New Dragon's Way Class Starts on March 4, 2011

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I Love Winter

The weather forecast says that it will snow all day.  And this isn’t our first big snow fall of the winter.  We have had lots and lots of snow.  For many, winter is feeling rather old.  Casual conversation at the gas pump and at the grocery store this morning was all about the “terrible weather” and “will winter ever end?” 

I have to admit that I felt differently as I walked outside this morning to brush the 8 + inches of snow off my car.  As I took a deep breath of the fresh winter air, I felt grateful that the air was clean (no inversions with terrible air quality like Utah) and the temperature hovered around freezing.  I looked up to see the branches of our stalwart oak covered with a fresh blanket of white and admired their beauty as large wet snowflakes quickly spotted my glasses.  And yet, I had to smile as I took in the silent beauty that enveloped me and thought to myself “I really like winter”.

Driving away through the unplowed roads, grateful I had four-wheel drive, I was reminded of a conversation I had last night with a friend.  For many years she has supported her hardworking husband as he went through medical school and more recently a four year residency program.   Happily, he is finishing his residency this summer and their cute family will move to a “real job” in another state.  

What piqued my interest about their family’s future plans was my friend’s enthusiastic recount of an important lesson she learned.   She told me she had come to understand how important it is to be happy at your current stage of life.  Instead of waiting to find happiness when some future mile stone is met, she now understands how essential it is to make the most of whatever life throws at you.  We both agreed that learning this lesson now was a valuable thing.   After all, It makes for a happier life.

This brings me back to the snow.   Today life is throwing snow at us, literally, and there isn’t anything anyone can do to change it.  I told my children that instead of grumbling, they need to make the most of it.  Happiness is a choice and today I am choosing to love the snow and love winter and I hope they will too.  Perhaps it is the Canadian in me but I really like winter.  But I might as well like it because it isn’t going away any time soon.

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LET IT GO!!!

In our Dragon's Way class this week, we discussed how important it is to LET IT GO when we desire to heal our bodies.  Too often we hang onto hurt feelings, resentments, regrets, worries, self-doubt, self-criticism and so many other destructive emotions.  When we do, we bring further imbalance to our bodies which further exacerbates those negative emotions.  It is imperative that we LET IT GO by forgiving ourselves, those who may have hurt us intentionally or unintentionally, or painful experiences from our past.  When we do, we are better able to love others, to love ourselves and to feel the peace that we were meant to experience in this life.  


Said another way, LET IT GO  can also be DON'T LOOK BACK.  DON'T LOOK BACK on the hurts and regrets of your past.  Choose to begin again with a clean slate, forgiving and making peace with the pains of yesterday.  Let yesterday be yesterday.  Let go of the past and begin tomorrow with a fresh start. 

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Your Thoughts Create Your Reality

In our Dragon's Way class last week, we discussed how our thoughts create our reality.   If we want to change any aspect of our lives, we need to first start by changing our thoughts. I like this video of Master Lu explaining this concept.

I like this quote too...


Whatever you hold in your mind will tend to occur in your life.

If you continue to believe as you have always believed, you will continue to act as you have always acted.

If you continue to act as you have always acted, you will continue to get what you have always gotten.

If you want different results in your life or your work, all you have to do is change your mind.

~ Anonymous ~

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Roasted Cauliflower Ginger Soup

Cauliflower is one of the powerful healing foods described in Dr. Nan Lu's book Traditional Chinese Medicine:  A Natural Guide to Weight Loss That Lasts. (It is upon this book that The Dragon's Way program is based.)  Cauliflower is used by practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine to increase kidney Qi, encourage weight loss and to help with constipation.


We conserve Qi for healing purposes whenever we eat cooked vegetables rather than raw ones so I really like this Roasted Cauliflower Ginger Soup recipe.  It is a family favorite!  (This recipe is adapted from Make It Fast, Cook It Slow by Stephanie O'Dea)


Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
5 tablespoons walnut, sesame or safflower oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 black pepper
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups warm water
1 diced yellow onion
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cloves minced garlic

Directions


Wash your head of cauliflower well and break into florets.

In a bowl, toss the florets with 3 tablespoons of the oil of your choice.  (I like using walnut oil because of its healing essence for the kidneys.)

Place on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with salt and black pepper and roast in a 400 degree F oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cauliflower has begun to caramelize.

Meanwhile, dice the onions and saute the onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons of oil.

Add the ground ginger, broth and water to the onions and garlic.  Then add the cauliflower.  Bring to a boil and then simmer until the cauliflower is tender.   The cooking can also be done in a slow cooker which is my favorite way to cook.

