To Develop Tolerance, Patience & Loving Kindness Learn to Embrace Your Enemy

Did not Jesus say, "Love Thy Enemy"? but this is one of the most difficult things to do. If one can learn to love her/his enemy, then the transformative power of love has manifested. one no longer has an enemy. one has a friend.The Dali Lama says, "It is our enemies who provide us with the challenge we need to develop the qualities of tolerance, patience, and compassion".Everything has mind in the lead, has mind in the forefront,is made by mind.If one speaks or acts with a corrupt mind, misery will follow,as the wheel of a cart follows the foot of the ox.Everything has mind in the lead, has mind in the forefront,is made by mind.If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness will follow,like…

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City of Portland Gets an Acupuncture Treatment: Public Arts Project

Here's something wild and crazy: the City of Portland is getting an acupuncture treatment through a new public arts project. The project hopes using mammoth acupuncture "Needles appearing across the city will bring attention to the some of the city's most challenging problems, greatest assets, as well as places with enormous potential.“Using the body as a metaphor for the entire city, Kuby hopes to identify those places in the landscape that are important to us as a community, drawing attention not only to the significance of each focal point but also to the interconnectedness of them to each other as well as to ourselves.” Susan Anderson Director, Portland Bureau of Planning & Sustainabilityhttp://acuportland.org/home.htmlPortland has 2 acupuncture colleges and more than 500 acupuncturists in a 3 county area.…

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For Safety and Maximum Effectiveness See a Licensed Acupuncturist

In order to be preformed safely an effectively, acupuncture must be preformed by a qualified practitioner with adequate training in Chinese medicine. Unfortunately MD's and chiropractors have been allowed to add acupuncture as a modality in their practices after taking only a few weekend seminars in it, totally 100-300 hours. Considering that Licensed Acupuncturist now must complete 3000-4000 hours of training in order to become licensed, it is inconceivable that states would consider 100-300 adequate training for practicing on patients. Those that are poorly trained make mistakes ranging from ineffective treatment to injuries to patients.A study by the Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromso, Norway about acupuncture safety concludes:"Most adverse effects of acupuncture seem to rely on insufficient basic medical knowledge, low hygienic standard, and inadequate…

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Duke University Uses Acupuncture Anesthesia During Surgery

NBC video ran an interesting report about Duke University's use of acupuncture anesthesia during surgery. Duke has a large, respected integrative medicine department, and I'm always pleased to learn what comes out of it. Acupuncture anesthesia has been used in China for many years. Needles are put in the ear and at various points on the body. In his 1980's 4 part PBS special "Healing in the Mind", Bill Moyer devoted one segment to China, showing an open heart surgery using acupuncture for part of the anesthesia. Typically 30-50% less anesthesia is used. In the video, the patient is lucid and incredibly able to talk and answer basic questions (name, where are you, what is happening) during surgery. A screen was up below his head so that…

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Wall Street Journal Gives Acupuncture the Green Light

This week's Wall Street Journal features a much awaited article praising acupuncture and hypothesizing how it might work from a western scientific point of view.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704841304575137872667749264.htmlIt also includes a couple of 2 minute videos showing an acupuncture treatment:http://online.wsj.com/video/testing-acupuncture/C66816BC-2110-402B-B254-61668040B9D0.htmlAnd another discussing acupuncture, what it does and how it might work:http://online.wsj.com/video/news-hub-unraveling-acupuncture/9505EDF3-A422-42F0-94A5-B930E3999267.htmlThis is a favorable article about acupuncture, discussing it's value and a few of it's uses. For a larger list of many of the conditions acupuncture effectively treats, please visit the Resources of my website www.AcupunctureAsheville.com KB

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Studies Show Meditation Reduces Heart Attacks, Strokes & Hypertension

Two recent studies have demonstrated that meditation reduces heart attacks, strokes and hypertension. Many past studies have shown health benefits of meditation, including decreased depression, anxiety and improved sleep and ability to handle stress. These two studied the effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique. I have posted the NY Times report about the studies and abstracts of them below.Here's a little bit about TM from Wikipedia:The Transcendental Meditation technique, or TM technique is a form of mantra meditation introduced in India in 1955[1][2][3][4] by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1917-2008).[5] It is reported to be the most widely researched and one of the most widely practiced meditation techniques in the world today.[6][7][8][9] Taught in a standardized seven-step course by certified teachers, the technique involves the use of a sound…

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Study Shows Qi Gong Effective for Cancer Patients

A recent study published in Annals of Oncology shows that medical Qi Gong improves the quality of life, mood and inflammation in cancer patients. There is no definition given for medical (vs non-medical?) Qi Gong, but I understand that the patients in the study practiced 2x/week with an instructor and were asked to do additional practice at home between classes. If you are interested in taking qi gong classes with a teacher be sure to tell the instructor about your disease and purpose for learning qi gong so that more specific instruction can be tailored to your needs. In fact, a private or series of private lessons, interspersed with group lessons might be optimal. If for whatever reason working with an instructor in person is not an option…

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Boundaries Create the Ego

Boundaries create the ego.Or put another way: the ego is comprised of boundaries between self and other.To weaken or destroy the ego, one must first dissolve the boundaries, carefully. The id and ego do not take well to threats, and due to this fear will fight hard to protect their existence. This inner struggle can be quite difficult to endure. KB

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