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As I prepare to begin my pilgrimage to the Santa Fe Chi Center, approaching my week-long retreat for certification as a Qigong teacher, I reflect on all the other journeys of this life, those we prepare for and those we are thrust into, those we choose and those that choose us.

 

Right now, I feel the sinking in, the internal preparation beginning. Externally, challenges are arising, connections are being activated, it’s quite interesting. This is a journey of my choice, but in a way, my other life choices led me to this one. Long story. But isn’t it true that if we think back in time, we can often see how we got to where we are, at this moment. This current trip is a pleasant and heartfelt journey, but the journeys that led to this have been all over the spectrum of joy and pain, sorrow and happiness, awe and disruption. Random, or so it seems.

Sometimes we journey in pain, sometimes in helplessness and hopelessness, and sometimes in joy and hope. Our journeys connect–not just within ourselves but with each other.  So I carry each of you in my heart on this journey of the heart, of the soul, of the spirit. I am filled with joyful anticipation for my return to share my experiences and these practices with you. I love teaching, and I love expanding our community of practice. Thank you for being part of my journey!

Haola (all is well and getting better). Namaste. Cheers!     Betsy

The Chi Center, Grand Opening, Santa Fe (Galisteo), New Mexico

Wow. I’ve been doing the WH Qigong “Spinal Bone Marrow” movement for a few years now, and for all that time I didn’t give any thought to my bone marrow–of course, I visualized my spine moving and flexing and filling with light–but I had neglected to consider the marrow, the inner wisdom, the vital work going on even deeper within my bones.  For some reason (haola!), when I was getting ready to once again teach Spinal Bone Marrow practices, I thought to myself, hmmm, remind me again what the bone marrow does, oh Google.  Oh boy. It’s pretty darn busy and important. Here goes. Hopefully my oversimplification of an incredibly complex process retains physiological accuracy.

Bone marrow is the flexible tissue in the middle of our bones. Our bone marrow produces nearly all our blood cells in the heads of the long (children) or flat (adult) bones–nearly 500 billion cells per day. Phew! Red marrow produces not only red blood cells, but white bloods cells (to fight infection) and platelets as well.

When we’re born, all our bone marrow is red. As we age, about half of our bone marrow converts to the yellow type, which produces cartilage, fat and bone. By adulthood, the only red marrow producing red blood cells is in our skull, vertebrae, clavicle, ribs, and sternum. That being said, that yellow marrow can convert back to red marrow to produce more blood cells in severe cases, for example if we experience massive blood loss. That’s certainly energy transformation in action! Nearly all marrow is yellow marrow by the time a person reaches old age. I have no data to back this up, but perhaps qigong practitioners retain more of their red marrow by doing movements such as Spinal Bone Marrow. I wonder!

Now we get to the most magical of them all–stem cells. This is where the rubber meets the road, in my opinion, regarding energy work being able to heal our bodies.Deep within the bone marrow resides a type of cell known as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). These immature cells can differentiate into cells that produce bone, cartilage, fat, or muscle (conversantbio.com). Stem cells are cells that can differentiate into a variety of different kinds of cells.  As we connect with our bodies to clear blockages and heal, we can send energy to those stem cells to suggest 🙂 they differentiate into, in my case, healthy cartilage for the lateral compartment of my left knee, for example. Part of my brain thinks my diseased cartilage is a lost cause, but more and more I’m thinking my body may have the power to regenerate that cartilage. After all, it can heal external wounds, change yellow marrow to red, and neutralize toxins (to name just a few of the daily miracles of the human body). It can’t hurt to try. My knee is feeling younger already! Time to go practice..and appreciate my bone marrow as I rotate, flex, open, and relax into the mind/body/heart/marrow connection.

 

We had an up close and personal experience with the vagus nerve last week. While in Reno fasting for a medical procedure, my husband fainted in the bathroom, lost consciousness for a minute or two and cut his head in two places. After paramedics arrived, he again lost consciousness, heart rate went to zero beats per eternity, and then he magically came back. After two days and many tests (all of which came out normal), we are grateful for health and have a poignant appreciation of moments. His diagnosis was a vaso/vagal response to dehydration from fasting. With plenty of time to research and free hospital wi-fi,  we now know much more about this fascinating and powerful vagus nerve, including how it responds to a myriad of contemplative practices.

