Why does "Modern Intelligence" Interfere with Life Cycles?

When we think of improving our own Health and Wellness, we often have the perspective that has been given to us by the media, in other word there is more to consider than is socially/culturally recognized. For most of us, we are growing our understanding as more is being exposed due to the availability of the Internet. Still, marketing and advertising has learned to mask itself as “source information”, and while some of this is accurate, much of it is aimed at personal or corporate gain. Largely, this has a shading of the facts effect, rather than evolving our abilities to refine our own self health care and personal Health and Wellness. By now, we have seen, read or in some way been exposed to some common areas to begin in terms of illness and injury prevention. There are many “frame-works” or available structures to begin developing the abilities for self health care. Let’s take a look as some of the more common ones:

• Balanced Diet
• proper rest
• physical activity
• Stress management

In 1948, the World Health Organization wanted parameters to measure the functionality of an individual. The first three identified barometers include the physical, the social, and the mental constructs. Later, the emotional, spiritual, and environmental dimensions are added to the list.

Earth Medicine: The Foundations in Self Care

Eastern perspectives that have come from some of the old cultural medical lineages (and others, such as from the Native Peoples), more specifically, India’s Ayrevedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine, come from an experiential/experimental base of inter-action in these distinct areas:

• Self Development- growth toward your natural talent, natural ability, what special capacity you were born with, then, becoming experienced (Elder guidance)and developing high levels of expertise in that natural ability and the development of personal power.
• Social Responsibility, Conduct and Status through achievement- social health is measured through interactive skills; the effects of inter-action (growth/relationships/shared environments) leadership, service, influence and exemplary behaviors as the primary measures.
• Nature- seasonal adaptive knowledge/skills, hunting/gathering knowledge, environmental endurance and terrain knowledge, the ability to harmonize with our natural surroundings (plants/animals/seasons)
• The connection of all things; micro/macro- a cosmological understanding that all things are connected (creating infinite changes through their contact) in this universe. This includes the understanding that there is an external frame-work to understand about the physical universe, and that there is a complete universe or internal “micro-worlds”, inside each person that is absolutely related.

“The science of Health, the study of inter-personal inter-actions, and the shared functional foundation of sustainability/Ecology, all share the same core of common sense”.

Public education has trained us in linear perspectives that dominate our in-born common senses resulting in a significant loss of relational perception....In other words, we have lost our memory that we are all connected and share consciousness, that our actions effect each other and that being different or special is not lessened by being a part of the whole. This plays out on micro and macro levels of existence; for example, a human cell is a part of the body and also has its own complete function with-in the body, making it unique or “special”, yet it can never escape its relationship with the rest of the body of cells that make up the whole. We do not have to be separated to be unique or special...just realize that we are and have room for others to also be.....without needing to be better than......

On a macro level, our thoughts, actions and choice of words can impact or influence a person or situation (cause & effect of our connection to all things); from one individuals choice to act, many parts of life can be effected or changed, thus, the connection is seen through the effects that ripple off of the choice to act; one more example of our relational connection and cause and effect.

Some things to Consider

When we begin to see the world more from a perception of cycles and stages of change, we are starting to develop a relational thought process, very different than linear views that do not always:
reflect on clarity, as the path to in-sight & the connection to feeling what we know....or
past experience as flexible expertise that adapts easily.........or
responsibility for our actions, thoughts and spoken words, as the path to freedom.....

Fore-thought and exploring potential outcomes prior to “action-taken”, is wise....,
cultivating observation is basic to ‘life-learning’, opens the heart/mind, stimulates creativity.....
and returning common sense is, foundational to learning and evolving....
These are some of the tools of the relational thought process (union of heart/mind), flexible and not “trapped & patterned” by the past experiences.

Cycles in Daily Life

The life cycles that swirl around us everyday are the flexible aspects of life-in-constant-change, a type of “swirling potential”,and function as the canvass of life through which we can develop, experiment and expand or evolve.Cycles have general stages of repetition, so there are known factors, but because the nature of a cycle is motion, it will always have slight fluctuations (changes), that have to adjust and re-balance themselves in order for the cycles to continue. This is a very direct metaphor and understanding for the foundation of Health & Wellness. We are challenged through-out our lives to gain a working or user-friendly relationship with our inner world and functional ways to use those natural skills in the outer worlds we move around in. Life-Studies that reflect experiential development, long-term refinement processes, problem-solving and “living experiments”,develop our skills and tools that lead to the stages we recognize as “expert or Mastery”. We can freely paint on the life-canvass, over and over..... refining, layering, sometimes starting over, sometimes inviting another to “paint with us”, and sometimes just reveling in the infinite potential..waiting for the picture to emerge, following the brush as it paints through us....the natural course of becoming experienced and developing wisdom in our lives.....

