The Body is a Microcosm of the Universe

The Body is a Microcosm of the Universe

The body is a microcosm of the universe. The universe expands and contracts and so, too, does the body. In spring and summer we feel the expansion of the season opening us up as the world itself opens with leaves and flowers. In fall and winter the life force of trees contract back into their trunks, the animals hibernate, and we humans find rest and self-reflection. Every breath contains an expansion and a contraction. On the inhale our lungs fill, expanding our muscle fibers, compressing our organs with air. On the exhale our lungs contract, like a pump moving qi and blood through the body.

Rest as Resistance

Rest as Resistance

Seattle in winter snow, photo: Steven Miller Yin and Yang When Yin and Yang are in balance, there is a lovely interplay of the substantial and the immaterial. In the natural world that looks like a balance of sun, water, nutrients in the soil and wind that allow...
Intentions in the Season of the Water Element: Reap What You Sow

Intentions in the Season of the Water Element: Reap What You Sow

I’ve just purchased my seeds for next spring’s garden and I’m excited to be growing shiso and two kinds of parsley this year. As an action and a metaphor, this is the time to gather your seeds. Many of us groan when we hear the question “Did you make any resolutions...
Remember to Breathe: Lung and Kidney Connection

Remember to Breathe: Lung and Kidney Connection

Breathing is how we let the world in. It is our moment-to-moment interaction with the world. We take in air. We take in the tiny particles of the world. We release our breath, we send little bits of ourselves into the world. To understand Chinese medical philosophy...
Life’s Work: Wisdom of the Water Element

Life’s Work: Wisdom of the Water Element

It seems likely that each of us has some important work to do in this lifetime. And I don’t mean the capitalist-style, work-your-butt-off-make-the-money-til-you-die kind of important work. Our work might be creative. Or invisible. It might be transformative. It might...
The Healing Power of Rest: Reflections on the Water Element

The Healing Power of Rest: Reflections on the Water Element

The Water Element The winter season welcomes in the water element, and as I have written about before, it is the element and season that houses our great potential. The seed of our ambitions. The deep well of our creativity. Cultivation this time of year is potent. As...
Living Through the Season of Fear: Self Care in Difficult Times

Living Through the Season of Fear: Self Care in Difficult Times

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” — Audrey Lorde The days are getting shorter and even before the sun sets, the horizon is dim. Darker, wetter, colder, winter is the season of Yin. It is a...