Bridgette Shea - Handbook of Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda: An Integrated Practice of Ancient Healing Traditions

FOREWORD

Finding the Calm Within

John Douillard, D.C., CAP

I n the Handbook of Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, these ancient medicinal systems come from roots steeped in a time-tested study of naturesomething to which we, as a culture, have lost our connection.

These traditional systems of medicine evolved over thousands of years of studying the most subtle aspects of natureMother Nature and human nature. These studies concluded that the most profound aspects of the human body and the most powerful aspects of nature were not the most obvious, they were the most subtle. It was in the most subtle aspects of nature that researchers found the true operating system behind the human body and life itself.

For example, modern science tells us that the genes of the human microbiome, which we cannot see with the naked eye, outnumber the genes in the human genome by about one hundred to one, and 90 percent of the cells of the human body, while silently governing all of the bodys physiological functions, are actually microbial. These ancient sciences understood that gentle manipulation or therapeutic corrections at the most refined and subtle aspects of the body would deliver the most powerful healing and, ultimately, transformational change.

While healing and optimal health was always a major theme in both systems of medicine, it was never the goal. The goal was to first restore balance to the body, so that the mind could gain the awareness needed to make deep mental, emotional, and spiritual transformational change. Healing was a means to a greater end. They were seeking truth; the same, nonchanging, reliable truth they witnessed in nature, season after season, year after year, and generation after generation.

While nature provided a safe and reliable canvas for life, life itself took advantage of natures predictable cycles by evolving on every level from the most subtle to the most blatant. The human body was also evolving, and the potential was unlimited. Much of human evolution was linked to a growing level of awareness that allowed humans to potentially shed what Ayurveda termed the cause of disease and the obstacles to full human potential. In Ayurveda, the cause of disease was referred to as pragya parad, which translates as the mistake of the intellect. This is where the mind starts thinking of itself as separate, better than, and disconnected from the field of intelligence or consciousness from which we came.

This same field of intelligence that the ancients experienced in nature, they also experienced in the human body, coming to the conclusion that, at the most subtle level, they were experiencing the same field everywhere. Connecting to and becoming aware of this field of intelligence or consciousness was the key to natures sustainability, the healing of the human body, and the evolution of human potential.

Removing the mistake of the intellect would first require a heightening in the state of awareness and then the ability to employ transformational actions or therapies such as dietary modifications, lifestyle changes and herbal and energetic support at the most effective level. More specifically, becoming conscious would elicit awareness of the subtle circadian cycles that underwrite both the human body and nature itself. Science suggests that we must live in harmony with these circadian rhythms for optimal health, and many experts believe that the field called circadian medicine will revolutionize medicine as we know it. Both Chinese medicine and Ayurveda are based on a lifestyle that is in balance with daily, monthly, and seasonal light/dark circadian cycles. These are prerequisites for spiritual evolution.

In ancient times, as in modern times, people were distracted by their senses, looking outside themselves for ways to be more content, less hungry, and safe from the illusion of wealth and material gain. Chinese medicine and Ayurveda were developed to reconnect their respective cultures to something more real. It was clear that the fascination with sensory stimulation was the source of pragya parad and the onset of disease (mental, physical, and emotional). Vedic science, Chinese medicine, kung fu, tai chi, and many other eastern martial art forms were based on living in truth. The word Veda means truth, and ayus means life, so the most accurate definition of Ayurveda is a system of medicine designed to reveal the truth of your life.

From the perspective of healing, both Chinese medicine and Ayurveda believe in supporting the bodys ability to heal itself rather than doing the healing for the body, as we see done in Western medicine and many forms of natural medicine today. Restoring and heightening the bodys self-awareness enables the body to clearly recognize health problems as problems and, in a spontaneous and effortless manner, heal itself.

Humans maximize their potential by adhering to a law of nature called the coexistence of opposites, in which a deep awareness of silence is coexistent with dynamic activity of the body and mind. In nature the coexistence of opposites demonstrates some of its most powerful formsthink atoms and solar systems with silent centers and things spinning around them. In a hurricane, the bigger the eye of the hurricane, the more powerful the winds, suggesting that the source of the hurricanes power comes from the calm, silent center. The winds of the storm and the calm must coexist in order for the hurricane to reach its full strength. Likewise, humans must establish an awareness of peace and calm in the midst of their busy, stressful lives in order to reach their full human potential.

Ayurveda and Chinese medicine employ martial art techniques that center around the mastery of the bow and arrow. The bow is a metaphor for the coexistence of opposites. When you pull back the bow, you must pull it all the way back and establish the bowstring in a deep experience of calm and silence for an accurate and transformational flight of the arrow. Any small movement or deviation of the bowstring once pulled back will have an exponentially distorted effect on the flight of the arrow. The more fully you can pull the bow back and establish it in a space of physical and mental peace and calm, the more accurate your shot will be. And the more often you take action in your life from this calm place, the more transformational your experience of life will be.

Fundamentally, these ancient systems of medicine so eloquently described by Bridgette Shea in the Handbook of Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda not only help us heal our injuries and physical imbalances, but they also provide the transformational opportunities to completely free ourselves from the ignorance of a mind that easily attaches itself to the material world, which unknowingly separates us from the truth and our full potential. Close your eyes, pull back the bow, be still, breathe, connect with nature, and then from this place, open your eyes and take action!

DR. JOHN DOUILLARD, D.C., CAP, is the best-selling author of Eat Wheat and The 3-Season Diet, a former NBA nutritionist, and the creator of LifeSpa.comproving ancient wisdom with modern scienceand has over 6 million YouTube views.

FOREWORD

Bridging the Gap

Kim Beekman

I have had the great privilege to learn from Bridgette Shea for more than ten years as a client and a student. I have gained wisdom ranging from the life-changing connection to my breath to the depth of theory and practice of Ayurveda and Reiki. Bridgettes ability to convey the higher wisdom of Ayurveda into a practical day-to-day application of wellness has always been impressive and invaluable. Not everyone is blessed to have her living in their hometown, so it is a true gift to have her practical wisdom documented here for all to experience.