Richard Brook's Blog

Summer 2008 - 2011
Practicing Acupuncture at Festivals

To accompany the video below I've written an article about practicing acupuncture at Summer festivals, it's written predominantly from an Acupuncturists perspective, as it was written to be submitted to an Acupuncture newsletter, but you are welcome to check it out here!

Winter
Dance and Movement; 5 Rhythms Classes and Workshops with Dawn Morgan (Birmingham and Stroud)

Continuing the Dance and Movement theme, for many years i've been attending 5 Rhythms Dance, and danced a great deal in Birmingham with a teacher, Dawn Morgan, (her website is in my links page) and also attended many longer workshops with her - from 1 day to 5 days. She's holding a workshop from Jan 14th to the 16th entitled 'Start the Year!' and i've written the following blog about why it would be good to attend such a workshop, and also mentioning her ongoing year group entitled 'Journey into Life' which has workshops periodically throughout the year. A lot of the dynamics i write about are transferable to the style of acupuncture i practice as it aligns with the underlying philosophy of being in tune with the Elements and natural rhythms of nature.

Start the Year!

Get the Year Started, tune into and nurture your blueprint for the Year ahead!

Often in New Year workshops we spend a while envisioning the year ahead, embodying, mentally planning, ritualising for the coming year the desired fruits which we would plan to grow.

However, alongside doing any envisioning it's also important to remember that deep Winter is actually, energetically our most 'Yin'; still and receptive time of year. Just look around and see what's happening in the natural world around us. Trees lay bare – expressing little growth but getting ready for the year ahead. So since naturally it’s our most receptive time of year, alongside doing any envisioning, its also essential to create and allow the space for the seeds for your blueprint for the year ahead to be planted within you.

So after the excesses of the festive period, both in terms of what we can often indulge in food and drink wise, and also in terms of our busyness, this workshop gives some personal space again to allow those seeds to be sowed, ready to be cultivated and launch forth as we move into Spring and throughout the rest of the year.

Alongside the actual time out you are gifting for yourself, the practice of 5 Rhythms dance in itself dance is a great way to create energetic Space within us. When we dance we clear energetic stagnation from our system and harmonise our Body, Mind and Spirit. So the meeting of this workshop which focuses on the potency of the 5 Rhythms practice itself and it’s ability to clear stagnation and the energy of the season asking us to be at our most receptive is a fantastic combination.

And don't forget that even though we will still be in deep Winter in mid January we will have moved past the Winter solstice so things will already have started to grow again slowly, as the light returns. So don't get caught out later in the year because you didn't give yourself the time and space to plant seeds and fill up on the energy of this season now!

In Taosim (The study of natural order and universal law) it is seen as essential that you fill up on the energy of each season as we pass through it as it feeds into the next season in the cycle and counterbalances those which have passed before. So fill up on Winter so you are ready to Spring!

And continuing this Journey into Life!

This brings us onto the ongoing year group on offer, Journey into Life. Alongside the richness of the 5 Rhythms practice and the gifts gained sharing transformational community, because it’s set out across the whole year we also get chance to continue our awareness of alignment to all seasons. It gives us the opportunity to recognise and be aware of how each season has it’s own rhythm and emotional energy (e-motion = energy in motion) which also moves through us.

This is further amplified by the workshop location, based in the Lickey Hills, being surrounded very closely by the rhythms of nature as they move through their yearly cycle.

So as well as being able at each module to tune into our own personal dance of what may be happening in our lives, we can also be aware of how our own dance and inner emotive landscape changes as the force and natural rhythm of energy around us moves – thus catalysing us into a different dance each season. This is part of our connection with our ‘bigger’ and more expanded self, how we align and are affected by the natural forces around us.

This relationship to the energy and rhythms of the seasons is something which we are to a greater or lesser degree cut off from in Modern Life, especially those living in urban areas. For example, being surrounded by lots of concrete every day we may miss out fully experiencing the rhythm of the force of spring, when trees, plants flowers burst forth with vibrant giving life, or also recognise the Stillness and bareness of Winter - which we don't get to see, feel, taste, smell when we are often surrounded by the same concrete shells each day!

