World Tai Chi and Qigong Day

Tomorrow April 30 is World Tai Chi and Qigong Day.

I remember many years ago when it first started, it was regional, then moved to national celebration, now for several years it's a world event.

In 2003 before we moved to Florida, we were driving from Florida to Ohio on our trip home from a spring break week.  I told my husband that we had to stop at 10 AM so I could do Tai Chi.  As 10 AM approached,  I saw a gas station on hilltop that looked like it was not surrounded by buildings, and told him to stop there.  While he filled up the car with gas, I went to the back of the station that overlooked a valley and did my tai chi form.   Then we got in the car and drove.  I could feel all the energies of other people practicing and happy to be part of the 10 AM celebration at Eastern time.  And my dear husband didn't make any wisecracks or roll his eyes.

If you play tai chi or practice qigong, wherever you are at your 10 AM, do your practice.  If  you don't do either, stop and breathe deeply for a minute or two and share in the good qi energies not only in your time zone, but around the world.

World Tai Chi and Qigong Day Website

What Makes Smart People More Happy? More "Alone" Time

Psychologist have studied for years about what makes people happy in their lives, and how to increase life satisfaction.   Studies  date back to  our ancient ancestors.  They use what is referred to "Savanna Theory of Happiness" to explain findings of tests and analysis of a large national survey involving 15,000 adults ages 18-28.

  They find that people who live in more densely populated areas tend to report less satisfaction with their lives overall.  And they found that the more social interaction with close friends, the greater they report self happiness.

Then they found that life satisfaction who live in densely populated areas was twice as high for individuals with low IQ than for high IQ individuals.  And more intelligent individuals were less satisfied with life if they socialized with their close friends more frequently.  The findings suggest that those with more intelligence and the capacity to use it are less likely to spend so much time socializing because they are focused on other long term objectives.  For example, think about really intelligent people you might know.  Maybe the person is a writer working on the Great American Novel, or a human rights lawyer working on a program to protect vulnerable people.  To them, the time they spend on social interaction detracts them from pursuit of their goals, which affects their overall satisfaction with life.

And think about intelligent people you know who have worked long hours and days during their working careers on projects that are very important to them, then they reach "retirement age".  They stop working, and realize they don't have an adequate social circle to help them enjoy their retirement time.  Often these people will continue working through their lifetime on projects that were important to them. 

We are all social creatures.  But the amount of social activity that makes us happy can vary. And this "Savanna Theory of Happiness" is an explanation for the different in happiness in high and low intelligent people.

Now that's sure an interesting theory to meditate on.

Coloring Books for Therapy-Balance Body, Mind and Spirit

Coloring books for adults have become very popular.  My mother-in-law who is in her 80's has a stack of them. She and friends also have a weekly coloring book group activity.  I gave one of my girlfriends a coloring book for her birthday last month.  She asks me if I want to put on of her colored pictures on my refrigerator, like we used to do when we were in elementary school.

Coloring can be psychological transformation.  It gives a sense of freedom, a childlike innocence, pure and simple joy.  It's not only fun,; it helps you get in touch with your creative, artistic side.  Since it works with a positive and creative part of your brain, you may find it helps you accomplish tasks in your home and at work joyfully and more quickly than it used to take to do those tasks.

Coloring can help you de-stress, relieve anxiety, and even achieve a meditative state.  It calms the mind, grounds and balances, and increases your feelings of joy and contentment.

Coloring therapy has been used for years with adults and children in counseling and health centers.  It's being used more for helping people with chronic pain and other health problems, especially senior citizens who could benefit more from coloring than
 taking medications.  Coloring is even being used in addiction recovery therapy.


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Some intuitive people also choose jade by the color that appeals to them.  They also know intuitively the color related to the meridian and qi energy that needs balancing.

Wearing your jade while coloring can be a healing experience, for your body, mind and spirit.

Treatment for Addictions in Lodi Ohio

The first Calm Spirit web site was launched in 1998 and was an online counseling site.  Then I added information about Qi Healing, Reiki, Chinese herbs and tea.  My first trip to China was 1999, and that's when I discovered jade and the qi energy used for Chinese medicine, and added jade to the site.  The site because too "crowded", and I started the Ying Yu Jade website in 2002.  A Chinese medicine doctor suggested the name.

When I moved to Florida in 2004 and no longer had my Ohio counselor license, I removed the online counseling.  Then the entire Calm Spirit web site, didn't change much, it was mostly informational, and although I kept renewing the domain name, I stopped doing updating on Calm Spirit.

Then about three years ago, I was wondering why YYJ was getting referrals from Calm Spirit pages, and realized the pages were still being found in search engines, so I put the site in a new mobile friendly format.  That's when I started getting requests from drug, alcohol and addiction services to list their web sites.  I made a Resources page.

When I worked as a counselor in Ohio, I developed drug and alcohol programs for school districts, and eventually worked in a district for a few years doing drug and alcohol education and counseling before I moved on to more general counseling and therapy.  So I've always had the interest in addictions.  The reality is that the root of many problems people go to counseling for is related to drug and alcohol use and abuse.  And I knew how to learn that from my clients. 

