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PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA
The October 2009 Mayo Clinic Health Letter was titled:
“October Special Report on Tai Chi and
Yoga.” Written by a Mayo physician who has attended my seminars
and classes, it draws on my
qigong work as well as the Tai Chi teachings of my colleague, Master
Yang Yang. To sign up for
a free trial issue of the Health Letter or to subscribe, go to
https://healthletter.mayoclinic.com/NL/print/landing.cfm?trkid=20909S893
Oprah has clips from my audios on her site.
http://www.oprah.com/search.jsp?query=Qigong&x=24&y=6
A brief interview about how to develop and enhance
intuition was published in “Owning Your
Sixth Sense” by Debra Bokur in Healing Lifestyles & Spas
Magazine, November 2009
http://www.healinglifestyles.com/index.php/owning6thsense
The Way of Qigong: Health, Energy, and Wisdom”
by Kenneth Cohen in Connections Fall 2009,
magazine of the Natural Health Practitioners of Canada. To read
the magazine and article, visit
the following website and then click on Connections Fall 2009
http://www.nhpcanada.org/pages/Links/Publications.aspx
“ The Qigong Getaway: Sequences for Life”
by Susan Dawson-Cook in American Fitness
Magazine Sept/Oct 2009, based on an interview with Kenneth Cohen
“ Buddha In A Cup of Tea” listen to the
free podcast interview with Kenneth Cohen and read a
transcription at http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/236-buddhist-geeks/episodes/52961-
buddha-cup
Read my article "The Tribe I Wouldn't Join",
published in May 2009 in News from Indian Country,
the national American Indian newspaper, archived at
http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6539&Itemid=74
I
discuss what it means to be a member of an indigenous tribe/Nation
and why I am critical of
people who claim membership neither recognized nor earned.
My review of David A. Palmer’s exceptional book
Qigong Fever was published in American
Ethnologist 36:1 (2009).
- "Insights from the Edge: Ken Cohen and the Power of Qi"
This podcast interview aired in April 2010 and is archived at
http://www.soundstrue.com/podcast/?p=1623
"Sacred Ceremonials for the Salish Sea" was held on
Earth Day, 2010 in Olympia, Washington and attended by indigenous
elders from Washington State and as far away as New Zealand. My
poem in honor of water was posted on the website for this event..
http://sacredceremonialsforthesalishsea.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/water-poem-by-ken-bear-hawk-cohen/
In July 2010, I was interviewed about Native American healing
and spirituality by Raven Redbone. His show "Make No Bones
About It" is broadcast from Everett, Washington on KSER 90.7
FM. The interview is archived at http://ravenredbone.podomatic.com/entry/2010-07-12T01_29_15-07_00
"
The Breath of Tao" book chapter and translations from Taoist
classics, also a beautiful chapter on Mexican indigenous traditions
by Grace Alvarez Sesma in Meditations for Interspiritual Wisdom:
Practices and Readings from the World's Spiritual Traditions,
edited by Netanel Miles-Yepez (Santa Barbara, CA: Spiritual Paths
Publishing, 2011)
My colleague, Qigong and Tai Chi Master Ray Hayward has compiled
an exceptional book on Tai Chi, Lessons with Master Liang, T'ai-Chi,
Philosophy, and Life. You will understand my excitement when
you read my foreword to this book.
-
- Other recently published works include:
- --Chinese Medical Qigong. Three chapters translated by Kenneth
Cohen (Philadelphia: Singing Dragon, 2010)
--"Why I Am Against the Arizona Immigration Law: Your Papers
Please" News from Indian Country, June 2010
--"In Harmony with the Tao: The Musical Roots of Qigong"
Qi: The Journal of Traditional Eastern Health and Fitness 20:3,
Autumn 2010
--"Taoists, Doctors and Shamans, Part 1" The Empty Vessel
Fall 2010
--"Taoists, Doctors and Shamans, Part 2" The Empty Vessel
Winter 2011
--“The Real Internal Martial Arts” in the July/August,
2011 issue of Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine
--“The Essence of Martial Power” in the September/October,
2011 issue of Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine
--“The End of Stress” a three-part (1 hr. each) web
seminar published by Sounds True, available for purchase and
download, includes lectures on the biology of stress and how
qigong treats stress. Each session includes a slide show (based
on my medical school presentations) and discussion, a guided
qigong meditation, and answering questions. Cost: $20/session
or $49 for all three. You can order it by clicking on the cd/dvd
section of the catalog on this website.
