In this extract, the authors describe the early development of Kinesiology, and the unexpected discoveries which informed the basis of many branches of the practice. They also look at how Kinesiology fits within the idea of truly holistic medicine, showing how it can bring change and restore balance in people’s lives.

Click here to read the extract

Praise for the first edition of Principles of Kinesiology:

“A well-crafted book, ideal for newcomers to the subject, whether lay or professional…an accurate and balanced guide to this fast-growing area of healing.”

- Leon Chaitow ND, DO, MRO, naturopath, osteopath and acupuncturist, and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies

“A much-needed book…to get help with your pain, stress and improve your performance with energy balance and muscle facilitation.”

- John F. Thie DC, founder and author of Touch for Health

Maggie La Tourelle has worked in the field of holistic healthcare for thirty years as a practitioner, teacher and writer integrating kinesiology, counselling, psychotherapy and NLP. She is an honorary member of The Kinesiology Federation, and a member of The Association for Therapeutic Healers, The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, The Scientific and Medical Network and the Guild of Health Writers. She lives in London, UK.

Anthea Courtenay is a freelance writer, journalist and translator based in London.

Our 2013 Singing Dragon Complete Catalog is now available. With full information on our expanding list of books in Qigong, Bodywork, Yoga, Taiji, Aromatherapy, Craniosacral Therapy, Chinese Medicine and a variety of other disciplines, our complete catalog is a tremendous resource for complementary health practitioners and anyone interested in enhancing their own health, wellbeing and personal development.

To receive a free copy of the catalog, please sign up for our mailing list and we’ll get one out to you right away. You may also request multiple copies to share with friends, family, colleagues and clients–simply note how many copies of the catalog you would like (up to 20) in the “any additional comments” box on the sign-up form.

We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to get more information about our outstanding new and forthcoming titles such as Heavenly Streams by Damo Mitchell and recent releases in our Discovering Holistic Health series like Principles of Bach Flower Remedies and Principles of Tibetan Medicine. The catalog also contains information about the new paperback edition of Mudras of India by Cain and Revital Carroll and our forthcoming title Vital Face: Facial Exercises and Massage for Health and Beauty by Leena Kiviluoma along with over 150 additional books, DVDs and other resources.

Click this link to see a listing of new and recent titles from Singing Dragon.

To request a copy of the Singing Dragon complete catalog, please click here to fill out our sign-up sheet. Please be sure to click any additional areas of interest as well. You should receive a copy of the catalog within two weeks.

Make sure not to miss Singing Dragon’s latest UK Complete Catalogue. If you have not yet received a copy, please sign up for our mailing list and we’ll send a free one out to you ASAP.

Readers in the UK and Europe who request a copy of the catalogue before February 15th, 2013 will also receive a voucher for a 15% discount on the entire Singing Dragon list of books, with free postage and packing.

Take advantage of this opportunity to find new, forthcoming and classic books on Chinese Medicine, Holistic Health, Taiji, Qigong, Herbal Medicine, Yoga, Spirituality and more. Also, sample health-promoting recipes with The Functional Nutrition Cookbook, and Make Yourself Better with Philip Weeks’ books. Delve into the history of Ayurvedic Medicine and the Mudras of India, and discover the Five Levels of Taijiquan, Daoist Nei Gong and Chinese Medical Qigong.

To request your copy of our Complete Catalogue, please click here. To receive your 15% discount voucher, please be sure to click the checkbox for “Singing Dragon” under area of interest or else mention this offer in the “any further comments” section.

If you have previously received a copy of the catalogue, and would like to take advantage of the 15% discount, please feel free to request a voucher via email at post@singingdragon.com.

Richard Bertschinger studied for ten years with the Taoist sage and Master, Gia-fu Feng. A practising acupuncturist, teacher of the healing arts, and translator of ancient Chinese texts, he works and practises in Somerset, England. Here, he explores some key concepts of Qigong, showing just how universally beneficial the practice is, and how easy it is to pick up.