In the rural area I lived and worked in Ohio, there was AA and Alanon, but no other treatment centers.  One of my Facebook friends is the chemical dependency educator and counselor at the school I worked for, so I keep up with what's going on with drugs through her postings. Yesterday she posted that a drug treatment center opened in Lodi, Ohio which is in the school district I worked, and she still works.  The two people who started it are using their own funds to get the program going, because people really need it. 

A New Day, outpatient drug treatment center will treat patients battling addiction through assessments and therapy.  If you live in Medina county, or Wayne county in Ohio, it's a very useful and helpful resource for you.. It's located in the former Lodi Medical Building at 402 Highland Drive in Lodi.

If you need this service for yourself, or someone's use is affecting you, and live in the area, this is the center to go to for help.

Meditation and Healing

Last week was very stressful cleaning up after the hail storm, dealing with loss,  getting estimates for repair and decisions about what we should do.  I tried to keep our lives as normal as possible, and that includes cooking a healthy dinner.  And cooking while being stressed and distracted, I got three burns, one where my thumb attaches to the wrist on my dominant right hand.  The burn is located where it gets hit during the day, and it just won't heal.  Yesterday when I was getting ready for bed, it was so red, swollen and full of pus so I put antibiotic cream and a bandage  on it, and promised I would go to the CVS Minute-Clinic if it wasn't better in the morning.  It was worse this morning, no healing overnight, bleeding and with lots of pus.  I went to the grocery store to get foods for dinner tonight that would be easy to prepare because I guessed the nurse would clean it and bandage it, and I didn't want to bump it while it healed. 

I wanted to do my morning meditation before I left for CVS.  I had done yoga and tai chi but still distressed and hoped the meditation would calm me so I could drive to CVS more safely. I decided to use the comfortable chair on the porch for meditation because it was quiet, birds were singing, and I felt more blissful as I sat.  As I started mindful breathing, I put my mind on my burn wound, and held my hand with my jade bead mala, the Buddha charm next to the wound, and visualized healing.  25 minutes later when I did my end of meditation activity, I looked at the wound, and it had healed over.  I believe in meditation and healing, but was amazed at how much it healed in 20-25 minutes.  The pus was gone, the redness gone, bleeding stopped, and instead of a scab, there's skin over it.  I can still see the wound, but it's 95% healed.

I've helped many people heal with Reiki, Qi Healing work, and always am aware of how much better I feel after doing a Reiki session.  The energy flowing through me, through my hands as I hold them on another person, makes me feel like I had a nap, a good workout, and an emotionally satisfying experience.

And of course I believe in the healing qi energy of jade.  That's why I started Ying Yu Jade business, learning how Chinese doctors use the jade gua sha tools, and other jade tools for healing work because of the qi energy.

If you use natural methods for health and healing, meditation is very helpful.  If you like the healing energies of Chinese jade, there are videos and descriptions on Ying Yu Jade web site of the tools, like jade rollers, gua sha tools, "needles", acupressure rings, pillows and masks.

And of course good jade qi energy from all the jade bangle bracelets and jewelry.

Chinese Jade Bead Mala Bracelet with Buddha

Ying Yu Jade Eggs and Ben Wa Balls Kegel Exercise for Women

For years women who had symptoms of "gotta go", wore diaper panties, lost vaginal tightness after childbirth, or experienced vaginal dryness after menopause, went to their doctor and took medications and/or had surgeries to correct the problem.

Now, more women are turning to kegel exercise as a natural alternative to surgery and medicine.

Ying Yu Jade introduced jade ben wa balls and eggs for kegel exercise 10 years ago, and women are finding improved kegel functioning as well as overall better health by using the healing energy of jade along with kegel exercise.

Jade eggs and ben wa balls have been used for centuries in China, Japan and Asia.  I personally started using them for urinary control and dryness problems.  They worked so good for me, I went to see my jade carver in China to show him the kind of jade I expected, and the quality western women expect, especially using them in such a personal area.  He and my Chinese doctor friend from Beijing bought the best genuine pure and natural Chinese jade directly from the jade mine and worked together to make the jade eggs the size and quality we women appreciate.

The problem with some of the other gemstone that people are selling as eggs for women is that the stone would be very expensive if it were natural, like quartz and crystal.  This desire for quartz and crystal eggs has caused a dangerous experience for women because to get the quartz and crystal clear, colorful and pretty, they have to bleach it in acid to remove the imperfections, then use heat and/or polymer to add the color.  And that acid stays in the stone, and then gets into the body, which can cause serious problems for women who use it.

Ying Yu Jade uses only genuine and natural Chinese jade.  Sometimes customers ask for certificates for this kind of jade, but it's not common practice to have certificates for Chinese jade.  I've seen jade sellers with piles of fake certificates for Chinese jade, and jadeite, and I would be very suspicious of buying Chinese jade eggs or ben wa balls that include "certificates".  True certificates are costly.

There are also videos and instructions about how to use the eggs and perform kegel exercise.  There's a right way, and and ineffective way that can lead to other problems.  If you purchase Ying Yu Jade eggs or ben wa balls, there's the correct method from urinary specialists included.

Ying Yu Jade is having a Women's Wellness Sale on jade eggs and ben wa balls now.  For a limited time, a cute "purse" is included with the purchase to store your jade eggs.