Our deeper understandings of rhythm and cycles emerge through the need to understand and maintain balance. Understanding receptive inner qualities that reveal some of our more “Yin-learning-traits” is part of the deeper development.Yin-learning can be seen as:

• Knowing all situations are “workable” (open-ness)
• building momentum through the shaping of clear intention (creative non-action)
• the use of in-sight and reflection to clarify action (on-going)
• preparation and proper set-up for timely action (fore-thought/in-sight)
• flexibility to adapt as needed (tolerance)
• learning to follow while participating
• becoming receptive through observing (patience)
• listening neutrally (learning to respond instead of reacting)
• and in general, allowing things to take the time they need to become form.

Yin traits help us prepare for participation, or “Yang-inter-action”, and are themselves, a natural example of the foundations in rhythms and cycles. Yang-inter-action is the birthed from “the building of Yin momentum”. We can use Yin-learning as a foundation for action, as it allows us to understand:

• cause and effect
• when, where and why we make choose to act
• quality and quantity of action
• “Attention-Extension”- supporting steps to completion and why follow-through is important
• how to approach unknown situations and find our way through
• perseverance, adjusting, adapting and harmonizing our actions and the rippling effects
• boundaries, appropriate response and actions that understand that often ‘less is more’

New Standards Checklist for Health and Wellness

When we shift our priorities and want or need to make “life-style changes”, we seem to both know and not know things about this subject. Case in point, life-style changes often require shifts in perspectives as well as changes in patterns and habits. At the top of the list is “willingness on most or all fronts”.The outcome of changes has mechanical elements to it that can be seen. We should be aware of the pit-falls and the preparation needed to make and maintain them before we barrel ahead full steam. Doing the “up-front” preparation helps us make a complete voyage to our change destination, thus, preparation is about not wasting effort. When we are not quite ready, we can recognize this and return back to tending the building of momentum. We avoid wasted energies and sabotage by preparing and being patient...learning to set-up correctly is a key understanding, that and a steady willingness to observe on-going. Whole health maintenance requires tools and understanding of how to work with the mind/body/spirit, a deep sense of sincerity to face the unpleasant truths we uncover and a willingness to persevere. Below is a partial check list to briefly begin to relate to a basic knowledge base for our own self health care. And, as you might have already guessed, the foundational study of the life-style change arts of Internal practices; Tai Chi, QiGong and Yoga. These are not things that public education emphasizes....yet......but my hope is to stir the interest levels and begin the momentum towards these new standards...or should I say, old standards.
Do you have tools for:

• STRESS MANAGEMENT / REGULATING BREATH / RELAXATION RESPONSE-
• REGULATING BLOOD FLOW /TEMP. CONTROL-
• CONSTITUTIONAL / SEASONAL DIET DEVELOPMENT
• ADJUSTING ENERGY; ‘Too much of the wrong kind /Not enough of the right kind’
• ROUTINE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY / BIO-SCIENCE THERAPEUTICS- INTERNAL ARTS
• MODERATING ATTACHMENT TO EXCESSIVE HABITS
• GRADUAL PROGRESS THAT CHANGES DEFICIENT CONDITIONS
• SYSTEMIC AWARENESS/SYMPTOM DIAGNOSIS-“Whats not working and how to begin”
• BALANCING THE MIND PROCESS- DAILY NON-THINKING TIME
• SENSING EMOTIONAL IMBALANCES / REGULATING
• RE-STRUCTURING REACTIONARY SYMPTOMS
• DEVELOPING INNER/OUTER SENSORY-EXTENSION ABILITIES
• SELF-THERAPEUTICS-DESIGNING A PERSONAL ROUTINE THAT REMEDY RE-OCCURRING PROBLEMS
• SENSITIVITIES / TENDENCIES /HABITS / PATTERNS / ATTACHMENTS (ADDICTIONS)

In Summary- our lives are inexplicably connected to each other, our actions both affect and are caused by our relationships to ourselves, to each other and to our shared environments. Yin orientations define the receptive aspects of life. Yang expressions are our actions and assertions that are born from our desire to participate and create in our lives. Through our interactions with Yin & Yang traits,we can realize deeper levels of balance and centered-ness.We can learn to utilize the awareness of rhythms and patterns to understand more of how the tangible and intangible worlds connect to our life experiences by embracing the living experiences of balance, change and motion. To understand balance and how to have a workable relationship with it, we must understand “what attracts and what repels”, learn not to react, or attach, and be willing to adjust and adapt as a ‘workable solution’, only then do the doors of infinite possibility open up to creative choices.

Transformation Arts emphasizes:

1. practice and training in the physical practices....
2. study and living experiments of the application of Life Style principles....
3. therapeutic skill development for diagnosing imbalanced conditions and remedy application using the medicine from with-in

Advice of the Experts:

There are no better choices for Health and Wellness and Life Style Changes, than the foundations of Internal practice in the arts of Tai Chi / QiGong / Yoga-

LIVE YOUR LIFE AS A UNION OF ART & SCIENCE, EVOLVING MIND, EVOLVING BODY, EVOLVING SPIRIT...INTERNAL ARTS-THE SCIENCE OF ART & CHANGE...