* Qigong can also be called Dao Yin which means guiding or leading the Qi. So many problems come from blockages inside the tissue, so the idea is that you keep moving the Qi to loosen these blockages. There’s a wonderful saying ‘Door hinges never rot and running water never goes stale’, which brings out movement as primary to health. When you read about the biology of modern science you see that this concept is also biologically important: it’s the circulation of fluids and gases in the cell that provides the conditions for life. The interchange at the boundary of the cell is so important for the release of oxygen, the oxygenation of the tissue, the internal respiration of the cell. Here, it’s movement which is conducive to life.

* Originally these exercises were taught master to pupil and from father to son. You learnt, as one might say, energetically, through your skin, just by watching and following behaviour, on a very deep level. Now, when teaching we have to approach this learning slightly differently because you might get a group of 20 new people in a class that you might never see again. The starting point is to move the body. If students move their bodies the energy and breath will follow eventually, and they will get the secret. The brain itself will begin to adjust of its own accord. And the mind follows.

* Everyone has a different path. No-one comes in and qualifies 3 years later. One of the main principles behind Chinese medicine is that you suit the treatment to the individual and the condition – which of course can change. So with these exercises we’re looking for appropriateness. People can take from the book what they need at the time. What is wonderful is that it is such a natural practice and can adapt to many conditions. There is not one orthodox way, so long as you are following natural forms.

Illustration by Harriet E. J. Lewars

* It’s important to have one particular space where you do these exercises and one particular time of day to do them. It’s difficult to just slip them in anywhere. However, I’m a great believer in us all being gifted amateurs. I think that people can very much take this practice home and do it themselves. I’ve seen students do most interesting things with exercises that I have taught them – you pick it up and pass it on.

* In Ezra Pound’s translation of the Confucian classic Da Xue, he highlights the saying ‘as the sun makes it anew, day by day make it new, every day make it anew’. My teacher Gia Fu Feng would encourage us to ‘rediscover’ the Qi everyday. We have to do this everyday or it gets covered over by the troubles, worries and issues of the world. I think it attests to the genius of the Chinese that they found a way to winkle out that health from our lives and to keep it there at a good level, keeping a good balance

* To have something that you can do under your own hands is just so valuable. Drugs are important but you don’t have to go down that route all the time – a lot is in our own hands. I’ve seen people come in with painful stomachs or painful knees, and if they do the rubbing exercises they improve. People with long-term conditions often respond well to Qigong as you are dealing with the smaller, finer (neuro-humeral) mechanisms in the body. When you practice in a gentle, conducive manner you actually have minute little chemical changes, which can make a great difference to overall wellbeing.

© 2012 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved.

A few months ago, I was having tea with a Chinese medicine professor, discussing my plans about making the ancient tongue diagnosis texts available in English. His first reaction was quite negative and disapproving. His arguments were that “nobody in China reads these books, why would the ‘foreigners’ wish to study them?”, and also “the classics lack photographic illustrations”.

Instead of answering these questions, in this entry I will briefly discuss about how the modern TCM tongue method managed to replace the old established classical tongue diagnosis system.

Traditionally, since the Yuan Dynasty, tongue diagnosis was intimately intertwined with herbal medicine. Therefore, the Gold Mirror Records, the Tongue Reflection in Cold Damage, and all the monographs up until the late Min Guo period, such as the Tongue Diagnosis in the National Medicine (which I think was the last important tongue text published pre-1960) all discuss tongue theory together with formulae. This approach survived until the late 1950’s because the transmission of this skill was still strongly adhering to the tradition. Around 1955-8 appeared the last standardized and annotated versions of the Gold Mirror Records and Tongue Reflection in Cold Damage quite signifying the end of this era.

The 1960 first edition of the Chinese Medicine Tongue Diagnosis

The modern Tongue Diagnosis –as we know it today- began in July 1960, with the publication of the book Chinese Medicine Tongue Diagnosis.