--“Birds and Humans” in Keepers News (newsletter
of the Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of Pipemaking), Summer
2011
--“Mind Matters: The Role of Intent in Healing” in
the August 2011 issue of Yang-Sheng e-magazine, at www.yang-sheng.com
--"Wilderness As Medicine: Native American Healing" a chapter in
the medical school textbook Wilderness Medicine 6th Edition (Elsevier, 2012),
edited
by Paul S. Auerbach, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine.
EXCERPTS FROM E-NEWSLETTERS BY KENNETH COHEN
Text and Photos ©Kenneth Cohen, unless
other source noted
Medication in Motion
In May 2009, Harvard University Medical School published a report
on "The Health Benefits of Tai Chi" that calls Tai Chi
"medication in motion." Since Tai Chi is a subset of Qigong,
all of this information applies to Qigong as well. It cites research
for "No Pain, Big Gains" including improvements in muscle
strength, flexibility, balance, and aerobic conditioning. Under
the category "Tai Chi for Medical Conditions" it recommends
Tai Chi as complementary therapy for arthritis, low bone density,
breast cancer, heart disease, heart failure, hypertension, Parkinson's
disease, sleep problems, and stroke. You can read the entire report
at http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Womens_Health_Watch/2009/May/The-health-benefits-of-tai-chi?print=1
As we would expect from a conservative publication, Harvard has
only noted information supported by peer-reviewed publication or
research. It is important to realize, however, that the range of
effective applications far, far exceeds this report, for several
reasons:
- Like medical doctors, most Qigong practitioners are too involved
in their practice and service to spend time writing up and submitting
the results of their work for publication. I can personally attest
to this. I have a huge amount of data from former clients who
have experienced remission from late stage cancers, type-two diabetes,
migraine headaches, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis symptoms,
chronic fatigue syndrome, and many other conditions. I have dozens
of articles "on the back-burner " (foreign readers:
this is American slang for procrastination and delay).
Admittedly, some of this delay is for financial reasons. There
is no financial compensation for medical journal or textbook writing.
Independent scholars, without university funding, simply cannot
pay the bills if they spend too much time presenting research.
- Some excellent research remains unpublished because it threatens
corporate sponsors (such as pharmaceutical companies) or the personal
prejudices of the journal editors. Science has become scientism,
a new religion, in which facts are dismissed if they don't
match pre-existing theory. And this is, ironically, the opposite
of real science, in which theory is supposed to follow observation.
"Even if it were true I wouldn't believe it," said one
so-called medical researcher. Or here's a winner: Elmer Green,
Ph.D submitted results of energy medicine research (that included
Qigong) to a prestigious peer-reviewed science journal. In a rejection
letter, the journal's editor wrote, "We could find no fault
with the science, but are concerned that the subject matter will
offend our readers."
- University teachers are often hesitant to publish research that
questions the status quo if they are being considered for tenure.
They may also fear censure by colleagues. Remember what happened
to Robert Becker, MD, when he reported the harmful physiological
effects of electromagnetic radiation? His lab was immediately
shut down.
- There is also the security factor. Imagine that you have invested
hundreds of thousands of dollars in your medical school education
and practice and subscribed to a mechanistic model of health in
which disease is treated primarily by cutting (surgery) or medicating.
Now you discover that there are more effective, inexpensive, non-medical
interventions for many (though certainly not all) of the diseases
you treat. Worse still-what if many aspects healing (and life)
cannot be known, measured, or controlled? Many physicians and
scientists retreat in fear or misplaced aggression against "alternative"
medicine.
- Quality case reports and clinical studies often go unreported
because the Qigong practitioner knows that they are not replicable.
There is a certain magic that occurs when a Qigong master tunes
in to the unique needs of a particular student/client. The "prescription"
of exercises, meditations, and/or healing treatments may not apply
to another person with the same disease label. Additionally, the
efficacy of a therapy is influenced by the presence and sensitivity
of the healer and the receptivity of the patient. Placebo is also
a factor: the belief system of the patient and degree of congruence
with the healer's philosophy of health. All of these variables
make it impossible to truly replicate Qigong research.
How Popular are Qigong and Other Healing
Systems in the U.S.?
According to a December 2008 report by the National Center for Health
Statistics, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Qigong is increasing in popularity. Extrapolating from
the sample of approximately 30,000 adults, there were 527,000 adults
practicing Qigong in 2002, and 625,000 in 2007, an increase of 18.6%
in five years. This does not include more than two million Tai Chi
practitioners also counted. This bodes very well for improvements
in U.S. healthcare (in spite of lack of preventive med support in
U.S. healthcare reform). And it also promises more career opportunities
for students in my Qigong Teacher Training! The Qigong Research
& Practice Center Qigong Teacher Training was the first program
of its kind in the world, established during the 1970s, when qigong
was still illegal in the People's Republic of China.
