Hazel Tree Holistic Health

I have so much to write about these days!  I am still preparing my presentation and meanwhile reading the book:  The Mind-Body Fertility Connection by James Schwartz and listening to:  The Silva Method and reading on the side my-once-a month-beloved Oprah magazine AND to top it all off a book called CoActive Coaching whose authors I don’t remember :)  My brain functions at about this level (Which the Silva Method says is 20cycles per second… I think it’s about 60… and it should be around 10) quite often.  But even within all these things being mixed up, I started thinking (AGAIN) about the responsibility of the healer and the responsibility of the patient.

If a patient comes to me and says she would like to get pregnant, is it my job to make her pregnant?  Can I even do that?  Is it possible?  No, not really.  My job, my responsibility in this case is to be sure that I am doing everything in my own power to balance my patient’s energies, to be sure that her body is prepared for a pregnancy.  Also, it is my responsibility to inform my patient of things she can do herself at home or otherwise to prepare her body / mind / soul for pregnancy.  It is my responsibility to let the patient know when I see progress and when I do not.  It is my responsibility to take care of myself so that I can be there for each patient.  It is my responsibility to continue to study, to be sure that I can give my patients the very best.

On the other hand, the success or lack thereof is not wholly my responsibility.  Yes, I should inform my patients of things that may help them.  Does this guarantee that they will do it?  Do they have to?  Will it work?  No, no and I don’t know.  I have written about this before in a bit of a different context, but I will write it again because it is something that has been returning and returning to me month after month since being in Germany.  Jeffery Yuen said:  “Your patient doesn’t have to believe in acupuncture or herbs or whatever modality of medicine you are practicing, your patient must believe, however, in the possibility of healing”.

So, when patients ask me:  Does It Work?!??   I say:  What do you think??

Is the patient in a place where she believes in the possibility of:  becoming pregnant, carrying a pregnancy AND giving birth?  This is usually a very difficult thing for women with fertility issues.  Most of them cannot say outloud:  I am capable of being pregnant, staying pregnant and birthing my child….  at least not at first

One of my biggest responsibilities therefore, is to help my patients revisit the world of possibility.  To expand her view of what is possible in the context of her own life.  To be there for her when she says a door just closed and to help her open another.  I walk along with my patients on their path but ultimately the direction we take depends on the patient.  I have my own views about where everyone should be but I am not always right, in fact, I am always only right when it comes to myself.  Just like my patients are always right when it comes to themselves.

Every patient has the ability to live a fertile life.  Every patient has the ability to choose the path she walks.  Every patient can learn to help herself.  I’m just an aid along a portion of the path.  I might carry you for a minute or just hold your hand.  My presence will be limited to a certain time span and I hope that in that time I can help show you that your life is beautiful today and will continue to be beautiful, no matter what doors open and close along the way.

xo

Caity

As I prepare for my lecture that will be at the end of the month, I am rereading loads of material, some of which I haven’t seen since I started at my current job - 2 years ago.  When I started writing out the slide show, I started feeling like I needed to brush up again on the basics in order to have a solid foundation from which to work and talk.  I put my trust in some amazing books that I have, written by pioneers in women’s fertility in the field of acupuncture.  (look through my recommended list for authors Lewis and Lyttleton)

What I am finding today is that there is information missing.  There are things that  feel need to be conveyed to my fellow acupuncturists that I will be sharing my knowledge with that I just can’t seem to find in the book.  I am sent back now to my 2nd year of acupuncture school.  During my second year (and 3rd and 4th!) I had the honor of being the student of Bob Damone, L.Ac.  Bob is an extremely important figure in the world of TCM because of the work he has done with Pathomechanisms.  Pathomechanisms in TCM are the processes by which dis-ease is created in the body.  We, as acupuncturists, often explain different organ functions to our patients by telling them what is wrong when this particular organ is not in balance, i.e., when the Spleen is weak patients will have an overall feeling of lethargy, they may have sluggish stools and metabolism, be prone to nosebleeds, have a cold nose, be prone to bruising and various other things.  This is a great way to have an exchange with patients, however, it leaves us in a place where we are constantly viewing the organs as weak and dysfunctional.  How often do we think about the Spleen and think about it’s proper functioning?  How often do we view the system as whole and complete?  If we forget what is supposed to be happening and what “balance” looks like, how will we be able to tell when our patient arrives there?

