Gluten Free Oat Flour Muffins

When I pulled a batch of gluten free oat flour muffins out of the oven over the weekend and saw that they were an immediate delicious hit - meaning my husband ate 3 - I decided that I should share the recipe.  To this particular batch of muffins I added 2 chopped apricots and 4 chopped dates which I happen to have had on hand. 

The recipe for the oat flour muffins is a variation on the basic gluten free blueberry muffins that I posted on this blog several years ago.

In that recipe I used buckwheat flour instead of oat flour.  I've found that buckwheat is a good gluten free substitution for recipes that require whole wheat flour. 

Although both muffin variations are quite tasty, using buckwheat will definitely give you a denser baked good.

Oat flour?  It's pretty simple to make your own.

I usually buy Bobs Red Mill Oats in bulk from Amazon. (gluten free variety)

I put pour a bag full in the food processed and grind it up.  It's then stored in an air tight glass canister with a screw on lid.  The oat flour will last a month or more.

You can use quick cooking oats, or rolled oats.  Rolled oats are denser and require a long cooking time when you prepare them for oatmeal.  They also make a denser oat flour.
Oat flour is a nutritious, delicious alternative for gluten free baked goods. White rice flour in gluten free baked goods lack texture and usually tastes rather bland, although gluten free baking in general has improved greatly over the last few years.

The texture of this oat flour muffin can be a bit crumbly sometimes, but there are ways around that.  If you bake the muffins using foil lined muffin papers it helps quite a bit.  Also don't forget to spray the muffin liners with cooking spray before you fill them.  And finally, allow them to cool down a bit before you try to eat one.  I know, it's hard when they come right out of the oven.

Enjoy!

1 cup oat flour
1/2 cup Yellow Corn Meal
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt (I use sea salt)
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/4 cup milk


Preheat oven to 400.  Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or grease muffin tins.
Mix together all ingredients.  Batter will be thin so let the batter sit for a few minutes so it will thicken up.  Then stir in your add ons.  Fill muffin tins 2/3 full - the muffins will rise.
Bake aprox 15 minutes.

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Dear Whole Foods - Do You Really Have To Label It New Age ?

Dear Whole Foods,

This is not 1975 anymore.  It is the year 2012.  The labeling of a product category, particularly in your chain of stores, "New Age" is not only offensive to many of your customers... it is downright outdated and unenlightened.  How about not labeling it at all? Or, if you find you have to name it, at least use the term Alternative Healing or something of that nature.

Oh my dear Whole Foods... I should probably really stop this note with my complaint about your New Age labeling, but I can't.

Over the last few years many of your customers, those of us who have provided the solid spending base to help you grow and get where you are, have found themselves disheartened and disappointed with your every growing proliferation of the healthy "junk food" items which line your store shelves.  If a "healthy" junk food item is talked about on Dr. Oz...a display is up at your store within the week.  The store I was in this morning has enough Kale Chips to feed a small country.
Established companies that have provided quality products and nutrition for many years have found their products completely taken off of your shelves and replace with your lesser quality store brand items and your ever present selection of Fair Trade "Chachkies".  In some of your stores the counters with your meat and sea food products are so large and expansive that a lot of the goods are never sold.  Wasted...nice ~

That said - yes I have to admit though, Whole Foods I am very thankful that I am fortunate to not only live near one of your stores, but two.  And that you are employing people and providing them with health care benefits in an otherwise dismal economy.  But out of the two stores I live by, I still prefer shopping in the small one.  Imagine that.  It's not (quite) as mass market.

I still believe in what you are doing, trying to offer American consumers a healthier life style choice with what they eat - even though you completely caved in recently on the Monsanto GMO fight, which made many of our friends angry enough to sell their stock.

Well, whatever.

Anyway, all that said... If you could just get rid of the label New Age in your stores, that might be a small step back into the right direction.