Students of indigenous healing will find it interesting that the
category "Traditional [indigenous] Healers" was included
in the 2007 survey. A total of 812,000 U.S. adults visited traditional
healers, including 21,000 to Curanderos or Curanderas and 224,000
to Native American medicine men or women. And although Mesoamerican
herbal medicine and Mesoamerican massage therapy are often included
in the category of "curanderismo" many respondents identified
these as separate healing modalities. Within the same total of 812,000
adults, 41,000 visited Hierberos or Yerberas (Mesoamerican herbalists)
and 267,000 visited Sobadors (Mesoamerican massage therapists).
In the "race and ethnicity" category included in the 2007
survey, we find that American Indians and Alaska Natives have the
highest percentage of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)
usage, followed closely by Native Hawi'ian and Pacific Islanders,
Whites, and Asians. African Americans and Hispanics report about
half the usage of the other races.
As expected, CAM usage generally increases with economic and educational
status.
To me, all of this points to the need for more outreach (financial
and physical accessibility) among CAM practitioners and educators
into Black and Latino communities, where these services are in great
need.
The Power of Love
A Native American elder once shared with me,
"There is no power stronger than Creator's Love."
His phrasing was deliberately fluid: love for Creator, love from
Creator, love for Creation, love for
our friends and family. Isn't the Lakota phrase Mitakuye Oyasin
"We are all related." an
expression of the unity and harmony so often associated with love?
I have been in Native
American sweat lodges where people with serious diseases were healed
when, through prayer
and song, a caring community invoked the healing power of Love.
Every culture recognizes this
power. The Troubadours of ancient Europe, influenced by both Muslim
Sufi mysticism and
Christianity, praised the unity of agape (divine love), amor (personal
love), and eros (sexual love).
The Chinese celebrate Lover's Day on the 7th day of the 7th month,
when two stars-- once mortal
lovers on earth-- cross the sky on a bridge of bird feathers. It
is always cloudy that night, so we
cannot see what is happening in the heavens. And it always rains
early the next morning-- the
tears of the departing lovers.
The Learning Journey
 Aunty Lani, a hula teacher,
once said to me, “All wisdom is not to be found in one school.” A ohe
pau ko ike I kou halau. This means not only humility—the realization
that what we know is tiny
compared to what we don’t know, but also acknowledging
the importance of broad, open-minded
learning. Yet we must also keep in mind that it is better to
dig a few deep wells than many shallow
wells.
I was reminded of these truths
during winter and early spring pilgrimages. My wife Grace
and I
visited sacred sites in the Yucatan—Chichen Itza, Tulum,
Cozumel—met
with Mayan healers and had the good fortune of being in the
right place at the right time. Imagine being invited to the
home of an Aztec gentleman to view and enjoy his collection
of more than 800 pre-Hispanic
musical instruments! Or spending hours with a Mayan cultural
historian, who we met by “chance”
on a trail in San Gervasio, home of Ix-Chel, Mayan Moon Goddess/Spirit.
These beautiful people
spoke the universal language of kindness, insight, and generosity.
They had dug “wells” deep
enough to tap the common water of spirit.
 A month later, during the
Equinox Celebration on an Indian reservation in northern Mexico,
we
met a group of Yaqui Indian youth, elders, and wisdom-keepers. Poor
by material standards, but
rich in culture—they had traveled a great distance, including
many miles by foot, boat, and bus, to
share their heritage.
As they played traditional instruments, sang,
and danced to honor the Deer
and the Coyote, they seemed to become these animals. I was reminded
of a teaching I received
in the early 70s while studying the 12 Animals of the martial art
Xingyi Quan with B.P. Chan.
One
day, in a private class, after practicing the Chicken technique,
Master Chan frowned and said,
“ Your movement is correct but all wrong!” Seeing my
puzzled look he explained, “Don’t imitate the
chicken; become the chicken!” at which point, without even
bending his knees, he suddenly
jumped on a nearby chair. He landed balanced on one leg, folded
his elbows near his body,
raised them up and down as though flapping a pair of wings, and
exclaimed, “You see. I am a
chicken!”
Healing Sounds
The great Lakota holy man, Fools Crow once said,
“Everything that exists has a sound, and when
things pass close by one another there is even a sound between them.