In addition to this, due to language barriers and thought process barriers (taking into consideration the drastic worldview difference between western and chinese cultures) a lot of the information that we learn during school is presented as simple facts that we accept.  Because someone said so.  This is where Bob comes in.  Bob never accepted (at least when he was my teacher) that a dysfunction of the spleen lead to increase in bruising - just because.  With Bob, we had to explain the hows and whys.  We had to view the Spleen in it’s full functioning form and point out the aspects that went wrong in order to get to the point of increased bruising. It’s a step by step process - not just a simple cause and effect. 

So, now, as I write out my presentation, I find myself sitting around and drawing out (that’s the easiest way) flow charts of pathomechanisms.   I don’t want to feed people information “just because”.  I want it to make sense, to have background, to be able to be explained.  This all came up because I decided that I want to explain why menstruation is important in fertility.  We all know why FSH is important.  We know why ovulation is important.  We know what roles LH and Progesterone play.  The menses just seems brushed over… the new starting point.  Maybe that is why it is important, because it’s a fresh start. 

The menses serve the function of clearing out “old blood”.  Clearning out “old blood” serves the function of giving Progesterone and Estrogen a fresh start on which to build a new, nutritient filled, thick, warm, prepared endometrium.  The menses allows our body the chance to build a fresh layer, to give the best we’ve got to our children.  As women, every month, we dutifully prepare ourselves with the best of what we’ve got available to create a home that will nuture a new life for 9 months. 

That’s what the menses gives us.  Renewal.  Retries.  A Fresh Start.

Often, the process of taking care of oneself is viewed as selfish and egocentric.  The mother that takes the morning off to get a pedicure is vain.  The grandmother who cannot take her grandchildren for the day because she is busy hiking is self absorbed.  The woman who gives herself one massage per month is perceived to be spending too much time and money on herself.  I am here to fight that image, to empower women everywhere to do whatever it is that is necessary for them to feel positive, strong and taken care of; for only when we are ourselves full, can we give to others with our overflow.

This is especially important for women who find themselves in the struggle to have a child.  These women will do ANYTHING if you say it will help.  They have tried wearing orange every day for a week, drinking certain teas and herbs three times a day even if they hate it.  They have woken up at 2am to be sure that their shots are done on time and on top of that have learned to give themselves shots.  If the end result is a baby, the journey is not important.

It is this group of women to whom I would like to reach out the most.  Now, right now, is the best time to start taking care of YOU.  This does not mean only eating steamed veggies and rice for 2 months (although it might mean that for some people).  This means doing you.  What do you like?  Where do you feel the best?  What activities fill your time in such a way that you don’t even notice it is passing?  When was the last time you laughed from way deep down in your gut?  For one, this is necessary because studies have shown that woman with depression are 50% less likely to get pregnant following IVF/ICSI/IUI attempts.  For two, this is necessary because as is so beautifully put by my teacher, Saraswati Tiberi, you must “prepare the palace”  (see www.preparethepalace.com.blogspot and www.thefertilesoul.com for more).  Preparing the palace includes preparing the uterus which can be done through deep breathing, yoga, acupuncture, herbs, etc. but it also includes preparing the palace that is your body, mind and soul.  Your mind and soul can be ready… but body not so much.  Your body and mind can be ready, but soul.. still catching up.  Your soul and body can be ready, but you cannot overcome the thoughts of how it will all work out, your mind isn’t quite on the same level.

Preparing the palace = taking care of you.  Taking care of you = whatever you want it to be.  Creative endeavors, yoga retreats, hypnosis, massages, pedicures, shopping, acupuncture, herbs, painting, coloring, drawing, playing music, gardening, breathing, sitting, being aware, reading, swimming, running, biking, walking, rock climbing, blogging, writing, talking, trying new dishes; these are all examples by which one can take care of themselves.  I urge all women that wish for a child (who seems not in a rush to get here!) to switch focus from when the next dr’s appointment is to:  what do I want today?  What will make me feel good right now, in this moment?