Diane Fergurson
Editor, Mind Body Spirit Marketplace/Odyssey
Montclair, New Jersey




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The Five Tibetans by Christopher S. Kilham - Mind Body Spirit Odyssey Book Review

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The Five Tibetans, an up-close-and-personal look at five core Tibetan yoga traditions, is an ideal text for both the novice and advanced yoga student alike.  Written by Christopher S. Kilham - The Medicine Hunter - the book offers a detailed yet congenial account of what are commonly know as the Five Rites, or the Five Rites of Rejuvenation, which are central to traditional Tibetan yoga.    

            The author begins with a charming colloquial introduction to his own first experiences with the Five Tibetans, and even gives a brief history of the rites and their import to the West.  He goes on to provide an entire section on breathing techniques, which he indicates are central to experiencing the benefits of yoga, and then carefully provides an informative and intriguing description of the seven chakras and their functions.  The text includes an easy-to-understand diagram and concise lists that will allow students of all levels to benefit.

 

            He then goes on to describe, in great depth, kundalini.  This section was perhaps the most in-depth yet concise description of kundalini that this reader has experienced overall.  Kundalini is, according to the author, the most widely misunderstood element in yoga practice, and Kilham endeavors to provide the reader with a careful understanding of its nature and importance.    The remainder of the text hinges on the reader's understanding of this energy and its central role in yoga.

            Then Kilham brings us to the Five Tibetans themselves, and his description of these rites is positively stellar.  For the novice, this section will enlighten and inform, and for the more seasoned student, this section will serve as a refresher, a re-introduction of sorts.  Kilham provides photos of the exercises, which allow the reader to visualize the exact nature of each exercise.  He gives ample descriptions of the physical responses of each rite, and this aptly prepares the reader to experience the fullness of each application.   He follows this with more technique descriptions and the remainder of the text serves to provide a layout of tips for where to practice, how to practice and when to practice these rites.  Kilham gives advice on what to wear, how to behave, and more.   

            Readers of every background will benefit from reading this text.  It is informative but endearing, and the colloquial nature of the Medicine Hunter's no-apologies, straightforward discourse will enlighten those who are already practicing students, and those who wish to become so.  Everyone - even those who feel they don't have time in their busy schedules for yoga - should read this book.  

  ­­

The Five Tibetans by Christopher S. Kilham

Inner Traditions 

Publication date 8-17-11

Reviewed by Christina Dudley

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Tibetan Medical Paintings Exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History

This is the last weekend for the exhibit of Tibetan Medical Paintings: Body and Spirit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.  We went a few weeks ago and it was definitely worth seeing, particularly if you are interested in this area of study.  On display are 64 paintings from the Museum's  collection.  It's the first time that these paintings have been displayed together.  They are hand-painted, reproductions of traditional scroll paintings which detail some of the history, early medical knowledge, and procedures used in Tibet and are believed to be among only a handful of such sets in existence.

The images are extremely detailed and are painted in vegetable and mineral dyes.  Each of the paintings on display was painstakingly reproduced by hand in the 1990s by Romio Shrestha, a Nepalese artist, and his students.  The originals were created in the 1600s. The exhibit ends July 17th, 2011.

I had taken photos of the exhibition, but ran across an informative tutorial on YouTube (posted below) which explains the Collection pretty thoroughly.  Probably one of my favorite pieces, however, was the explanation in a group of paintings that catalogs various health problems and their origins according to the Tibetan Buddhist system.

"The primary, or deepest, causes for disease are three negative emotions or states:  Craving, Ignorance and Hatred.  These can predispose a person to disease by contributing to humoral imbalance.  Secondary causes of humoral imbalance include improper diet or behavior, change of seasons or weather and toxins or poisons. Even injuries or wounds are associated with changes in the Humors.

Evil Spirits or demons are also seen as affecting health in a variety of ways.  Many illnesses caused by demons must be cured with rituals."

Negative thoughts and emotions...  An obvious heath issue that has plagued the human race for centuries.




