Joseph Cardillo - The Five Seasons: Tap Into Natures Secrets for Health, Happiness, and Harmony

Copyright 2013 Joseph Cardillo

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.

THE FIVE SEASONS

EDITED AND TYPESET BY KARA KUMPEL

Cover design by John Moore

Printed in the U.S.A.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cardillo, Joseph.

The five seasons : tap into nature's secrets for health, happiness, and harmony / by Joseph Cardillo, PhD.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-60163-258-6 (print) -- ISBN 978-1-60163-535-8 (ebook)

1. Happiness. 2. Life cycle, Human. 3. Conduct of life. I. Title.

BF575.H27C3714 2013

158--dc23

2013007248

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For my wife, Elaine, and our daughters, Isabella and
Veronica, whom we loved before they were born, and to my
father and mother, Alfio and Josephine Cardillo.

I wish to thank my immediate family and extended family for their energies and guidance in helping bring this project to completion. I wish to acknowledge my niece, Anna Cardillo, for her graphics assistance and encouragements.

Special thanks are extended to my wife, Elaine, for her love, friendship, creative and strong mind, and support along this journey; and to our beautiful, inspirational, and talented daughters, Isabella and Veronica, for all their goodness, magnificence, and balance.

Thanks to Matt Papa as well as all my martial arts associates, partners, and colleagues for their support, brotherhood, and sisterhood.

Special thanks to my agent, Linda Konner; to all my publicists; and everyone at Career Press/New Page Books, especially Ron Fry, Michael Pye, Adam Schwartz, Laurie Kelly-Pye, Kirsten Dalley, Jeff Piasky, Allison Olson, Kara Kumpel, and Gina Talucci.

Thanks to Joseph Cavalcante for our many conversations on the craft of writing.

Thanks to Lon Normandin for his encouragement and support.

It is with deep gratitude that I acknowledge my parents, Alfio and Josephine Cardillo, for their gifts of love, encouragement, and life.

The case examples in this book are drawn from media accounts or are composite examples based upon behaviors encountered in the author's own professional experiences. None of the individuals described were patients or clients. The names and details have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.

This publication does not claim to be medical advice. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of healthcare professionals.

Before engaging in any physical, psychological, or spiritual training programs, you should always check with your physicians and other professional healthcare providers to be sure that it is right for you.

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.

William Shakespeare

Centuries ago, the Asian philosophers noticed how the rising and falling energies of the seasons influenced the mind, body, and spirit in specific and identifiable ways. They concluded that by tapping into nature's seasonal energy, you could live longer, healthier, and happier.

The number 5 has a distinct position in Eastern wisdom and especially in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Its significance is based on the continuous cycle of five universal movements (or seasons) and the unique chi (energy) generated by each.

In TCM, everything in the universe, from largest to smallest, is influenced by these movements. Collectively, they describe nature's continuous cycle of rising and falling energy. Being aware of these cycles and understanding how they work is at the heart of all self-improvement.

Because we are a part of nature and nature is a part of us, these energy movements describe not only the rising and falling of energies in our external environment, but also the up and down energy you feel minute by minute, event by event, conversation by conversation, thought by thought, throughout your day, week, month, year, and so on. You can feel the effects of this momentum physically and emotionally. When you sync up just right (harmonize) with these cycles, you feel as though you are doing everything with ease. You feel good inside and out, as though all is going the best it can for you.

In a way, these five universal movements operate in our mind-body like a network, running virtually without our awarenessmost of the time. With a little information you can, however, become much more aware of them and their abundant influence. You can then begin using these rhythms to strategically influence and improve your life. The trick is learning how to sync up and stay connected.

Becoming aware of the special components of each energy cycle and how they contribute to keeping you healthy, happy, and harmonious, from within and without, is the first step. At its best, this kind of awareness also helps you use nature's energies to bring out the most in others. Ultimately, if you change the way you understand and use nature's energy you will change your life and contribute the best of you to everyone you touch.

According to TCM, there are five types of energy (chi) in nature that dominate at different times within the seasonal (and all smaller, including minute-by-minute) cycles. You're probably wondering, similar to so many of the people I have spoken to on this topic, what the fifth season is.

The additional season is what we in the West refer to as late (or Indian) summer, a time when the earth's productive cycle reaches its peak and which is followed by a time of declining energy and energy storage. Late summer is the middle season. The world of holistic arts and sciences places much importance on this concept of