Make the straight to flow.

Gather water, fire and light.

Bring the world to a single point”

Reading the interpretation of this Taoist quote was so timely this morning.  Making the crooked straight is done simply by devotion to our spiritual path, it is simply our determination that will make the impossilbe as boundaries melt away and our path becomes straight with flow.  This single focused determination is what brings the world to a single point when we unite all our inner elements.  When we are unified then we can focus on the single point meaning there is no distinction between the inner and outer worlds – nothing is far away and nothing is not open to us.  With strong devotion nothing is beyond us and our world becomes limitless… I say timely as I believe this is the essence of spring.  It is always remarkable to me that year in, year out, these tiny buds start to sprout despite rocks, hard earth, and inclement weather, they grow with a graceful single pointed focus despite larger objects around them…  It is all possible and never in the year is it better to tap into that directional grown than now with the support of nature all around us.

As we all try to negotiate the hussle of modern life, I know personally there has always been a little voice in my heart asking why, what is beneath and around all this striving and playing the game?  I can’t help feeling that what we are searching for is ourselves and a spiritual path that makes sense to our deepest cells of intuition.

In direct opposition to our modern culture where we look outward for validation and guidance and we care for our appearance in order to be accepted, in Taoism the exact opposite is true.  We look inside ourselves and we strive for a greater understanding of ourselves in order to understand the world and our place in it; the outer world is only known in relation to our inner point of view.

Self cultivation is the basis for knowing the Tao… Acupuncture, and the healing it enables, is a perfect place to begin this journey.  It is only by being in harmony with ourselves that our body can heal itself, which this is the basis of acupuncture.  The needles connect to our spirit opening up pathways to access our own well of understanding, knowing and healing.  When we truly connected to our spirit we are truly connected to the Tao…

We are often swayed by the physical embodiment of healthy; thin, big muscles, glossy hair, clear skin and these can, of course, be evidence of being physically healthy but I am not convinced that these in themselves denote all round health.

In Chinese Medicine health is described as being “embodied to the degree that we accurately perceive life, and illness is embodied to the degree that our interpretations deviate from reality.” (Lonny Jarrett). This means that our health is directly related to our ability to see what is really going on in our life, enabling us to respond accordingly, rather than react based on our perception, which is always tainted by our life experiences, beliefs and attitudes.

When we are living in accordance with the Dao it is said we are therefore able to live spontaneously, by which, I don’t mean impulsively and according to our desires, but rather in a fashion that is not rigid and governed by our subconscious.

By living in accordance with the Dao we live correctly in each season; resting in winter, being more active and sleeping less in the summer, eating cooked seasonal vegetables in the autumn and raw cooler foods in the summer. In doing this we don’t follow one dietary rule all year round regardless of the season but instead, adapt to our surroundings. In the same way, emotionally, when living spontaneously, we respond to life rather than reacting to it; the latter being driven by our subconscious and rarely positive or productive for that very reason.

These examples illustrate two interpretations of the Chinese understanding of health and I can’t help thinking that is it is a fascinating concept to look at and keep in mind when we are trying to evaluate our health and when we are looking for solutions. Health is not simply going to the gym every day and eating salads all year round regardless of how we feel and what season it is. It is far more subtle and dynamic; rather than prescriptive, it is personal and demands conscious thought and action.