Welcome to Yang-Sheng！養生欢迎您!

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) is an E-magazine and network for all Qigong, Tai Chi, Yoga, Reiki, mindfulness, and meditation practitioners, health seekers, and spiritual cultivators.  It promotes philosophy and methods of self-healing, positive mind and health preservation, and shares knowledge and experiences with those who are interested in the subjects and their applications in everyday life.

Yang-Sheng merges traditional life-nurturing knowledge with modern scientific research and clinic evidence, and combines ancient wisdom with our own experience to support our daily practice and well-being,  and to reach true meaning of health in body, mind and spirit… Your contribution, participation, sharing and suggestions are truly appreciated.

Click here to download the April 2011 issue as a PDF

Highlights of Current Issue (Vol 1, No. 3)

[Featured Article] A Personal Story of Healing Through Chinese Herbs and Qigong by Solala Towler — How the author used Chinese herbs and qigong to heal from a ten-year affliction with CFIDS and how this led to his current spiritual path (Daoism) as well as a whole new career as editor/publisher of The Empty Vessel as well as author of over 12 books on Daoist philosophy and qigong….

[Mind-Body Medicine Research Update] — Functional and Psychosocial Effects of Health Qigong in Patients with COPD: A Randomized Controlled Trial • Effect of meditation on stress-induced changes in cognitive functions .• New insights on therapeutic touch: a discussion of experimental methodology and design that resulted in significant effects on normal human cells and osteosarcoma. •  An evaluation of pulmonary parameters in two groups of subjects during Yoga practice. •  Effects of Qigong in Promoting Health of the Wheelchair-Bound Older Adults in Long-Term Care Facilities. • Effects of yoga on psychological health, quality of life, and physical health of patients with cancer: a meta-analysis. • Mindfulness-based stress reduction versus pharmacotherapy for chronic primary insomnia: a randomized controlled clinical trial. • Evaluation of a biofeedback-assisted meditation program as a stress management tool for hospital nurses: a pilot study. • A mathematical model of effects on specific joints during practice of the Sun Salutation – A sequence of yoga postures. • Using silver yoga exercises to promote physical and mental health of elders with dementia in long-term care facilities. • The Effect of Add-On Yogic Prana Energization Technique (YPET) on Healing of Fresh Fractures: A Randomized Control Study. • Effects of two modes of exercise on physical fitness and endothelial function in the elderly: exercise with a flexible stick versus Tai Chi.

[Illuminating the Dao]  Illness and Wellness: There Are Two Sides to Every Story by Michelle Wood — In view of the changing nature of the universe, including the mini-universe housed within the human body, it is impossible to maintain one particular level of wellness, or even illness. Wellness gets worse and illness gets better, one hopes, but if you live “in the middle,” you may avoid many of the extremes of bad health.

[From the Master] How to Maintain Energy by Yang Yang — People of ten ask me: “How do I improve my Gong,” or “How do I improve my push-hands by improving my Gong?” How do we improve our martial arts skills? And I like this long-term question: How can we have the vitality and happiness most accomplished grand masters have when they reach the age of seniors?

[Meditation in Motion] Integrating Mind and Body with Taijiby Eric Borreson — Mind-body integration means to be aware of your movements, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In order to develop a mind-body connection, we need to learn how to continuously adjust our movements, posture, breathing, though ts, and emotions. Taiji is the perfect vehicle to do this. Taiji helps develop clarity of mind, awareness of body and qi, and strength of spirit.

[Topics in Research] Are you really studying Taiji and Is it effective for stress? by Marty Eisen — The movements in the solo Taiji form cause the Qi to circulate. A Taiji expert can feel the Qi circulate and after years of practice; the circulation of Qi produces the movements.  Thus, Taiji can be considered to be a form of Qigong according to the Qi definition of Qigong

[A Comedy Moment] — Good humor is a philosophic state of mind; it seems to say to the Nature that we take her no more seriously than she takes us –If a Daoist had composed the error messages that appear on a computer screen….

 

[The Tai Chi Examiner] The 13the World Congress on Qigong and TCM by Violet Li — Dr. Effie Chow has been extremely busy recently with a faculty of esteemed Qigong, TCM, and Mi nd-body exercise experts planning the 13th World Congress on Qigong.  Now the agenda has been decided and the program looks stronger than ever.  Many masters and experts have committed to participate in it and you can mark your calendar or book a trip for this event which will be held in San Francisco from April 29-May 2, 2011.

 

[Echoes of Emptiness] Selected Poetry by Jacob Newell (Daoshi) — Since ancient times, Daoists have used poetry and other art forms to express mystical experience, convey teaching, and transmit energy. A Daoist poem arises naturally out of the stillness of an empty mind, like fresh grasses in the springtime. Embracing both wuji and taiji, Daoist poetry can clear the mind and reveal the Dao.