If you haven't visited the American Museum of Natural History in a while, or at all, you should know in advance that the Museum has become very, very busy due to the popularity generated by the Night at the Museum movie franchise.  I recommend that you get there when it first opens and that you go in through the side entrance.  We visited on a Sunday morning and were there when they first opened, entered through the side and went right in. When we came outside a few hours later there were so many people we could barely make our way out of the front of the building. Double lines were down both sides of the block and I have no doubt that people were waiting for hours to get in (if they got in at all).  That said, you should still definitely try to go. 

Mind Body Spirit Odyssey Interview with the Barefoot Shaman - Organic and Heirloom Seeds

Five Colors Organic, Heirloom Swiss Chard

It's Spring... probably one of her busiest times of the year... but I was able to pull RaDonna Fox, The Barefoot Shaman, aside for a few minutes for a quick Mind Body Spirit Odyssey interview.  I wanted to ask her a few questions about organic gardening and NON-GMO seeds.  I'm such a fan of her shop on Etsy, and am very enthusiastic about some of the plant varieties she has to offer, especially after having receiving my seed order in the mail!

As a bonus to this interview, RaDonna has generously offered to send some free tomato plants to one lucky reader who will chosen at random.  To sign up for the drawing, just leave a comment under the interview along with your email address!  Also make sure you follow of our blog!  The deadline for the drawing is Sunday May 8th, 2011.   Happy gardening!
                                                                                                    ~ diane fergurson


MBS:  Can you tell us a little bit about your background? How you got involved with herbs and gardening?

Black Russian Tomato -Organic Heirloom Seeds

RaDonna:  Sure, I actually have a degree from Metropolitan State College of Denver in Holistic Medicine, a certificate in Aromatherapy, and am currently working on a Master's in Psychology from Regis University. I have other degrees but I don't think you want the entire list.
My mother was raised on a farm in Brewster, Kansas and there have been farmers in my life forever. My mother actually still lives in Kansas on a smaller farm these days. She taught me a lot, and I have spent an extensive amount of time learning and gardening myself.   I lived in Kansas on a farm for about six years. I raised goats, and chickens, and grew gardens and flowers on over an acre of land. I had not gone to college yet though.  That happened after my time on the farm.

Well I love the environment, people, and herbal medicine more than just about anything.  And I started to see grand improvements in people who took herbs correctly.   The problem was though, that many of the herbs people get from the stores are only 3% pure.   Check out quackwatch.com sometime for more information.

Eventually I decided that offering herbal seeds, something I loved, would be of great benefit to people and is something that is very much needed in the world. I combined my education with something I loved to do and went forth!
Someday I would like to have a "peace" center where people can come and garden, get herbal medicine, reiki, massage, psychotherapy, a place where they come to just find some real peace - in this chaos of a world we live in. I also love to write, and that is really the foundation of much of this, that and doing something I truly love. I hope that answers your question. I could give you a whole dissertation but, I will spare you!

Organic Heirloom Purple of Sicily Cauliflower

MBS:  I was really surprised to read just now that you said that many of the herbs in the stores are only 3% pure.  Can you tell us a little more about that? I didn't know that! That's amazing! Is that because the plants themselves, the manufacturing process or what?


RaDonna:  Yes, there really is no standardization or regulation.  So it is commonly found, through independent studies, that much of what is in the bottle on store shelves consists of...pardon the pun... "floor dust" or inert ingredients. You never really know what you are getting, unless you look over some of the studies, which can be found at quackwatch and other online sites.


It's really sad that so many people don't know about the quality of the herbs they are buying and are being duped by some dis-honest manufactures.  Then there are other problems... like with Kava Kava. It's popularity surged and the grower started to harvest 2 types of Kava that the Polynesians never used before in addition to young plants and aerial parts of plants. Unfortunately, this carelessness and greed created a problem with our ability to safely use the plant.

This again is why I offer the seeds.  If you know what you grow, it really helps. But, there are also issues with growing your own though.   A drought year, for example, can produce stronger medicine so it is wise to "know" what you plant. Take small steps with tea, start with one teaspoon instead of two, etc....