This is how sound comes
into being. Wakan-Tanka, Grandmother Earth, and other Helpers use
sounds to communicate to
us-- sometimes in words, but more often to stir up our minds and
hearts to think of spiritual
things.” (Fools Crow: Wisdom and Power by Thomas Mails, p.
81)
Reverence for sound is universal.
Ancient texts from India emphasize that Sabda is Brahman,
“ Sound is Divine.” In Genesis, “God said, “Let
there be light, and then there was light.” Thus,
sound or vibration creates light, which precedes the creation of
the world. African drums are more
than a method of communication across jungle and savannah; their
complex rhythms remind us
that life is rhythm. Archaeologists have discovered that many Upper
Paleolithic (10,000 to 40,000
year old) art and ceremonial sites, such as the famous Lascaux caves
in France, were picked for
their acoustic properties. The most densely painted European rock
art sites have the best
acoustics. To hum near a bend or crack in a wall produces the sound
of the animal portrayed
there. I am reminded of the Great Pyramid of Kukulkan in Chichen
Itza, Mexico. If you clap your
hands near the base, you hear, clearly and loudly, the sound of
a macaw bird. “It’s not an echo,”
our guide explained, “it’s acoustics.”
In China, sound and music
were considered keys to social harmony, spiritual cultivation, and
inner health. From very ancient times, at the beginning of each
season, particular notes were
played on musical instruments. The sound of Spring puts one in touch
with the qi, the energies of
spring, and preserves well-being. Chimes and gongs were already
ancient by the time of
Confucius. Taoists loved the great qing, stone chime—the most
sacred consisting of stalactites
from sacred caves. To create harmony in oneself or in the world,
one might strike the instruments
of yang, yin, and taiji (harmony of yin and yang). The yang instrument
is the metal gong. The yin
instrument is a hollow piece of wood, called the mu yu, wooden fish,
commonly used by
Buddhists and Taoists to set a beat while chanting. The instrument
of Taiji is the drum. During the
festive Lion and Dragon dances, the sound of the drum brings health
and good fortune.
Not surprisingly, one of the
central principles of qigong is called “tuning” (tiao),
the same word
used in the phrase “tune the piano.” One tunes the body,
breath, and mind with correct posture,
slow breathing, and equanimity. Sound is also used directly as a
healing tool. There are mantralike
chants to stimulate the three dan tian energy centers at the third
eye, heart, and lower
abdomen or to invoke deities and the qualities they represent, such
as the beloved Guan Yin
chant to inspire compassion. Through the practice of nei guan, inner
looking, ancient Taoists saw
and heard the qualities of the internal organs, and by visualizing
their respective colors and toning
their sounds, one restores metabolic health. This “Healing
Sounds” exercise, called Liu Qi Fa
(Six Qi Method) in Chinese, is associated with some of the greatest
figures in ancient qigong
history. First mentioned by the alchemist Tao Hongjing (456-536),
it is also described in the
writings of Buddhist monk Zhiyi (538-597), and in the classic works
of the great Chinese medical
doctor Sun Simiao (581-682). In modern times, the late Dr. Ma Litang
created the Liu Zi Jue (Six
Word Secret) by combining the Healing Sounds set he learned during
the 1930s with elements of
Chinese medicine. Dr. Ma’s qigong is one of the most clinically
effective and tested methods of
modern qigong. His set is one of the four styles officially endorsed
by the Chinese government:
Six Word Secret, Five Animal Frolics, Eight Brocades, and Muscle/tendon
Transforming.
I have a strong personal interest
in this area, as it was my love of music that first brought me to
study the Chinese language. In 1968 my friend Alan Watts recommended
a book on music theory
that contained a philosophy very close to Zen Buddhism. By mistake,
I bought a book of the same
title, but by the wrong author. I was looking for a book about music,
but ended up with a very rare
introduction to the Chinese language. By the time I read the first
chapter, I was hooked! That was
in 1968. In the 1970s I had the opportunity to learn the Healing
Sounds set from a Taoist friend
and from three other colleagues, one of whom was a student of Dr.
Ma Litang. All through this period, I continued listening to music.
I am convinced that music conditioned my brain to make
me a better learner, a kind of Mozart-effect, as people call it
today (the term coined by another
friend and colleague, Don Campbell).
