American Horticultural Society

Here's an excellent gift for yourself or a garden-lover that you love: 

A one-year membership to the American Horticultural Society. 

It costs $35 for an individual, or $50 for two people.

The Reciprocal Admissions Program gives you free or discounted access to over 320 gardens across the USA!
2019's participating gardens are listed here.

You receive a beautiful gardening magazine every other month,
and support a national gardening non-profit organization that

"connects people to gardening,
raises awareness of earth-friendly gardening practices,
introduces children to plants,
brings together leaders to address important national issues,
and showcases the art and practice of horticulture."

If you're in California, also considering joining the California Native Plant Society. 

the Way of Tea

Legend has it that Shen-Nong, the first herbalist of Chinese lore, was walking one day, when a leaf fell into his cup. He learned about medicinal, edible, and toxic properties of plants, animals, and minerals through ingesting and experimenting on his own body. So, he imbibed this drink... and found it lovely. Welcome Camellia sinensis, or the "Tea plant."

I'm excited to share a monthly discussion group on "the Way of Tea" at Aum Vibe, our local yoga studio and tea lounge. We'll sip tea, and discuss a passage of Lao Zi's "Dao de Jing" (老子道德經) each month.

Read more about Tea in this highly informative article from Kevin Horan, or flip through Global Tea Hut's extensive archives of monthly tea-themed newsletters.

Here's a few different translations/ interpretations of the "Dao de Jing"

• A comparative study referenced from Andrew Nugent-Head, LAc
• Stephen Mitchell (one of my favorites)
• Feng and English (another favorite)
• Legge (with Chinese text)
• Rosenthal

Visit my website for more information about my clinic + class offerings! 

About Jiling

 Jiling Lin, L.Ac. 林基玲

acupuncture . herbs . yoga . wellness

Jiling is a Taiwanese-Californian Chinese medicine practitioner, herbalist, and yoga teacher in Ventura, CA. After finishing her UCLA art degree then experiencing a near-fatal climbing accident in 2006, Jiling traveled for a decade across USA and southeast Asia, studying and teaching traditional Earth-based skills. 

Book now

Acupuncture + Herbs

Jiling studied traditional Chinese medicine at Alhambra Medical University, classical Chinese medicine at the National University of Natural Medicine, and western herbalism at the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine, Ithaca Free Clinic, and Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism. 

Yoga
Jiling studied Sivananda-style Hatha yoga with Yoga Vidya in southern India, taught in India, China, and Taiwan, and studied wilderness-based Wild Yoga with Balanced Rock in Yosemite. Jiling’s yoga classes build mobility, stability, flexibility, and strength in a gentle yet powerful fusion of body, breath, and mind for optimal passionate and compassionate life expression, wellness, and thrival. 
See "Classes" for ongoing class schedule.

Wellness

Between patients and students, Jiling is hiking, backpacking, surfing, climbing, and botanizing around Ventura, and beyond. ​

Moon + Ritual

How do you align yourself with the Moon? 

Do you have daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and/or yearly rituals? 

The darkness of the New Moon provides a spacious opportunity to reflect, vision, and start afresh. Spend some solo time in nature with a journal. Gaze up at the stars. What are my intentions? What am I creating this month? What am I manifesting? What actions am I taking, to create a life that's in line with my intentions, for the highest good? Take a bath. Cleanse. Let go of what didn't work from the previous month, re-calibrate, and move forward with empowered clarity. Write down solid actionable intentions and achievable actions for the month ahead. 

The fat brightness of the pregnant Full Moon inspires lunacy and celebration. Gather with friends and share gratitude, grief and praise. Share journeys and reflections since the last Moon. What has illuminated my path? What illuminates my path ahead? Place water in glass jars in the moonlight for Moon Infusions. Take night hikes under the light of the Moon. Howl. Dance. Revisit intentions from the New Moon, and re-calibrate as necessary for the remaining Moon cycle. 

Calendars

I draw Moon cycles onto my yearly paper-calendar, and sync a Moon-calendar to my Apple-Calendar. Each year, I draw a Moon table at the back of my journal charting the whole year's Full/ New Moons, where I also chart my own Moon cycles, and track parallels. 

Astrology

I'm subscribed to Mystic Mamma and WeMoon's mailing lists, where I receive monthly emails about the astrological significance of the New Moon, Full Moon, Solstices, and Equinoxes. They provide insight and inspiration when life gets murky. 

Everyday Lunacy

For both Full and New Moon, I enjoy baths, journaling, candles, and nature-time. I often consult the I-Ching for a "Hexagram of the month," and send my intentions off with incense. 

By realigning with the Moon's natural cycles, we re-attune to our primal animal natures, while engaging our uniquely Human gifts to conceptualize and create via the cerebral yet Heart-centered reflection and visioning process. We have immense power. Use it responsibly. Live to your highest potential, co-creating the most beautiful healthy thriving Earth- community you can. 

Enjoy.

~

Afternote: 

I feel Earth's shifting and Moon's changing tides most profoundly when I live close to Earth. Bare feet pattering across raw Earth day and night, season by season, attuned to rhythms of plants, and patterns of change. 

I currently live in downtown Ventura, where we sleep with shades drawn and windows mostly shut, as it's noisy and bright outside. 

Whole different world. 

I still track the Moon, and honor her cycles. It helps me stay grounded yet uplifted.
Human.

