Kids yoga

Adult yoga students

don't often come in bearing in hand-drawn gifts,

little felted oval gifts,

knotted yarn bracelet gifts,

or gifts made by their mama's.

Kids do.

I was moved this morning by this little sticker

drawn by a student's mom,

with Monkeyflowers (Mimulus)

surrounding our beautiful state,

which has had a hard year of fire,

followed by an epic spring bloom.

.

Teaching kids yoga is full of surprises.

I go in with an idea or theme,

then mostly surrender.

Sometimes we stay according to plan,

other times not.

Not today.

And it was wonderful.

I laughed so hard during class,

then was nearly moved to tears by the end of class.

.

We closed class by sharing what sea creature we were during shavasana,

along with what we were bringing back into the world,

from the magical basket we wove together, in class.

We had dolphins, otters, a boat, and seaweed

bringing peace, fun, friendship, and the Great Mystery

back into our worlds.

.

Dear friend reading this now,

likely "adult,"

likely logical, contemplative...

what sea creature are you?

What do you bring into the world,

with your arms opening up overhead,

head tipping back in laughter,

to sprinkle down unto our planet?

(have fun!)

Mornings

I rise in the darkness to slip on warm clothes, heat water, pack tea, and head out.

I bike to Jai Rhythm for pre-dawn yoga with Eve, or walk up our hill (behind home) to practice asana solo.

I love this rhythm.

Practicing in community, sweating together under infrared heat to beating tunes and skillfully guided flow sequences, I feel connected and inspired, while learning new teaching and practicing styles. I bike to the Ocean afterwards for tea, journaling, and flashcards.

Practicing solo on the hill, I move in and out of poses, experimenting, flowing, perhaps dancing a little here, drawing a little there, following a formless form. My tea and journal join my practice, as do the dawn chorus songbirds, rising sun, rolling ocean, blooming flowers, and expansive sky.

I am grateful for both.

Current Journey

"This," Dr Stickley said, brandishing his hands as if holding a needle, "is your magic wand. Your key to the universe. Hold it with care." 

"Qi hua," said Dr Zhu, my fellow student at my new school, "What's that in English?" 

"Qi transformation." 

"Qi transformation. That's the key to this work." With a simple needle, you can affect positive change on at least 60% of your patients. If you do it right, it acts fast."

"Only 60%?" I ask. 

"That's a lot!" he looks at me incredulously, "You are helping a lot of people, especially as you continue in your practice, ten, twenty years from now." 

After needling my patient I sit, mind swirling from all the information I'm re-memorizing for board exams, and divergent information/ inspiration from fellow students, teachers, my own students, experiences, life, the world. 

I feel a stillness like after a storm after I complete a treatment, while waiting for the needles to do their work, before I go in to remove them. 

I remember Dr Stickley's passion, the way his eyes lit up and his hands danced, when he told treatment stories.

I remember Dr Bachelor's sweetness, the way he encouraged us to listen to our intuition first, then logic next during diagnosis, establishing clear internal rapport with myself as compassionate practitioner, and external rapport with patient as a very human human. 

At NUNM, I learned beautiful poetic stories of the great Scholar-Physicians as written by Sun Si Miao, and explained by Dr Wilms. 

I remember walking through rivers in Oregon, and along the Ocean in California, digesting information, flipping through flashcard piles. 

There were tears along this road, and I continue to shed tears: gratitude, frustration, more.

What a journey. 

I'm in the third week of a six month board exam preparation marathon. I feel deeply overwhelmed by the mounds of information I must re-learn, while in awe of the heights and depths of this medicine. I remain curious about where I go from here, while committed to my current journey: pass the Boards. 

Midwest Women's Herb Conference 2019

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I'm excited to teach with these beautiful women of the Midwest Women's Herbal Conference again in late May, in northern Wisconsin. I'm teaching about the Five Elements of Chinese medicine, botany, and leading a Five-Elements-inspired nature-journaling plant walk. Early registration ends on April 1. Work-study opportunities are also available. Please join us for a sweetly transformative experience in this lovely forest, pond, and fields. More info at @midwest_herbal or www.midwestwomensherbal.com

A post shared by Jiling 林基玲 (@linjiling) on Mar 28, 2019 at 6:32pm PDT

Spring Break

We spot birds circling and swarming ahead, and sail that way. Schools of dolphins leap and flash through the water, herding fish into a bait ball. Plume after plume of water sprays high from a humpback whale whose small fin, bumpy back, and elegant tail glides through the water, paralleling our boat. He is magnificent. Sea birds wheel overhead, as dolphins leap towards us from every direction. We are caught in an oceanic feeding melee between Ventura Harbor and Santa Cruz Island. We set the boat on neutral, the captain steering every so often to keep out of the whale's way. I am riveted, heart leaping with the dolphins, completely grounded in place even on bumpy water, by the proximity and feeling of the majestic humpback whale.

We'd watched whales from a distance on Oahu, but I don't remember ever being this close to a whale. I felt exhilarated surfing with sea turtles around the island, like touching the divine: I paddle towards a distant wave, only to stop, astounded, as a sea turtle swims straight towards me, cresting the nearest wave. Another had swam below me, earlier. Rainbow colored fish swim around precious coral. My body dips and weaves between ocean, fish, and coral. I am buoyant yet strong, my face goggled and blinking, my first time snorkeling.

I lead climb for the first time, yesterday. Climbing on rock again still feels like a tremendous feat after my 2006 climbing accident: so long ago, and yet forever close to my heart, the surface of my experience, living as a miracle. The rock is sharp, with solid holds, an easy route that we climb over and over again, trying different routes, taking turns leading, familiarizing, enjoying, being. Malibu Creek sings below us. This land is so familiar, beautiful, precious.