I will not tell you that it is easy, but it is only a decision away.  Make a decision.  Take Care of You.

Lots of Love,

Caity

It’s officially September, the days are getting shorter and will soon start getting colder.  At the present moment, I am busy preparing for a weekend workshop during which I will share my experience working with fertility with other acupuncturists here in Poland.  While writing this presentation, I am forced to review my knowledge, thought processes and tendencies in treatment.  This happens to be something I do often anyway, but never quite this in depth.  I am forced to put my own prejudices about certain treatments aside in order to present a clear, incorporating view.  I am forced to be quite clear about why I have those prejudices and why I do the treatments that I do.  I must, absolutely must, review all the basic information and reform my own foundation upon which I practice.  It’s great.  I haven’t felt so solid in months. 

The process of clearing, cleaning and making room is helpful in all areas of life.  This can deal solely with thoughts.  It can also deal solely with “things” - think - spring cleaning.  Interestingly enough, this process has been making me desire yoga.  I have been desiring more yoga since the beginning of the summer and have started to do short asana series in the mornings.  This also makes me feel solid.  This feeling of solidarity is something that I often want to share with my patients.  I realize that life is full of unknowns and I actually quite like this and have incorporated that variable into my own feelings of solidness.  This means that my solidness is felt now and only now.  But this moment, right now, here…. is quite solid.  I know where I am and how I feel right now.  I do not know how I will feel at the end of this sentence. 

Being in a place where I feel solid allows me to make concrete decisions.  I am clear about what I want and am clear that the next step I take toward this goal depends on when I choose to pick up my foot and place it down again.  This is something that I like to share with my patients.  I see about 80 women per week with infertility issues.  By their actions, speech and movement one can quite often see that they do not feel solid.  They base their next decision on what the doctor says.  They move forward when their massage therapist says so.  They change their diets only when their acupuncturist says it is necessary.  Many of these women have lost a sense of how and when to listen to themselves.  As an acupuncturist, I quite often give dietary advice.  I am aware that this advice will help the patients that adhere to it.  I also know that patients will only adhere to it when they see the sense in it.  They will only continue to follow recommendations when it was their solid decision that lead them to start following the recommendations in the first place. 

The trick with all of this is that patients undergoing fertility care often feel quite lost and have lost faith in themselves.  They may think:  “what I have decided up until this point, hasn’t helped me, maybe all these people know better”  or   “Lord knows I don’t know what to do, I’ll just do what they say and cross my fingers”  or  “maybe if I do everything perfectly like everyone says, it’ll work.  I’ll do it all.  Just say it will work”.  One of the purposes of the Treasure Hunt program that I started with Ewa Blaszczak, lifecoach is to give women time and support to return to themselves.  To reconnect with their own divine wisdom.  To feel that the decisions they are making are their own.  To plant seeds of hope, faith and joy.  To allow them to create their own solid platform from which they can jump, hop, skip, step or dance… whatever feels right to them.   in the moment.  right now.

Sorry that it’s been a minute, I’ve been working on a website… that should be finished in a couple of weeks. Then, I’ll be able to return with full force to blogging. This morning, I woke up thinking about the things that inspire me the most to practice this ancient art. I got thinking about Rothenburg (again) and I thought about a few things that were said or noted on certain power point presentations and I realized that sometimes, simple words hold so much power and have the ability to remind us of our paths, our passions and our intentions. So, I decided to dedicate some time this morning to the electronic recording of quotes that have hit me along the way. Chances are that this entry will be updated frequently as I find new things that I like Enjoy! 

“Alice laughed: “There’s no use trying,” she said; “one can’t believe impossible things.”
“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
Alice in Wonderland.

This one may not seem to have a lot in common with Traditional Chinese Medicine, but it reminded me of Jeffrey Yuen’s lecture when he reminded us of the miraculous abilities of the body to spontaneously heal. Remembering how amazing and “impossible” the body is allows me to picture full health in each patient at each moment.