Chen Ze-lin and Li Nai-min both describe this as being “the first specialist work on tongue Diagnosis after the formation of the P.R.C.” – Li Nai-min was also quoted to have said that: “The book inherited the substance and essence of tongue diagnosis in Chinese Medicine, and new concepts were put forward”.

Anyhow, it appears that the “new ideology” wished to convert the tongue into a universal diagnosis method, applicable in every branch of TCM. This book was therefore produced by “summarizing and organizing” the ancient bibliography. Three years later, in May 1963, the Tongue Fur Illustrated Manual offered a large collection of tongue photographs together with a brief TCM syndrome differentiation.

The back cover of the Chinese Medicine Tongue Diagnosis

These books quite deviated from the established traditions. Herbal medicine was removed and there were no more illustrations pointing to clinical subtleties. Also, these books were not the outcome of clinical experience and did not offer a significant development following classic knowledge. However, they soon became the cornerstone tongue texts for the new era.

Either-way, by severing the links with the past immediately appeared a much bigger problem: the younger doctors soon became incapable of prescribing by looking at the tongue (according to the traditional system, a doctor could – more or less – form an idea about what formula to apply by just observing the tongue). Eventually the ancient skill transmuted into a mere “confirmation tool” for verifying the state of the pulse and symptomatology, thus denying 800 years of tongue diagnosis development.

Author’s copy of the Tongue Diagnosis in the National Medicine

Sadly, most tongue books and monographs published since then strictly adhere to the ideas and the format brought forward in 1960-63.

The Cultural Revolution which followed a couple of years later, the abolition of the master-disciple system in Medicine, and the way TCM was taught in Colleges after 1977, made this silent change permanent.

In the west we were only introduced to the modern approach through the established textbooks and popular tongue manuals, never really knowing that the tongue had a much different and colourful past.

Only in recent years I have seen a few volumes published in China presenting non-photographic illustrations together with formulary, which I believe is a good indication about the future.

The description page of the 1963 edition of the Tongue fur Illustrated Manual

I will close this entry with a short anecdote: In the early 80’s, the BUCM wished to produce a tongue diagnosis book, for western readers. Some teachers were approached to write the text, first in Chinese, and then others would do the translation. Nevertheless, when younger professors suggested translating the 1960 edition of the Chinese Medicine Tongue Diagnosis (which is thought as the established classic), the old-timers replied that it cannot be used. The explanation given was that the original authors had to produce a comprehensive tongue summary in a very short time, by “copy-pasting” stuff from classics and putting together a collage in accordance to the ideology of the realm.

I am not really sure if such a book was ever published, but the story clearly depicts how the ancient tongue diagnosis was massacred, in order for a universally applicable comprehensive summary to be produced.

All illustrations come from the author’s private collection of tongue manuscripts.

© 2012 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved.

For more on the historical, theoretical and cultural aspects of the tongue theory see Ioannis Solos’ blog: http://ioannissolos.blogspot.co.uk/

This is the second video in Cain Carroll’s ‘Mudra Moments’ series. See here for part 1: Apana Mudra.

In this two-minute mini-class, Cain Carroll introduces Prana Mudra, a traditional Indian hand mudra which improves overall vitality and immunity, activates the body’s self-healing capacity, improves concentration, and strengthens stamina and willpower.

More information on Prana Mudra, including technique, application, benefits and sanscrit notation, can be found in Mudras of India: A Comprehensive Guide to the Hand Gestures of Yoga and Indian Dance.

In this two-minute mini-class, Cain Carroll introduces Apana Mudra, a traditional Indian hand mudra which improves digestive health and elimination (including easing constipation and hemorrhoids), and helps to regulate the menstrual cycle (alleviating cramping, dryness and clotting).

More information on Apana Mudra, including technique, application, benefits and sanscrit notation, can be found in Mudras of India: A Comprehensive Guide to the Hand Gestures of Yoga and Indian Dance .

Look out for more videos in the series of Mudra Moments coming soon to the Singing Dragon blog.

