Keys4Healing Essence

Meditation can change your life.  Here are some steps to help you get started : Make time to meditate   Find or create a quiet, relaxing environment Sit on level ground or a chair without arms Relax everything, and keep searching for things that aren’t relaxed Let your attention rest on the flow of your breath Silence your mind You need an alert mind to make the most of meditation, so you need to be free of alcohol or non prescribed drugs for at least 24 hours. Find or create a quiet, relaxing environment Wait 2 hours after a large meal or an hour after a snack or a caffeine drink before meditating If you smoke it is best to wait for roughly thirty minutes before meditating. You need to make sure you have some peace and quiet around you when you first begin learning to meditate. Make sure all phones are turned off/disconnected or turned to silent. A scented candle, a bouquet of flowers, a incense or something else pleasing to you can be great little touches to enhance your fir...

  Seasonal Message from my teacher Master Peng On Sunday, December 6th , the twenty-first phase of the Chinese seasonal calendar begins. This phase,  Major Snow (Daxue) , starts at 11:09 AM EST as the sun crosses 255° Longitude (15° Sagittarius).  Major Snow  is the third of the six phases of winter and as we course through the “midpoint” of winter a unique aspect of the season manifests more fully in nature. Over the next fifteen days, the rising tide of darkness will increasingly blanket the Northern Hemisphere as we approach the winter solstice—the point where daylight sun is the shortest time of the year and nighttime darkness is the longest.   Accordingly, the theme of this seasonal phase is  darkness  and the meaning of  Major Snow  resonates with the qualities evoked by the absence of light. In the summertime there is an abundance and light and during this season it is appropriate to be confident and to take bold action ...

Dry-Cold challenges ahead The unusually high temperatures we saw in the autumn will continue for the next couple of weeks. However, Dry-Cold energy will dominate for the majority of December and January. Dry-Cold is often burdensome for those who have weak lung and/or heart function. People with these susceptibilities will need extra support to avoid related health challenges. This dynamic may also cause some blood circulation and skin problems. Unfortunately, it also suggests to me that SARS-CoV2 will continue to worsen during these Dry-Cold months. As usual, in order to maintain my own health and well-being, I have been dedicated to my daily cultivation practice. Like you, I have been carrying feelings of great grief for the world. I make a conscious effort to hold all those beloved in my heart and DanTian during my practice and send them wishes for health and healing. Transform destructive emotions w...

  Seasonal Wisdom from one of my Qigong Teachers, Master Peng On Friday, November 6th , the nineteenth phase of the Chinese seasonal calendar begins. This phase,  Start of Winter (Lidong) , starts at 6:14 PM EST as the sun crosses 225° Longitude (15° Scorpio). Start of Winter  is the first of the six seasonal phases that constitutes the season of winter. If we create a correspondence between the four seasons and the four stages of life, then springtime correspond to birth and childhood, summer to adolescence and early adulthood, fall to maturity and midlife, and winter to elderhood. On  November 6th   the year will officially become an “elder” as the Chinese seasonal clock crosses over the three-quarter point of its yearly circuit and we can glean the meaning of winter in concrete terms by meditating on  elderhood. What is an elder? You might picture an eighty-two-year-old, white-haired patriarch dispensing wisdom in a traditional Chinese family. Wisdo...

A Seasonal Message from my teacher, Master Peng Tom Pasley, Keys for Healing tpasley@massagetherapy.com On Thursday, October 22nd, the eighteenth phase of the Chinese seasonal calendar begins. Frost Descent  represents the sixth and final stage of autumn in the Chinese seasonal calendar. By the time we reach the sixth stage of any season we start to see dramatic shifts manifesting in nature, and by aligning our attitudes and behaviors to coincide with these changes we can resonate harmoniously with this seasonal flow. Throughout the first five cycles of autumn the downward slide of temperature gathered momentum. As we enter  Frost Descent  the temperature drops quickly and mercilessly. As the final traces of autumnal warmth falls away, the way is paved for the weather to march triumphantly onward and unhindered towards winter. The morning frost encountered over the next two weeks is a preview of things to come. The theme associated with this seasonal cycle is the...

Greetings from my teacher, Master Peng October 7 begins Cold Dew, the fifth of the six stages of the fall season. By the time we enter the fifth stage of any season, the qualities associated with that season are peaking. The Chinese name for this seasonal cycle is Hanlu. “Han” means cold and “lu” means dew. We have reached the stage of late autumn when we transition from cool to cold as attested by the chilly early morning dew.   There is a popular saying in Guangdong province, “Three mornings after the day of Cold Dew, bridges are needed to cross the river.”   In early autumn the ground is still warm like a stovetop that was recently turned off. But gradually, as the temperature drops, the autumn chill penetrates the earth. During Cold Dew and for the next six months, the ground will be too cold to walk on barefoot comfortably.   In Chinese culture we refer to Cold Qi as Han Qi. During Cold Dew , Han Qi becomes prevalent and if you don’t take precautions, you’ll become...

Get enough sleep.  Often prioritizing 8 hours a night. It's surprising to me how undervalued sleep is. But if you wake up rested, everything that comes next is easier. Wake up early.  Follow the advice of Ben Franklin, who was a big proponent of "early to bed, early to rise." If you want to get in the habit of early rising, raise the shades in your bedroom, and let the natural light wake you with the sun. Exercise.  You have to be physically healthy to be mentally healthy and strong. Starting your day with exercise is a great way to get there. Spend time with loved ones.  This doesn't require much explanation. The more time you spend with the ones you love, the better off you both are, especially if you can manage to carve out time in the morning to do it. Go outside.  Fresh air and wide open skies can do wonders to open up your mind to a successful day. You'd be surprised what interesting thoughts can emerge when the rest of the world is quiet.

Hello Everyone - I want to share a letter I received from my teacher, Master Zhongxian Wu. I also encourage those of you who wish to deepen your Qigong practice to visit his website  https://chinesewisdomtraditions.com/ , and invest in the wisdom he shares in his books. Here is his letter: Dear Qi-friends, Warm greetings to you all from Sweden. Time is moving both quickly and slowly these days, and it is hard to believe summer season is starting again, on May 5, 2020. We have been having a typical Swedish spring, with several weeks of warm and sun, followed by a few days of snow and hail. This kind of unstable weather pattern will continue into the summer months. Slowing down Like many of you, I have had to cancel all of my traveling, from late February and extending (so far) in to the fall. During this very uncertain time in the world, I have been focusing on enjoying time with my family. We are able ...

Hello everyone, hope you are doing well. We are living in a crazy, history making time. I want to share a letter I received from a friend. I thought it might help make these long and difficult days more enjoyable. Hey Tom, I don't know about you, but I'm starting to feel a little stir crazy. When you're not allowed to leave your home except to pick up groceries, just the idea of leaving – for any reason or no reason at all is awfully appealing. So in this age of social distancing, isolation and "stay at home" suggestions, I have a suggestion of my own: take a drive. Unless your state prohibits travel, you're not breaking any rules. If it's just you and the road (or a co-pilot you'd have at home anyway) it's perfectly safe to hop in your car and head out. And believe me, it can be a lifesaver getting off the couch. So that's what Karen and I decided to do. With no agenda, no place to go, we packed up a lunch, put Ellie in the bac...