MBS:  I noticed that you sell a lot of organic and heirloom plant seeds in your shop. What is an heirloom plant or seeds for readers who may not be familiar with that? Also, what is the difference between organic and heirloom?

RaDonna:  Organic seeds are untreated with chemicals and fungicides for at least 3 generations of that plant species or 3 seasons. There are many seeds that are untreated, but have no guarantee that previous generations of seeds were untreated. Some of the fear is that the chemicals etc, may alter the genes of seeds for many generations of that plant. An heirloom seed is one that reproduces itself from it's own seeds. Hybrid seeds are designed to produce one crop and then the seeds are basically sterile, they will grow, but won't produce say tomatoes. Hybridization, in my opinion is really just a way to corner the seed market so people can't grow their own.

What's most important though, is that I would like people to know that NON-GMO seeds are the most valuable kind of seeds for everyone. Monsanto has created a variety of corn known as insect guard. Several varieties in fact. This corn, and it's pollen has been genetically modified so that it kills the bugs getting on it, a real convenience to the farmer. The problem is that this corn is also the cause of the death of the monarch butterflies as well as the collapse of the honey bee hives. It is so very important to choose seeds that not genetically modified, there is no testing of these seeds, and I believe they will one day prove to be dangerous.

Thank you very much for taking the time to interview me!

RaDonna Fox
The Bear Foot Shaman

thank you RaDonna!

The Moon and the Stars, Organic and Heirloom Watermelon

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You may also enjoy reading:
Going Vegan- Discovering a Wonderful Variety of Delicious Foods
Baby Carrots- Do You Know What You are Eating?

Going Vegan - Discovering a Wonderful Variety of Delicious Foods

Well, it’s a month since my first post about going vegan, and I’ve settled into this new lifestyle change even more, so I thought I’d share some updates and another quick recipe! 

One of the most remarkable things I’ve noticed about following a plant-based diet is the variety in my family’s menu. There’s a fairly common misconception that because a vegan diet is restrictive in the sense it does not include any animal products, it must be boring and lack variety. And honestly, when my husband and I followed a macrobiotic diet many years ago, we were guilty of a lack of creativity and inspiration in our cooking. We ate a lot of brown rice, adzuki beans, steamed vegetables, and miso (not to mention lotus root and umeboshi plums!). In the years since, we’ve learned a lot about cooking and both of us have worked professionally in kitchens and bakeries. Our approach to this way of eating is as open and exciting as it was when we were focused on gourmet cooking until just a few months ago.

Before embarking on this new dietary path, our weekly dinner menu might consist of grilled salmon, turkey chili, tofu stir-fry, homemade pizza, and pasta with chicken sausage. We would stick to a certain repertoire for a few weeks, then switch it around, maybe opt for baked cod rather than salmon, turkey burgers instead of chili, and so on. In the past week we’ve enjoyed for dinner, multigrain noodles and vegetables with peanut sauce, Cuban black bean soup, falafel pitas, cauliflower and sweet potato curry, and a family-size vegan calzone. All of these dishes and the others we enjoy include good sources of protein, as well as the same fresh vegetables and whole grains we were already including in our diet – and most of them are also low in fat. So far, there is as much variety now, if not more, simply because we are having fun learning new recipes and ways of incorporating new ingredients – or ways of not incorporating things like butter and cheese. Also, the main ingredient in each of these dishes is not meat or dairy, so overall the dishes are much healthier.

What became obvious very quickly was just how many cuisines we can choose to cook from, that don’t require animal products at all. For example, we have always enjoyed Indian cuisine, and except for the inclusion of ghee, many of the recipes are ready-made for the vegan lifestyle. An Indian dish is almost always on our weekly menu now, often using the same recipes we had used before, only with slight alterations. There are Mexican dishes that can be made without cheese – or using a vegan cheese substitute, and our family was simply amazed by how “real” the tofu “ricotta” tasted in our calzone. Many of the Mediterranean or Middle Eastern dishes we had been making are also perfectly acceptable on a vegan diet – focusing on pasta or rice, olive oil, beans, fresh vegetables, and herbs and spices. We’ve even done an all-American sloppy Joe using tempeh. I admit, I was at first skeptical about this, but was impressed by the taste and texture of the tempeh filling. The sloppy Joes were also as much fun to eat as they were when we were kids!