When the Heart is clear, all organs are peaceful. When the heart is clouded, the 12 organs are in danger. - Huang Di Nei Jing, Cht.8

So much of the Kongress this year revolved around the involvement of the heart and shen in healing, especially as it has to do with fertility and women’s health. This quote helps me to remember that focusing on the shen is always beneficial, that clearing the heart is of utmost importance. I see this everyday and it’s beautiful.

The Path is more clever than the one walking on it

This quote represents the relationship between destiny and manifestation and goes along with the blog I wrote about the Secret. It’s important to be clear about where you are and what you want, but even if there are moments in your life that are quite unclear and unsure, you can rely on your path to guide you. I love this thought.

Yi brings ideas and images [to a person], the Zhi makes is powerful if it fits - The Seven Emotions, pg 152

Along the same lines - here we are discussing the wu shen. Yi, the shen of the Spleen, is what allows us to imagine what is necessary for us in our lives. If the Zhi, shen of the Kidneys, decide that this truely matches our path it gives us the willpower to put our thoughts into action and see them through.

Your thoughts and judgements are the seeds that you are planting that will sprout into your future health issues - Robin Saraswati Tiberi

Robin’s talk on the first day of the Kongress was amazing. She reminds us to ask ourselves what seeds we are planting at each moment. Our habits, ways of doing things, automatic thoughts - these are our seeds. Once planted, we have options of nuturing them, starving them or even pulling them out at the roots (also Robin :)). The way to planting seeds that you want to nuture to to create an area of awareness. Start paying attention to your actions. Then, you will learn what seeds you are planting and can make conscious decisions which are beneficial to you and need nuturing. I recommend the book ‘Miracle of Mindfulness’ by Thich Nhat Hanh for help learning how to do this.

This tension [between shen and jing in the body] is dynamic and it generates opposition, desires, conflicts. But it is also a motivating force for transformation and metamorphosis of the spirit. - Yair Maimon

This quote not only reminds me of the very basics of TCM, but it also reminds me that change is possible at every moment. That the body, in it’s natural state is not static and that acupuncture can and does have true effects that can start a chain of reactions in the body leading to health. Health is a decision made in every moment, you can change your mind about how you feel and where you are at any time.

Emotions are only negative when they are not liberated - Jeffrey Yuen

I love this. Most times people separate their emotions into “bad” and “good” emotions, based on cultural norms. For instance, in the States, happy is good and anger is bad. In Poland, happy is bad (because it’s suspicious) and indifference is good (because it gives you protection). But the fact remains that each and every of our emotions is necessary for us. They arise at different times to alert us of our comfort level with a given situation. If you didn’t have both “bad” and “good” emotions, you would always stay at a job that you hate, in a relationship that isn’t supportive to you, etc. etc. Emotions are only negative when they are blocked and then not released. Emotions must be lived through, must be felt in order to feel like their job is completed and they are free to go.

Thats all for today… go plant some seeds of health

Can’t remember where I left off a week ago, can hardly believe it’s been a week since I wrote… but this topic has come up already twice this week and it’s only tuesday, so I figured…What are your beliefs? What are your convictions? What is your filter for the world? Does it have a color? a shape? a mood?
We create filters for ourselves through our lives as a form of protection. Humans don’t like to have to repeat every lesson over and over every day, so we teach ourselves things and then stick to them. It gives us shortcuts, it explains things to us. During a discussion with a fertility patient, I asked her why she thinks that she’s had so much trouble. I understand after the past few years that this question can really open a bag of worms, but she was ready for it. She looked at us and informed us that she’s just a person who has bad luck. Then, we asked her for examples. She told us about: a spider, weekend guests and a couple other “reasons” that the transfers hadn’t worked. After those things, she decided that she has bad luck and that’s that. We then asked her about bad luck in the rest of her life. She couldn’t find anything. Bad luck is a filter that she has given herself to be sure that something is “at fault” for her unsuccessful transfers. I do not think that this is necessarily a bad thing, it helps her in some way, but sometimes it’s helpful to remember that it is just that: a filter. You created it. You can change it. It’s yours. You own it. IT DOESN’T OWN YOU. And, just because you created it, it doesn’t mean it’s true.

