Connection

Health and Healing in and Environment of Division

The deepest roots of TCM reach back into 5 Element Theory and Taosim. And boiled down to its essence it is the philosophy, backed up by science, that we humans are interconnected not only with each other, but with all the elements of the natural world. Energy/Yang is neither created nor destroyed. It simply transforms. And Matter/Yin is the material world manifested into the 10,000 things, of which we humans, are one. We are made of matter, and energy. Right now. We are literally, scientifically, intimately interconnected and dependent on each other for life. Every day.

This truth, that we are all interconnected, every bit of life, and need each other healthy and healing for our own health to be maintained, is the key to health and healing, not only in TCM, but in our daily lives. And as much as we need this knowledge to live healthy and healing lives, it is the feeling we need even more.

When do you feel connected? When does your world enlarge to encompass a feeling of connection with something other than yourself? What does it feel like?

It is this feeling that reminds us of who and what we really are... it is this feeling that helps heal the pain of division inside and outside ourselves. It is this feeling we need to nurture now, more than ever. 

One of the foundations to building this feeling for me, is gratitude. Almost every day, I begin my day thanking the Earth and all of my earth family for their healthy lives that make mine possible. I thank the life support systems for helping me live another day on this precious planet. I thank the ancestors, for making my life possible, as though I may not see them in a form I recognize, I know they linger in the air, water, soil, plants, genetics, art and literature I interact with every day.

And I feel it. I physically feel a connection to the intricate, pervasive elements of life that make mine possible. And it feels like love and compassion and an expansive and slightly-dense energy. Sometimes tingly, and like I want to just hug or am somehow hugging and feeling everything. And then I say a prayer that all I may do, think, say and feel be to the healthy, loving and healing benefit of all life today. 

This practice is just one that reminds me how to care for something other than myself, that cares for me, while caring for myself. Connection. 

How do you feel connected? And how do you nurture it?