It's been an incredible spring break. I am preparing for my final quarter of Chinese medicine graduate school with a handful of exciting new teaching gigs around Ventura, and a packed study schedule for board exams. Everything coalesces now. The sky is a brilliant blue, as storm clouds form on the horizon, and sudden small droplets kiss my bronzed skin. What a very full blessing to be alive. A good journey to here, and a good journey ahead.

Atha yoga anushasanum. Now, the practice of yoga begins.

Herbal Arts series

Deepen your relationship with medicinal plants through complete sensory engagement. Focus connection with one plant each month by drinking tea, making art, and crafting herbal medicines. Learn historical and scientific practices and perspectives, while cultivating experiential intuition. Art processes hone observational and technical skills, and encourage multi-media exploration, through life-drawing, print-making, book-binding, and photography. Creating herbal preparations empowers health resilience. Rotating projects include salves, tinctures, honeys, vinegars, and incense. Take home herbal preparations, art projects, and informed inspiration for optimal life expression, wellness, and thrival.

When: Third Saturdays of each month, 1 to 5 PM.
Where: Vita Art Center
Register: $55/ class via Vita Art Center, or contact me

spring kids' herbs/ yoga classes

Morning sun salutations in Joshua Tree with my favorites: Larrea tridentata (Creosote), big granite slabs, warm sun, smooth wind (actually the wind was a bit much that morning), and my sweetie (sneaky photographer)!

Registration is open for spring kids' herbs/ yoga + food/ fitness classes with me through Hitchcock Children's Center. Fun plants and desert-inspired sun salutations promised, ahead. Sign on up!

Adult herbal classes on the way. Seeking stable venue in Ventura. Stay posted! 

Ode to Tests

I wrote this post almost immediately after my graduation exam. I didn’t know test results yet, but was so adrenaline high from the test, and exhausted after months of preparation, that I had to write something about the process. If you are preparing for a big exam, then I hope that this is helpful for you. (And yes, big relief, I passed.)

Ode to Tests

Clinic entrance exam. Clinic exit exam. Graduation exam. And now, coming up, the California board exam. Then, four national exams (NCCAOM). One exam after another, the never-ending march of terror and exhaustion. I greet you with flashcards and chocolate. For you, dear reader, perchance a fellow student, perchance a curious onlooker, I share these test-tackling strategies that have carried me through, and will hopefully continue to carry me through, to graduation, and subsequent licensure. One small win at a time.

Before the Test

Prepare

Flashcards. Review daily. Go onto www.quizlet.com and make an account. Plug in small digestible snippets of all collected and pertinent information. Organize into categories. Study by category. Do flashcards everywhere. I studied flashcards while hiking backcountry, flying across the country, soaking in steaming baths. I flipped through 100 flashcards pre-dawn before leaving the bed, 100 more before falling asleep, and in every possible open moment: standing in grocery lines, waiting for gas, and even while stuck in hellish Los Angeles traffic. Practice tests. Practice tables. Get familiar with the material from every direction. Talk about it with everyone. Look up what you don’t know. Make it fun, visual, creative. Color-code. Bring it to life. Spaced repetition, dedication. Set a study plan, and follow through.

The Day Before

No cramming. Your last day of studying is 2 days before test day. After weeks to months of accumulated effort, allow yourself to rest the day before the test. Eat well: healthy whole foods that will energize you all through the next day. Go for a hike. Do what gives you joy. Flip through a few more notes to ease your mind, but remain calm. Before bed, have everything prepared for your test day: clothing, food... everything. Visualize your plans for the whole test. Picture success. Feel it. Sleep early.

Day Of

Stretch in the morning. Eat well. Maintain a relaxed focus. Enter the zone. Get there early. Game on.

During the Test

Food and Drink (this worked at school, but board exams will only allow water)

If the test allows it, then bring ample fuel: relaxing tea for nervousness (Kava, Rose, Passionflower), stimulating tea for the easily bored (Green tea). I had tea bags of both. Coffee or wine for the decadent (I like chocolate covered coffee beans). Chocolate for joy, comfort, and energy. Oranges for an energizing wake-up call. Roasted sweet potatoes for satisfying long-lasting energy. A protein bar to quickly satiate true hunger. Cookies for true decadence. A dropperful of a relaxing or stimulating tincture (relaxing for me) beforehand, to get things started on the right foot. An extra secret squirt into the tea, for extra good luck.

The Test

Start with what you know: I scribble out a few reference tables before starting the test itself. They smile at me with my test and food, helpful for when I get overwhelmed, reminding me of the basics. Flip to the section of the test that is easiest, and finish it. Build confidence. Return to a hard section. Alternate back and forth: build confidence, tackle something challenging. Note the time. Move quickly. Let go, if something is too difficult. Mark the page to return later. Trust intuition: first thought is often correct. Bubble it into the answer sheet. Mark what I’m unsure about, to double check after completing the entire test. Only double check those answers. Onwards.

Movement

Get up to to “pee” at least once an hour. Give your brain a break. Pace around in the bathroom or hallway for a little bit. Get some blood flowing into the body and brain. Take a breather. Swing your arms around. Then return to the testing room.

Maintain focus, but rest as needed. Close your eyes. Take slow deep belly-to-chest breaths in and out of the nose. Remind yourself, “It’s okay,” with palms facing up under the table, or pointer finger and thumb meeting in “anjali mudra.” More relaxation for more success. Then, back to it.

After the Test

First, rest. It’s been a journey. Celebrate both wins and losses. Review the test. Learn from mistakes. If there’s more tests on the horizon, then make more flashcards from fresh test material. Re-strategize as necessary. Onwards. 

~

Other Resources
Here's a podcast on high-level performance under stress, from Scott Weingart.

(image from Scott Weingart)