order to receive more air but this does not nourish us in the long-term. In fact, it creates tight muscles and can trigger the sympathetic nervous system into the "fight-or-flight" stress mode. 
 
Many traditions of the world have specific methods of breathing in order to support health or even to attain deep connection to the divine. One of these methods I have found to be very helpful and is almost universal to many traditions is "Diaphragmatic Breathing," "Abdominal Breathing" or as we in the Chinese medical tradition call "Natural Breathing." In the Chinese Qi Gong tradition, the main focus of this breath is the Lower Dan Tian (lower energy centre) in the area below the navel. We breathe deeply into the lower abdomen, allowing it to expand and contract freely as inhalation and exhalation occurs. This increases oxygen intake, increases circulation in the abdominal muscles, provides a massage for the internal organs and calms the entire body-mind, activating the parasympathetic nervous system.

Can you imagine how life would be if we were in a continuous state of calm? How would we make decisions? How would we interact or react to one another? How would we live life? Obviously, it is unrealistic to expect that we can always be in this state, as we do need a certain amount of "stress" to grow and develop physically, mentally and spiritually. But the longer we can stay in this state, the healthier it is for our minds and bodies, as well as for the people/environment around us. The aim of Natural Breathing is for us to return to what we once knew but perhaps forgot. It is innate to us and it just takes practice to remind our bodies-minds of something it already knows. If you keep a practice of 5-minutes daily for a year, your body will remember it for the rest of your life.
 
Personally, I practice this breathing technique almost all the time now for more than 20 years. It did not feel natural at first but with constant practice and patience it has become intuitive. When I am relaxed or stressed, I instinctively practice Natural Breathing. I consciously breathe this way when I get my blood pressure measured (which most times has a normal reading) or when I go to the dentist or when I have to do a test. I practice this way of breathing almost every night before I go to sleep, placing my hands on my abdomen, just focusing on the rising and falling of my breath as well as my abdomen till I fall asleep.  
 
Below is a step-by-step guide to Natural Breath. Happy Breathing! :-)



  Natural Breathing

1. Find a comfortable position in lying, sitting or standing. Place both hands on your lower abdomen by your navel (like in diagram below).
2. Begin by inhaling and exhaling into your abdomen. Observe if the abdomen rises and falls with the breath. If it does not, begin to sink the breath into the abdomen.
3. Imagine your abdomen as a balloon, when you inhale, you are blowing air into the balloon enlarging it, and when you exhale the balloon is shrinking. In the beginning, this may feel forced or unnatural. Be patient and keep practicing, it will become natural when you practice it regularly for some time.
4. Inhale and exhale only through the nostrils, expanding and contracting your abdomen respectively.
5. Begin to slow down the breath, keeping a regular and an equal rhythm of inhalation and exhalation.
6. If you have never done this before, begin by performing 10 breaths at least once a day. After a week of regular practice, begin extending it by increments of 5 and stay with this for another week before increasing the increments.
7. You may practice this as often as you like in a day and even at night.
8. Side-effects include digestive rumblings in the abdomen (stimulation of your natural digestive functions), calmness, relaxation, feeling well and healthy.

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​​Image Baby from esudroff on Pixabay
Image Abdomen from Eduardo RS from Pixabay

Continuing on my last post, we are now in the time of the Lung. What the Lung does for us physiologically is respiration; the gas exchange of the whole body. This is what we call Breath.
 
As a teenager, I was a rhythmic gymnast and ballet dancer. I often noticed that I was out of breath after a strenuous ballet combination and my gymnastic routines, which lasted an intense 90-seconds. None of my teachers or coaches ever mentioned anything to me until I was about 19, after I had retired from competitive gymnastics. My modern contemporary dance teacher, who was also trained in classical Chinese dance, Ballet, Pilates and Alexander Technique, mentioned that I wasn't breathing while dancing. A light went on in me, I told her that I was aware that I was out of breath after exercises but I never knew why. I then asked her, "Can you teach me how to breathe?" I heard myself then and thought how absurd that sounded to me, something supposedly so natural as breathing and I needed to learn how to do it. Since then, it has become one of my life's exploration - to breathe consciously.
 
When a baby first comes into the world, it is what we look for as a sign of life, the Breath. Only when the child achieves her/his first cry, do we then relax. Even in the Bible, it states:
 
"And the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis, 2:7 King James Version)
 
Many cultures and spiritual faiths around the world believe that the Breath is not just what keeps us alive; it is our connection to the Divine. We are alive because there is a higher connection or purpose that flows through us. Yet no one ever teaches us to breathe in school or at home, which is maybe changing as I am writing since more are becoming conscious of their Breath and are beginning practices, like meditation, QiGong and Yoga, which emphasize Breath.
 
