Going Green on the Inside

 Wind generators, solar power, geothermal heat, natural cleaning products, organic clothing. There are seemingly endless means by which to shrink your carbon footprint and lessen your impact on the environment.

But while our planet manages to garner heavy doses of TLC, there continues to exist a large dumping ground for dangerous toxins, chemicals, and man-made impurities.
Our bodies are under the influence of more and more artificial products, and their cumulative effect over the past few decades is beginning to show.

Despite significant advances in the healthcare delivery system, obesity rates are skyrocketing, autoimmune diseases are on the rise, and there are more medicinal and surgical procedures being administered than ever before.

Antibiotics continue to be abused, and prescription medications of all sorts are showing up in water supplies across the nation.

While emergency medical care is absolutely essential, continually dispensing medicine for conditions better treated naturally or more conservatively is misguided, and in many cases downright dangerous.

One of the greatest things about acupuncture is that it facilitates healing while preserving the sanctity of the human body and mind. It's the ultimate green healthcare!

If a body is already ailing, what sense does it make to subject it to an onslaught of dangerous chemicals? It is far more productive to nurture the body by bringing it back into balance naturally and allowing it to rid itself of disease.

But aside from the health advantages of limiting your consumption of drugs, it is simply more efficient to tap into the renewable resources within the body than it is to try to power it from the outside. The body is healed and powered by the meridian system, proper diet and exercise.  

As we continue to uncover the long-term effects of medicine and other chemical products, the responsibility falls on us as consumers to be sure that we are making the best decisions for us and for our planet, and it is imperative that our choices regarding healthcare be included in the mix. 

Will we continue to make choices that poison our body and the world around us, or will we trust in cleaner, healthier alternatives that support the body's natural balance? 

Based upon Taoist meditation practices, the Inner Smile Meditation can have profound effects on your body and mind.

This simple meditation suggests that you "smile" to all of your internal organs and glands. It is a way of saying "thank you" to your body for working 24 hours, 7 days a week!

Focusing your attention and smiling in this way can calm the autonomic nervous system, revitalize the internal organs, and increase the flow of blood and Qi.

Below is the Inner Smile Meditation for the main Meridian Organ Systems.  For more information, please refer to Mantak Chia's book, Taoist Ways to Transform Stress into Vitality.  

(for additional book information, refer to the information at the end of this section),

Choose a quiet spot and keep warm throughout the meditation. Sit comfortably at the edge of a chair, feet flat on the ground with your back straight. Breathe deeply and relax. Clasp your hands together, left hand on bottom and right hand on top, palms touching, and rest them in your lap.

Close your eyes and feel a connection between the soles of your feet and the ground.

Focus on the midpoint between your eyebrows. Place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth, just behind your front teeth. Put a smile on your face and journey down to the wonderfully amazing body that keeps you alive, alert and active.

Heart

See your heart as a vibrant red color. Focus the energy of "joy" into your heart. Feel it pulse with love. Breathe in and exhale with the sound of HAW.

Lungs

Radiate the feeling in your heart to your lungs. Picture your lungs as pure white. Focus on letting go of sadness and grief. Exhale with the sound of SSSSSS.

Liver

Keep the feeling spilling over into your liver, which is just under your ribs on the right side. Picture it as a vibrant grass-green. When exhaling, let go of anger and frustration with the sound of SHHHH.

Spleen

 Continue to the left, under the ribs. Shine a vibrant yellow color into this organ. When you exhale, let go of overthinking and worry, and use the sound of WHOO.

Kidney

Focus your attention on your lower back, just below and under your ribs. Imagine a deep blue-purple light. Breathe in courage and exhale fear. When you exhale, use the sound of WOOO.

Once you have traveled through your body, begin to focus your attention on your navel. Smile down to your navel, and focus your attention there.

Mentally move the energy in a spiral at the navel 36 times. Women start the spiral counterclockwise, men start it clockwise. Next, reverse the spiral direction and bring the energy back into the navel, circling 24 times. You can use a finger to guide the spiral motion.

It is ok if you don't know the exact locations of your organs. Just bringing awareness to your organs is benefit enough. Your body will love you just the same.

 Perform each exercise 9 times, twice a day. These exercises can affect your body and mind, so it is advisable to consult with your healthcare provider.

 Reference Book: 

Taoist Ways to Transform Stress into Vitality 

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Recipe Corner  

Cassia Milk Tea

決明奶茶 

• Clears Liver fire and brightens the eyes.

• Lubricates the Large Intestine and promotes bowel movement.

• Helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels. 

INGREDIENTS: 

• 100 g (3.5 oz) cassia seeds (決明子)
• 500 cc (500 ml) wate
• low fat milk (or half & half), to tast
• brown sugar, to taste

PREPARATION:

• Dry fry the cassia seeds in a sauté pan until you smell the coffee-like aroma of the seeds.

COOKING: 

1. Boil cassia seeds in 500cc of water for approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Strain. (Or make the tea as you would coffee in a coffeemaker.
2.  Add sugar and low fat milk if desired. 

Cassia seed (Jue Ming Zi) 決明子

Cassia seed, also called semen cassiae in the Latin or pharmaceutical name and Jue Ming Zi in Chinese name, is known as a Chinese herb that is good at soothing the eyes and helping weight loss. For this reason, it is one of the most popular choices among office workers since very often they are sedentary and require staring at computer screen all the time. According to legend, there once was an old Taoist monk who still had clear eyes and sharp ears though he was already more than 100 year old. Many people thus were attracted and down on their knees begging for the magic arts of longevity. To their surprise, this old Taoist monk said that he had no secret recipe at all but ate cassia seeds on daily basis. Today modern pharmacological studies also confirmed that this herb has an obvious effect on the prevention and treatment of various eye diseases, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and constipation.