Over the past month, I have been carrying my Rubik’s Cube around with me. As a child growing up in the ‘80s, one of my brothers had gotten one and all of us siblings were trying our hand at solving it; I was about 6 years old at the time. An older sister of mine got a method from some of her friends and she tried solving it. I maybe manage 1 out of 6 surfaces. A few years ago, one of my sons was at a birthday party and one of the little trinkets he received from attending was a little Rubik’s Cube. This sparked my interest to solve all 6 sides. I looked up solutions online and I managed to solve it with instructions, but I still had to look at the instructions till that point. Recently, I was watching a documentary and they were just discussing how the Rubik’s Cube has as many as 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 (this would be 43 quintillian) possible variations, into which one can randomly create. Obviously, just 1 of these is the solution, where all 6 sides are matched in color and position. This reminded me of my Cube sitting somewhere in a cupboard, waiting to be solved.
 
Currently, instead of taking out my digital device, let’s say in the tram after work, which I detest doing, I take out my Cube and I am in the process of solving it all the way till I get home. As I do this regularly, I realize that it is a training. Since I found the solution, which involves strategy, dexterity of hand and mind, patience, the ability to memorize sequences and apply them in the right moment, I am now able to solve the Cube without looking up the instructions. This obviously gives me a sense of satisfaction. I am not a super good mathematician but I can do elementary math well enough. I have come to realize the ability to solve the Rubik’s Cube is not necessarily based just on mathematical skill but one that requires discipline, focus, patience, flexibility and the desire to solve a problem.
 
I have spent most of my life finding movement and flexibility with my body in Movement. Now with the Cube, I am finding movement and agility with my hands, fingers as well as mind on an apparatus. I move and twist, paying attention to position and planes: anterior, posterior, superior, inferior, lateral right and left. I have learned to strategize and prioritize, which color needs to match which and when. Since I have studied the solution, I also realized I am basically performing choreography with my hands, which involves memory and rhythm. This is not new to me since dancing from the age of 5. I am not only the performer of the movement but also the choreographer with 54 squares of 6 different colors to maneuver around 6 different planes. Many times, I realize the choreography is not set; sometimes I have to improvise, especially if I wasn’t keeping my focus and forgot where I was in the middle of a sequence. This is when I have to recalibrate my mind and find a new strategy, as my lack of focus doesn’t allow me to follow the set “rules” and I have to invent a new tactic or decide to restart by mixing everything up again. The Cube makes me stay present in the moment.
 
So, as I sit in the tram to get home or wait somewhere for something or someone, I can be doing my life training on my Cube. The Rubik's Cube can be a lesson for life. It can even be a meditation, if we choose it to be so. It can be a reminder that life doesn’t always go according to plan, which most times it doesn’t. It’s a matter of perspective whether to view the unplanned as a problem or just as a path in life, where we can experience being in a new or different state. It teaches flexibility, patience and resilience, among other things.     



Image by Elaine

When you begin to study Human Biology, one of the first concepts you will be exposed to is Homeostasis. What is Homeostasis? The word “homeo” is Neo-Latin from Greek, meaning “similar” and “stasis,” meaning “standing still.” Together, it implies “staying the same.” This is the basis in which our living body creates a stable environment conducive for maintaining optimal life function.

Many things we experience every second of every day in our lives as living beings, we take for granted because our bodies do it automatically, without our knowledge or consciousness. Homeostasis is one of these. Suppose you were in the Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia at this time of year (which at this current moment of my writing is at -23 degrees Celsius), you go outside without a coat or gloves or shoes. The first thing your body would begin doing, is to thermoregulate; neurons in the hypothalamic region of the brain begin to sense and react to change in core temperature, the thermoreceptor cells at the skin will send signals to create piloerection (goose bumps on the skin), skeletal muscles begin to contract triggering the shivering reflex, thus creating motion in the body to generate heat, blood vessels begin constriction and metabolic reaction increases internally. These all occur in order to maintain the 36.5 to 37-degrees Celsius body temperature that human bodies need, in order to have optimal functioning of the body’s system. If you were to continue to remain in this state without any means to warm-up your body for a longer period of time, your body would begin progressing towards hypothermia; the overcooling of the body to the point where it cannot maintain normal life function and possible breakdown or even necrosis of tissue or death.