Real Kung-Fu
It's the end of an era. Inside Kung-Fu (IKF),
the magazine that thirty-eight years ago introduced qigong and
Chinese martial
arts to North America and that served as a source of knowledge
and inspiration early in my training, published its last issue
in 2011. I imagine that they could no longer compete with the
numerous free online journals and the general decline in American
literacy. When IKF began, kung-fu was exotic and esoteric. Later,
with the David Carradine TV series and Bruce Lee movies, it became
a fad. And finally kung-fu (or the more accepted term wu shu)
was recognized as a sport, discipline, and valid form of exercise
or athletic training. In fact, the word "kung-fu" means
not martial arts, but discipline, practice, and patience. In
common Chinese usage, a person who is good at martial arts has
kung-fu; one who is poor at martial arts lacks it. It seems to
me that in our modern world, with its emphasis on technology
and instant gratification, most people would rather do a google
search than develop kung-fu.
 Qigong: Real or Placebo?
I recently had the honor of presenting at the leading Chinese Medicine
symposium in the United States. To my delight, there were about
700 very enthusiastic students in my lecture “Qigong for
Cancer: An Evidence-Based Approach to Chinese Energy Medicine” and
about 200 in my beak-away 3 hour workshop on Primordial Qigong.
Attendees, mostly acupuncturists, were probably surprised to see
on the opening page of the Symposium website that all 63 hours
of course work at the Symposium were approved for California continuing
education units “except Ken Cohen’s lecture.” The
background story brings out some absurdities in U.S. education
and professional licensing. My lectures have been hosted by numerous
medical schools, hospitals, and medical organizations, including
the American Cancer Society, the Mayo Clinic, the American Association
of Medical Acupuncture (medical doctors who practice Chinese medicine),
the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, the University
of Arizona School of Medicine, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, and
so on. Physicians and nurses are able to get continuing education
credits for my programs. Yet acupuncturists cannot. Why? My course
was rejected by the California acupuncture board because treating
cancer with qigong, EVEN AS COMPLEMENTARY THERAPY, “falls
outside the scope of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) practice.” By
law, TCM doctors are only allowed to treat the side-effects of
conventional (and sometimes unproven) western therapies. They can
treat the nausea, pain and discomfort that follow chemotherapy,
radiation, and surgery. But they cannot, legally, treat cancer
directly, and have little access to any supportive evidence, unless
it is offered not-for-credit and outside of standard TCM school
curricula.
I explained to the students in my lecture that I am not a physician
and cannot offer medical advice regarding the prevention, diagnosis,
or treatment of disease. Yet, it is my PERSONAL OPINION, that the
evidence for the effectiveness of qigong far exceeds that of many
standard western interventions for cancer. And I don’t give
a damn about being politically correct. I received a hearty round
of applause, and warm email feedback continues to pour in.
Of course many skeptics claim that qigong is “only placebo,” the
power of positive beliefs and expectation. But then how do we explain
why External Qi Healing (qi projected from the hands of a trained
healer) works on mice, rats, and cell cultures? We presume that
the mouse doesn’t believe in the power and charisma of the
healer!
And if we are to cry “placebo,” let’s be fair.
At least 1/3 of all healings attributed to western medicine are
due to placebo, the natural course of the disease, or other unknown
factors. A leading scientific methodology expert from the NIH told
me, “When both patient and physician believe in the efficacy
of treatment, the level of placebo effect jumps to 2/3.” I
am certainly not denying the miracles of western medicine. It is
can be absolutely life-saving if you have a bacterial infection,
diabetes, are injured in a car accident, for some cancers, and
for a host of other conditions. But we should not demand 100% evidence-based
effect for qigong when we don’t make the same demands of
medical science. And if you think that western medicine is supported
by better research or “statistically significant” results,
think again. Read this just published article from Science News.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/335872/title/Odds_Are%2C_Its_Wrong
“
It’s science’s dirtiest secret,” the authors
tell us, “The ‘scientific method’ of testing
hypotheses by statistical analysis stands on a flimsy foundation.”
To put it simply, unproven therapies are given the stamp of approval,
while many clinically effective interventions are unapproved, non-reimbursed
(by insurance), and rarely funded, whether for research or public
education. This is a terrible disservice to the patient and a betrayal
of the Hypocritic, I mean Hippocratic Oath.
 An Historic Unreported Event
On Saturday November 5, 2011 Grace and I attended a beautiful Native
American event at San Diego’s popular Market Creek Plaza,
a place once and still sacred to its original inhabitants, the
Kumeyaay Indian Nation. Amidst joyous songs, speeches, feasting,
and gift-giving, there was a ceremonial unveiling of a magnificent
traditional basket. Only this basket was about 6 feet in diameter
and sculpted in stone by Kumeyaay artist Kenneth Banks. It is good
to see a public recognition of the Kumeyaay and the beauty of their
culture.