The word vagus is from the Latin word for wandering (related to vagabond, for example). It was so named because this amazing 10th cranial nerve wanders all over your body, from your brain (cerebellum and brainstem) to the lowest viscera of your abdomen, touching your heart and most major organs along the way, including some major connections with your digestive system.

The vagus nerve is constantly sending sensory information about the state of the body’s organs ‘upstream’ to your brain. In fact, 80-90% of the nerve fibers in the vagus nerve are dedicated to communicating the state of your viscera up to your brain. When people say ‘trust your gut.’ they are in many ways saying, ‘trust your vagus nerve.’ Visceral feelings and gut-instincts are literally emotional intuitions transferred up to your brain via the vagus nerve (From Psychology Today The Neurobiology of Grace Under Pressure).

In Wisdom Healing Qigong (WHQ), we focus on bringing our minds into our bodies. In the Sound Healing practice, we chant healing vibrational sounds for the five organ systems. In Awakening Vitality and Lift Chi Up Pour Chi Down practices, we slowly move our bodies and visualize opening, expanding, and gathering energy throughout our bodies and organ systems. We focus on, get in touch with and profess gratitude for the incredible, intricate workings of our organs and cells. We send energy to where we perceive blockages and expand out to share our free flow of energy with others and with the universe. By focusing our attention and intention, we are, according to research, stimulating the vagus nerve. The nerve responds to positive energy, positive thinking. That’s why visualization works, that’s why positive affirmation works.

The Inner Smile is one of the Six Golden Keys of WHQ. It seems so simple. Think positive thoughts, smile into your brain, into your heart, into your organs. Simple. Inner Smile is taught by many Qigong grandmasters and has been a part of ancient Taoist practices for centuries.Why has this been promoted as a healthy practice for so long? Research in France indicates that facial muscles used to convey emotion trigger specific brain neurotransmitters. …Smile therapy has been shown to lower the stress hormones cortisol, adrenalin and noradrenaline. It can produce hormones which stabilize blood pressure, relax muscles, improve respiration, reduce pain, accelerate healing and stabilize the mood. (From Sarina Stone’s Medical Qigong website)

The vagus nerve, through its vast network of fibers and its major role in the parasympathetic nervous system, responds to these practices and stimulates the systems that produce healing hormones.  …the vagus responds to our thoughts, both positive and negative, and due to its connection to the major organs, its responses can have far-reaching effects on our physical and mental health.  (Unknown Country, The Vagus Nerve: Our Route to a Happier, Healthier Life?)

Part of healing is cultivating compassion for ourselves, others and the world. The Dalai Lama said that the seat of compassion is actually biological and — necessary for survival (Eiriu-Eolas, On Vagus Nerve, Meditation, and Health) . Professor Stephen Porges of the University of Illinois at Chicago calls the vagus nerve the nerve of compassion. It’s sometimes called the Buddha nerve or the God nerve. The vagus nerve is thought to stimulate certain muscles in the vocal chamber, enabling communication. It reduces heart rate. Very new science suggests that it may be closely connected to receptor networks for oxytocin, a neurotransmitter involved in trust and maternal bonding.  (Scientific American, Forget Survival of the Fittest: It’s Kindness That Counts).

In that same vein, studies by Nancy Eisenberg from Arizona State University show that children with a strong vagal response will stand up when others are being bullied.  They’re also more cooperative and helpful to their peers. The link following is an easy read and well worth the time. ( Lovingkindness and the Vagus Nerve).

There are many ways to strengthen the vagal response. The articles linked above have many suggestions including deep, abdominal breathing, washing the face with cold water, humming, and chanting. A major strategy mentioned by all I’ve researched is to meditate, to breathe, to relax, to smile and to practice gratitude. Wisdom Healing Qigong is one way to tap into a comprehensive practice to do just that. See the Chi Center website to access online classes or join me in Bishop and Chalfant to practice WHQ. It’s always more fun to go to Vagus together! 🙂

 

Healing Stories  http://www.chicenter.com/Chi/HealingStories/ 

Qigong And Cancer Article

Great Introductory Video to Wisdom Healing Qigong 1:37

Shorter Intro to WHQ (16 min)

Miracles and Stress (4 min)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIRVZsNDc-Q

Lachi  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4JcTVd9Tv4 (10 min)

Preliminary Practice Routine  https://vimeo.com/60772947

Qigong Healing Dissolves Tumor   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsqVEDK8WoE 

Haola is a celebration of life and spirit. Haola is the first practice of the Six Golden Keys of Wisdom Healing Qigong. In Chinese, Hao means “so be it” and La means “all is well”. Chanting Haola, and greeting each other with Haola is a form of connection and acknowledgement that whatever else is going on in our lives and in the world, all is well as a foundation, as a universal constant. That implies that we are connected with this universal syncopation and our energy and lives are unfolding as an expression of that rhythm. Things are opening up in our lives and in our healing, Haola! We are making new connections with others, with Mother Earth, with ourselves, Haola!