On the contrary, if you were to go to the Death Valley, California in the middle of summer, where the hottest temperature was ever recorded on any place of the Earth at 52.7-degrees Celsius, and stand in the middle of the sand and rocks of the desert, your body would go through the reverse process of thermoregulation. The neurons in the hypothalamus would sense a rise to core temperature, the thermoreceptors in the skin would sense the heat, triggering the pores of your skin to open to release heat, excrete sweat from the sweat glands cooling the surface of the skin, blood vessels would dilate causing reddening of the skin. This would decrease the core temperature, closer to 37-degrees Celsius. Once again, if we could not find shade or replenish the fluids used, then the body would progress on to hyperthermia; the overheating of the body and dehydration to the point where the system would shut down. This very intelligent system of thermoregulation built into our bodies is not the only Homeostatic function that we possess: the blood pH levels, the blood glucose levels, to name a few are also part of the process of Homeostasis.

What is the basic principle of Homeostasis? It is about balance, sometimes described as a “dynamic equilibrium.” There is a middle point that an organism strives for; an ideal point where all things function at its optimum. This idea of the body’s self-regulatory system was explored by Claude Bernard, a French physiologist in 1849. But the term Homeostasis was only coined up in 1926 by an American neurologist-physiologist Walter Bradford Cannon, just about a hundred years ago.

To describe Homeostasis as “a point” is to do it an injustice, as it would imply non-moving, which it is not. It is a process, a motion, a dynamic-ever-changing dance in the body. The Chinese obviously didn’t call it Homeostasis when they developed their ideas almost 3000 years ago, they called it Yin-Yang. It wasn’t just used to describe the human body’s capacity to self-regulate but also a perspective of the Earth, of the Universe and of how living beings, such as human beings, live in a microcosm of a greater macrocosm. Whatever happens here on our Earth affects that which is within us, as well as what is beyond us. Our bodies seek balance within itself, within the Earth and within the universe. So often though we are unaware of it. As an example, I ask patients, who are experiencing some sort of symptom that brings them in for treatment, if this is affected by weather. Many a time, I hear an affirmative answer: “Yes, the weather does affect it.” But often times, comes the next sentences: “But how can that be?” My answer is: “How can it not be? Do we live on the Earth or do we live in a laboratory, where conditions have been manipulated to become a vacuum, controlled solely by the lab technician?” We do not live in an individualized, climate-controlled bubble; we live in a big, living multi-organism, multi-elemental, rich environment that many of us cannot even fathom. So complex yet so effortless and simple on our part, until something goes off-balance.

When we look through the lenses of Yin-Yang to see our bodies, we realize that when something is taken out, something of similar magnitude has to be put back in, in order that the balance be regained. Try wearing 2 shoes of different heights, a flat-soled shoe on one foot and a high-heeled shoe on the other. Walk 10 steps in these and feel how uncomfortable you feel. Walk 10 days with them and the body would have gone through quite a few aches and pains before beginning to adapt. We would start to see the changes to the structure of the body, depending on how much the height difference is in the soles. Already we see some form of balance adaptation happening in the body, in response to a change in conditions. Take these shoes off and you feel the “rightness” of balance returning to the body. This balance is already built into our systems, we just have to take a moment to check-in to find it. Now realize that even if we are unconscious of the imbalance that is occurring, our bodies do it for us anyway and when it can’t it warns us with its alarm system - pain

What a wonderful creation our bodies are. Rene Descartes stated, “Cogito ergo sum – I think, therefore I am.” I believe it’s even simpler and more profound, “I AM.”
 
 

Image by kati on pixabay

​As I stood on the rocks at the edge of the cliff, breathing in the salty air of the Pacific Ocean, I could sense the wind blowing in my hair and against my skin. With my being, I sensed the magnitude of the waves, the vastness of the ocean, the solidity of the rocks under me, the unending blue of the sky and something within me recognized the insignificance of humanity. I, like my fellow human beings, am but one minute grain of sand, lying on one tiny beach in the great expanse of the universe. I realized in this moment that I was in awe of nature, of the immense world and universe that we live in. I felt content as I knew my place as a living being in the way of things.
 