Puree the broth and vegetable mixture.  I used a stick blender but it can also be done carefully in a blender or food processor.

I love this soup because I know I am eating for healing whenever I do.  


Enjoy!!

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Qigong at the Bus Stop

Recently, our youngest son began complaining of headaches when he awakens and also throughout the day.  This morning, his head was particularly sore and he asked if he could stay home from school.  When I reminded him that today was his class’ Valentines Day party, I suggested instead that he try doing some Qigong, something he sees me practice all the time.   While I finished frosting some cupcakes for our older son’s class party, he practiced two Qigong movements.  Before he walked out the door to go to school, I suggested he do Qigong whenever he is waiting for the bus or is in line at school. 

A few minutes later, I had to smile when I looked out the door to see him doing a Dragon’s Way Qigong meridian stretch while he waited for his school bus.  This particular movement, which is powerful for unlocking trapped energy in the upper body, particularly in the upper back and neck, was a perfect way to help with his persistent headache problem and a great way to facilitate self-healing.  I couldn’t get my camera out quickly enough capture him doing this Qigong movement but I did get this photo of my two cute boys. 

I told my son that we will do more Qigong when he gets home from school in an effort to bring further balance to his body.  Finding this balance will help him, I believe, to eliminate his headaches and the gripping fatigue that has been plaguing him.  The Dragon’s Way can help even a seven year-old boy to feel better and that is a good thing.  Happy Valentines Day everyone!!!

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Baby it's cold outside!

The two main goals of The Dragon's Way program are to conserve and to increase Qi so we can have the Qi we need to heal our bodies.  In the winter, we expend Qi unnecessarily when we are constantly defending ourselves against the cold.  Practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine advise that we take particular care to keep our upper back, neck and chest covered and warm.  Doing so will help to keep us from "catching cold" when it's blustery outside.  So come what may, stay bundled up but don't forget to find JOY in the season because winter is FUN.  At least that's what we say at our house.

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Onions

Several years ago I read an anecdotal story of a rural farmer whose family survived the 1918 flu pandemic while many around them, including 40 million people worldwide, died from this terrible illness.  A doctor, who visited the family, was curious to discover the reason for their good health: an unpeeled onion placed in a dish in all the rooms of the home.  Surprised, he asked if he could have one of the onions to examine it under the microscope.  When the doctor did so, the he discovered the flu virus in the onion.  Apparently the onion had absorbed the virus thus keeping the family healthy. 

With children of my own to keep healthy during the cold and flu season, I was curious if this story could be true so I gave the onions a try.  After all, what could an onion hurt? Happily, the onions seemed to drive away the sicknesses from our home and we not only got over colds and flu more quickly, we started having fewer brushes with seasonal illnesses. 

Since then, I have been a diligent consumer of onions during wintertime.  Just last week my youngest daughter started to come down with a cold.  Immediately, I filled her room with onions and within a couple of days, all her cold symptoms were gone.  Was this a coincidence?  Perhaps, but just in case it isn’t, I am going to keep buying onions.

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Healing Journals

The best way I have found to make BIG CHANGES in my life is to stop to notice and record the little changes as they occur. As I participated in The Dragon’s Way program, I wrote a Healing Journal. At times this journal was a bound notebook. Other times this journal took the form of a private Blogger blog when it was easier to punch away at my computer. Either way, a Healing Journal helped me to keep track of my thoughts, observations and experiences as I progressed in my self-healing journey.


As I was reviewing my Dragon’s Way Healing Journal, I smiled when I read this entry from back in October:


Changes? What is changing? I am changing, I know that. I am still feeling calm and, for the most part, quite collected, even during stressful times. A HUGE change for me happened on Saturday after the Halloween Trunk or Treat party. Each of the five kids came home with a large bag of candy and none of it appealed to me at all. This has never happened to me in my whole life! I have NEVER been unable to resist Halloween candy or candy (especially chocolate!) of any kind. On Saturday, my son handed me an Almond Joy, one of my favorites, and I didn't want it. It didn’t sound good to me at all. The Dragon's Way is working! All the kids offered to share their candy with me but the thought of it was unpleasant. This was SO COOL! What’s more, my appetite has evaporated and finally, for the first time, I am eating “just when I was hungry". I love Qigong!!!


Taking the time to jot down a few thoughts about how I am feeling, emotionally and physically, what foods appeal to me, what I am thinking or what I am no longer craving is a powerful healing tool that I highly recommend.

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