Location; The Lickey Hills

But in the beautiful surrounds of the Lickey Hills as we mentioned earlier we get a reminder each module of how the dance of nature, which we are part of, moves, and gives us chance to reattune with that energy. - and to see how some of those seeds you may plant at the January ‘Start the Year’ workshop may grow!

The 5 Rhythms

So what else does dancing the 5 Rhythms do? Well alongside clearing stagnation from our system as we move and exercise our bodies, it also, fundamentally is practice for being able to move with Life’s rhythms as we experience them in our daily life. Everything has rhythm, we touched earlier upon on how different seasons have a different rhythm – contrast the feeling of stillness of Winter to the vibrancy of spring, when the force of light returning after the dark days of Winter catalyzes life to move upwards and out.

So learning and practising to move with various rhythms, provided by the music we experience in a class, gives us - our body mind and spirit - the experience, familiarity and preparation to be able to move fluidly with whatever rhythms we experience wherever they are – whether they are on the dancefloor, workfloor, shopfloor or kitchen floor!

For example, learning and practicing to move with the staccato rhythm on the dancefloor can help move with that energy as it’s demanded and experienced in your life – like the moments we have to give clear direction, act with clear direction and boundaries, be decisive, have form. Practising moving with the energy and rhythm of Chaos on the dancefloor – how that can be so relevant today – just about any busy shopping mall can show you that or the thronging crowds to get through to the January sales – many energies heading in different directions with different intentions all at the same time! It’s called a practice because sometimes we need a reminder – not just with the more ‘active’ or ‘Yang’ rhythms, but with the more inward ‘Yin’ ones too, perhaps need even more practice with those – to match and tune into the stillness rhythm of a Winters days, how utterly blissful!

The Tao

I'm a big fan of the notion of the Dao and Daoism (sometimes written Tao/ Taoism) Arguably our relationship with our Tao or 'path' is our most important relationship of all as it supercedes all others as it's all about you as an individual being in your flow and on your path, the path of your life. (sometimes we walk or dance a while with someone on our journey, in varying degrees of 'closeness' but that's a different story all together!) I sometimes also write about it as the sense of being at 'One' or in 'flow', and so those phrases often also crop up a lot.

From an acupuncture perspective, the principles of the style of acupuncture that i practice come from Taoism, and therefore is fundamental part of a person's health and wellbeing. My perception is that part of what we are all trying to do in life is to move as closely as possible in alignment with our Tao - and as a practitioner i could never tell anyone what their Tao is, but i'd like to think that having treatment can re-awaken a person to help re-discover what is in them already.

I believe we have a 'watcher' within us - as part of us, call it your soul if you like, keeping an eye on what we are getting up to in our life. It's our soul that carries our unique attributes and life plan - our Tao, and our soul which ultimately we have to keep happy! Doing activities which help to nourish your soul ascends your energy. It's our power centre, but also it can be a terrifying experience when we can see how powerful we actually are and what we are capable of - interms of the beauty which we can create. I wrote my dissertation on the idea of Life Purpose and how it's perceived in various traditions so it's been of keen interest to me.

So i often find myself writing notes trying to capture the essence of the Tao, here's some below.

'We live in a great universal ‘One’. Within that ‘One’ in any given moment you have a place, where in balance your energy meets the world to enable you to be fully whole, to feel at ‘One’. It’s a path of exploration, where our energy will constantly moment to moment lead us and be drawn toward those energies and vibrations which lead to balance and health.

In any one moment this may be being the party King or Queen, sitting quietly in a park, planning your day tomorrow or reflecting on yesterday, following this natural flow we maintain balance and health, forcing against this flow or being inhibited from it results in dis-ease' (R.B 2005)

However, i do also recognise that as people we tend to fall in and out of balance with our Tao; So, below are my thoughts on that.

Taoist?

'Someone who understands the Tao does not necessarily constantly live in it moment by moment. Infact a Taoist may often fall outside of the Tao, it's that they use it's existence as a guiding light, a beacon to try to bring themselves back into line with it'

It's about the awareness AND choosing to follow it. In that moment you are experiencing the Tao, therefore, arguably a Taoist' (R.B 2005)

'We walk this earth, searching, looking, desiring, to be on our path, our Dao, which we can have glimpses of from time to time, or walk it more fully, to be as one, to be in love, to be in ecstacy, and that ‘oneness’ that path takes you through the whole range of human life, through work, through relationships. Through learning, through teaching, as that feeling of oneness, of being whole, being in love is the expression of where those attributes within us are met wholly by the world around us, the universe and the dynamic interplay between the two is allowed to flourish. One cannot find this state of being through pushing or holding back, then there is separation, the work of the mischevious mind. It actually depletes our own energies and resources to push or hold back, a bit like pushing against a wave or trying not to let go into the flow of it.