Yoga in the Gardens

Come join us for Yoga in the Gardens in my backyard, 

the Ventura Botanical Gardens, 

on Tuesday October 15, at 9:30 AM. 

Funds generated from this class supports the Gardens in their ongoing renovations after the Thomas fires. 

Register here!

~

(Note: Tree-climbing not included in class.🙃
Photo's from my beloved Avocado Tree in my hometown.) 

Nature Connection

have you ever

stayed up all night to watch the sun rise

because you were so cold

that you could not fall asleep

because you chose

to walk into the wilderness

with nothing but the clothes on your back

huddled in a ball by a makeshift shelter

with fire that you rubbed to life with two sticks

curling tight to stay warm

and watching

the fire

the sky

and the stars

the stars

the stars are so beautiful

and you are so cold

that you cannot

sleep

and wait

for the

sun

?

I hope you experience this one day,

feeling truly cold,

exhausted,

exhilarated,

ALIVE

~

I cherish my "old" life and travels as a full-time outdoor instructor. These sacred experiences continue powerfully walking with me, informing and inspiring my life in deeply Earth- connected ancient ways, while informing my clinical practice. 

I not only practice acupuncture and prescribe herbs, but also prescribe "dirt-time," be it gardening, a daily walk, or a daily "sit spot." 

Sit spot is one of our core nature- connection practices:

1. Pick a natural outdoor spot close to home. (Closer is better! Backyards or local parks are fine.)
2. Spend 20 minutes there everyday, observing silence. (You can just sit and watch, or explore, etc).

Over time, through developing consistent daily connection with one location, you learn things about both yourself and your natural environment that would have been otherwise invisible. 

Also consider a weekly or monthly full-day or multi-day outdoor excursion. If you're not sure where to go, then join your local Sierra Club to meet like-minded people, and explore new places. If you're not sure what gear you need if you're doing more than just a hike, then join REI's workshops that range from free to medium price-range... then get your gear for cheap used, on Ebay.

Build ritual into your life. Give yourself a quarterly full-day or multi-day outdoor retreat to rest, reflect, and digest the past, while designing and planning the future.

If you have not experienced a formal rite of passage such as a Vision Fast or prolonged period of intentional ceremonial fasting, then the School of Lost Borders or Animas Valley Institute offer profound (albeit expensive) journeys. If not attending a supported Fast, then you can research the process, then simply build your own ceremony: create a solo community-supported journey of silence and fasting in the wilderness for a Vision. These are particularly helpful in facilitating clarity in times of great transformation or transition. 

Enjoy. 

~

Other Resources

Locally, Ventura Wild brings children into wild places, familiarizing them with their natural environment, creating internal and external ease, confidence, and resilience through developing both hard and soft skills through play and solid dirt-time.

Good books

• Coyote's Guide to Connecting with Nature, by Young, Haas, and McGown
• Soulcraft, by Bill Plotkin
• Becoming Nature, by Tamarack Song

Outdoor Education Schools

• 8 Shields Institute
• Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS)
• National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)

Primitive Skills Gatherings

• Rabbitstick
• Wintercount

About Me

The Pharm asked us instructors a list of "Bio Questions" for their webpage. I'm sharing my answers here, to better introduce myself to those of you who I'm just getting to know. (My favorite blurb is the final one on "community," if you want to cut straight to the poetry.) ❤

- What forms of movement do you love and how/when did you find it?
Growing up in a meditating multi-cultural household in a mountain community and camping in the desert every weekend, I was exposed to expansive esoteric ideas at a young age. I've loved wilderness, creativity, and spirituality for as long as I can remember. Between patients and students, I'm hiking, backpacking, surfing, climbing, and botanizing around Ventura, and beyond. Dance, yoga, improvisational movement, and wilderness are core daily practices that ground and inspire me.

- What are you passionate about?  
Having fun while making the world a better place. Reconnecting people with their wild creative spirits. Co-creating internal and external resilient, compassionate, and connected communities. Optimizing thriving physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Experiencing regenerative deep, calm, and brilliant joy. Creating beauty.

- How do you plug into self?
Every morning, regardless of whether I wake in the wilderness, a foreign country, or my comfy bed, I begin my day pre-dawn with tea, journaling, and asana. Consistent daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly rituals bring orderly magic into my life. This includes sit spot (nature connection), making music, I-Jing (reading classical Chinese philosophy), outdoor adventures aplenty, moon celebrations, gardening and more. Life is art.

- What does community mean to you?
We are raindrops rippling over an infinite Ocean. I am an individual raindrop, though I am also the whole Ocean. My circles of influence ripple out near and far, intersecting with myriad other raindrops and ripples, eventually touching the whole thing. We ARE the Ocean. We co-create with, while being held and created BY the Ocean. Our every action holds great power.

Ojai Herbal Symposium

Welcome to the second annual Ojai Herbal Symposium in November! I'm especially excited to visit Carol Wade's garden or take a plant walk with Lanny Kaufer on Sunday morning, and meet other herbalists and acupuncturists. Last year's opening Chumash blessing was moving and beautiful, and I expect this year's to be powerfully stirring, as well. I love this year's theme, and the abundance of Chinese medicine influences. Krotona Hall sits on a hill surrounded by the Valley of the Moon mountains, with a lush garden that feels transportive and magical.

California acupuncture CEU's are offered, and volunteer positions are currently open. See www.OjaiHerbal.org for more information. I hope to see you there!