Yet, in spite of the day’s historical and cultural
importance, there were only a handful of people attending, I would
guess about 25. Where were the TV crews and newspaper reporters?
Are San Diego residents and media so ignorant of, or embarrassed
and ashamed of their history that they would rather view art in
a museum, so they can safely assume that such art represents a
past that no longer exists? San Diego County probably has more
reservations than any urban area in the U.S.; yet I have spoken
to locals  who are unaware that there are still Indians in the region.
Casinos yes. But Indians? Euro-Americans are still looking for
red men wearing war bonnets and riding on mustangs.
Radiation and
Toxicity
Please join me in prayers for the people, animals, plants, land,
and water of Japan.
I am sure you know that it
only takes an incredibly small amount of radioactive material
to cause cancer and radiation-induced
disease. The jet stream is capable of pushing radioactivity
from the area
around Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Reactor to the West
Coast of the United States in six to ten days. From there,
wind currents
could continue to disperse it across the continent. The only
way to truly prevent radiation-caused disease is by avoiding
radiation,
including radiation-contaminated food (such as contaminated
milk products, the principle carrier for radioactive iodine).
However,
there are some measures that may reduce disease risk. Evidence
suggests that potassium iodide, found in seaweed, may prevent
radioactive iodine from fall-out from binding with the thyroid
and other tissues
in the body. Make sure there is iodine in your diet before
exposure and during, as iodine is eliminated from the body
in one to three
days.
Seaweed has many important properties. It contains numerous
minerals in addition to iodine, such as calcium, iron, phosphorous,
and
zinc. Chemicals in seaweed bond with heavy metals such as lead,
mercury, and radioactive elements such as cesium, strontium,
and barium. Research conducted at Montreal’s McGill University
and elsewhere have demonstrated that alginate, a chemical found
in brown seaweed such as kelp, can remove radioactive substances
deposited in the body even long after the initial exposure.
In a series of experiments, alginate was able to remove radioactive
elements such as strontium and cesium from the bones of people
who had been exposed to airborne radiation during the height
of
nuclear testing in the 1950s.
There have been reports that Japanese people who ate a traditional
diet suffered less radiation effects after Nagasaki and Hiroshima
than people who did not adhere to these traditions. At first
it was assumed that the protective agent was miso, a fermented
soybean
product used as the base in Japanese miso soup (my favorite breakfast).
Today, most researchers agree that it was probably the seaweed
commonly added to miso soup that had the preventive effects.
Various edible seaweeds bond with different substances. Therefore
it is important to eat a variety of seaweeds such as dulse,
nori, kelp, wakame, and hiziki. These are delicious added to
rice,
soups, salads, or in sushi. Add a little ground nori to toasted
sesame
seeds and salt for a delicious condiment. As with all dietary
changes, eat new foods in moderation and check with your doctor
to assure
that you don’t have any condition for which seaweed is
inadvisable. Also, it is essential that you eat only organic
seaweed taken from
pure waters. You can generally find seaweed products in a health
food store.
Many people eat seaweed because of other benefits. The fiber
found in kelp and brown colored seaweeds reduces fat absorption
by 75%.
Research funded by the National Institutes of Health and conducted
at Georgia Tech and the University of the South Pacific has identified
ten new seaweed compounds found in Fijian red seaweed, Callophycus
serratus, that may lead to new anti-cancer drugs. These chemicals
were found to kill human cancer cells (especially cervical cancer),
as well as staph and other bacteria.
Many of the healthful properties of seaweed were/are known
by coastal Native Americans, whose diets included foods such
as
seaweed and
fish oil that are now the object of “cutting edge” research.
As one example, in the 1920s the famous novelist Jack London,
author of Call of the Wild, introduced his friend, Dr. Joseph
V. Wachter,
who had incurable tuberculosis, to his Tlingit Indian friends
in Nome, Alaska. They treated Wachter with seaweed poultices
and infusions
and other traditional medicines for six months. After his cure,
he walked 10,000 miles back to New York City and devoted the
rest of his life to seaweed research and product development.