A lot of filters are created for us. In the States, a open umbrella indoors is considered bad luck. So, for instance, if you happen to open an umbrella indoors and then trip, you would think: Oh! that damn umbrella. If a window breaks after you seeing a black cat, you think: That damn black cat crossed my path. Here, in Poland, everyone leaves umbrellas open inside, to give them time to dry off. The first time I walked into the “locker room” at work while it was raining and saw about 20 open umbrellas, I automatically thought: ACK! They don’t KNOW! They are giving themselves so MUCH bad luck!!! Also, here, you cannot leave a purse on a floor. It must be on a chair or table… anything but the floor. Because, if on the floor, the money won’t pour in. WHAT?!?! But NO ONE puts their purse on the floor. If they did, and happened to lose a 20.00… the purse on the floor would be to blame. Are we getting the picture??

If there are some beliefs/convictions/filters that you believe are blocking you in some way, please remember that they are YOURS and YOU can change them. It’s just a matter of repeating the one you want to believe enough times so that it will start sinking in. Important things: say it repeatedly, say it outloud. Say it to other people if you can. Start living as if it is true and it will become your filter. You will start to look at the world through it’s eyes.

aka Ancient support for a “new age” theory

The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine is one of the books that TCM is based on and the oldest known book of medicine.* It is a series of questions and answers between the Emperor (Huang Di) and his physician (Qi Bo). Lately, I have been thinking a lot about combining acupuncture and life coaching. Life coaching according to wikipedia is:a practice with the aim of helping clients determine and achieve personal goals. One of the reasons that I thought this would be helpful is because I spend so much time with patients who’s disease state completely runs their life. They are organized by the thought “I have (insert problem here) and nothing else is important”. These people put on blinders, they forget who they are, what they like and a lose a sense of joy. When I was in Rothenburg this year, much of the material was focused on the emotions and their effect on disease and also on the mental state and how thoughts become processes that become diseases. This second area, about mental state and thoughts relates exactly to life coaching. We need to find the set of beliefs that already exists within someone in order to help them reach a place of health. Just like was mentioned earlier frome the Jeffrey Yuen lecture… it’s not important that the patients believe in whatever modality you are performing, it is important that they believe in the possibility of healing and living a healthful life. So, getting back to the Yellow Emperor… I realized that after trying to find a way to combine acu and life coaching, that they have been connected all along.

In book 1, chapter 1 of the Huang Di Nei Jing, Huang Di states: “I have heard that in ancient times, the people lived to be over a hundred years, and yet they remained active and did not become decrepit in their activities … ” and Qi Bo replied “In ancient times, those people … understood the Tao (which I interpret as each persons individual path/goal/journey) and they lived in harmony…there was temperance in eating and drinking. Their hours of rising and retiring were regular and not disorderly and wild. By these means, the ancients kept their bodies united with their souls … their vital spirit was preserved within; thus, how could illness come to them? … their spirit followed in harmony and obedience; everything was satisfactory to their wishes and they could achieve whatever they wished. (the Secret.. anyone??) Any kind of food was beautiful and any kind of clothing was satisfactory. They felt happy under any condition”*

Thus, the solution is to remember to live according to your personal Dao. Remember your intuition. Be grateful for what you have. Allow your body to exercise, appreciate and love your muscles, bones and tendons who so thanklessly continue to work for you. When you find yourself on a road that doesn’t quite feel right, remember that you can create an exit whenever you want. It is up to you to turn down a different path. You, ultimately have responsibility for what you are, who you are and how you react to life. Doctors, teachers, friends and family can help you to realize what you may need in life, but the decisions still lay in your hands. Advice turns to action only when the advised decides so.

I think acu and life coaching are a beautiful blend of what modern day medicine can offer a patient. You can learn what you want out of life and you can ask for help getting there. I may just be the girl that helps you <3

(Veith, Ilza - The Yellow Emperor’s Classic, University of California press, 1949)

Still digesting last week’s stuff… and loving it. One of our amazing lecturers was Yair Maimon from Israel. (http://www.chinese-medicine.org.il/)His talk (or what I’ve managed to get from it so far…) dealt with the connection of Jing and Shen in the body and how this connection creates the friction that in turn creates life. There is another level that I won’t get into just yet, first I’ll try to realize what the basics are and then see if I can grasp the rest.