For the first few weeks we did do a lot of simple substituting, and it’s great that there are now some fantastic products that make this easy and delicious (and they are not all soy-based). If we had previously made pasta with chicken sausage, for example, we could easily replace the sausage with a flavorful, meatless seitan variety. The cost is a bit higher, and for those who really love meat – i.e. the particular greasiness of meat, perhaps the seitan isn’t an exact duplicate, but for me (never a big sausage lover), the seitan is almost too much like meat. We have made pizzas using a vegan cheese substitute and although they are not entirely like the best New York style they are darn good, especially when loaded up with fresh or roasted veggies (think perhaps, California style). 

I hope that if you are considering a vegan diet, you will be reassured that it can be a truly bountiful way of eating – and I mean that in the best, most beautiful way – eating vegan truly is an enjoyment of nature’s bounty! 

~ Nellie Levine

Vegan Sloppy Joes with Tempeh

8 oz or 1 package tempeh, cut into cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil or water
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, finely chopped
1 cup cooked or canned white or black beans
15 oz or 1 can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4-1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
4 large buns, lightly toasted

Steam tempeh in a saucepan filled with about 2 inches of water - not enough to cover the tempeh. The tempeh is ready when you notice a strong nutty aroma, approximately ten minutes. Drain the tempeh, and mash coarsely in the pan with a spoon or potato ricer.

In a large saute pan, heat oil (or water) over medium heat, and saute onion. Key to a good flavor is letting the onion brown. Add pepper, jalapeno, tempeh, and beans, and saute for a few minutes. Stir to prevent sticking. Add chili and chipotle powder, salt, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato sauce. After adding sauce, simmer for a few minutes. Finish by turning up the heat a little and stirring rapidly to thicken sauce.

Serve on toasted buns, either as sandwiches or open face.

Shown served with http://piratebrands.com/products/tings/original">Original Tings (or as my family calls them - Cheesy Poofs; they are in fact dairy-free and vegan, but with a great cheesy flavor) by Pirate Brands, sweet gherkins, and a glass of almond milk. Very kid-friendly!

* This recipe is adapted from the Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Resources: 

http://www.fieldroast.com Field Roast Grain Meat Co. – delicious sausage-like seitan. Never having been a huge fan of sausage, I actually find these products almost too meat-like! These are flavorful and high quality. Soy free.
 

http://www.daiyafoods.com Daiya cheeses are our first choice for vegan cheese, for their flavor and meltability. They come in two varieties – cheddar and mozzarella. We are now seeing these in our local major supermarket! Soy free.

Almond milk is my personal favorite alternative to dairy milk (in fact, I’ve been drinking it for years and prefer it to cow’s milk). It tastes great in tea. The chocolate is delicious. http://silksoymilk.com  Silk and http://almondbreeze.com/Almond Breeze are both good brands and widely available. Soy free.

http://www.turtlemountain.com/ So Delicious makes coffee creamers with coconut milk that are quite good – we have not found a substitute for half & half that we really love, but so far these are our favorite. Available in major supermarkets. Soy free.

http://www.mimiccreme.com Mimiccreme is another brand that makes coffee creamers, but from nuts. Mimiccreme is heavier and creamier than So Delicious. Soy free.

http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/ Earth Balance, available in major supermarkets, is a brand of vegan margarine that is a great choice as a butter replacement.

Soy and almond milk can be used as a replacement for cow’s milk in many recipes. Other choices that we have not used include rice and hemp milk. Also, many of these brands make other products that are definitely worth checking out. 

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Other articles in this series:
Going Vegan – Embarking On a New Path for Better Health

The Role of the Healer

"One of the most fundamental roles a healer can play is to help individuals attune themselves to their own unlimited healing capacities.  Each of us has an inner voice or adviser that helps us regulate our internal responses with quiet and truthful guidance.  (It is also important to) create an environment of support and reflection in which individuals can become receptive to their innate wisdom.