The current concerns about radiation should remind us about
the everyday need to avoid or reduce toxic exposure from any
source.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that there
are more than 3.8 billion pounds of toxic chemicals released
into
the US environment every year. 25% of the U.S. population has
heavy
metal poisoning. Our ability to handle environmental toxins
is likely decreasing because of “toxic load”—the
total of all toxic exposures, from whatever source, that affects
human physiology. To put it simply, if we were only exposed
to small amounts of herbicides, insecticides, or air pollution,
the
effect might be negligible. But, add multiple exposures together,
and one reaches a threshold beyond which even the slightest
physiologic insult pushes one into a diseased state. Consider
the following
factors that influence this toxic threshold
• Insecticides, herbicides, drugs, solvents, metals
• Infections (viral and bacterial) and parasites
• Biological inhalants: molds, algae, pollens
• Physical phenomena: EMFs, Ionizing radiation
• Lifestyle-- drinking, smoking
• Mechanical problems such as arthritis and spinal injuries
• Biomechanical dysfunction: nasal, intestinal, gall bladder, kidney,
etc.
• Allergies and food intolerance (the most universal: wheat and milk)
• Hormonal Imbalance: DHEA/cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone,
thyroid, etc.
•
Stress of sound pollution, light pollution (excess light), mal-illumination
(insufficient natural light), and lack of the biologically normalizing
effects of nature: “nature deficit disorder”
• Psychosocial factors: emotional stress and trauma, poor coping
skills, rigid belief systems
In addition to ingesting seaweed, it is important to have a balanced
diet that includes garlic, onions, and the cruciferous vegetables
such as cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts, as these improve
the detox power of the liver. I also recommend drinking tea (see
the chapters on tea and diet in my book The Way of Qigong). Healthy
lifestyle, emotional balance, and a clean environment are essential
to prevent illness. And, of course, I highly recommend qigong
as an effective way to improve health and mitigate the effects
of
environmental toxicity.
 How Will You Celebrate This
Important Holiday?
If the United States has a Columbus Day, shouldn’t Italy
have a day to commemorate the discovery of their country? On September
22, 1973, Ojibwe activist and artist Adam Fortunate Eagle landed
in Italy in full regalia, and planting his ceremonial spear in
the ground, took possession of that country by "right of discovery" (as
established in European law). To the credit of Native American
peoples (and contrary to the colonial history of Europeans in the
Americas), since the discovery of Italy, neither land nor people
have been pillaged. There has been no enslavement, and taxes and
other levies have not been imposed. From the beginning of its civilized
history, nearly 40 years ago, there has been no attempt to forcibly
educate or convert Italian people, although the Pope did have the
nerve to present his ring to Mr. Fortunate Eagle when they met.
It was a stand-off, as Mr. Fortunate Eagle presented his own turquoise
ring to the Pope. Neither graced the other with a bow or a kiss.
Indeed, Native American tribal courts have treated Italians fairly,
and never questioned their humanity (Native Americans were not
categorized as human beings in U.S. courts until the late 1800s).
Considering all of this, it is a travesty that there is no "Adam
Fortunate Eagle Day" celebrated in Italy or the rest
of Europe.
Postscript: Learn more about this great man, (perhaps best
known for inspiring and leading the occupation of Alcatraz
in 1969)
in the DVD Contrary Warrior: The Life and Times of Adam
Fortunate Eagle. My wife and I had the honor of enjoying
the hospitality
of Mr. Fortunate Eagle and his wife and the beauty of their
art gallery in the fall of 2011.
Appreciation for Life
Below are some haiku I wrote during the cool,
rainy spring season in the Colorado Rocky
Mountains. Both reading and writing haiku are wonderful ways to
tune in to what poet William
Wordsworth called “the poetic moment,” a moment of passing
beauty expressed in words. Or as
the Chinese Poetry Classic put it, more than 2,000 years ago, Shi
yan zhi, “Poetry speaks the
wishes of the heart.”
Japanese haiku poetry, like
other arts, owes much to China. Japanese artists refined and
simplified Chinese landscape paintings into the minimalist art of
sumi—a few suggestive brush
strokes on a canvas with enough empty space for the imagination.
Similarly, Chinese poems that
describe mountains and water with exquisite detail-- paintings made
of words— inspired the
distilled poetic experience of haiku.
Thoughts disappear
As the world becomes one sound
In the rain.
How refreshing!
Bright rain pearls
On the spring aspen.
In spring mist
Mountain's granite face
Is softer.
When the mist blows in
An entire herd of elk
Disappears!
How sad, the modern world;
On the mountain slope
Not a single campfire.
Yes spring has come;
The air is criss-crossed
By trails of hummingbird sound!
A single songbird
Makes the pre-dawn silence
More mysterious.