Jing in chinese medicine is sometimes translated as “essence”. The idea that comes into my mind when I think of jing is the deepest most primal earth energy that is available to humans. It creates our being, it gives us the energy to become. We are given a certain level of it at birth, from our parents, and we use it little by little throughout our lives. It’s preservation is said to lead to a longer, more healthful life. It is said to be attached to the energy of the kidneys and also to be directly related to amount and quality of eggs and sperm. It is our most basic element. It is contracted and dark.

The exact opposite of this is Shen. Shen is loosely translated as “spirit” in english texts. Shen is our connection to the heavens. It is the sense of interconnectedness that exists between humans and animals alike. Shen is the piece of the universal whole that belongs to us during our lifetime. At death, Shen continues. Jing, on the other hand only continues through our offspring. Shen is expansive and clear.

Shen is the energy of the heavens, Jing is the energy of the earth. When they mix, life (Qi) is formed. The definition of Qi has been long debated. Most people give up and just call it “energy”, but it is so much more than that. Qi is the process by which our bodies function. Every organ has it’s own qi, that has it’s own functions. Even if we think about this through the eyes of western medicine, we can see that different organs function differently. Heck, most of them have their own special cells. The heart is the only place in the body to have cardiac muscle. It is not the same substance as the muscles of your arms and legs, nor the same as say, your intestines. The liver is full of hepatocytes which only fuction properly in their own environment, together. The energetic functioning of each part of our body is different and this is Qi. Qi is a process, a function, it’s how something works. So, yes, it is energy.. but varied forms. Electricity and fire are both energy but they are different. We can derive energy from the sun through way of solar panels or through wind or water mills. Each of these differ greatly from the next. We have a source of energy available to us, but we need something to transform that energy into something useful. This process is Qi.

I’ll stop there for now… I’ve got more to process before I can add on…

Phew - I could have written a post daily last week (if I had only had the time). The 40th annual TCM Kongress in Rothenburg, Germany was again the best week of the year. It is so inspiring to be in the same place as some of the greatest minds in this medicine. One of the amazing lectures that I was able to go to was Jeffrey Yuen’s “Cultivating the Healer Within”. He did this talk also at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine Symposium in November, 2008. You can listen to some of it here: http://chinesemedicinetools.com/jeffrey-yuen/jeffrey-yuen-cultivating-the-healer-withinHis biggest message in all of this revolved around non-judgement. This was not focused on non-judgement of the patient, but instead non-judgement of the dis-ease process that happens to be a part of the patient’s life at the moment. This in fact was a lot of what we learned all week. Our own preconceived notions about certain disease processes can lead us to treat differently and can also lead us to do treatments that are more palliative than healing. The patient does not have to believe in acupuncture for it to work. The patient has to believe in the possibility of changing their current condition for any healing modality to have effect.

There was a lot of talk this week about the phenomenon of spontaneous healing and questions about why we study less the people that have been able to change their conditions and more about the people who are still suffering. Don’t we think that the spontaneous healers might have something in common? What if we could recreate that and show our patients that path? Would their be an instant decrease in disease and discomfort?

A study was done in New York that was eventually not published because various medical journals deemed it to be not important enough. The study was focused on people with multiple personalities and serious health issues. It was found that in one personality a person could give a blood sample and come back as HIV positive and that same body, as a different personality could give a subsequent blood sample and find no traces of HIV. The same went for a man who, as one personality was an insulin dependent diabetic and as a second personality, not. Now, I am not suggesting that we all go out and find ourselves a couple new personalities, I am simply asking everyone to remember that disease is not static. Your body is changing all the time. Skin cells change every 2 - 4 weeks, liver cells - every 5 months, red blood cells - 120 days. You are in a constant state of change. The thoughts that you have here and now today will effect the cells that are being created right now. You can change those thoughts, habits and patterns tomorrow and start sending your body a new message.

So, the basic idea today is for all the practitioners out there to remember that we are searching for health in our patients, not illness. Our mindset can help or hinder our patient’s outcome. We need to remind ourselves and our patients daily that we believe in the ability of the human body to heal itself. Sometimes it needs a little help… that is what we are here for.