In assisting this process of calling forth our innate wisdom, the healer empowers us to look within for "healing", rather than to external sources for "curing."  The healer and the person being healed can then explore the idea that disease may not be a random event; it may even be a message telling us that we have deviated from our true path.

The realization that we possess these profound healing powers within us enables us not only to heal ourselves, but also to support others in their healing quests."

From the book:
Healers on Healing
edited by Richard Carlson, Ph.D. and Benjamin Shield

"Regarding the Moon - Gazing Crescent Blue Sky Clouds"  by photographer Karen Casey Smith is
available in her shop on Etsy

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Shedding our Acquired Life Roles and Medical Qigong

Conversations with Healer and Medical Qigong practitioner Darren Orr always prove to be an enlightening and informative experience.  The following discussion focuses on our acquired "life roles", our ability or inability to shed them, and how Medical Qigong can help in the healing process.
                                                                                                    ~ diane fergurson


MBS:  I've been reading recently about how sometimes people, deep down, don't really want to move completely forward after a death or unhappy life experience.  They resist the healing process because they have, in many cases, taken on a "life role" that they would find hard to give up.  For example, they embrace the role as the "survivor", the "widow", the "sick person". That's how other people identify them. That's what they talk about socially. They build their life and activities around that persona and really don't want to give it up 100% because then they would have to change who they are. Will you speak to that? 

Butterfly in Barely Blue by Nellie Levine

Darren:  Yes, the fear of changing that which they believe they are.  But what are we?  We cling to these identities or life roles so dearly. Why? We defend our positions, create lines in the sand causing strife, separation, division and dissension. We always want to be right and never wrong. Always want to feel pleasure, never pain. Always want to gain and never experience loss, only wanting the highs and never the lows. Never realizing and considering that the Divine flow of life is perpetuated by duality and dichotomy.
On the deepest level though duality merges into unity. We categorize, segregate, name, define, confine, dichotomize everything in our lives in order to try and understand it but in trying to understand it you lose the essence of simply experiencing the unity flow and harmony of each passing moment.

In the Dao de Jing Lao tzu talks about this saying the " the mind is like a knife always chipping away at the Dao trying to render it graspable and manageable, yet that which is formless is ungraspable and unmanageable. Nature is the best example of this and is why the Daoist's revered the harmony of nature as being the best expression of the Dao. The fundamental question of life is Who Am I? With that question comes a spiritual awakening and a rekindling of a fire that has lied dormant since childhood.

Who Am I? Sages from India and China, Christians, mystics, sufi muslims, indigenous religions throughout the world all use this form of self-enquiry to release the acquired mind/ego/false self and in doing so commune with the Source of life.

It is very true that people take on a "life role" that they find hard to give up whether that be survivor, widow, sick person or on a deeper level believing themselves to be the body. Everybody builds their life and activities around a persona whatever that may be, that is called the ego/false self/acquired mind. We all have it, all of us.

That is the essential point of self cultivation and Medical Qigong:

to refine the acquired aspects of your being in order see clearly your true nature. All the acquired negative, habitual habits, behaviors, thought patterns, attitudes and excessive mental/emotional templates that we all have gathered and carry around with us from birth onwards through living on Earth must be purged and purified through a form of self-cultivation before death. That is our real job in life, not what makes us money.

The idea of heaven on earth in the Christian tradition is talking about the same thing that the Chinese, Hindu, Native American and indigenous cultures are all saying: that when this acquired garbage is cleared heaven exists within ourselves.  If we clear out our story lines, identities, diseases, addictions, attachments, aversions, negative habits emotions and behaviors via Medical Qigong purgation exercises you can live from the heavenly bliss and happiness that has always resided within you while living on Earth.

