So far the year 2020 has brought a lot of changes. Spring is already happening outside and pretty impressive. The 21st of March, Spring Equinox, where equal time of day and night occur, just passed. The birds are chirping heralding Spring. The Narcissus, Tulips, Forsythia and Cherry are blossoming. Soon the Elder blossoms will manifest. What an amazing time of year! Life is returning!
 
Yet here in Switzerland, and many places around the world, we are faced with the whole theme of a virulent virus. Many are reacting in fear and panic. Why? 
We are constantly in contact with viruses and bacteria all the time since we began our life's journey on earth. Over 5 years ago, I remember watching a documentary about life on earth, called "Home" by Yann Arthus-Betrand, a photographer very well known for his aerial images of the earth before the age of drones. (Yes, a time not so long ago when you needed to fly in a plane/helicopter to capture aerial images). Do watch it, it's really well-made and educational! There was a description of cyanobacteria, the first lifeform on earth. That sparked a curiosity in me about bacteria, which we are taught so early in life to fear. Over the last few years, there has been other views in regard to "good" bacteria in our digestive system that aid in our digestion and even in our brain.  
 
Since the start of the year, due to conditions in China, I was more interested in viruses, what they are, how they affect us and maybe that they are not always "enemies" to humans. Unlike bacteria, they are not classified as living beings by some scientists, as they need a host to survive. I read an article in Cosmos Magazine asking the question, "What came first, cells or viruses?" I finally found a different view of viruses, that it may be that without them, life wouldn't be here on earth as we know it. It speculates that a primitive mammal form that existed 100 million years ago, was aided by a viral infection to help the evolution of the placenta to be fused to the uterus, what was not present before, allowing the fetus to be nourished by its mother. Thus, mammals, such as humans, evolved till this day with this trait. I also found another article about bacteriophages being used in the treatment against drug-resistant bacteria.
 
So often I find that it is simply too easy to just blame a bacterium or a virus for an illness. Maybe they are much more than just parasites that want to infect us, living beings, to gain from us. Maybe they are beings far more evolved than we are and are aiding us in our growth, physically, emotionally and spiritually. How often is it that we make choices to work more or do more than our energy capacity can hold. Then comes the flu symptoms and we are in bed with a fever, resting, not able to do anything else except to sleep and drink the fluids we should have drunk so we wouldn't become sick in the first place.
 
About 6 years ago, my mother passed away. I travelled to Malaysia, to be present with her and my family before she passed. After the funeral, I returned home to Switzerland, back to my own family, to work and life here. I knew then that I would need some time to grieve but my vacation was planned for a couple of months later due to my kids' school schedule. About 2 months after her death, I had a fever, which I hadn't had in years. I could do nothing but lay, drink fluids and sleep. I took herbs to aid healing and then just laid. I got better within 2 days but became aware that I just needed to have time and space for my own healing process. A week later, I was on my vacation by the sea and the space I needed to have in grieving became present. I learned something more at that point too, I learned that death is part of life. The moment we are born, we are destined in this lifetime to die. The sooner we accept that and live this life on the path we are meant to be on, instead of avoiding death, the easier it gets.  
 
I recall a story I heard of as a teenager, as I sat on a Sunday morning in church, that really touched me and has stayed with me since then. It is called the "Appointment in Samarkand," a story on the Silk Road often orally passed on, in which sometimes the cities are different. It goes like this:
 
"A man is in the market in Burkhara to buy some things, when he sees Death waving at him. He is extremely shocked and scared for his life, runs back home to get on his horse. He flees on it but not before he tells his boss that he saw death and he needs to flee to Samarkand. Later that day, his boss goes to the market and sees Death. His boss decides to ask Death why he waved at his employee. Death tells him, "I waved at him as I was so surprised to see him here in Burkhara this morning. I have an appointment with him in Samarkand this evening."
 
I recall having these images; colorful market, camels, horses and big, black Death with his/her black cloak and scythe. These intrigued me then and I have had a few more opportunities to hear this tale again over the years. I realized that it is a reminder to us, that destiny's path is the path we are on no matter how much we try to run away from it and in fact, running away brings us ever nearer to it. Human and all living beings on earth are mortal beings. The only thing that is certain in this lifetime as soon as we are born is that we will die at some point, whether we want to accept it or not.
 