Most of us associate the Chinese
art/science of qigong with health, martial arts, and spiritual
cultivation. Indeed, these are the three classic categories of qigong:
yi gong (health qigong), wu
gong (martial/sports qigong), and dao/fo gong (Daoist/ Buddhist
qigong). However, I feel that
there is a much more basic, much more essential reason to train
qigong, and that is appreciation
of life. Health is certainly important. Without it, we can enjoy
little else. But there are limits to
health cultivation, set by our genetics, life circumstances, or
the sometimes unpleasant
consequences of aging. To quote the famous Swiss psychiatrist Carl
Jung, “Life is a disease with a very poor prognosis. It lingers
on for years and invariably ends in death!” Like health qigong,
martial and sports qigong can help us maintain strength, flexibility,
coordination, and energy--
important at every stage of our lives. Spiritual qigong includes
practices that unfold inner peace,
contentment, and awareness of the great realm of being (The Tao)
in which we live and may,
indeed, continue to live in after death of the body. Yet, ultimately,
it is appreciation and joy of life
that creates meaning and fulfillment. To grimly or obsessively watch
every calorie, sweat at the
gym, or train our qigong, is to miss the flowers! Both haiku and
qigong can teach us how to live
more fully.
I remember a fine lesson I
received from my first qigong teacher, B. P. Chan. It must have
been
1974 or 5. I was at his studio one day for a private class in Bagua
Zhang, a Chinese martial art
that includes extensive qigong energy building practices. Before
starting our usual warm-ups,
Master Chan asked me, “Gao Han [my Chinese name], why do we
practice these exercises?” I
knew he wanted to answer his own question, so I just repeated, “Why?”
He stated, matter-offactly,
but with a penetrating gaze, “to find out, is this arm my
arm, is this leg my leg, to master
the 4 Virtues of the Human Being. What are these 4 Virtues? How
to lie down, how to sit, how to
stand, how to walk. If your arm were really your arm, if your leg
were really your leg, you would
have no problem doing this…” At which point, Master
Chan demonstrated a beautiful Bagua
movement in which his body seemed to twist, turn, and roll like
a dragon playing in the clouds.
His point was well made; most of us are so disconnected from our
bodies, so conditioned by poor
habits learned from others, and so distracted in our thoughts, that
our bodies seem not our own.
At that point, Master Chan paid me one of the greatest compliments
I have ever received, “Gao
Han, I can’t share this secret with most of my students. I
can tell you because you are crazy like
me!” To appreciate life is to break from conditioning and
convention. I was thrilled that Master
Chan saw me as a kindred unconventional character!
Tea Time: Cha Cha Cha
Flowers and songbirds in spring, tall grasses
and full rivers in summer, colored leaves and crisp
moonlight in autumn, snow and silence in winter. And through all
of these seasonal changes, we
celebrate with poetry, music, art, Tai Chi, and Tea. Tea harmonizes
us with the seasonal
changes. All of the elements are present. Fire to boil the Water,
Wood element in the green tea
leaves, Earth in the pottery teapot, and Metal representing the
misty mountains where the tea
grows.
Of course, many people today
are interested in tea because of its health benefits. Experimental
evidence suggests that tea may prevent or be a powerful adjunct
in the treatment of cancer, heart
disease (lowering bad cholesterol), diabetes (increasing insulin
sensitivity), osteoporosis, viruses
(such as the flu virus), and bacterial infection (including dental
cavities). It has 200X the antioxidant
(anti-aging) power of vitamin E. Tea has always been the favorite
beverage of qigong
practitioners, meditators, and acupuncturists. Of course, I am speaking
only about true Tea (cha
in Chinese), an infusion of the leaves of camellia sinensis. Whether
green, oolong, or black, it’s
the same plant. Please do not confuse tea, in this sense, with herbal
beverages such as
chamomile or peppermint “tea.”
Tea is good for the heart,
in both the Chinese and Western sense. In Chinese medicine, tea
is
classified as bitter flavor—the flavor that directly influences
heart function. The green color of the
leaves is associated with the liver, the source of heart-qi (energy)
and the organ associated with
flow and adaptability. According to western science tea contains
L-theanine, a mood-regulating
amino acid that creates a state of tranquil awareness. But there
are qualities that cannot be easily
explained, the way the aroma of the brew expands the senses, the
way time stops in the tearoom
and how mystery and beauty are found in the everyday.
Statements on this website have not been evaluated
by the FDA. Information is provided for educational purposes only
and is not meant to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease nor
to substitute for medical advice by a licensed health-care professional.
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