Nothing like a good dose of Nature to get you out of your drama of human self-importance. This was my experience as I was on vacation this past weeks in the area where I lived in and went to university in my 20s, California. It is a special place, where the elements - Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water come together in an intense mixture of generative-destructive-regenerative energy yet pieced together harmoniously to create a blossoming, fertile place. By the way, when I speak of the themes of life-death-rebirth, I often hear a voice say, "Circle of Life," which was a song by Elton John and Tim Rice featured in the Disney movie The Lion King, that was made in California ;-). Over the past years, I have become more informed geologically of our Earth and have come to realize why there is a draw for me as a human being, among millions of others, to California. Back in the day when I lived there as a student, I never really questioned why or what attracted me there, except that places like San Francisco were centers of culture, learning, thought, ideas, industry and commerce. But let's forget about the cities of California, these are made by the hands of humanity, with the illusion that they are great and will withstand the powers of Nature. Now, 20 years later, with the healthy distance of space and time, I have come to understand that it was the strong interaction of the Elements that drew me to live there for a time. 
 
California lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, as does the whole of the Western coast of North, Central and South America, the islands on the Pacific, like Tonga, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia, parts of Russian like the Kamchatka Peninsula and parts of Antarctica. These areas have high amounts of earthquakes and volcano eruptions occurring very regularly since millennia; still regularly moves and erupts. California is no exception to this. It is probably this deep movement and power of the Earth that draws humans to live in this area, as it inspires not only a creativity as well as a fertility in the land and ocean but also within our beings. Ideas and inventions sprout out of these areas like weeds; think tech firms like Google, the film industry of Hollywood, Disneyland and numerous other products/ ideas that have shaped our modern world. Once you become aware of the geology of California, you realize it is only a matter of time that all its "great" and wonderful cities will crumble like dust, when the San Andreas Fault cracks open further with the next great earthquake. I imagine what brought me there over 20 years ago was this power - to experience it, create with it and to grow from it.
 
As I return here to Switzerland, Nature is still very present; just a little calmer, subtler and narrower. As the Nature there in California shapes its people, so does it here in Switzerland. The movement of the water here is calmer, as in the many lakes, inspires slower, tranquil, containing energy, with less impulses to quick changes. Maybe I was drawn here too as I was to California, to learn this way of being as well. 



​Photo by Elaine

These past few weeks, as school began again, some of my students came back to class with observations they had over the summer vacation. One of them was about posture and the habit of slouching. One of the students described how she observed people around her, possibly herself too, eating in a slumped position and that this disturbed her. She had become very aware of it, as we, in class, often begin our practice with checking in with our bodies, breathing into our abdomens and bringing our bodies in an upright position, so that we can connect with Earth and Heaven. Often times as we do this with awareness, my students and I begin to feel Qi flowing through our bodies; thus, sitting upright feels effortless. This discussion got me thinking a lot about habits, where we get them and how to change them.
 
What are habits? The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language describes 'habit' as a noun, as "a recurrent, often unconscious behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition," as "an established disposition of the mind or character," as "a customary manner or practice," or even as "an addiction, especially to a narcotic drug." How and where does this "unconsciousness behavior" begin? Fascinating question with fascinating answers.
 
I became aware of Dr. Bruce Lipton a few years ago, a scientist who researched and taught Biology/ Epigenetics, then began working-teaching more about consciousness, as he realized the connections between biology and consciousness. He describes that many of our behaviors and habits are learned in the first 7 years of our lives, when we as children are not yet fully aware of our consciousness and are absorbing learned behavior by observation of the world around us; from our parents, teachers, other adult care givers as well as other children. Lipton describes that we are learning "programs," set by our parents and societies, such as how to behave in the society where we live in and in relationships to one another; the socially-acceptable norms in our particular society. But what happens when we grow up, become our own individual persons and these norms do not serve us or our needs? Lipton states that almost 70 percent of these learned-behavior are even "disempowering and self-sabotaging," as such do not aid us to become the individuals we wish to or strive to become. From the age of 6+, we become more conscious of ourselves as individuals and thus, these "programs" are operating in our subconscious, without us ever realizing; these are the norms in our lives in society, like default mode that just continues on until we start to question, if we ever do, what they are. 
 
