Reflections from China 爱
Back from China: An Unforgettable Experience
It's hard to put into words what I gained from such an immense trip, but I'll do my best! I chose this trip because it was being offered by perhaps one of the greatest Chinese herbalists of our time, Dr. Heiner Fruehauf. I have studied with him and knew that an experience in China under his lead would be an epic learning experience. As the creator of the Classical Pearls line of herbs that I carry, Dr. Fruehauf specializes in the treatment of difficult and complex diseases, and since that has turned into my passion and pursuit, who better to learn directly from?
Also, forty doctors of Chinese medicine from all over the world joined the trip as well, which truly enhanced the experience greatly.
Our first destination, a small village named Qichun in the Hubei Province, is where Li Shizhen lived, the physician who compiled the Materia Medica, a book that we still study out of regularly 500 years later! This small town is also home to the only biodynamic and organic mugwort farm that is used to create moxibustion. Moxibustion is an incredibly powerful tool for Chinese medicine doctors as a way to promote healing through adding warmth, circulation, and energy directly into the body. We learned an ancient Daoist moxibustion technique that can be used to treat chronic diseases of the body and chemical imbalances of the mind. We saw the land where this special mugwort is grown and learned about the plant's journey from cultivation, harvesting, long-term storage, to its end product as the moxibustion sticks we use clinically. The week here was intense, filled with in-depth training and practice, as well as juicy nuggets about Daoist philosophy, all while smoldering in the thick heat and humidity of the late summer. Each meal was an array of "I don't know what this is, but I'll try it," often with organs, chicken feet, and vegetables I'd never seen. I went all in, with no regrets and not even a stomachache.
Each morning we did two hours of Qigong, a practice I have always wanted to try but never prioritized. We practiced a specific lineage of Qigong, the Daoist Jin Jing Internal Alchemy. Dr. Fruehauf learned this style directly from one of China's most famous and revered masters of Daoist healing, Wang Qingyu, who we later spent time with in a monastery in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains. Qigong translates to "Qi Work"; it includes silent meditation through movement and is a way to move energy through the meridians and connect to the Universal energy. It is a way to cultivate and balance your own body and mind, true inner alchemy. I credit this daily practice for staying healthy throughout the trip. I am excited that this practice will enhance my acupuncture treatments as the Qi I continue to build will transfer to patients and expedite results. We practiced where the herbalist Li Shizhen lived and worked, also next to 500-year-old gingko trees at monasteries where Buddhist monks have practiced for centuries, a humbling and incredibly potent introduction into this healing art.
Our time at Mount Qingchen, at the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, was nothing short of mind-blowing. From the ancient architecture of the Buddhist temples, recently restored by their female abbess, which is so unique and filled with embedded meaning of the Buddhist appreciation for balance and harmony of nature and the cosmos, she hired a Feng Shui practitioner to enhance energy flow. Her calming hours being in the space that harnesses the laws of nature say there is something very seamless about being in a space that structures energy and can honestly enhance energy travel. We spent hours listening to the colorful stories and deep wisdom of Wang Qingyu. His life is incredibly a book and a movie, and had us all lingering on each word. He spoke stories of his incredibly harsh childhood, imprisonment during the Cultural Revolution. He spoke of his teacher, Li Jie, that shared him everything he knows regarding Qigong, Kung Fu, herbal medicine and calligraphy. He shared his harsh words that Li Jie was his only experience of unconditional love as a child.
Wang Qingyu. reminded us that love and gratitude are the path to all healing, and that as true healers, we must cultivate our own Qi and connection to Love/God/Spirit in order to be a true healer. Also, that judgment, harsh words, anger, sadness and grief are damaging energies that have no place in the body. That blaming someone for your own life only suppresses your own Light. To master one's life, they must face their dark, take full ownership of it, and then it can be transmitted back to Light. This is also the essence of Yin and Yang, we cannot have one without the other.
We then ventured to a tea estate outside of Chengdu (back to the heat) where we had nearly two days of drinking incredible blends of tea while hearing the layers upon layers of how tea is a way to not only heal the body but is also a way of understanding the laws of the universe. He spoke through metaphors about how all disease comes from the Heart, using both statistics and data, but also teachings from the Dao De Jing. I couldn't write fast enough to keep up with the depth and breadth of his knowledge of tea and the teachings of the Dao. I will spend the rest of my life reviewing these notes and trying to embody the wisdom within them. As I look through them now, I see "awaken inner true nature in a quiet state, to see who you really are."
Our final time was spent in Chengdu, a bustling urban center of commerce. In the sweltering heat, we wandered the loud and crowded streets. I looked for signs of any connection to the ancient China that we had been immersed in, but it was hard to find. China was thrust so quickly into industry and hyper modernization. I fear the deep and potent wisdom and respect for Earth and life on it have been smothered out. The Chinese under the harsh rule of their president Xi Jinping seem paranoid (there are cameras everywhere) and perhaps hopeless. They produce our goods, that most of them cannot afford to own. Their environment takes the hit for consumer products we buy. Their people work and live in factories and towers with no hope of upward mobility or of chasing a dream. Putting a face to this end of our consumer culture has stopped me in my tracks. Being home two weeks now, I am finding myself really digging into how hard it is to buy products made here. I am having our children dream up new ways to celebrate holidays and birthdays that don't participate in this system of unseen destruction. This lofty goal will be a long range one, but one I wanted to share.
My final takeaway from this adventure is two-fold. First, to sustain my practice at its highest level, I must prioritize balance to avoid burnout. This work is my calling, and I want to do it wholeheartedly for years to come. I will integrate Qigong, downtime, and rest into my hectic life. I’ve gained a deeper understanding of why health and hormones are suffering in today’s world and look forward to sharing ways to foster balance and wellness before diseases arise.
Second, while the United States is a wonderful place to live and dream, our food and how it’s produced are making us sick. We have one life to live, and we must empower ourselves through mindful food and lifestyle choices. Large corporations profit from our sickness, but we can stop this cycle with our decisions. Let’s slow down, eat well, exercise, and tread lightly on this Earth.