[Ayurvedic Wisdom] Ayurveda and The 3 Pillars of Mind-Body Wellness by John Russell — Ayurveda recognizes that in order for our mind-bod y make-up to be firmly established in a state of energetic well-being, we need to maintain a well balanced what we eat, the proper regulation of rest with meditation, and a healthy expression and management of our sexual energy. This is what Ayurveda calls the 3 Pillars of Life, as presented within the Charaka Samhita, known as one of the greatest resources of Ayurvedic Wisdom.  Let us examine how these 3 Pillars function and how they offer everything that we need to enjoy a life full of wellness.

[Method to Improve Meditation] Taking Dan-Tian Breathing a Step Further –Hui-yin breathing by Ken Andes,  — As the qigong aspirant begins to make Dan Tian breathing a regular and eventually habitual form of life, the increased oxygenation of the body results in greater energy, a clearer head, relief from gastro-intestinal problems, and relief from chronic aches and pains. Additionally, the increased oxygenation from Dan Tian breathing gives people a higher metabolism and reduced cravings for sugar and junk food. Yes, you heard me right, the breathing methods taught in qigong have helped countless people overcome obesity and weight gain problems after other methods have failed.

[Experience Exchange] An Introduction to the Music TaiChi Class in Montgomery County and the University of Maryland by Phoenix Liu, Ph.D. — The Music TaiChi class is currently instructed by Dr. Phoenix Liu. The class focuses mainly on Yang Style TaiChi. Dr. Liu continues Master Fung’s philosophy of focusing on the training of fundamentals in her teaching. Practicing fundam entals strengthens physical conditions and stabilizes TaiChi stances–an indispensable method of developing the ability to quickly grasp forms.

[Breathing in This Life] The Anti-Inflammatory Lifestyle: A Fountain of Youth? By Ginger Garner MPT, ATC— Inflammation plays an important role in your ability to achieve health and wellbeing.  When it is present, other than in a situation of acute injury or infection, inflammation damages your body’s ability to heal itself, setting you up for a lifetime of low grade, persistent, degenerative inflammation and accelerated aging. Diets claiming to ward off aging are highly popular, yet the nutrition scene is waist high in confusing, sometimes conflicting information. The good news is I have sorted through it for you.  The frontrunner with the most scientific evidence to support anti-aging is the anti-inflammatory diet.

[Tips of Yang Sheng]  Medicated Syrups and the Nourishing Life Tradition by Henry McCann, DAOM — Chinese herbal medicine is a rich tradition that utilizes an incredibly wide range of substances and methods of their administration.  Today the most common way of preparing herbs is in the form of an aqueous decocti on, in which bulk herbs are boiled in water and the resulting liquid ingested.  Aside from this , various types of herbal pills, capsules, and extract powders are also popular Chinese medicines.  Despite this seemingly limited list, from the earliest times Chinese herbal medicine has been used flexibly and in myriad ways. One of perhaps the least known but highly effective traditional methods of herb administration is in the form of medicated syrups.

[Ancient Wisdom & Modern Kitchen] Eats Shoots and Leaves Springtime Soup by Yuan Wang, Warren Sheir & Mika Ono — Good spring foods are often harvested in this season and tend to be pungent, sprouting, and sweet. These include onions, leeks, Chinese yam, wheat, cilantro, mushrooms, sprouts, and spinach and other leafy green vegetables. Here is a soup to embrace t he springtime—whenever it arrives in your part of the world.

[Soul Salon] Respond to the “Dow” with the “Dao” Rena M. Reese — The upheavals we may be experiencing globally are actually presenting a great gift to us.  This gift is the illumination of the path back to right thinking and right action. It’s a call to return to what matters most. Living in connection with the Divine part of us is our natural state and this is what has suffered greatly with the advent of our busy and material-driven lives.  Laozi spoke about the Dao being the mother of 10,000 things.  Perhaps he knew that the things of the earth are here to be enjoyed, but they are not what will give life its true richness.

[Energy Healing through Science & Spirit] Cool Qi Heals by Cindy Cicero — Every to do list and every concerned thought adds emotional fatigue “more stress” than the human body can handle.  Do to the over stimulation of our mental or physical activities create excessive “heat”, which breaks down our health in so many different ways. And as this adds up over time, to put it plainly, we just don’t feel so good…Can Cool “Qi” energy be the answer to reduce and eliminate excessive “heat” to heal our mind and body?  Can we wake up feeling good and stay cool minded as we move through our busy days… Yes, we can learn to maintain a cool temperature that relaxes & heals the body and mind.   Please just read on and find out.

[Food as Medicine]  Seasonal Harmony by Ellasara Kling — Eating foods that follow the energy of the season supports our body’s natural efforts to be in accord with the energy flow. By increasing our awareness of, participation in and experience of Nature, we decrease stress and increase our health and energy practice. Doing what we can to harmonize as much as we can with Nature as it is, increases our energy and reduces our body’s struggle for balance, which in effect increases our energy.

[Book Reviews] reviewed by  S. Casano and Solala Towler — Six Healing Sounds Qigong for Children, The Hut Beneath the Pine Tea Poems and Heal Yourself with Qigong.

 

Click here to download the April 2011 issue as a PDF