I personally observed and experienced one "program" that was glaringly "disempowering and self-sabotaging" from my childhood in Malaysia, as I lived in the US. I never noticed how most people in Malaysia, including my parents, would describe a performance, such as a ballet performance, which was well performed as "not bad" until I heard my American dance teachers and fellow dancers react with "great!" or "good job." I was quite stunned to hear my American dance teachers react with such enthusiasm, even in class, to my performances. It took me years to finally accept that these compliments were sincere and actually part of the American "program" of positive reinforcements to encourage and inspire confidence. It was then that I could finally acknowledge that my first years of life had instilled a "glass-is-half-empty" mentality in my being as opposed to "glass-is-half-full;" that many things I did in my life earned only a "not bad" and could not be enough to merit a "good" or even "wonderful." I came to a realization that my cultural upbringing had forced humbleness onto my being and in the process instilled a self-deprecating mentality, almost to the point of pessimism. When the realization came, which took years, I understood that I wanted to change, as these inabilities to accept compliments or looking at the world through pessimistic eyes were not really my programs and that these were not serving me in my life.
 
How do we change habit? I believe it begins with realization, becoming conscious of the unconscious; realization that a particular habit is not serving us. This needs observation and self-reflection. Then comes the active part which Dr. Bruce Lipton outlines in How To Reprogram Your Mind so well. Even the description of habit from the American Heritage Dictionary gives us the clues to change habit; become conscious when you have unconsciousness, and frequent repetition of the desired habit until it become the norm. In fact, the dictionary's 4th definition is even giving us the consequence if we don't change unhealthy habits; it will become an addiction like a narcotic drug.
 
It's quite amazing how a simple observation of a student on posture can provoke such deep reflections on life.   
 
          
 
 
        
Image by NEOSiAM 2021 on pexels.com

​As I sat on the sofa one day at the end of the 1990s, in between studies and work at university in the US, I heard a talk on TV given by a "Holistic" medical physician. Her name is Dr. Christiane Northrup. First of all, I had not even known that a Holistic medical doctor even existed at that point in time, so I listened. Her talk was about the book she had written a few years earlier entitled, " Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom." She asked a very awakening question that touched me deeply and I am paraphrasing it, "How would it be if a girl is taught at a very young age that her menstrual cycle which she would experience from puberty onward is her ability to bring life into the world and that it is something special?" I thought to myself, "Wow! How would that have been for me if I had heard this at that point in time?" 
 
The experience of my personal menarche came back to me in that moment. No adult in my family had explained to me what the menstrual period was; my sisters sort of tried but not really as they themselves were teenagers. The first I heard was from other girls my age or a little older. They told me all sorts of strange things that invoked fear, "bleeding from below that can come at anytime," "pain!" and "blood stains all over your clothes." The only adult who did talk to us about the menstrual period was a female educator, hired by the school system and menstrual hygiene company to explain to us, by showing us a video of what happens anatomically, marking the calendar monthly, how to wear a pad or possibly a tampon and giving out free samples of menstrual pads to us 10-11-year-olds; I am sure this was a strategy to ensure that we, pre-pubescent girls, would buy and favor their brand of sanitary hygiene products for the rest of our menstruating years. No one mentioned how special it was, or anything about life-giving. I wasn't welcomed into womanhood, I felt like it was more of hiding my femaleness, being more segregated from the males of my society and definitely no sign of honoring me being a woman. Almost a feeling of shame, if I am honest about it. I did not receive a special ritual or celebration of entering womanhood, as in many traditional cultures. It was kept as quiet as possible. When my menarche came, it was a little uncomfortable for me to tell my mom that it had begun. I had the free samples sanitary pads from years earlier to use, but I did tell her in whispers and she provided me with more. But there was no more talk about how it was, her own experience of menses or anything else. 
 
