February - sprouting time

With some delay, I provide you with a new format of my monthly energy updates starting from this month.

With February 5th started off the first month of Spring according to the ancient cinese classics. It is a time of great expectations, of awaiting for the potential to take form, the period of being an embryo "in the womb". The ground is getting ready, the seeds and buds swell by longer days and warmer waether. But the potential is still enclosed inside of them. It is a potential to which we need to tender and care for correctly, according to the Nature's pace, to make it develop into a whole new being.

So accordingly, for us, it is time for each human being to renew himself /herself, a chance to conceive a part of us that has not yet been formed but yearns to become. This month it is all about preparing the ground. How best to flow with these energies in February?

I outline some simple but effective ideas that anyone can follow. They are focused on Body, Mind and Spirit.

BODY FOCUS: FIRST STEPS IN DETOX

If you'd have read my energy updates for December and January, you would remember I do not advocate doing detox during those Winter months. February is the first month after the Winter break when we can and should take the first steps in detoxing our bodies. The increasing energies in the Nature will assist you with shifting some accumulations and habits.

Take a look at my plan for February:

1. Gradual elimination of heavier foods

- from today take one thing out of your diet which you know you need a break from (e.g. wine, coffee, cigarettes, chocolate, fried foods, red meat, etc). Anything you have recently overdone on or food that is considered "heavier" to digest;

- after one week take a second food out of your diet (the more you are attached to some food the more your body will need a break from it now);

- following another week take out the third food and then the week after the fourth food. By the end of the month you will be in a much better shape and your body will hardly notice you cutting out all those foods.

Breaking off physical habits helps us breaking free from mental and behavioural ones as well. Plus, we give our senses a pause so that they have a heightened perception and help us awake from the winter lethargy.

2. Gradual addition of lighter foods

- from today drink at least 1L of herbal tea/decoction a day. Make it into a thermos and drink throughout the day (the body needs hydration and warmth to sprout this month);

- the next week, continue with at least 1L of herbal tea a day and start your days with a glass of warm water and a half of a lemon juice on an empty stomach (lemon is an alcaline acid but it is related to Wood/Spring element and moves the energy);

- the third week, continue with the previous and add just one raw vegetable (saying "one" as too much raw in cold whether is still too cooling) a day to your diet

- the fourth week, continue with the herbal tea, water with lemon juice, a raw veg a day and add fresh sprouts once a day to your diet. Sprouts are easily done at home and gives you just the right affinity to the season.

By the end of the month you will feel so much lighter and the passage of the change in season will be a smooth ride for you.

The herbal decoction I have prepared for myself for February consists of: Nettle, Horsetail, Parsley seeds, Fern root and Ginger root. It is a perfect start for the prep ground in February: gently detoxing but still warming and nourishing.

This month is good for giving your body some stretches, especially reaching up and bending the lumbar back.

MIND FOCUS: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

February is probably the last chance to review the previous year cycle before the energy moves full on into a new life cycle.

Set yourself this month for reviewing the last year. What have you actually done during the last year, month by month? Was it time well spent? Do you feel completed, satisfied? Are there any issues, projects, relationships needing closing off. Put the dots on the "i's" and crosses on "t's" on the last year projects or those that are near their completion.

Once you've dealt with your review and closures, take some seeds (e.g. tomato, beans, sun flowers, calendula flowers, etc) and sow the seeds in a pot by the indoor window with the intention to grow one new specific project or intention. Each time you water it, look and care for it, remember the project/intention in mind. Are you giving it the right amount of attention? Before the end of the month speak about this project with at least one person. Speaking about the ideas and plans is like exchanging seeds, one can grow a more abundant garden.

SPIRIT FOCUS: RECONNECT TO YOUR ESSENCE

"When five organs are able to submit to the heart without resistance, then however powerful the rising of the will, the behaviour does not deviate. (...) the vital spirits thrive and the Qi are not scattered. (...) then there is perfect order. (...) then the spirits. With the spirits (...) in doing there is nothing that is not accomplished." (Huainanzi ch.7)

In other words, if your body follows the Hearts/Spirits it will lead you to accomplishment.

Coming out of Winter lethargy in February we are loaded with the will power to go forward. Let's be mindful of the Heart and Spirit connection in conceiving plans for the new life cycle. Check that your plans and intentions find a resonance with your Heart.

