Desert Wisdom: Sayings From The Desert Fathers - Translation & Art by Yushi Nomura
Health, like life in general, is a journey, a process of constant change. Sometimes we have ups, sometimes downs, sometimes moving forwards, sometimes backwards.
Many of us start out the New Year with good intentions for making positive changes in our lives. Unfortunately, all too often this does not last for long. Establishing healthy habits takes practice and effort, and usually involves some failures along the way.
However, one of the important success factors for staying on track is to focus on the present moment. Yesterday is over and done with, tomorrow is just another excuse to procrastinate - only today are we able to take action.
Each new day, we’re given another chance to start over again; every day is an opportunity to make a fresh beginning.
What do martial arts have in common with the healing arts? In the traditional Japanese practice of KoKoDo (roughly translated as “Royal Pathway of Light”), they are in fact regarded as opposite sides of the same coin.
KoKoDo Shiatsu (“finger pressure”) massage deals with sickness, often regarded as a type of violence occurring inside the body, while KoKoDo Jujutsu (“gentle, yielding technique”) is a self-defense art to protect against violence and aggression, which is viewed as a type of sickness on the outside.
Many of the concepts and training methods used in KoKoDo are similar for both Shiatsu and Jujutsu, including:
Non-aggression
In KoKoDo Jujutsu, the aim is to neutralize an assailant’s strength and aggression while at the same time avoid causing any unnecessary harm or injury. This is not accomplished through brute force against force, but rather by the efficient use of proper technique and non-resistance in order to cancel and neutralize the attack.
Restoring health is similar, in that a person’s body often tends to react negatively and fight against aggressive forces and stresses encountered in life, whether it be physical, emotional, or environmental. Shiatsu, along with other forms of Eastern medicine such as acupuncture and moxibustion, work to gently nurture and guide a person back into a healthier state of balance.
Relaxation
KoKoDo Jujutsu requires the complete abandonment of physical strength, relying instead on relaxation and the proper use and focus of the mind and body. On the other hand, these techniques actually create tension, fear, and stress in the assailant through the application of joint manipulations, throws, and pressure points, essentially “short circuiting” their body and neutralizing the attack.
In a similar but opposite way, KoKoDo Shiatsu identifies areas of tension and stress stored up within a person. By treating and releasing these areas of blockages of the meridian system, blood and energy circulation is improved and the natural healing process is enhanced, helping a person return to a state of calmness and wellbeing.
Awareness
Cultivating an awareness of one’s surroundings is an important aspect of training in KoKoDo Jujutsu; by recognizing potential threats or dangers before they escalate, appropriate action can be taken and conflict can often be avoided.
KoKoDo Shiatsu can also create an increased state of awareness for a person and allow them to become more in touch with their own body and surrounding environment. By recognizing early signs of imbalance, more positive changes in health can be made.
For more information about the art of KoKoDo, please visit Sadohana Dojo
In a recent news article on heart disease, medical researchers suggested perhaps handing out statin drugs at fast food restaurants to help offset the negative effects of these foods.
Although this is one possible approach to preventive medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine tends to take a different view. In TCM, high cholesterol generally falls under the broad disease category known as “Phlegm” and is considered to be a type of toxin buildup in the body. This is usually a result of a poorly functioning digestive system along with improper diet.
Some of the most common foods that increase Phlegm include highly processed items such as white flour and refined sugar, along with animal products in general, and eggs and dairy in particular.
It is interesting to note that in people with allergies, these common trigger foods will often create “visible phlegm” that collects in the respiratory system and manifests as nasal congestion or even coughing up of phlegm and mucous. However, in the case of high cholesterol, TCM views this as a form of “invisible phlegm” which becomes trapped in the body and collects inside the blood vessels.
By minimizing these types of Phlegm-producing foods in our diet, significant changes can often be seen in cholesterol levels. In addition, by taking steps to strengthen the digestive system, further improvements to our health can be made.
In the traditional martial arts is a concept known as zanshin. Literally translated as “remaining mind”, zanshin refers in part to a state of calmness and complete awareness of one’s surroundings, even when there appears to be no immediate threat or danger.
A keen awareness of our environment, both internal and external, is also an important concept in Traditional Oriental Medicine. Because symptoms are viewed as being the result of imbalances in the body, becoming more aware of ourselves and what creates these imbalances in our lives can be useful for improving our health.
Various factors can affect our health, such as:
type of work we do
location & climate we live in
seasonal weather changes throughout the year
thoughts & emotions, especially those that tend to be repressed
daily eating habits
exercise type and frequency
trauma & accidents
One suggestion for people suffering from chronic health problems is to keep a health journal. By tracking changes on a day to day basis, patterns can often be discovered, such as certain trigger factors that tend to make symptoms better or worse.
As a New Year begins, many of us tend to make resolutions for ourselves, whether it’s losing weight, getting in better shape, or improving our overall health.
Unfortunately, most resolutions – however good-intentioned they may begin – don’t seem to last for very long. Our modern society, with a focus on quick fixes, immediate results, and instant gratification, makes it easy to fall back into old habits and patterns.
In the East, a different approach to self-improvement is taken. In fact, much could actually be learned from the Japanese manufacturing field where they used a concept known as kaizen to become world leaders in the automotive and electronics industries. (more…)
Although stress seems to be just an accepted part of everyday living in our modern society, it certainly is nothing new. In fact, one of the oldest Chinese medical textbooks, written over 2,000 years ago, was advising people on how to lower their stress levels so that they could live healthier and better lives.
In Eastern medicine, stress can be roughly categorized into 2 types – physical and emotional – although there is quite a bit of overlap between them because Traditional Oriental Medicine views the body, mind, and spirit as being inter-related to each other.
Physical stress can be caused by many factors, including overwork, not enough rest, environmental toxins, and simply pushing the body too much.
In terms of acupuncture theory, it is the Kidney system which is mostly affected by prolonged physical stress. In Eastern medicine, when talking about the Kidney meridian system, it relates not only to the urinary and reproductive organs, but also encompasses aspects of the entire endocrine system, including the adrenal glands. (more…)
Words quite familiar to most dieters. However, in Traditional Oriental Medicine, the approach to weight loss is quite different.
According to Eastern Medicine, the digestive system, referred to as the Spleen-Pancreas system, includes many other organs such as the stomach and intestines and has the 2 primary functions of “Transformation” and “Transportation“.
The Transformation function refers to the process of breaking down food, digesting it, and absorbing the nutrients – taking food and transforming it into usable energy for the body, a view quite similar to the Western understanding of the digestive system.
On the other hand, the Transportation function of the Spleen-Pancreas system is more unique to Traditional Chinese Medicine and refers to how fluids are kept in balance throughout the body. Under normal healthy conditions, fluids are extracted from food during the Transformation process and are then transported to the various parts of the body to be used as needed, with the rest being removed as waste.
However, when this Transformation function is weakened and no longer properly processing these fluids, some of the excess can get trapped in the body, creating a condition referred to as “Dampness” which can manifest in various ways, including being stored as excess body weight. (more…)
For those of us looking to make our health a higher priority in our lives, one of Traditional Chinese Medicine’s oldest books, compiled in approximately 200 B.C. and titled Huang Di Nei Jing (The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine), continues to provide us with a wealth of information for improving our health.
In a particular section of this acupuncture textbook, the Emperor was asking his court physician why people of their day weren’t living as long, compared to those of ancient China.
His doctor replied:
“These days, people have changed their way of life. They drink wine as though it were water, indulge excessively in destructive activities, and deplete their energy… Seeking emotional excitement and momentary pleasures, people disregard the natural rhythm and order of the universe. They fail to regulate their lifestyle and diet, and sleep improperly. So it is not surprising that they look old at fifty and die soon after.”
This description, written over 2,000 years ago, sounds much like our own current situation and the doctor’s advice seems just as relevant for today’s society: (more…)