After Dr. Christiane Northrup's talk, which also focused on other themes of being a woman, I knew that if I ever had children, especially females one, I would be open to explaining and sharing my experiences of menstruation; to explain to them how special it is that they have a monthly bleeding that prepares our women bodies to bring life into the world and how this connects us to the Earth, as well as all life on Earth. Also, to welcome them into the circle of Women and celebrate their Womanhood. I do not have female children but that has not stopped me from sharing with my young men about menses and our bodies, female and male. If this information doesn't come from me, who will share it with them? 
I realized that I did not want a repeat of misinformation and ignorance, like I experienced as a teenager, because the adults around me were too ashamed to discuss their/our bodies. I also share this with my patients, some are young girls coming into womanhood and others are grown women, mothers or grandmothers, entering the "changing years." We speak openly about menstruation and other phases in life that women go through, our experiences and that we do not have to accept pain or discomfort as 'normal'; there are Chinese medical plants, (acu)points and practices that help create smoother menstrual flow. I believe that through bringing light to these very important life themes, we dispel these archaic ideas of shame of our bodies. Our bodies are as natural as nature is.
 
This year at ICM, we have decided to honor and give space to Womanhood. We will be launching our Women-Life-Phases project - to inform, create consciousness, to honor Womanhood and provide healing support through Chinese Medicine, as well as other healing modalities. This does not mean we don't give space to males, that may be our next project for the coming years. It is our way of creating balance that has been lacking in our society/world for a while. It is also quite ironic that this comes at our 15th anniversary year, almost as if ICM is at its "coming of age." Watch out for info coming up on our website, in the form of live presentations, pamphlets, info sheets and who knows what else.  
 
 
 
 
Image by Anna Shvets on pexels.com

The scene is set. Two Tai Ji Quan players are about to engage in a fight. They stand facing each other, neither begins, neither moves. They wait for the other to begin the attack. They are standing still, yet nothing is static. Qi is flowing, they are both sensing the subtle changes of the other and the environment. Through sensing, comes awareness. A Tai Ji Quan player will have an edge over the other, if her/his ability to sense is more acute. The moment one begins an attack, s/he has begun a forward, outward motion of energy, transmitting her/his information of her/his energetic distribution to the opponent, who will then utilize this energy to a counterattack. As such, no Tai Ji Quan player would make the first move, unless s/he is sure that her/his Qi is stronger than the other. Check out this clip from the movie "Hero," from many years back. It is not of Tai Ji Quan but demonstrates what I am trying to describe very well.   
 
Tài Jí Qúan太極拳, sometimes written as Tai Chi Chuan (Wade-Giles romanization), translates as "Supreme Ultimate Fist." As you may have read in a previous post, Tai Ji Quan is a martial art with Chinese roots. It is estimated that 300 million people from at least 57 different countries practice Tai Ji Quan, making it one of the most practiced martial arts in the world. However, many have no idea that it a martial art, even those who practice it, as it has been transformed into a method of maintaining health or a form of dance. And why should it not be so? If something has the ability to adapt better in a changing environment over a period of time, then this adaptation will ensure its survival. This is something that has helped Tai Ji Quan to persist and thrive in the world, as people of all ages, children, adult and elderly practice this art with different emphasis and intentions set by its practitioner. Maybe it is even this skill to adapt to change, which is in itself a flexibility in being, that the Tai Ji Quan practitioner acquires through the practice of this art. One image my Tai Ji Quan teacher, Donald Rubbo, used to present was of bamboo. He described how bamboo is flexible and bends with the wind without breaking, as compared to rigid trees that may be strong but break due to the lack of flexibility under the strain of strong winds.  
 
Tai Ji Quan is considered an internal martial art, meaning that the energetic work is done inside the body, versus an external focus where emphasis is placed on external strength. It is based on Daoist philosophy and the principles of Yīn-Yáng, which many of us know as the diagram with the black and white 'fish;' white fish with black eye and black fish with white eye. Master Huang, master of Tai Ji Quan, calligraphy and dance, describes the philosophy of Tai Ji and Yin-Yang very well through movement as well as intellectually. One of the Daoist ideas that is key to Tai Ji Quan and Chinese Medicine is the principle that we, all living beings living in this world, are connections between Heaven and Earth; the sacred trinity. If we learn to be and stay connected constantly to this Heaven-Earth power, we are always filled with Qi; thus, we are able to conserve our own personal Qi and Jing (life Essence) to maintain life in our bodies. A manifestation of Yin-Yang is in the form of the elements Fire and Water: 
 
"Fire rises and water flows down. Water can put fire out when placed on top. This is reversing. It is a natural law that never changes. However, when the water flows down and you put your pot under it to stop it from reaching its extreme limit, the result is the boiling of water. This is called Yin-Yang reversal theory that allows one to make use of the natural laws. The T'ai Chi boxing system is based on this reversal theory, which is used in every aspect of the skill." (Kuo, Guttman, 1994, p.1)
 
Tai Ji Quan applies these philosophical principles into movement and through practicing these movements regularly, we begin to embody these principles in living our daily lives.
 