In Chinese Medicine, not only is Breath, what we in the modern world imagine as oxygen and carbon dioxide, what we take into our lungs and expel out through our nose/mouth; it is also that which surrounds us, is within us and creates the entire universe.
 
"But even before speaking of forms xing 形 , we must introduce the form-without-specific-form, that which bends itself to become all forms: the Breaths Qi  氣 ."  
(Larre, Rochat:1995, 21)
 
Qi, sometimes spelled Chi, is one of those words that cannot or has not really been translated into Western language. If you read an English or German Chinese medical text book, you will see that Qi is simply written as Qi. But the sinologists and Chinese medical scholars, Larre and Rochat, translate Qi as Breaths; Breaths that encompasses all. Sometimes Qi is translated as Vital Energy or Life Force. Some concepts are very cultural yet we know that there is a force that flows within all living beings on earth and beyond. Even Hindu philosophy speaks of Prana, the Sanskrit word for Breath or Life Force, which seems to correlate with the Chinese.

In order to understand the character Qi  氣 , one has to look at the pictograph in 2 parts. When we take this part of the pictograph  气 ,it means air, gas or vapour. The second part mi 米 is rice. Together they make Qi, referring to "the grain of rice that bursts with cooking or digestion releases a vapor that rises up and accumulates 气  ." (Larre, Rochat, 1995: 168) So Qi is therefore more substantial than air. It is the essence of life. It is that which moves us, gives life to us humans and all living beings around us. If Qi were just to be air, then an expanded balloon would be alive, but it is not. As such, Qi is something more tangible than air but still is elusive to our material-focused mind. 

As you may have observed, my little journey in search of Breath has taken me much further than breathing in and out; it has opened a doorway to a whole new world, rich in meaning, understanding and awareness. As we have entered the season of the Lung, I would like to share a few of the breathing practices I have learned over the years in the next few posts. 


Reference

• Bible, King James Version. www.kingjamesbibleonline.org
• Larre, Claude/ Rochat de la Vallée, Elisabeth (1995) : Rooted in Spirit. New York: Station Hill Press.

​Image Ki Hanja from Wikimedia Commons

Over a month ago, we were discussing the coming of autumn in my yoga class. A few of us spoke of the "dread" of the change from summer to fall season; the change of light and temperature. I find this time of year has its beauty but it is not simple to adapt to. From the full openness that the summer warmth has created in us, we begin the journey back inward of autumn. The darkness and the coolness outside forces us inward, our bodies are pushed to close the pores of our skin in order to conserve warmth. Since I began studying Chinese Medicine, I have begun to understand and appreciate each season of the year better and observe how my body/being changes with them.
 
As Claude Larre and Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallée, sinologists and Chinese Medicine scholars describe in The Secret Treatise of the Spiritual Orchid:
 
"To rise in order to fall, and to fall in order to rise, that makes circulation. It is so high that we cannot perceive the essence of it. It is so universal that everything, everybody, every animal and every plant is affected and is under the same natural movement of tian yun. The progression of this is seen through the four seasons [...] Spring manifests itself everywhere as some beginning of life or renewing of the beginning of life [...] Summer takes what has been started and progresses along the line up to an acme, to the highest point of that progress, and then suddenly, in order to protect life and to protect the universe, it has to reverse its movement. So on some uncertain morning in the autumn time, the quality of air is very different. It's shocking. Something has started to reverse. It means that the yin which has been there but covered, unable to manifest itself except as a hidden, sustaining power, is now able to arise in its own right." (Larre, Rochat 1992: 7)
 
This "uncertain morning in autumn" is upon us now and we knew it was coming. Nevertheless, it is "shocking" for our beings, just as a metallic object touches our bare skin; a certain coldness makes us contract inward. This is the effect and energetic movement of Metal, to be more inward focused and passive, more Yin.
 
From the 5-Element perspective, Metal is associated with the organs of Lung and Large Intestine. It is not surprising then that many of us will experience Lung and digestive themes, such as a cold/ flu or those with asthma can have a flare-up or a gastrointestinal virus (stomach flu) at this time of year. As with all the elements there is an emotion associated with Metal, it is sadness/ grief. The direction is the West, where the sun sets. Makes sense, doesn't it? The Yang, like the sun and daylight, is setting, and the Yin, the moon and night, is rising. The climate becomes dry, making our skin dry. This is that clear manifestation of the energy moving inward, no longer nourishing the most external parts of us, as with the trees. In humans, the skin and in trees, the leaves. 
 