There may be some emotions or states of being that cloud the "music" of the Heart. Identify at least one such emotion/state during this month. It can be worry, anxiety, anger, frustration, procrastination, it can be chronic tiredness, poor health, depression, victimhood, state of poverty, or the so called "sacred cows" in your life. Challenge them. Why do these states repeat? Repeated emotional states are energies imprisoned by that emotion. Acupuncture can assist you in changing your emotional state by working with the body's energy points and liberating by that a lot of vital energy.

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One way to settle the emotional turmoil and hear your Heart is to join me in weekly on-line meditations on Mondays at 9.30pm (CET). Click below to register for a link:

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Lunar New Year - improving your health with Yin Water Hare in 2023

This year the Chinese New Year is unusually early beginning with the new moon on the 21/22 January. Soon after that, 4th February marks the beginning of the first month of Spring and a change into the energy of Water Rabbit.

Being born in the year of Rabbit myself I associate myself much more with a Hare than a Rabbit. Hares seem more independent, wild and stronger. On the other hand, many other qualities these two animals do share.

Hares and Rabbits are calm and peace loving animals therefore they are associated with diplomacy. They symbolise luck, probably due to their fertile predisposition. They symbolise good health probably due to their bodily agility. They are also associated with patience and dedication. They are intuitive and decisive. They are also said to be intelligent and vigilant. The combination of all these qualities make them a symbol of success in achieving goals and plans, especially the long term ones. In fact, this year we may feel like making some long-term plans, despite the recent unpredictability of life.

This year will be Yin Water element. Yin Water relates to "lesser" water such as rain, lakes and rivers. Yin Water is of black colour so this coming year in China is also called the year of the Female Black Rabbit. Water element magnifies the Rabbit qualities of intuition, diplomacy, creativity, decisiveness, agility, charm. So, these qualities will come particularly easily to us in the coming year. It will be easier to get into a flow of things.

2023 will be the second Water year (after the Water Tiger 2022, about which you can read here https://www.dorotao.com/post/lunar-new-year-improving-your-health-with-the-energy-of-water-tiger) and then 2024 will change into Wood element. In the cycle of Five Elements Water corresponds to Winter energy and precedes Wood, which is Spring. As you imagine Water and Winter time is a time for preparation before the great "resurrection" of the Nature from dead into life. This year will be a step before that, a great preparation for "all go" the next year.

This preparation is gathering the strength, recharging, getting our firmly founded health and identity, which will be so necessary the next year when much wind will blow in all directions (Wood Dragon year).

However, Rabbit itself in Chinese Medicine is associated with Wood element, the Spring and Yin energy. So, it is associated with Liver (Wood element) but also with Large Intestine (Metal element). According to the Five Element cycle Metal controls Wood. This trend continues from the last year, only this year there will be much more emphasis on the Wood (growth) than on Metal (contraction). Rabbits are not ferocious nor potent animals (such as Tiger) and their strength lies in Yin qualities.

Rabbit is legendarily linked to the Moon, therefore emotions and menstrual cycle, the cycle of life and renewal. The origin of Chinese word for rabbit means "spit babies", so it is an auspicious year for the fertility. The Yin Water element adds to it by nourishing further the semen and egg energy.

Although the nature of Rabbits is akin to the qualities of Water, Water and Winter is not a particularly accommodating element to the warmth and grass loving Hares.

Body-wise, we will need to watch out for cold and humidity which will give rise to more conditions such as arthritis, rheumatisms, damp-related headaches, influenza, common cold and stomach congestion in summer, swellings, water retention and funghi conditions may get worse. Pay a lot of attention to the organs related to the Rabbit: Liver and Large Intestine. They are two very important organs for detoxification (Liver of blood and Fatty Intestine of liquids). The more scraps you eliminate this year the more ready you will be for next year.

Persons with general Yang deficiency (so especially women) will need to watch their Yin/Yang balance by keeping warm, doing regular physical activity and avoid excessive amounts of Yin foods (sugar, dairy and raw foods in winter). There will be a tendency for damp-cold accumulation which will lead to phlegm and further complications. Kidney Yang and Spleen will need to be top notch to cope with the damp-cold conducive energy.

But importantly, black Female Water Rabbit is healing, so it is a chance to heal new and old emotional wounds, if you are ready. The Lunar energy of Rabbit will definitely help you connect with your emotions, understand them and transform them better in 2023 than any other year. Practice moon-gazing and tree-hugging for easier connection to own emotions.