Going back to that first scene in which I described the two players; my teacher used to emphasize to us to 'play' Tai Ji Quan when we got too serious thinking and trying to make the correct form or application. We learned to move slowly but also quickly, when it was needed. In moving slow, one becomes aware of the subtle changes in weight distribution on the different aspects of the feet; thus aiding in balance training. Also, the awareness of the space around oneself, the elements in the environment and that a gentle flick of the finger, when one is connected to her/his Dān Tían, can move boulders. One aspect of Tai Ji Quan is form training, Tào Lù, where one performs the empty-hand or weapon form without contact, and if so it is choreographed. This is how many people practice Tai Ji Quan, especially if it is for health and it works on the basic form. Tùi Shǒu is Pushing Hands; this is the application of the form with contact to another practitioner but only to push the hand to uproot her/his stance, not to strike, punch or hurt. Another two aspects are the Nèi Gōng and Qī Gōng, which translate as "internal work" and "Qi work" respectively. These refer to breathing techniques, meditation, awareness training, meridian stretching as well as stillness practice. For me these are the most important aspects of the practice because they work on the unseen, deeper connections of the individual to Heaven-Earth and the clarity of mind to dis/engage in a confrontation. With stillness in body, the mind learns to become still but the Qi flows relentlessly.
 
 
 
Reference
Kuo Lien-Ying/ translated by Guttmann (1994): The T'ai Chi Boxing Chronicle. Berkeley, CA, USA: North Atlantic Books 
 
 
 
 
Image by Ron on Pixabay

 
I wondered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
 
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
 
The waves beside them danced; 
but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
 
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon the inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
 
 
William Wordsworth (1804)
 
 
It is a cool Spring day; the sky is blue and the sun is shining. Yesterday, the sky was grey and it was snowing. On the ground the snow is gone but the coolness prevails. Last week, it was dry, warm and sunny; all the plants were blossoming. I heard the exclamations of joy from people around me of how beautiful and warm it was, but also the apprehension of how dry it was for the plants. I listen and observe. I note that it is Spring, a time of extreme change. The weather of this time of year can change from one end of the spectrum to the other in a day, which we experienced this past week. 
 
What has caught my eye and my consciousness are the Daffodils; those yellow, golden rays of sunlight that have burst through the Earth and prevailed through sun, dryness, rain, snow and cold. As a young student in a former British colony, I learned the poems of the British Romantic poets, such as William Wordsworth, which I could not really understand then since I lived in the tropics and had never experienced real Daffodils growing in the early Spring. What a wonder they are!
 
Daffodils or Narcissus are bulbous plants, that stay dormant for more than half the year. Then at some point in time in late winter, they manifest their first green, pointy shoots out of the Earth. Every ray of sunshine nurtures their inching-shoots out of this fantastically-designed bulb, that not only nourishes with food, but also protects this being like a cocoon as it develops its bud into flower. We admire how humans design and create intricate things but look at this "simple" bulb that keeps growing and receding year after year, even if we do not really put much attention or care to it, in the most extreme of temperatures (between 30-35 degrees Celsius difference). Through its long leaves, this being gets enough food and energy to go into dormancy from Summer to the end of Winter. I read that bulbous plants, including the Daffodils, have been in existence since the Miocene geological epoch, between 23.03 to 5.33 million years ago, as a result of the decrease in global temperatures. Crazy, amazing ancient technology that is still functioning! 
 
Now, every time I pass by a troop of daffodils dancing in the breeze under a tree, I recite this lovely over-200-year-old Wordsworth homage to some very ancient beings, who not only impress me with their bell-shaped-flair-skirted fair blossoms but every aspect of their existence, most especially their resilience to the snow, the heat and the changes of Spring.
 
 
 
Image by Elaine