For me, this is a beginning of a death that will happen in winter. But through this death, comes new life next spring. Can we find beauty in death? Yes, I believe so. I look to the trees, the Japanese Maple tree, Acer palmatum, especially. We have a few in our garden. One in particular has a longer process of a "glorious death." He, I sense him as male, is green and robustly thick all summer. Then, just as that "uncertain morning in autumn" comes, he transforms his green leaves into a rusty red. Then suddenly comes the piercing frost at the end of autumn and then begins that magnificent, crimson red phase till he drops his leaves completely for his winter's sleep. The Japanese have a practice in this time of year, momijigari, "the hunt for deep red leaves." Many go on a "pilgrimage" to places where the Maple trees are transforming life to death, to appreciate this beautiful process. I personally have not yet been to Japan but I know that I will be at least once in this lifetime on a momijigari.
 
As I have mentioned before in other posts, I look to the trees for life's wisdom. Even in this time of contraction and closing in, there is beauty and purpose for the inward movement. It is as Larre and Rochat state, it is "in order to protect life and to protect the universe."


Reference
Larre, Claude/ Rochat de la Vallée, Elisabeth (1992) : The Secret Treatise of the Spiritual Orchid. Nei Jing Su Wen Chapter 8. Cambridge: Monkey Press.

Images by Elaine ​

As a mother, I have become used to transforming my roles from nurturer, task-master, taxi-driver and more recently math tutor. My elder son, since entering his teenage years, has begun to require math tutoring. It is sometimes challenging, not the math itself but the attitudes towards learning the subject. He grumbled about the math and the teacher the whole of last year, came home with slightly less than ideal grades. Then all of a sudden, he realized that his math teacher was impressed by him juggling school and playing competitive tennis, when the teacher paid him a few compliments. This sparked a change in interest for math in my son. Suddenly, he came willingly to me to ask for help in his math, he wanted to do better in math and wanted to learn. Through my own experience with teachers, I have known that a teacher plays an important role in an individual's learning. However, to see it so clearly in my son reminds me of the importance of teachers.
 
Growing up in Asia, I learned to honor teachers. It is part of the culture of respect for elders, which is not always prevalent in the west. As a child, we learned to stand-up when the teacher entered into the classroom and we greeted the teacher as a chorus of students, sometimes even bowed. This is the kind of respect we were taught to give our teachers. In Malay, there are a few words for teacher. One is "Guru." Once again, this has a different connotation in the west. Many westerners think of Guru as some cult leader, a spiritual leader. In Malaysia, it can mean a math teacher in a primary school. We celebrated Teachers' Day every year in school with giving our teachers gifts of flowers or food. When I got to university in the US, I realized all that was different. We called many of our professors by their first names, some didn't greet them when they entered the classroom and in fact, the professors were graded by us students at the end of the semester, something you would never do in Asia. A note on first-name usage in Malaysia, if someone is older than you, you should address them as Auntie/Uncle and you can add their first name after, otherwise use Ms./Mr. A teacher in Malaysia, in my time there, was address with Mrs./Ms./Mr. or in university, Professor. Never first name only, as they were given a respect of an elder.
 
My experience of both Asian and American teachers has taught me to respect teachers more. As a young adult, I questioned these old Asian ideals of giving respect to teachers. I had some "good" teachers but in the majority of my experience they were mean, unhappy individuals, abusing their position of power, and not really deserving of the respect that we were forced to pay them. I had few teachers who inspired learning or it seemed to me even cared about my learning. They didn't adapt the material to suit the child, the child had to suit the material. In some ways, I can understand that the system, which was/is overloaded with up to 50 children in 1 classroom, could not cater to each child's needs but it did not require abuse. When I got to the US, the roles were completely changed; many students didn't care or respect their teachers; they complained about the teachers if something didn't go their way, or got a bad grade and even insulted the teacher. Not so long ago, I found a website that even rated professors, where students could leave reviews of them with stars, like your experience at a restaurant or your thoughts on a movie. But most of my encounters in university in the US were positive; most professors were humane, down-to-earth, genuinely interested that their students learned something. I felt that I could give these individuals my respect.
 