'When we are in love we can do anything, it describes an ecstatic state of dynamic equilibrium with the world around us, from stacking shelves to making love, the missing ingredient is that it be your path, when it’s your path it will permeate all' (R.B 2005)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We all need a break sometimes!

I wrote a huge blog after getting run down and picking up a cold over the Christmas holidays, but it's so long i've had to post it at soultherapynow.blogspot.com as it won't all fit on this page. Check it out, it's broken down into sections that include;

- Getting run down;

- Finally the Flu takes me down!; - Winter is meant for stillness!

- Startling Event 1; I saw the Light!

- The need to move – but am I listening? Energetic stagnation and disarray

- Bringing Balance and moving energy blocks; Acupuncture treatment and time to dance! New Year’s Eve

- More Dancing and more things changing – Body re-alignment

Student Life

I'm obviously keen to work with whomever feels drawn to see me, but i do have an affinity towards working with students in particular, not least because of my own experience of university life and western culture in general but also I feel I’m not that far away from experience of student life myself, having studied in Manchester in the late 90’s, and Warwick more recently, and only just into my thirties so believe I’m sufficiently in touch, connected and aware of the relevant issues and dynamics of student life. (I also currently work in a pub and have been regularly spotted on the dance floor of Blast Off and Snobs student night in Brum for those of you who aren’t convinced!)

My thoughts around university life is that it’s often perceived and promoted as a time of life which aims to give a well rounded education, career tools and body of experience (and support systems) to enable a student to move on into the next stage of life. I advocate that this can quite often be far from the truth for many students. (Whilst also conscious to mention that university can also be a great, fantastic experience for many also.)

I see this as actually being because it’s a time of life where the pressures and cultural stresses of Western life are bought even more into focus, the pressures of achievement, expectation, course confusion, challenging relationships and social under nourishment can become even more amplified, leading to an even greater split away from being intune with healthy universal movement and interaction - which we can be afforded moreso when we are younger. (Just a thought – doesn’t it seem such a load of nonsense that older generation folk will often tell you that your school days will be the best days of your life – hello?- as far as I’m concerned this shows we must be getting something very wrong in society as surely life should get better as we grow, not worse!)

I recall from my own university experience a gaping hole in fulfillment and education and support of a more ‘wholesome’ and perhaps ‘spiritual’ kind (meaning support and nourishment for my own individual spirit, - not referring to religion) creating a huge void between a world of educational pressures and drunken experience, which was supported in the main by Western Psychological and Western belief and counselling support systems.

With my work I aim to actively encourage an individuals wellbeing in terms of how they fit into the greater universal picture, how they as individuals interact and attain health within a reality beyond the subjective pressures of the society we are bought up in and take an holistic approach to a persons wellbeing beyond how much money you can earn and how much you can drink on a night out.

There is a spark within each and every one of us which the universe acknowledges, our individual path of highest potential through life. If you feel drawn to visit me for a treatment session, my intended awareness is from that vantage point to support your universal spark, a coming together for a higher purpose of universal good, not necessarily to feed the western machine which can suck the very life out of us.

Natural Balance, Natural Flow

A few years ago I wrote a leaflet about some of the energy dynamics which i perceive to be at play in our lives, please find the contents below;

We as individuals live within a great universal mass, the universe, the ‘one’ if you like. Within that ‘one’, energies on any level of creation, i.e climatic, emotional, physical, etc, are constantly moving, transforming to create a state of dynamic equilibrium to balance one another.

Therefore ‘our own’ energies as part of that greater one will also move, constantly transforming and drawing towards and finding resonance with other energies which maintains that process of balance.

Energy knows exactly where it wants to flow to maintain that balance, moment to moment. And this is individual to each of us. Our individual path through life.

When our energies are wholly met by the world around us we have a sense of being at ‘one’ These moments of sensing we are at one are healing moments, as in those moments our energy is balanced with the world around us.