What have I learned throughout my life so far is to live now, be brave and be free. A virus may be out there at the moment but so is the sun, the trees and much more.

​Image Cherry Blossom by Elaine

Since a week now, I look out my kitchen window at the afternoon sun shining from the west. On the green grass is a splatter of purple, purple Crocus. Crocus vernus or Spring Crocus are some of the first blossoms of spring. They are bulbs or corms that you plant into the earth in the autumn and the cold rain/snow of winter hydrate them as well as the earth. Once the Winter Solstice and a few moons have passed (often about 2 in the Basel area), they cut through the earth with their sword-like green leaves, then pop their beautiful heaven-facing crowns of 6 petals and 3 stigmas of orange out of the earth. Crocus vernus, also known as Dutch Crocus, which can have purple, yellow or white petals. They pass within a few weeks, once the heat of spring begins to warm the earth, but they are as resilient against cold as rocks are. They invoke in me a joy and hope that though it is cold and grey, spring is on its way and nothing can stop it from emerging. Crocus are such hardy beings, even though they seem so delicate and fragile.
 
Croci belong to the Iridaceae family and are native to central as well as southern Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia. In Europe, there is also Colchicum autumnale (Herbstzeitlose in German) that blossoms in late summer and autumn. Both Crocus vernus and Colchicum autumnale are toxic so beware not to ingest any. 
 
Our Crocus vernus are relatives to Crocus sativus, commonly known as the Saffron plant. They are eatable. You might know Saffron as a spice that you put into your risotto, that gives the risotto a beautiful fragrance and yellowish color. It is the most expensive spice in the world, if you get pure, good quality Saffron, it costs about CHF 1800 per kilogram! Hence, only very small portions of a gram are sold at stores and our dishes require only very minute amounts. The stigmas of the Crocus sativus is what Saffron is, those little stringy parts of the flower in the center. So maybe now you can imagine why it costs so much. Someone has to harvest these very delicate thread-like parts of the blossom in autumn and prepare them. Iran produces 90 percent of the world's Saffron. I just found out that a village in canton Valais, Switzerland actually produces its own Saffron (probably in very small amounts and quite exorbitantly priced!).
 
In the old days, Saffron was also used in the dying of clothes. Thus, the name Saffron Orange. The Buddhist monks used to wear robes of this color, many believe that this was the original color that the Buddha himself wore. Hence, the Theravada Buddhist order (Buddhists orders in South-East Asia and Sri Lanka) still does. In fact, you may also see other orders such as the Chan (Zen) Buddhist Shao Lin monks from China, who also practice martial arts along with meditation, wear this Saffron color and grey too. Saffron Orange is a symbol of the flame of fire, as the reminder to seek truth and enlightenment.
 
In Chinese Medicine, we call Saffron, Fan Hong Hua. It is a blood-moving herb, used in combination with other herbs (as with most of the Chinese medical formulae) to aid menstrual and skin issues. It affects the organs of the Heart and Liver, that means that it would also have effects of calming the spirit, aiding in insomnia and anxiety. As with many of the herbs in the Chinese Materia Medica, Saffron is a food-grade herb with a sweet flavor and a neutral to cold temperature. It should not be used in large amounts (who would with its steep price) and in cases of being pregnant. 
 
When I look at the Crocus, I sense the delicate exterior and the power center in the stigmas. It holds the power of the Yin, storing the power of inward movement of autumn, sinking its force deep into the corms as cold winter hits. Just as the light changes and the temperature in the earth rises, it pushes its leaves through the earth and then these radiantly colored petals do, what seems to me, like Yoga back-bends to reveal its orange core. It reminds me that Yin is just as powerful as Yang, that we can't have one without the other. In order to Spring, we must have stored enough power in the Winter. 
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Crocus image by Capri23auto on Pixabay
Monks image by Honey Kochphon Onshawee on Pixabay

Maybe this sounds familiar to you. You are sitting at an airport, waiting for your flight with a whole bunch of other passengers. You have already been through commuting to the airport from home, got your heavy luggage and yourself checked-in, went through airport security and got scanned by the metal-detector as well as body-checked by a friendly airport security member. Now, you just want to board the plane and get to wherever you want to get to - nice warm beach, be with family or friends. So you are already imagining your destination. But wait, did you stop to think about this process you are now in of getting to your destination?     
 
