A Frog’s Dream

Many times I’ve been asked, ‘Do you believe there is life after death?’.

My answer is no, not in the way we experience life, not even in the way we are conscious. In fact, the very nature of human consciousness prohibits knowledge of what happens after life, and what happened before it. We are the proverbial frog at the bottom of the well: we can only see the little patch of sky that is open to us. The human capability for knowledge is also its limitation. The rest is speculation.

Allow me to share a dream.

Imagine a stream, a stream that is infinite, that both its origin and destination are infinite. There is only the coursing and flowing, and we are part of this stream. Imagine that life is a blip in the flow of this stream in which we assume a body and consciousness. If all goes well, there is birth, childhood, growth, puberty, love, hate, parenthood, maturity, aging, death, and all the drama in between. All in a bubble of the stream. When the bubble bursts, our consciousness disappears with it. The only sure thing now is that we’ve embarked on a mysterious journey.

Can we transition with courage and curiosity and not fear?

After all, when we were born into this world, our journey was equally mysterious. We had no idea what it was all about. We were born into a mystery. Out of the mystery came experience, even knowledge. The new mystery is something to get excited about!

Now let’s come back to mundane time. Happy New Year!

And for a New Year’s resolution, I suggest creativity. Resolve to be more creative and adventurous, to step out of your habitual mode of thinking, feeling, and doing. Try something different. Climb out of that well and explore new horizons!

Five Element Body Types

The five elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Each element has it’s own physical, psychological and spiritual characteristics. Here we are most concerned with differentiating the body types: how to tell a person’s elemental affiliation based on physical features. The key is the ‘Threes’:

Wood

• The Wood-type person can be identified by the 'Three Longs': long face, long body trunk, long fingers.

• The Wood-type person is shaped like a tree, with a long face; wide on top and narrow at the bottom, bony with scant flesh, and has wide, slouching shoulders.

• The Wood-type person has a greenish complexion and a solemn looking demeanor. The Wood-type person is prone to anger manifested by bulging, green veins.

• The Wood-type person's speech is blunt and short, with words sounding "thin," as though coming from the teeth.

• The Wood-type person walks with a noisy, marching gait, lifting the feet and letting them drop.

Fire

• The Fire-type person can be identified by the “Three Pointies": a pointy nose, a pointy chin, and a pointy top of the head.

• The Fire-type person's body is shaped like a torch: pointy on top, narrow on the bottom, and flared in the middle. The face is round and full, and the hair is thin. The body is plump, of medium build with sloping shoulders.

• The complexion is reddish; the ears and the neck turn crimson when the temper is roused.

• The voice is sharp and high-pitched, with a broken quality, the sounds seemingly come from the tongue.

• The Fire-type person is light-footed and walks at a hurried pace, dashing forward with the upper body swaying from side to side.

Earth

• The Earth-type person can be identified by the “Three Shorts’: the body is short, the neck is short, and the fingers are short.

• The Earth-type person has a square face with big ears and a bulbous nose shaped like a head of garlic. The muscles are strong and both the waist and back are thick. Movements are clumsy and the demeanor is honest and sincere. Not well-educated but a simple person with no guile.

• The complexion is yellow, which turns into a withered yellow when the person is unhappy.

• The Earth-type person speaks with a loud, low-pitched nasal tone. The gait is heavy-footed with every step solidly landing on the ground.

Metal

• The Metal-type person can be identified by the “Three Thins”: thin lips, thin eyelids, and the flesh on the back of the hands is thin.

• The Metal-type person is attractive-looking. The face is rectangular in shape, with a pointy chin, and well-defined, well-distributed features. The body is slim, and the movements are graceful and lively.

• The Metal-type person has a good way with words and is a persuasive communicator.

• The complexion is white, and turns pale when the tempers are aroused.

• The voice is bright and clear as a bell with the sounds coming from the throat. The gait is swift, light, and lively.

Water

• The Water-element person can be identified by the “Three Thicks’: thick eyelids, thick jaw, and the flesh on the back of the hands is thick.

• The face is large, fleshy, round, wider at the base than the top, and often with a double chin. Big eyes, thick eyebrows and thick hair, both the face and body are full and chubby.

• The complexion has a black tint, which darkens when the temper is roused.

• The Water-element person speaks with a relaxed, low tone with the sounds coming from the throat.

• The Water-element person walks slowly, with the feet dragging on the ground.

Pure types are caricatures. Every pure type represents a distortion in which one elemental force dominates to the exclusion of the others. Perfect health implies a life in which the tendencies of all five elements participate in equal measure, promoting, checking, and balancing each other.

Few of us enjoy such perfect health. Elements are like roadways in life. We tend to take the same roads repeatedly while leaving the others untravelled. The energetics of the ones we travel on repeatedly become excessive while the ones we ignore become deficient. In time, this imbalance become our personality, defining the the way we interact with other people, with the world, and with ourselves.

Breathing with Purpose to Regulate Your State of Being

There are two kinds of breaths: the Yin and the Yang

But first, some science. The lung is a large organ with five lobes. It is wider at the bottom and narrower at the top, so there are more lung cells (alveoli) at the bottom. Breathing is not only about bringing air in; it’s the process of oxygenating the blood and getting rid of carbon dioxide and toxins – the body alchemy of qi and blood, of lung and heart, of metal and fire.

Chest breathing is shallow; it only reaches the upper part of the lung. Not enough oxygen is brought in, and the heart immediately works harder to compensate. The result is palpitation and shortness of breath, a sensation that provokes panic and anxiety. On the other hand, breathing into the abdomen captures a full breath, both the lung and the heart are relaxed, and body and brain cells are well-nourished, giving rise to a feeling of comfort and well being.

In both the Yin and Yang breaths, we use abdominal breathing.

Abdominal Breathing

In abdominal breathing, direct the breath to the lower abdomen, the part between the navel and the top of the pubic bone. In Daoist practice, this is called the Dantian, the field where the elixir is cultivated.

Place your consciousness there, watching the rising and falling of the abdomen with the breath, aware of its warmth and light. It also means that you withdraw your mind from your brain with all its endless clingings and chatterings. The energy is pulled down to the Dantian.

The rising, the falling, the light, the warmth. Ever-watchful, but no conscious thoughts. Now, breathe like this nine times. How do you feel?

The Yin Breath

The abdomen is completely relaxed in the Yin Breath. Let the body do the breathing. The mind only watches.

Breathing in, the abdomen rises and expands. Breathing out, the abdomen gently retracts. Place your consciousness in the Dantian and watch it slowly expand and contract like bellows. Bring your awareness to the diaphragm. Feel it contract and push downward with the in-breath. Feel it relax and rise up with the out-breath. We are usually not conscious of the diaphragm muscle but, with some attention and practice, we can feel how this muscle works.

The Yin breath focuses on watching, on not-doing. It is a relaxing breath that calms the racing mind and soothes anxiety. It is the breath to use to gain grounding, anchor, and balance. Now, breathe like this nine times. How do you feel?

The Yang Breath

In the Yang breath, the Dantian is charged with intention. When breathing in, the abdominal muscles are also pulled in and back toward the spine. By compacting the space while air is drawn in, the Qi is concentrated. When breathing out, the lower abdomen slowly relaxes and expands.

In the Yang breath, there is as much doing as watching, but the doing is gentle, natural, and not forced. The doing has more to do with intention than a physical act. Try to find that balance. If you feel strained, you are doing too much.

The Yang breath is an energizing breath. It is most suitable to use when you feel tired, listless, or depressed. Now, breathe like this nine times. How do you feel?