Spring energy is upward. There should be no surprise in finding that Wood is the element of Spring in Chinese Medicine. It is green. It is swirling, dancing, sometimes dipping down then springing back. It has to be bendable, flexible, seeking suppleness over rigor. It is twisting and we access it by twisting, casing off the old shell and surging upward and downwards -- simultaneously striving for the sky and laying our roots. A beetle, underground, molting and then squirming up, pushing off the Earth to extend fatigued wings that have never flown. A bear waking up, stretching, starting a morning ritual to shed off an entire winter’s accumulation of grogginess.
Spring is when we need to start moving. Get going even if getting going is not what you want to do. Let out a groan and a sigh. Rub your feet that have been bound up in boots for so many months. It’s not a bad time to get some shiatsu, while you are at it. Lay the plans for the year’s growth, plans and goals. Eat a few more sour and bitter things -- chew well and really get the flavor. Anger is also associated with Spring in Chinese Medicine. With all the swaying and all the ups and downs, it's easy for spikes of anger to come. Make an effort to take a few nice slow breaths a few times a day, particularly when there are anger spikes. Increase general activity level, but stay centered.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Tile: Work in progress!
I'm quite happy with how this Ogre head is turning out. It's based on a Tang Dynasty piece at the Art Institute of Chicago. Next step is pressing tiles.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Would you like to schedule an appointment?
Should you wish to schedule an appointment with me in Evanston, please contact the front desk at Zen Shiatsu Chicago at 847-864-1130. Zen Shiatsu Chicago is located upstairs at 825 Chicago Avenue, right across from the Main St Purple Line stop. Sessions are $75 an hour.
Meditative vs meditation
In the study of Iyengar Yoga (which I began in 1998 and largely informs my shiatsu practice) “meditation” is a fairly specific act which one can begin to study only after one has “mastered” pranayama (breath work), which itself can only be safely practiced after one has “mastered” asanas (yogic posture exercises). In other words, meditation is very powerful; it can do great things for your mind but you must be ready for it.
I don’t want to downplay this reverence for meditation, which is why I like to use the word “meditative” for the more casual approach to daily life that we could all use a nice dose of. Slow down, sit tall, breath deep, look inward, relax. Move with intention, think through your actions and thoughts, try to be harmonious. Take a few minutes each day to “just be.”
If you want to try real-deal meditation, there are many methods of meditation worth checking out. Many classes are offered for beginners. I emphasize classes because it really is a discipline that can be learned. Techniques have been developed -- some old, some new -- that bring the mind to different states. Classes also let you hear what obstacles others are facing, and they help keep you practicing during the often difficult initial stages.
As a practitioner and receiver of shiatsu, I find the practice to be very meditative. I am able to focus where appropriated and everything else just melts away. As a receiver, a major component is having someone’s hands on you -- your consciousness shifts from the dialogue in your head to the sensory event of the bodywork.
I don’t want to downplay this reverence for meditation, which is why I like to use the word “meditative” for the more casual approach to daily life that we could all use a nice dose of. Slow down, sit tall, breath deep, look inward, relax. Move with intention, think through your actions and thoughts, try to be harmonious. Take a few minutes each day to “just be.”
If you want to try real-deal meditation, there are many methods of meditation worth checking out. Many classes are offered for beginners. I emphasize classes because it really is a discipline that can be learned. Techniques have been developed -- some old, some new -- that bring the mind to different states. Classes also let you hear what obstacles others are facing, and they help keep you practicing during the often difficult initial stages.
As a practitioner and receiver of shiatsu, I find the practice to be very meditative. I am able to focus where appropriated and everything else just melts away. As a receiver, a major component is having someone’s hands on you -- your consciousness shifts from the dialogue in your head to the sensory event of the bodywork.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
How I got here
People often ask me how I got involved with shiatsu. When I was an undergraduate, way back in 2000, Shiatsu was offered as an intramural activity in the gym. Our teacher, Michelle Grant, designed a fantastic gym-appropriate term-long program that gave just a touch of shiatsu and absolutely lit my flame. Like my first taste of yoga, I experienced heightened body awareness and a sense of deep calm surrounded by an increased energy -- as both a giver and a receiver.
After I graduated, I signed up for the intro course with Waturo Ohashi at the Ohashiatsu Institute in New York. I took further classes in Ohashi’s method with Frances Farmer in Ann Arbor over the next year and a half, then decided to sideline shiatsu and seek new adventures. After 7 years of “new adventures” I did some soul-searching and felt that, of all things I had ever tasted as possible professional ventures, shiatsu is where I belong.
The Ohashi program had an outpost in Chicago (rather, Evanston), which had gone independent a few years earlier and now operates as Zen Shiatsu Chicago and presents a more rigorous program. I contacted them and found that if I started immediately I could pace my program in a most harmonious way, and just a few days later I took my first Chinese Medicine class, and a few weeks later started the shiatsu coursework. 20 months later, I’ve finished at Zen Shiatsu, but as they say, I’m just beginning to learn -- it's always "Beginner's Mind."
After I graduated, I signed up for the intro course with Waturo Ohashi at the Ohashiatsu Institute in New York. I took further classes in Ohashi’s method with Frances Farmer in Ann Arbor over the next year and a half, then decided to sideline shiatsu and seek new adventures. After 7 years of “new adventures” I did some soul-searching and felt that, of all things I had ever tasted as possible professional ventures, shiatsu is where I belong.
The Ohashi program had an outpost in Chicago (rather, Evanston), which had gone independent a few years earlier and now operates as Zen Shiatsu Chicago and presents a more rigorous program. I contacted them and found that if I started immediately I could pace my program in a most harmonious way, and just a few days later I took my first Chinese Medicine class, and a few weeks later started the shiatsu coursework. 20 months later, I’ve finished at Zen Shiatsu, but as they say, I’m just beginning to learn -- it's always "Beginner's Mind."
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