Most of us don't. We just seem to want to get where we want to go and forget the way in which we get there, as it may be uncomfortable, strenuous and long, not really worthy of our attention or we just want to skip it altogether, if we could. Because we imagine that the destination is more important than the journey. However, this is not the case, as you may have read in the title of this blogpost. You might think it is that cliché in those stories or songs and no one really believes it. Of course, often in our society we often focus on goals and destinations, but spend little time on the process of getting there. Take the popular sports we have, like tennis and football, where the player/team plays horribly or unfairly, but end up anyway winning in score. Thus, winning the match. Did they really truly win? Is winning the game more important than being human, by helping your fellow human being get off the ground when s/he fell or by informing the umpire that s/he called a ball out when it was in, even if it was not in their own favour? I observe that in our society, we are often not trained to be aware of the journey. We get graded on a test in school, but not often given feedback or encouragement on how we got to that grade. We allow professional athletes to misbehave or even disregard their own health, as long as they score and win. But we don't reward them for their honesty and empathy that they show  by giving them an extra point.    
 
My opinion is that the journey is very important. It is this process that we undertake and experience, which brings us to a state or a place that is the destination. If we skip this process, would we be able to be fully prepared to be at the destination and for what awaits us there? Take that example of the airport and plane ride, we may just simply skip it, if we could "disapparate," a magical means of travel where the individual disappears and reappears in her/his newly intended space, as J.K. Rowling writes in her Harry Potter books. But even in her books, the process of disapparating requires diligent study and practice, or else the consequences are devastatingly painful. If we just got to our destination without the process of travelling, would we value being at our destination as much? Maybe the time and the effort that we take to get there creates/invokes the feeling of appreciation within us of being at our destination. Maybe, a bit of exertion is needed for us to realize that the destination is special and is significant for us to even be there.
 
The journey teaches us to be in the present, to feel and be conscious of that particular moment of NOW. If we stay in this present moment, we become the moment and we are aware of who we are and what we are experiencing. When my kids play a tennis match, I remind them that the score is only one aspect of the game. I encourage them to find "excellence of self," (some wise words we learned from the movie Kung Fu Panda: The Secret of the Furious Five). This is to find their best in their physical and emotional self, fairness and respect of their opponent, as well as playing the best technique in tennis they can. Each match is always different, determined by the physical circumstances of the day, the tennis court conditions, their emotional as well as mental state at that very moment and every aspect related to their opponent of that match.
 
Next time I am sitting at the airport waiting to board my plane, I will remind myself that my journey is now. I look forward to arrive but I can be open to the now, that maybe the person sitting beside me has something interesting to share with me or I with them. I may perceive myself as being in a tight space on my seat, but my inner self can create more space whether within or around me, simply by changing my perspective of the situation. This time of travelling to my destination gives me time to reflect but also to observe my environment. It is after all quite a wonder to be up high in the sky, flying among the clouds.    
 

​Image by David Mark from Pixabay

 
It has been awhile since my last blogpost. November/December was a busy time with deadlines. In the meantime, winter has begun. The Winter Solstice just passed and the Light has returned, meaning that the sun begins its ascent in the Northern Hemisphere. I watched 2 very cool, educational videos explaining the Earth's Seasons and the Solstice.
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In Chinese Medicine, we often refer to our oldest classical medical text, the Huang Di Nei Jing, The Yellow Emperor Classic of Internal Medicine, written over 2000 years ago. It is comprised of 5 volumes and 81 chapters, very big heavy books! Already in Book 1: Su Wen (Basic Questions) Chapter 2, "The Treatise of the Harmony of Qi of the Four Seasons with the Human Spirit," we hear how a human being should adapt her/his Qi to the seasons to maintain good health. It writes of Yin-Yang, which many of us know as this symbol on the left. It is an image of balance and harmony of both dark and light; dark within the light and light within the dark, in constant motion of transformation.

Tai Ji Symbol
 

Back to Su Wen, Chapter 2, as translated by Henry C. Lu (www.acucentre.com.au):
"The three months of winter are the period in which everything is closed and stored. Water freezes and the earth cracks, so that Yang remains dormant not to be disturbed. It is desirable to sleep early and get up late, to await the arrival of sunlight, so that the will remains dormant as if hiding or pretending, not unlike someone with private intentions, not unlike someone with all his desires already fulfilled. In winter, one should avoid cold and remain warm and refrain from perspiring so that Yang energy will not be frequently attacked by cold energy. This is the way of nourishing life in response to the energy of winter. To act to the contrary will cause injuries to the kidneys and one will suffer weakened limbs in spring, because he is bound to be short of energy to cope with the spring." 

