Tim Wong
Your feet carry all of your body weight. So, if your feet hurt, your whole body hurts.
Taking care of your feet can be a great benefit to the body with a healing technique called Reflexology.
Tags: Aching Feet, Reflex Points, Reflexology, Relieve Stress
Chinese New Year: 2012
The Year of the Dragon
by Holly Hartman
 4710 (or 2012) is the year of the dragon Related Links
Chinese New Year Dates
Other New Year Celebrations |
Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese year 4710 begins on Jan. 23, 2012.
Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest. In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year.
Breathing Fire into the New Year
Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal’s year would have some of that animal’s personality. Those born in dragon years are innovative, brave, and passionate. Salvador Dali, John Lennon, and Mary-Louise Parker were all born in the year of the dragon.
Fireworks and Family Feasts
At Chinese New Year celebrations people wear red clothes, decorate with poems on red paper, and give children “lucky money” in red envelopes. Red symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck. The fireworks that shower the festivities are rooted in a similar ancient custom. Long ago, people in China lit bamboo stalks, believing that the crackling flames would frighten evil spirits.
The Lantern Festival
In China, the New Year is a time of family reunion. Family members gather at each other’s homes for visits and shared meals, most significantly a feast on New Year’s Eve. In the United States, however, many early Chinese immigrants arrived without their families, and found a sense of community through neighborhood associations instead. Today, many Chinese-American neighborhood associations host banquets and other New Year events.
The lantern festival is held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Some of the lanterns may be works of art, painted with birds, animals, flowers, zodiac signs, and scenes from legend and history. People hang glowing lanterns in temples, and carry lanterns to an evening parade under the light of the full moon.
In many areas the highlight of the lantern festival is the dragon dance. The dragon—which might stretch a hundred feet long—is typically made of silk, paper, and bamboo. Traditionally the dragon is held aloft by young men who dance as they guide the colorful beast through the streets. In the United States, where the New Year is celebrated with a shortened schedule, the dragon dance always takes place on a weekend. In addition, many Chinese-American communities have added American parade elements such as marching bands and floats.
- Try the Chinese New Year Quiz
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
- Did you know?
- The world’s largest cathedral, St. John the Divine in New York City, is still being built.
Easing Pain
Reflexology can act as a form of pain control. There are two ways that reflexology can do this.
Firstly by encouraging the body to produce endorphins, which are the body’s own natural painkiller. By stimulating the pituitary gland reflex during the reflexology treatment it increases the amount of endorphins released into the body.
Also by interrupting the pain cycle through the application of pressure to the feet.
Full screen mode is next to volume control.
Tags: Feet, Reflexology
Reflexology is a focussed pressure technique, usually directed at the feet or hands. It is based on the premise that there are zones and reflexes on different parts of the body which correspond to and are relative to all parts, glands and organs.
Zone Theory is the foundation of Foot Reflexology and an understanding of the Zones as a system for organizing relationships between various parts, glands and organs of the body and the reflexes are essential to reflexology and its applications.
Tags: Foot Reflexology, Healing Modalities, History Of Reflexology
Reflexology and Relaxation
The grim reality of stress is showing up in more and more scientific studies like one by the American Medical Association that reported stress was a factor in 75 percent of all diseases. A recent study even linked the effects of stress to weakening of the heart muscle.
Tags: Body Mind And Spirit, Deep Relaxation, Effects Of Stress, Heart Health
Yesterday, I received a comment from my friend Grace.
She shared her experience of a Reiki session she had had, and was curious to know if there were different “styles” that Reiki practitioner’s used.
This comment caused me to share some of my personal opinion with her.
I am a level 2 Reiki practitioner; attuned to the Usui Shiki Ryoho System of Natural Healing, and have been practicing since 1997.
Tags: Natural Healing, Reiki, Reiki Session