Search for health and you will find it.

much more to come…..

I am sitting in a hotel right now at the 40th annual TCM Kongress, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. All the best of the best are here giving lectures. Thursday starts the “real” congress, but I came early for an extra day on infertility. Rothenburg is still quiet, but the TCM’ers of the world are about to be upon us… and I can’t wait! Living in Poland for the past 2 years has not helped me make a lot of acupuncture contacts and I work in a western clinic as the only alternative therapist, so it’s nice to be around “my own kind”. One of the speakers this week will be Lillian Bridges, author of Face Reading in Chinese Medicine. I went to her lecture last year and thought about it for months afterward, it was so exciting and totally up my ally. One of the things about it that made it so great for me is the idea that we really are simply who we are and it is written all over our faces. Let me explain a little better. One of the first things that needs to be decided on a face is the most prominent feature. The first thing you notice about someone when you see them accross a room or meet them for the first time is the most prominent feature. Then, you can make a quick assessment of which element that person’s personality is strong in. For example, say you see someone on the street and you immediately notice that he/she has these GIANT eyes. Eyes are related to Liver energy. This person has, most likely a wood personality… even more so if she has a square jaw and a basic overall square face shape and has either a short, stocky or a long sinewy body. A wood personality would indicate tendencies toward anger as the most expressed emotion and a person who is logical, practical and organized. This doesn’t mean that everyone with large eyes is this type, since you have to take into account the rest of the facial features for a full analysis, but it is a good place to start. The reason I think this is so great is because it gives you (once you’ve had your face read!:)) the freedom to be you, without excuses and/or apologies. People can make fun of a wood person for being too organized all the time, but he/she can brush it off, they know that this is part of who they are and part of what they need to feel fulfilled and happy. Every person needs to live in accordance with their inner truth. Lillian calls this “The Golden Path”. I like that. The problem that I run into (in my own head…) with this is that the personality type can wind up BEING the excuse for certain behaviors that may or may not be acceptable. So, I started thinking about the flexibility of personality types and the idea that we have to always remember and know what our tendencies are, but that doesn’t mean that they control us. It is still our live to live, they are still our decisions to make. A facial diagnosis is not a free pass to scream at people at work simply because you are a wood personality and have a need to express anger.In order to get into the flexibility of personality types, I started thinking more about the elements that are the basis of these types. In TCM, there are 5 elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Wood people tend toward A type personalities, Fire people tend to get easily excited and move very quickly, Earth people are very nurturing, Metal people need everything around them to be perfect and Water people are usually deep and great listeners. (Please search 5 element personalities in Google if you would like a more in depth view of each of the personality types) If we take each element and break it down into things that represent it, we might be able to infer different personality parts that are more flexible than the basic, short definitions that one usually finds attached to these things.

Take Wood for example. In nature, wood is the thickest of tree trunks and the skinniest of branches. It is an oak tree and also a willow. It is a fallen log and it is a twig. If we think about the inherent qualities of an oak tree we think: thick, strong, long lasting, difficult to destroy without serious trauma. If we think about a willow we think: soft, bending with the breeze and lots of shade. If we think about a large fallen log we think: difficult to move, heavy. If we think about a twig we think: easy to snap, insignificant. Now think about what all those physical qualities could translate into as personality traits: strong, determined, willed, flexible, protective, stubborn, fragile. These are seemingly or not so seemingly very different things, but we have to remember that people have many sides, many abilities and many situations during the course of their lifetime when they may choice to react in many different ways.

My point here is that, even once you feel that you have defined yourself in someway, remember that you too are capable of many different things and you are capable of redefining yourself at any time, according to your will. Don’t feel stuck in your decisions, they can always change. As a water personality, you may have days were you are like a deep lake: still, quiet, reflective and you may have days that you are more like a waterfall: rapid, loud and powerful. Use all these pieces of your personality, find out which ones work for you best. Who are you when you are feeling at your best? Find that part, and nuture it.

<3P.S. feel free to hop over to Lillian’s page for more face reading info:
the three w’s . lotusinstitute dot com