Personally, I am an admirer of Trees. I view them as life-models, they provide me with guidance on how to live life. I observe them all year round and have come to acknowledge their deep wisdom. In Spring, they break through the earth to grow to meet the sun's rays of life-giving light and blossom to manifest their future offspring of fruit. Leaves are formed so that food can be self-generated through photosynthesis when they are exposed to the sun, to have enough energy for this growth process. As Autumn rolls around, the "tree-babies" become adult and ripen to become fruit, which then drop seeds in the earth that may produce more trees. The leaves fall and the energy of the tree sinks deep into the roots in order to store enough energy to break through in Spring again. This is an essential process for life and survival.
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Winter is here, nourish your spirit, mind and the body. Go to bed earlier, find time for deep contemplation, such as in meditation or in mild exercise of the body or even writing/drawing your thoughts in a journal. Bring your Qi deeper into your "roots." Winter's storing is preparing you for what is to come. 

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 Image by FelixMittermeier from Pixabay 

As I began my studies in university in the US in the mid-1990s, I was in a class for cultural anthropology. One of the first themes we discussed was, "Nature vs. Nurture." Does a living being get shaped by her/his environment in the manner of behavior and physical traits, or does s/he come into the world with certain characteristics both physical and mental that are already present within and predestined, that manifest throughout her/his lifetime? This debate has been going on in the Western scholarly tradition since the 17th century and continues on till today in the form of Behavioral Psychology and Medical Genetics.
 
In Chinese Medicine, this is not a debate. It is clear in the philosophy of the medicine that life on earth, human beings included, is the fusion of the energies of Heaven and Earth. In our medical text, the Yellow Emperor Internal Classics - Basic Questions (Huang Di Nei Jing - Su Wen), written probably around the 2nd century BCE, it states in Chapter 25, "A human being results from the Qi of Heaven and Earth...The union of the Qi of Heaven and Earth is called human being." 
From this union comes Jing or Life Essence, which is the blending of energies from the mother and father to create the individual, and the nourishment to sustain life. When we speak of Jing, we refer to both Pre-Heaven and Post-Heaven Essences; Pre-Heaven being that which we receive from our parents and Post-Heaven being that which is derived from air, food as well as fluids, as we are born into the world. One may conclude that Pre-Heaven Jing alludes to genetic information and Post-Heaven Jing the influence of the environment. Already at the point when a child is born onto the earth, takes its first breath and begins suckling (or not) at the breast of her/his mother, the individual is being shaped by both her/his genetic inheritance, the nourishment provided from the environment and his caregiver, as well as the process in which s/he enters into the world. Sounds complex, doesn't it? I believe it is, as within these first few minutes of life, we enter into the world that is already in existence, carrying the hopes and dreams of our ancestors as well as ourselves as individuals, and the process in which we are birthed into the world shapes what comes later.
 
Chinese Medicine believes that we are both formed by our genetic inheritance and by our environment that we live in. The manner in which we behave and live in the world is determined by both the body (physical, emotional and mental) we have in this lifetime and the environment that we grow up in, whether it be the people around us or the climate that we live in. It is good to understand how we came to be, why we are here, but I believe what is more important is what we do in this lifetime. How we live with our Jing affect all around us, people, other living beings and our environment. Here is a view from a Chinese medical scholar, Giovanni Macioca in his book "Foundations of Chinese Medicine" on Pre-Heaven Jing:
 
"This Pre-Heaven Essence is what determines each person constitutional make-up, strength and vitality. It is what makes each individual unique... Some say this Essence is 'fixed' in quantity and quality. However, it can be positively affected, even if not quantitively increased. The best way to affect one's Pre-Heaven Essence is by striving for balance in one's life activities: balance between work and rest, restraint in sexual activity and balanced diet...A direct way to positively influence one's Essence is through breathing exercises and such exercises as Tai Ji Quan and Qi Gong."   
 
So, the Chinese medical answer to the debate of "Nature vs. Nurture" is that it is both "Nature and Nurture." It is Nature that gives us a form and a path, and Nurture gives us the means to walk the path. We are both of these and more, we have the free will to choose how we live, and what we do in our lifetime.