A recent article in The Week brought into my life a real Haola moment. 🙂 This article is about the true meaning of the word Aloha. One of my wonderful qigong students who is also a Hula teacher brought this to my attention and I’m so grateful! I playfully first noticed that both Aloha and Haola have all the same letters–Haola is almost Aloha spelled in reverse! The spirit of Aloha is so similar to the spirit of Haola. Both have very superficial meanings, but once we understand the depth of those superficial meanings we come to understand very important concepts about energy and connection and our place in the world.

From The Week: The late Haleaka Iolani Pule (click for video, it’s beautiful!), a Hawaiian historian and healer, called aloha “the symbiotic relationship (you have with the world) and an acknowledgement of that relationship you have with everything in the universe around you, and recognizing exactly what your space within that is”. As I watched this video, I was so touched by this wise woman’s understanding and teaching of Aloha. She teaches that Aloha is “knowing who you are and what you’re here to contribute to the world…With us, our challenge is to bring our bodies together with our minds and to be able to give from our hearts.” This statement is so purely and simply connected to Wisdom Healing Qigong. Our first encouragement in WHQ is to come back to our bodies, come back, come back…and then we work on opening our hearts to give. She says Aloha is “knowing who you are and what you’re here to contribute to the world…our hearts are the givers and our mission is to go out and share Aloha”.  In WHQ, we purposefully and consciously begin our practice by opening our hearts to our deepest purpose for the healing of ourselves, others and this planet–to share Aloha!

Curby Rule, in The Deeper Meaning of Aloha, translates alo as sharing in the present and oha as joyous affection, and ha as life energy, life and breath. Or, “the joyful sharing of life energy in the present”.

But another layer of meaning can be found by factoring in the meanings of the roots words in aloha. “A” means “to burn” (figuratively, to sparkle) and it is also the name of mold found in souring foods. “Lo” is short for lo’o and loa’a which mean “to obtain or procure”. Together these indicate a transformation of energy (burning, sparkling, souring food), a product of an energy transformation (the mold), and an effort to get or obtain something. To me this sounds exactly like consciously manifesting or creating. This brings us to another translation of Aloha. “To consciously manifest life joyously in the present.” 

When I read the words about Aloha and energy transformation I became certain that Aloha and Haola are relatives and connect directly to manifesting source energy (qi) in the world. They are not only about coming back to the body and heart but about coming back to the Earth and transforming the human connection to the universe back to health and balance. 

Cultures all over the world have expressions that convey this connection, this affirmation of life: Aho, Mvto, Amen to name just a few. But sometimes we just say these words and don’t think about the deeper meaning, the commitment to the deepest fulfillment of life. It is my intent to immerse myself in the spirit of Aloha and Haola and focus on acknowledging and savoring that joyful sharing of life when I say or write or chant these words. So when I say Haola, I’ll be consciously saying I am so glad you and I and this universe are connected, and aren’t we lucky to be here sharing our hearts with this place and in this time. Let us celebrate and use this connection to make this world a better place.  Haola! Aloha!

Reciprocity: The practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit
Giving and Receiving. Reciprocity. Balance. We thrive on exchange, give and take, to survive as living beings. In Wisdom Healing Qigong, we learn the practice of Lachi as a way to cultivate, give and receive life giving energy to ourselves, others and the universe.  We open and close our hands and visualize cultivating the brilliant, beautiful light of chi concentrating as we close, and expanding as we open. We cultivate, give and receive a great gift with this practice–the gift of energy, connection and healing for ourselves, for each other and for our planet Earth.

