May Newsletter Topics:

New Uniforms | May Chinese Medicine Tips for Self-Healing | Simple Monthly Home Practice | New classes | Schedule Changes | Workshops | Practitioner Spotlight | Words of Wisdom this month

New Adult Classes

 

Workshops

Schedule Changes

New Uniforms

We have just received the new Tai Chi uniforms, which are made from lightweight, breathable linen. They are durable, attractive and super comfortable. Choose from Black, Brown and White linen.

May Self-Healing Tips

written by: Julie Festa, L.Ac.

Chinese Nutritional Spotlight: Raw Honey.

The energy of the Wood element in the body, which is at its peak during the Spring, is ascending and active. Raw foods encourage quickness, rapid movement, and outward activity in general, when eaten in moderation as a part of a well-rounded diet. They are also cleansing. Raw honey in particular harmonizes the liver, neutralizes toxins, and relieves pain. In Chinese medicine raw honey is called Feng Mi. Its properties are sweet and neutral, and it enters the Spleen, Lung, and Large Intestine channels. It can be used to treat stomach ulcers, canker sores, high blood pressure, and constipation. It can be applied directly to minor burns, or given by the spoonful to help curb the cravings of alcoholism. It is also beneficial when the body is overworked, when there are menstrual difficulties, or during times of fatigue caused by overeating salty, rich foods. Raw honey is also excellent for drying mucus in the body, and can assist in conditions of edema or weight gain.

Try this: Eating sweet and pungent flavored foods together is a way of creating a personal spring within. Raw honey has a sweet quality, while mint tea has a pungent quality. Therefore, drinking mint tea with honey is a soothing and invigorating way to awaken the spring energy inside the body. By awakening the energy within, we experience the most well-being and freedom in life without. This is the ancient Chinese secret to magnificent health – harmonizing with the seasons and elements.

Chinese Acupressure Spotlight: Gall Bladder 6, Xuanli (Suspended Hair)

As we have seen in the above description of the energies associated with Spring, there is an ascending and rising quality. It is easy for this rising energy to become overwhelming to the body, however – especially as we tend to be overworked and not as restful as we were in the Winter. With an overabundance of ascending energy and a less than optimal state of yin in the body, headaches around the eyes and temples are a common companion to a heavily-loaded May workday (ever heard this one? – “May day! May day! Where’s the Excedrin? I’m going down fast and I need some assistance!!). Or maybe you haven’t. You might have been finally done with your long work week, ready to have some fun and wind down when suddenly you start to realize Oh no, not this again. Not now. Why? Why me? Why now? Some people tend to experience headaches on the weekends, during vacations, or on their only day off when they actually get the chance to rest. Well, now you have an alternative to the Excedrin and the doomed feeling that accompanies the heartbreak of the weekend headache.

To locate Gall Bladder 6 look in the mirror and turn your head to the side. Find the part of your hairline along the temple that curves into your face more than the rest. About one half inch into the hairline here and slightly below the part that protrudes onto your face is the point GB 6. You will know it because of its remarkable tenderness.

Try this: Massage gently GB 6 on both sides in circles very slowly. Notice different parts of your head, neck and face relaxing as you do. Is your jaw releasing? Does the bridge of your nose feel any different? Is there a general feeling of freedom or a release of pressure? Be sure to breathe softly but deeply while you do this. This action can be repeated several times a day, as often as you like to prevent or treat headaches and tension -- including migraines, to ease stress or soothe fatigue, and to harmonize lack of motivation or an imbalance of willpower. It can also be used for pain around the eyes, tinnitus, and frequent sneezing. You can also trade turns massaging this point on your friends and loved ones, especially beneficial if your headache is accompanied by rampant shoulder tension.

Julie Festa, L.Ac., MTOM, is a licensed acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist. Julie is now accepting new patients in her Chinese medical practice at Shakti's Elements. To book an appointment or learn more about it email her at juliefestalac@msn.com or call 310-917-2720. She is also teaching the Meridians Workshop with Paige Olsen, L.Ac. ongoing, once a month. Call or write if you are interested - everyone is welcome!

 

Simple Monthly Home Practice ---Grasping Sparrows Tail

Written by Dan Minton

I enjoy doing Tai Chi and "Grasping Sparrows Tail." I think I have practiced this movement enough so I can "feel" it's energy. When I perform this movement, my heart opens and it uplifts me. For me, it is about grasping, holding and letting go.

When I started Tai Chi, I was tense, competitive and self-conscious. Now the movement appears to be becoming part of me. I particularly love the sensation of letting go. In a way it is like the breath. I breath in, hold and then let go. Grasping is like the in-breath and letting go is the out-breath. And so it goes.

Grasping Sparrow’s Tail

1. Stand with feet hip width apart and parallel. Knees are slightly bent. Arms are holding an invisible ball of qi, left hand below, and right hand above.

2. Shift weight to the right

3. Left foot gently steps out to the side, as if stepping onto an iced-over stream.

4. Imagine a sparrow is sitting in the palm of your left hand

5. Turn the waist to the left, allowing the left arm to follow and the weight to shift to the left.

6. At the same time, the right arm gently brushes the sparrow’s tail.

Practitioner Spotlight

Daniel Minton is a psychiatrist who has been in private practice over thirty years in the Los Angeles area. Dr. Minton has worked with the use of meditation and hypnosis as ancillary techniques in psychotherapy. His particular focus in this area is in integrating mediation with psychotherapy to help patients develop an analytic attitude of open introspection and inquiry.

Daniel Minton is also an artist who has been interested in exploring the relationship between abstraction, form and color. He is inspired by Van Gogh, Chagall, Bonnard, Max Beckman and Redon.

 

 

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Monthly Words of Wisdom:

Quotes from the Bhagavad Gita:

“A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return”

“The power of God is with you at all times; through the activities of mind, senses, breathing, and emotions; and is constantly doing all the work using you as a mere instrument.”

“The mind acts like an enemy for those who do not control it.”

“Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.”