One of my mentors developed some quite interesting ideas. Much as I’d like to share them specifically and credit him, he and his wife long ago decided that to keep his message pure, they didn’t want him quoted or credited, because they feared his work and ideas would be misrepresented. So, sort of like the reverence with which I hold MY interpretation of John Pierrakos’ work in CORE Energetics, I’d like to share a bit of MY interpretation of a different take on neck pain, fuzzy headedness, and poor health in general. I’ve sprung forth from the wisdom of the unnamed mentor.

We’ve all heard the term “Get your head on straight,” and most of us can see or feel how our heads live too far forward, in front of the rest of our bodies. Many of us use bodywork, postural work, or other awareness therapies to help us hold our heads high and keep them there. It’s not easy! Between driving, sitting in cars and recliners, pursuing intense close detail and breath-holding work (as a hobby or professionally), or for any of a hundred more reasons, we tend to sit and stand with our heads in front of our trunks and hearts, instead of allowing the heart to arrive first and the head to ride on top.

Bad alignment of the Atlas wedge

Good alignment of the Atlas wedge

Let’s examine the bones involved here, namely the cranial bones including the occipital bone right at the back base of the skull. Just below it we find the seven cervical vertebrae or spinal bones. Imagine these seven have fingers on each side of the main body, and a little tail at the back of each, with muscle tissue running in every direction to/from all of them. Any one of these bones can get jammed/shortened/twisted in a way that nerve impulses leaving the spinal column above or below that bone get slowed down. It’s hard to send the full message through a clogged channel. As these cervical bones gets out of line, not only the neck, but the head, shoulders, and even arms and wrists can suffer. So, how do we keep the head on straight?

This mentor believed that demons and entities attached themselves to us, right at that place on the back of the neck where skull and neck meet. He claimed the physical sensation generated by these psychic attacks caused the first cervical or atlas bone to move forward, further jamming the spinal column, with the occiput and the axis bone immediately below the atlas pinching this atlas forward and tight.

I never particularly liked the language of demons and entities and for years I simply thought of these ‘energies’ as negative thought forms. After all, if they’re shortening and tightening your neck in a way that deprives your brain of energy, aren’t they negative? In the last couple of years I’ve been reassessing that term and now call these energies ‘unresolved’ thought forms. To me, I’ve therefore assumed responsibility for that which is occupying my space; even if it was directed at me (positively or negatively) by someone else. I believe in trying to take the ‘negative’ out of the situation and working instead at resolving the thought form in the mental and spiritual realms before tackling the physical body.

To that end, ask a client to sit, stand, or lie straighter or longer with chin down, back, and into the chest while the back of the neck pushes straight back; then to breathe. While they breathe I encourage them to allow angers and anxieties to leave even before I apply gentle neck traction. Then, with all these pieces in place, I believe we do the work of helping clients find their true north, their ‘up’. As they physically allow opening, some of the unresolved thought forms can move themselves. Or, as they work to release unresolved thought forms, won’t the neck feel looser? Won’t blood and nerve supply nourish the brain and suddenly make thoughts clearer?

It’s simple; it’s not easy!

© 2012 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved.

In this exclusive video, view a powerful demonstration of a section of the Fire Dragon Martial Arts Form, from Master Zhongxian Wu.

Master Zhongxian Wu is the lineage holder of four different schools of Qigong and martial arts. He was Director of the Shaanxi Province Association for Somatic Science and the Shaanxi Association for the Research of Daoist Nourishing Life Practices. Since 1988, Master Wu has instructed thousands of students, both Eastern and Western. He synthesizes wisdom and experience for beginning and advancing practitioners, as well as for patients seeking healing, in his unique and professionally-designed courses and workshops. Please visit www.masterwu.net for details about his teachings.

Copyright © Singing Dragon 2012.