“The open and close rhythm is the principle rhythm of all life.” Think about our bodies, our world, our lives. Our breath is about opening and filling our lungs with beautiful oxygen, and then closing and releasing CO2 to the atmosphere. Our hearts beat with the rhythm of expanding and gathering, sending out blood to become oxygenated and then receiving and sending that blood to all parts of our amazing physiology. The universe itself expands and contracts. Lachi is about an energy exchange with the universe unlike our usual autonomic exchanges. It’s like we purposefully become a chi pump or chi bellows to breathe energetically with the universe, with the Source Energy. Not only do we as usual take part in the O2/CO2 exchange with the world, we now are learning to exchange and enhance the positive energy on this planet, in this universe.

We chant while doing Lachi in order to focus our minds to make this exchange happen. We say Kai when we open our hands. Kai means to open, expand, liberate, and open to the chi energy around us. Think about opening and releasing all blockages and negativity. Open and let your minds and hearts be clear. Hui means to close, contract, draw inward, unite. As we close our hands, we visualize bringing life giving energy to each of our cells, organs, and glands. We envision receiving the pure white light into our centers and connecting with the highest wisdom inside ourselves.

In our classes here in Bishop, we have learned preliminary qigong practices that also are about expanding and contracting, giving and receiving. In Spinal Bone Marrow, the spine contracts and expands as we rotate and relax. In Chen Chi, we receive chi into our hearts as we draw the shoulder blades together, and we open or offer chi into the universe as we thrust our arms outward. “Open to release, close to purify and nourish.” Focus on the exchange, the receiving and the giving, the balance. Giving and Receiving. Reciprocity. Balance. Haola! All is well and getting better!

Such wonderful inspiration from the podcast On Being (with Krista Tippett) and her interview with Rabbi Lawrence Kushner. What drew me to write about this is the connections I experienced in my brain and heart as the Rabbi talked about Ein Sof and Yaish. “Yaish refers to virtually everything in creation. Anything that has a beginning or an end, that has spatial coordinates, that has a definition, that is bordered by other things, and it’s not just material reality. I mean, love has a beginning, it has an end. Beauty can have a definition.Turns out there is only one thing that’s not yaish. It has no beginning, it has no end, it’s not bordered by anything, it has no definition, it has no spatial coordinates. … it is the opposite of yaish. It is called Ein Sof — without end. Literally it means nothing. But with a capital N.”

Whoa. Jewish mysticism and Qi.  96% of the energy in the universe is unseen, no spatial coordinates–this is Source Energy or Ein Sof. Yaish is form, the 4% of the universe we can see. And oh,  the images I came across while researching Ein Sof and Yaish all rang bells of connection. There are spirals, a Tree of Life, layers in the spiral that are ten emanations of visible light. Lots of references to light. Mystical study and foundations of spiritual thought seem to always come back to the same foundational truths: source energy, light, formless and form. Qi (formless) and me (form).

“…Everything in the world is the wave of which the Ein Sof, or God, is the ocean. And our knowledge of the ocean is largely based on the way it manifests itself in the waves” (Kushner). As you and I exist on this earth at this same time and place and as we gather and connect, we become community. We open ourselves to source energy, that ocean of qi, and learn from each others’ hearts more about that Source. We are the waves. We look to ourselves and to each other to become closer to understanding the Source.

Through the practice of qigong, we claim a path that leads us to become proactive co-creators of wholeness. Our bodies express and give form to our souls, the emanation of Source Energy. Through making whole our individual selves, we can simultaneously open our hands and extend Qi, formless Infinite Light, to all Yaish, all that is seen. And  by opening our hearts to that service, we do our part to repair the world (Tikkun Olam).  Haola!

Kushner is a long-time student and articulator of the mysteries and messages of Kabbalah. The Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah is a rich, magnetic world of thought and teaching. It has resonance with modern understandings of reality — and describes a cosmic significance to the practical moral call to tikkun olam, “repair the world.”

 

I am reading a beautiful book called Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I just read a chapter about the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address that is said before every gathering, including each school day in their tribal schools. It is the most beautiful prayer of Thanksgiving I believe I have ever read. Can you imagine how our relationship with the Mother Earth would change if each and every one of us spoke this message of gratitude every day?

It is long, but there are many things of this Earth to be thankful for! Here is just a start:

The People Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as people. Now our minds are one.

The Earth Mother We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our mother, we send greetings and thanks. Now our minds are one.

The Waters We give thanks to all the waters of the world for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms‐ waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the spirit of Water.   Now our minds are one.