For the mental health, Rabbit year will instill more hope, provided you take care of the Yin/Yang balance as the excess Yin may make some people predisposed to depression.

All these conditions (physical, mental or emotional) are successfully treated and prevented by the Classical Chinese Medicine. To book yourself for a in-person appointment or an on-line consultation, just click on the appropriate button below:

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2023 Chinese New Year - Female Black Hare

January - balance of willpower

January is the third month of Winter and believe it or not but coming to February we will feel a real turn round in the energy around us. I somehow sense that this year Spring will come early. Until then, January's energy proceeds from that of December and is encouraging us to rest, especially now after a busy festive season. In January we still have that low time in which not much is happening in Nature, so follow it and rest and recharge your batteries (aka Kidney energy). In Celtic tradition the January's full moon is called "Stay Home Moon". So, let's not overdo on work or travel but rather rest, sleep and take care of our inner selves.

Rest is not intended to mean sitting on a couch but rather taking certain actions for the body, mind and spirit to have an off time. So, going for a walk or a run, go for a skiing weekend or a day at hot springs or a walk by the seaside, whilst at home take a bath, an afternoon nap or take up meditation (click here https://www.dorotao.com/clinic-contact to register for weekly on-line meditation at DoroTao). January continues to be a month of action intertwined with inaction, to which I will come back in a moment.

As I have mentioned in my last year's energy update (https://www.dorotao.com/post/the-third-month-of-winter-rebirth), December is the darkest month of the year. January, on the other hand, is the coldest month of the year. So, we must continue to keep warm. A chilled body is a fertile ground for viruses and catarrh. So, keep on cooking hot soups and stews and oven bake or fry foods. Use ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic, onions and black tea, among others. Also exercise and movement will keep your body's circulation going and therefore warm it up.

This brings me to underline that the Winter energy is about balancing the extremes, of which I talked about in my December 2021 post: https://www.dorotao.com/post/the-second-month-of-winter-watch-out-for-extremes. Winter is associated with Water element, which is very versatile element and can change from a solid form of ice into a gassy steam in just a few minutes, passing through a liquid state in the interim. That adaptability is precisely the quality which we need to cultivate in Winter time. Water adapts as a matter of a physical terrestrial law. Us humans, although 60% water made, we have consciousness and free will to decide when to adapt and when to be constant, unchanged.

The resulting effect is that when we are not in balance ourselves, we may get it "wrong" for ourselves, meaning it may cause us illness. If we are influenced too easily by the external circumstances we may sway from our healthy resolutions or actions. On the other hand, we can become so fixed over many issues and for an extended period of time that we become calcified, immobile and therefore brittle. Balancing Water energy is not as much about finding a golden middle as being able to be fluid and change from one extreme to another as necessary.

It is also about a state of mind, meaning the believes we cherish about our personal will power. In our modern day culture, a strong willpower is so highly awarded and considered a desired virture. Most of us believe that a strong and constant willpower is a positive thing, right? Actually what I have found out is that the highly strung people, even those who apparently are always positive and on the go, consume constantly their willpower (Kidney energy) to maintain such state. Since we are born to experience all kinds of states, highs and lows, active and passive, positive and negative, using our willpower to constantly steer off unpleasant feelings can waste our energy, energy related to Water element and therefore our Kidneys. I have had clinical verifications of this.

It is not to say we should not strive for positivity but when arduous or less pleasant situations arise, to accept those moments for what they are. Use the willpower to get through them like an earthworm who must eat and digest the earth in order to plough and move on. At the end of the process you will come out stronger and wiser for it. In fact, it will be a new you who comes out at the end of a "worm's" tunnel. And the gained ability to get through or around smoothly what life presents you with is what will make your willpower even stronger.

You can also think of drops of water. Water first accumulates into a sufficient size before falling down. There is a moment of pause and accumulation first and the action later.

This is what I feel will help you all get through January and the time that comes at the end of Winter. Check on your willpower: be your own best judge and observe where you use it too much, where you push yourself relentlessly. There you need to pause to reflect. On the other hand: where do you not use it enough? Are there things suspended that wait to be completed or projects you desire to create that need your willpower to move them ahead?

If you need help in assessing your willpower, and therefore your Water element and Kidney energy, book yourself for a consultation and an appointment at DoroTao. Click below for contact details.

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