It was also in the US that I came to be aware of the old Teacher-Student or the Master-Disciple relationship. As I began to study Chinese Medicine, I wanted to learn/practice Qi Gong deeply. I went on a search in the phone book for a teacher in my area and I called. Being a student, I had little money for anything outside of university so I asked if I could do a work-learn exchange. What I didn't realize then was that I was asking to be a disciple of a Master. This began my relationship with ShiFu Donald and ShiMu Cheryl Lynne. They were teachers of Tai Ji Quan/Qi Gong/Shao Lin Quan. "Shi" in Mandarin means "skilled person" and "Fu" is "father," while "Mu" is "mother." These mean Master. I learned the old Chinese ways of Master-Disciple from them. I did office work, helped with their school organization and in return I took classes with them. In these moments of interaction, I learned about culture, arts, philosophy, medicine, martials arts and life. They became to me, as my own parents put it, my "Godparents." We have gone separate ways since I moved to Europe but they are still dear to me and I honour them often, as I pass on the knowledge they passed on to me. They taught me to honor lineage and tradition. They often spoke of their teachers, ShiFu Kuo Lien Ying and ShiFu Bing Gong, and how us students were carrying on the line of Guang Ping Yang Tai Ji Quan. From this, I have also learned to honour the legendary Masters of Chinese Medicine of ancient times to the present teachers that have shaped the way I think, sense, feel and heal the world.
 
My experiences from Malaysia, USA and Switzerland has helped me to appreciate Teachers much more. On October 5th, designated by UNESCO as World Teachers' Day, I will remember all the teachers who have touched me in my life. The experiences have not always been positive but even these have also taught me something, of how not to be with my students ;)    Being a Teacher is not an easy job but it is an honourable profession, a long tradition of passing on knowledge, so that future generations may flourish and wisdom may prevail. For this, I honour all Teachers.

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Images Legendary Chinese Medical Masters from Wikimedia Commons
Images TaiJiQuan Masters from Rubbo

Following on the lines of the Earth Phase, which we are still in at this point in time, I began contemplating its attributes. I was struck by the idea of empathy. Empathy is truly an Earth characteristic. What is it exactly?
 
Empathy is a very interesting word. Through my research on the etymology of the word, it was coined by the German philosophers, Rudolf Lotze and Robert Vischer, from the Greek word "pathos" meaning feeling. They proposed the word "Einfühlung" - "Ein' referring to "in" and "Fühlung" to "feeling." In-feeling, to be in-feeling with someone or something. The English word "Empathy" was then translated from German by Robert B. Titchener in 1909. Empathy as defined by psychologytoday.com as "the ability to recognize, understand and share the thoughts and feeling of another person, animal or fictional character." They also distinguish its difference to "sympathetic" where one feels concern and a desire that the other gets better, and compassion "understanding with the desire to act on that person's behalf." The clear difference is the ability to step out of your own story, enter into the other person's perception of things, while still maintaining your experience and perspectives.
 
Modern social science divides Empathy into 3 different categories: Cognitive, Affective (Emotional) and Somatic. Cognitive Empathy is the ability to understand another's state on a mental level, Affective Empathy is the ability to respond to another emotionally and finally Somatic Empathy is the physical reaction to another being's state in the Somatic Nervous System as well as in Mirror Neurons in the brain. What is so fascinating with Empathy is that it is not peculiar to just humans, it has been observed in many animals to its own species but also across species. In fact, even plants have a certain solidarity that can be viewed as Empathy.
 
As in my last post about the Earth element, to feel connected to ourselves and our centre, allows us to be connected with others. We are then able to be "In-feeling" with another, we experience Empathy for others. However, it appears that our consumer-driven, self-gratifying world of the last couple of hundred years, if not longer, has created a new psychological disorder, Empathy Deficit Disorder (EDD). Here, the individual is unable to feel happy for others or feels indifferent to another's pain, unable to listen to others, possesses a sense of entitlement, is quick to criticize without regard for the feelings of the other...
Doesn't this sound familiar? We have world leaders with EDD running countries, we have celebrities or role models for our young who have EDD... it is time to change this.  
 
Empathy may be something that some of us have innately but studies have shown that we can learn to be emphatic. The environment that we live and grow-up in shapes who we are too. Empathy is for me something that I learned as a child growing up. I remember one incident, where I was about 5 years old. My mom confronted me after I ripped the leaves of a plant up, when I was bored. She asked me how I would feel if I was like the plant and someone came with a pair of scissors and cut up the clothes I was wearing. I remember how I looked at my shirt and realized then that I would feel horrible. From then on, I stopped ripping plants just because I was bored. My mom took the time to speak to me, to ask me why or how I was feeling. She connected with me and in turn got me connected with myself and that plant. Empathy is an Earth trait that emphasizes connection, it's that cuddly-mommy feeling that we crave when we feel disconnected. Come back to yourself, reconnect with yourself and help someone else reconnect with themselves.


Image Apes by Cock-Robin on Pixabay