The address goes on with additional odes of gratitude to The Fish, The Plants, The Food Plants, The Medicine Herbs, The Animals, The Trees, The Birds, The Four Winds, The Thunderers, The Sun, Grandmother Moon, The Stars, The Enlightened Teachers. The Haudenosaunee share this beautiful address freely as they were given it to share with the world.  Link to full Thanksgiving Address.

It is my one great existential wish to connect deeply with the energy of water and feel in my heart its awesome power and amazingness. I bow to you, sacred water, in gratitude and in awe.

Posted in honor of World Water Day March 22, 2016

 

 

Chant Haola with movement, visualizing the energy flow, and declare your belief in the goodness and wholeness of your mind, body, and spirit. Before studying WHQ (Wisdom Healing Qigong) I had memorized chants from Buddhist tradition. I would chant them to myself when I felt stressed or anxious. For example, on morning yard duty at Home Street, those chants would be my mantra as I made sure kids were behaving well and as I anticipated the day ahead. Elementary school cafeteria duty–hundreds of little children released from classroom quiet to repast with friends. My mantras would be going in the background of my on-duty brain: tying shoe laces, getting hugs, resolving disputes.The more I repeated the mantras, the more they automatically appeared in my brain during any times of stress–and still do to this day. The chanting helps stop the story line, controls the brain, controls the release of adrenalin thus diminishing the stress response which we all know is detrimental, except in cases where we do need to run from a lion! Or respond to an issue on the playground!

Chanting Haola is the first of the Six Golden Keys of Chi medicine. Hao means “all is well”, la means “so be it”. We chant Haola to invoke the divine blueprint of our bodies, minds, hearts, souls and universal goodness. It is a verbal acknowledgment that the universe is good and working as it should be. With Haola, we open ourselves to the source energy that can heal us as individuals and can heal our world. It’s an extension and a deepening of the power of positive thinking. There IS power in being positive, being happy–different chemicals run through our bodies when we feel contentment and joy. We can’t feel that positive all the time, but we can re-program and minimize the deleterious effects of stress and anxiety if we chant Haola whenever we can, whatever we feel, starting with when we practice qigong.

Chanting as a practice “helps to facilitate shifts in our brainwave state by using entrainment. Entrainment synchronizes our fluctuating brainwaves by providing a stable frequency which the brainwave can attune to. By using rhythm and frequency, we can entrain our brainwaves and it then becomes possible to downshift our normal beta state (normal waking consciousness) to alpha (relaxed consciousness), and even reach theta (meditative state) and delta (sleep; where internal healing can occur).” http://www.mindbodygreen.com

There are numerous scientific studies about chanting and sound (including music!) that support  using sound as a means of relaxation and healing. For example:

• Neuroscientist Marian Diamond from the University of California found that chanting helps block the release of stress hormones and increases immune function. It also keeps our muscles and joints flexible for a long time. (She was my anatomy teacher at Cal in 1975, she was fantastic!)
• A study by Dr Alan Watkins [senior lecturer in neuroscience at Imperial College London] revealed that while chanting, our heart rate and blood pressure dip to its lowest in the day. Doctors say that even listening to chants normalizes adrenalin levels, brain wave pattern and lowers cholesterol levels.

So we chant Haola as we practice and as we live. We relax our brain and allow it in this altered state to unify with our body to create wholeness and healing. All is well.
Everything’s okay. Don’t worry. It is what it is. No matter what is going on around me, I choose wholeness. I choose healing. I choose to be positive, to be loving, to be kind, to be of service to myself and to others. Haola! 

We all know this, right? We’ve attended workshops and read self help books on goal setting, on having a plan, being focused on a path, that sort of thing. We should, and we do, and we jot some things down and then life happens, and we get caught up in putting out fires instead of feeding the fire of passion in our hearts and souls. Maybe because I’m getting older and don’t have to worry about what I’m going to be when I grow up and maybe because I’m no longer putting all my energy into raising my kids and figuring out relationships…my options are narrowed, my time is limited, more and more I run smack dab into that reality. I no longer have the option nor the need to invent myself with career. NOW I return to soul work, not to invent but to discover all that has been patiently waiting in my being for solitude, practice, listening. Now is the time. Using this moment to make a better world becomes my intention. I need to put that intention to writing, shout it from the rooftop, chant a prayer each morning declaring my intention for this moment, for this day, for this life.

From Clarissa Pinkola Estes:  Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires.

And a wonderful, soul exciting interview about intention is at On Being, an interview with James Doty, “The Magic Shop of the Brain“.