Photo by Aron H.
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Photos by Elaine

I became aware of fasting already as a child. In Malaysia, where I grew up, even the Muslim children fast during Ramadan. I grew up in a Catholic household and during Lent season, Good Friday and even Advent season, we either fasted from food or abstained from meat. What is fasting? It means an abstinence from something, often food. But there are many other ways of fasting, as well as many goals for fasting. It is a very personal process.
 
Every year now for the last 8 years, I have done some kind of fasting in late spring/early summer, as the Qi is closer to the surface of the physical body  than in autumn or winter. Sometimes I abstain from all food or certain types of food. Often I begin at the new moon and end either around the full or the following new moon, 2 to 4 weeks. I do this not as a way to lose weight, as so many people imagine (fasting is the worse way to lose weight!), but to let go of energetic blockages, or attachment to food and other behaviours that don't benefit me, or just to get clarity. Thus, beginning afresh. Often, I have fasted with an intention or a dedication to someone. This makes it a little easier, it guides the journey and pulls you back on the path when the moments of vulnerability occur, which they will definitely occur. 
 
This year, I decided that I wanted to do it differently. I didn't need to remove anything from my system but I realized that I could spend more time connecting with my environment and my inner self. I found that I hadn't spent enough time in nature since juggling work and family life. I used to take walks almost every day or hike in nature often when I lived in California. On the new moon in May, almost 2 months ago now, I began my practice of walking in nature at dawn or dusk for at least 20 minutes. Sometimes, I was on the path for 2 hours. It was amazing! No excuses, rain or shine, family or no family, I went on my walk.
 
​Why dawn or dusk? These are very special times of the day. For one thing, there are very few people around. There is a certain quiet in the air. I met an occasional dog-walker but very few people were out and about at that time of day. There is also that detail of light, the moment between light and dark is really special. What I often saw clearly in the bright daylight was quite different in the sunset/sunrise. I felt like I found secret spaces that only opened up at that moment between sunrise/sunset. Kind of like in "The Hobbit," by J.R.R. Tolkien, where the door to the Lonely Mountain would only be able to be opened at that certain time of year, where the light of the moon shone of the face of the mountain, illuminating that secret keyhole. 
 
The sky at sunset would glow red, purple, peach... it was often an artist palette of radiant colours, until the sun dropped, then shades of darkness would engulf the sky and all around. Then, the stars would shine. A few times, I encountered animals, birds often, once a fox, so quick I almost wasn't sure it was even there, and once a deer, who leapt so nimbly over the path and into the forest before I could even be aware of its presence. I felt very connected to nature. I felt like I was experiencing the space around me like our ancestors did, who had little of our modern technology. Just me, with my legs, my senses and body, feeling the earth under my feet, the sky over my head, moving in the space around me.
 
I realized then that we are so blessed in Switzerland. Though small, we still have many spaces of nature and so accessible on foot. Where I grew up, which is now a city of over a million people, nature spaces are a little more challenging to get to, partly due to urbanization, which has lengthened distances to natural spaces and also the lack of nature conservation. We are so lucky that we don't have to pay to be able to go into natural spaces. For instance, the Swiss National Park in Graubünden has no entry fee or just walk out your door and within a few minutes, there are trees, forests or even a lake or river, maybe even mountains. You don't have to do a fast like I did. But, value what you have as your own backyard. No excuses, take a walk outside, enjoy the fresh air, the environment that surrounds us and be open to what nature wants to share with you.      


​Photos by Elaine

The Summer Solstice came on the 21st of June and passed. The heat of summer has been sweltering. Our plants are thriving, blossoming, but some suffering from the extreme heat. We have been busy watering and nurturing them as much as we can. Our Sage was scorched early on in June, turning yellow and was looking like it wouldn't make it. I changed its position, slightly away from the direct sunlight and onto another balcony with some other plants. Since a few weeks, it is looking better, like it will make it though the summer. Amazing how so little can make a difference. Our team at ICM has had the benefit of fresh herbs, like Basil and Coriander, with their lunch. We have tried out fresh Mint tea and will soon share our harvest with our clients and visitors to ICM. So come by and share a cup of home-grown Mint tea to cool you down in the hot summer days. 

​Photos by Elaine