The reason people have a hard time moving forward after death is because they believe themselves and the deceased to be the finite, temporal body/mind trapped in space and time of 3 dimensions. Yes very true, people sometimes don't want to move completely forward after a death or disease and thus resist the healing process because they have taken on a life role. People resist the healing process all the time due to subconscious issues about how we perceive ourselves vs others and the outside world. What we fail to realize is that the outside is a reflection of the inside which affects our perceptions, choices and decisions determining how we look at and feel about our experiences.

Then what often occurs is we judge, label and condemn ourselves for how we think and feel about our experiences. It's a vicious cycle.

It all really comes down to Mind. That is what we work with most in Medical Qigong is the person's Mind. I utilize Qi and Shen to allow the clients mind the ability to see the unlimited possibilities, shifting and moving them out of the stasis of there "life role, sickness or affliction". This then helps them to see the root of the problem, disease or affliction, why certain patterns emerged and then giving them the tools to cut those roots thereby freeing their life-force energy and vitality allowing them to return back to homeostasis, balance and health.

The main message I would like to convey about death is that you do not die. I'll repeat that YOU DO NOT DIE. Your body and brain drop off like a discarded garment but your spirit is eternal. We all are an invisible indivisible eternal spiritual energy.

Like a butterfly breaking through a cocoon. At the moment of death we simply break free of cocoon of the body/mind and return to the spiritual essence and energy that we truly are. We are not our bodies, not our minds, we are not confined to space and time. We are not our thoughts, feelings emotions or information. We are not our name, what we look like or dress like, where we live, life role, social status, fame, wealth or power. Our spirit is limitless, beginingless and endless, a formless harmony of unity and oneness.

Most who walk the Earth live in ignorance of this principle which sustains and maintains them until they are at their deathbed. You can realize and actualize your spirit while still in the physical form full of health and vitality, but you must begin the inner self cultivation necessary to distill the divine elixir that lies within. That is the essence of my job as Medical Qigong therapist, to assist, shift and uplift those who come to me via affinity. Most often its for healing but deeper it is to give them the tools to dig deep inside and find, understand and manifest their destiny-which is always spiritual in nature.

You must delve deep into the depths of your being searching and yearning for the answer to the question Who Am I?  It doesn't really matter what label you place on the life role. Find out who the "I" is you are talking about when you say "I" went, "I" came, "I" did or "I" am such and such.

The idea of ever having security and being able to resist change is only going to exhaust yourself in vain.

Life is change. Buddhists talk about groundlessness, the Daoists about Chaos. Do you ever really have control over your life? You may think you do and it could go on that way for a very long time but sooner or later somewhere, something is going to flip your world upside down and knock you on your ass. The question then becomes are you going to just sit there and stagnate or get up and move? The idea is to not get trapped in stasis, not get bogged down in the negative mind chatter of judging and berating yourself that stems from the ego/acquired mind. Most people when faced with a trauma, death or life-changing event don't know how to deal with it. They don't know how flow with it, most people's first reaction is to resist which eventually leads to stasis.

We as a people need to learn how to let go of our mental/emotional baggage that we all carry behind us like a ball and chain. Medical qigong therapy is unsurpassed at showing us tools to get out of stasis and clear, release and let go of this acquired mental/emotional baggage so we can hear the silent song of our spirit and live it while embodied.

When you ride the tide in the Dao of now you flow effortlessly in harmony with the unity of life.


MBS:  Thank you Darren
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Butterfly in Barely Blue by Nellie Levine is available for purchase on Cargoh 

 Darren Orr is a Reiki master and teacher, a nationally certified massage therapist and a Medical Qigong therapist and teacher.  He specializations are in Oncology, chronic pain, stress management, life-altering illness and palliative care for the terminally ill. Darren recently completed his 2nd year of a 3 year Medical Qigong Program, a Graduate Degree of over 2,000 hours.
You can email him at: Bodhichitta8@hotmail.com
Last year we conducted an amazing 3 part interview with Darren on our blog:
"From Jing to Qi to Shen: An Interview with Healer Darren Orr".
If you missed it, make sure to check it out!

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