Author photo: Robert Taylor

The ultimate goal of meditative practice is to reach the state of pure awareness that is known as Nirvana, enlightenment or truth. However, it is the secondary benefits of meditation that are regarded as more achievable, and these are improvements in physical, mental and emotional health. Meditation allows us to detach ourselves from the transient realm of the mind and emotions, and enter a mode of awareness and allowing, or receptivity. There are two main approaches – concentration (associated with Yoga) and mindfulness (or insight, a Buddhist practice).

Scents, in the form of oils, candles or incense, are often used to enhance meditation. An appropriate fragrance can encourage a meditative state. Indeed, the preparation of the scent, such as lighting the candle or joss stick might even form part of a personal ritual that precedes meditation. However, despite this close association, scent is usually an adjunct, not the focus of the meditation. The focus might be concentrating on a flame, a mantra, or the breath, or, in the case of mindfulness meditation, allowing an unbroken, detached attentiveness to any thoughts and sensations that arise.

So, how has scent become linked with meditation? The use of aromatic substances to elicit particular responses via the sense of smell was integral to many cultures and life practices. These early uses included sacred and ritualistic practices such as anointing with fragrant oils and offering rites to gods; embalming and medicinal practices; as cosmetics, fumigants and mood-altering substances; as spiritual and philosophical healing systems; and for ritual stimulation of dreams and visions. Therefore aromatic substances were from the earliest times used as a means to alter mental states as well as for pleasure. It is now well established that scent can alter moods, perhaps by imparting a sense of calm, or clarity, or vitality. Some fragrances can even bringing about altered states of consciousness. For example, many shamanistic practices involve burning aromatic plants to alter consciousness and allow communication with the animal, plant and spirit worlds. It was priests and shamans who were the first healers of the psyche…

Meditation often begins by focussing the mind and attention on a sensory stimulus –usually a visual or auditory one. From there, you progress to the point of being alert and receptive, and eventually the division between the self and the focus of the meditation becomes blurred and disappears. As the mode of consciousness changes, different perceptions come and go.

Therefore scent too can become the initial focus of a meditation. We can focus on the scent, becoming aware of the different layers, as the top notes fade while the middle and base notes emerge. Analysis is not needed, and this removes us from the ‘problem solving’ state of mind and aids the shift to receptiveness – so we become centred in awareness rather than our mind. The interesting thing about scent meditation is that it seems to encourage creative awareness.

The following scent meditation can be used with the fragrances of essential oils, and you might like to start with the oils that we have highlighted. It is best to dispense a couple of drops on a smelling strip or blotting paper to allow an even and unhindered evaporation; this allows the true fragrance to evolve. The meditation was originally designed by the artisan perfumer and psychotherapist, Mandy Aftel, and has been adapted from her original script.

A meditation on scent

Prepare your chosen essential oil, and sit in a comfortable position, in a place away from other smells and distractions. You might like to close your eyes and count backwards from 30 to help to still your thoughts, or take a few unforced, deep, slow breaths. Then, hold the scent to your nose; sniff a few times to gain an initial impression. Then, focus your attention on your sense of smell, and continue to sniff, as needed, for a few moments. Notice the different notes that emerge, and then let them go. The scent will keep changing, sometimes obviously, sometimes this will be subtle. Discard any mental distractions that arise and keep returning to the scent. Then, holding the scent to your nose again, inhale deeply three times. You might like to open your eyes while you imagine your consciousness dissolving outward to the scent, feel as though you can touch it, merge with it, flow into it. When you feel you have reached the point of saturation, close your eyes again, and detach yourself from all senses but smell.

Descend deeply inside, bearing the essence of the scent you have chosen, and touch it with your vision of the scent. Build an inner picture of the essence – the essence of the essence. Imagine it as an object, or something abstract, a sound, a colour or shape, a plant, an animal, a scene, a place – anything that seems to you to be conjured by the deep impression of the scent. Turn outward again, and consciously smell the scent again. Repeat the outer phase and inner phase until you feel that the experience has reached a natural conclusion.

You will find that each scent you meditate upon creates a different internal image and meditative experience.

© 2012 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved.