“The therapeutic goal of the Inner Tradition is to assist patients in transforming by themselves” 

Lonny Jarret, Nourishing Destiny. 

The Chinese characters that make up the word “to heal” depict a boat carrying a Heart from one shore to another; that is why in the Inner Tradition of Chinese Medicine, we believe that when faced with an unbalance, we need Heart to restore health.  If you think about it, the main function of our Heart valves is to ensure the smooth passage of blood from one chamber to the other in order for the Heart to be able to “resurrect” de-oxygenated blood. Likewise, to heal we need to move through the imbalance to be able to transform what no longer serves into a new and oxygenated experience,

Let’s take a deeper dive into the characters for Healing:

The Shores represent the conditions needed for your Heart to do the healing.

• What is the context, the framework in which you best heal?

The Boat represents the visible and invisible helpers that assist us in transforming de-oxygenated past experiences into New Blood.

• Do you tend to assume that you are all alone when it comes to healing? How could this affect your healing process?

For the rest of the day, pay attention to the many moments in which your Heart is transported from “one shore to another”.  In my experience, healing is not a one-time event but a cycle, a process that works its magic in silent and subtle ways.

 Dr Daoshing Ni, DOM, PhD taught me this Chi Kung movement to with assist the Healing of the Heart.  See how you feel about practicing it for a while…

With Heart,
Yamin