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| Lucky Bamboo |
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| Shiva's Lingham |
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| Dragon - Shiny Pearl Symbolizing Wisdom |
Chinese New Year's has come and gone, the Year of the Water Dragon. The veggie dumplings on Mott Street were delicious, the lucky bamboo I bought for the apartment and friends were beautiful and add happiness on a daily basis - taking some time for private time, reflection and fun!
For better (or for worse) I happen to be a dragon and I am practically giving away my age as one of my friends remarked, when I mentioned it on facebook. It certainly had crossed my mind, but then I concluded again that our biological age is just a number anyway and that I made peace with the fact that I am not a spring chick, done that, been there! On good days which I equal with balanced days in my opinion we all look ageless because we shine, we move about with ease, everything flows. Are you with me? On off-the-center kind of days we tend to look and feel more the biological age we really are. In yogic terms our age is determined by the flexibility of our spine and the flexibility of our mind probably, and I would add the quality of our breath and there are other factors, but I will stop here. Perhaps I am as young as a baby when I breathe effortlessly like a baby (hm will give this some more thought) I was having a "age discussion" with my partner a while ago and I realized that I generally feel much better now than when I was younger and that applies to all layers of myself. This is attributed to knowing myself better and the effort to keep a lot of self-produced stress at bay or at least to counter it as much as I can. There are days when nothing makes sense and I ask myself "now what, when, how?" When I do not practice yoga for two consequent days which happens occasionally, I start feeling weak and a bit insecure about my health and I get a bit worried. The benefits of yoga are a no brainer to those who regularly practice. (I wonder how Chi Gong compares to yoga in terms of spinal health. Chi Gong is very fluid, slow and easy on the joints, although yoga can be slow paced but often, it is not; I love using Chi Gong as a warm up for yoga, but I also do it by itself in case of time constraints and I am so glad I took it up last year - the plan for this summer is to practice in the big outdoors as often as I can).
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Confetti Rockets at the After Party in Chinatown!
This was the second time I had problems doing it;
I worked really hard; once it released, it went off
horizontally more than up into the air; I hit a group
of spectators, who thought it was great fun (thank God);
We all had a good laugh! |
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As for Self Care, I wound up doing the basic protocol only for two days and yesterday I felt the ripple effect in form of some tightness in my chest and a tickle
in my throat as well as some pain on the L side of my neck and my L shoulder. I did do, however, for the most part do my usual program of Chi Gong, light yoga and breath work before falling asleep and first thing when waking up and while still in bed- I LOVE BREATHING and I fueled up on some fresh Poconos country air on the weekend. The weather is continuing to be unpredictable, but I have been keeping healthy so far this winter.
Today I returned to Dien Cham which I did sitting at the counter in the mirrored kitchen which allowed me to study the location of the points in detail, the anatomical landmarks which I really only did in the very beginning of my exploration. Sometime it still amazes me how quickly I started "finding the points", now bear you in mind, I do use my fingers/Shiva's Lingham or other stones and many of the points I work by rubbing over them and treating them more like reflexes so I am not looking for a tiny point, but still, I found it remarkable how quickly I got comfortable.
Shiva's Lingham (which is great for balancing; it represents female and male energy) I used for certain points and I have done so in the past. It's surface is very smooth and I have been using it on clients as well. How rejuvenated my face looked after the session - alas! I must have said it before, natural botox! Does not cost a penny, no negative side effects! Protocols used: basic/standard/immune deficiencies/dry cough and L shoulder reflexes (frog). There has been some mucus release already. Hours later despite spending too much time at the computer, no symptoms, or am I in slight flight/fight mode?
Some of the points were rather sensitive which did not surprise me: Point 41, Point 60, Point 3, Point 39, Point
85. I decided to do the basic session a few more times before the day
is over as well as these points. Bed time will be earlier than usual I
hope. Tomorrow will be a busy day. The intention remains to continue to be as
proactive about my health as I can.
As I was typing I had some of Juice Generation's Sweet Greens juice. Valentine's Day meant some chocolate eating but also a healthy home made meal with just a sip of white wine and a late evening walk in the park. Hopefully I will have help eating the remainder of the chocolate; I am rather undisciplined once chocolate is in the house!
The paper dragon puppet which has been inhabiting the refrigerator door
for a couple years I thought needed some repair and to be dusted off
before the beginning of the Year of the Dragon festivities started on
January 23 and ended on February 6 (I believe). I did some
de-cluttering although that has been an ongoing project.