Awareness of where our energy wants to go to balance can only ever start in this moment, your balance your flow in this moment is ever changing, as I wrote in the passage at the top of the page, sometimes our flow is to be quiet, sometimes the party King or Queen and this constant moving process of balance with life is where we find health.

We all have a part to play within healthy creation, as the universe is a self perpetuating mass, a self supporting and balancing universal web. It has all it needs to balance through every creature and facet of creation. We all have a place within this process where the skills and talents in each and every one of us goes towards supporting this process, in a healthy way. It’s important to recognize we each have special individual skills and talents, value them, even if they have seemingly become redundant. It may just be that those skills and energies we dismiss in ourselves are what our healthiest place in creation may be all about.

Sickness and Dis-ease

Sickness or dis-ease arises when the flow of our energies is denied, which could be either from ‘within’ through limiting beliefs, (‘I can’t / shouldn’t do that!’) or from ‘without’, ‘external’ to us when the system or structure we live in isn’t supportive to the movement of our energies with other energies which transform them and allow them to balance.

These balancing energies can be those of other people, places, emotional expressions, physical expression, all just different levels and manifestations of energy.

Interestingly, the sense and awareness of what we need to do to balance and be on our path in life is often still recognizable within us, even if we’ve fallen some way from alignment with it. It may perhaps be perceived on a different level of our consciousness (for example evident through our dream states) which we may be struggling to identify with or acknowledge. Or there may just be a nagging sense of something in us – and that nagging sense on the energetic level may over time become that nagging pain in your back on the physical level if ignored long enough!

Modern society or the way we live our lives can often consistently challenge the movement of our energy and it’s balance. It can be unsupportive and inhibitive of our energies. We often live fairly secluded, sedentary lives, in fragmented communities which deny ourselves the nourishing contact we need.

Not forgetting that this process isn’t all about ‘receiving’ energies to balance us when we are ‘upset.’

There is a constant moment to moment process of energetic movement to create balance, indeed on this level of health there can be no distinction about giving or receiving, they are both just healthy movements of energy.

We may feel ‘fine’ and be drawn to a particular place, person or occupation and again this is just part of the universal balancing act, in that moment our energy may be drawn toward that individual, place or job as what energies are created in that moment create the highest potential. This really is the case of ‘giving being receiving’ as in those moments what we receive through our actions is as precious. (Also important however to continue to follow the energy and recognize when it’s changing and time to move on!)
Likewise we must also flow with the nourishment when it comes time to ‘receive’.

It’s a constant process of balance occurring through energies coming together, resonating together, flowing in whatever way necessary attempting to find their highest potential.

For example, I may have a capacity for this kind of energy work, just as we all have particular capacities specific and special to us, but it’s never lost on me that it’s balanced and met by those whom I have contact with by doing it, Thankyou!

When we hide or suppress that movement of energy, for example with a suppressed emotional expression that is needed for balance, we create an essential imbalance when that energy doesn’t move, and infact it will attempt to find someway of being seen, often manifesting in a symptom, perhaps moving down through the layers of our being to present as a symptom on our physical level.

As a brief asides, before I move on to discuss what happens during a treatment, just think for a moment about what your special talents are, what you bring to the world, even if they have been hidden under mounds of ‘dirt’ or have long gone unrecognizable.

Even think back to your childhood if you need to.

Treatment Notes

It’s not always easy to articulate around some of the dynamics which occur during a treatment although i'm conscious to mention a few points.

I’m extremely conscious that energy moves in unique ways in any given moment or situation, so I intend to allow the energy to flow to wherever it needs to go. Energy cannot be forced.

There are particular generic themes which can tend to arise during a treatment, much because although we all have our individual constitution in life, we are all subject to certain key dynamics of energy balance within our lives, such as Yin and Yang – for example how in balance a person will flow with expansion in balance with contraction, or activity in balance with rest - just as night balances day. Within this cycle of expansion and contraction I also often experience an awareness of the relationship to the Elemental phases (different traditions view 4 or 5 Elements) which also exist.

Also apparent can be a balance between Heaven and Earth energies, that we receive our inspiration from the Heavens above but this is balanced by nourishment and rooting to the Earth below, so as we move through life we can embody the inspiration for our life as we walk on our path.