The beginning of fall brings a palpable change in the weather, cooling down, and much-needed relief from the scorching heat of the summer. This summer was the hottest on record for Europe and China since record-keeping began in 1880.     Lucky for me and the participants of my annual meditation retreat in the Swiss Alps, during the first week of this month, we enjoyed delightful temperatures in the 60s to 70s Fahrenheit.    Looking out the window of our chalet under Mont Blanc you can’t help but be awed by the grand expanse of the mountain ranges. It brings such joyful ..read more

Nourished by this beautiful Swiss setting and inspired by Dr. Mao, we will explore time-tested meditative exercises reaching the core of life, receive gentle coaching in our contemplative experiences, and exchange meaningfully in the warmth of our retreat group. Using I Ching, feng shui, and tai chi principles for life guidance, qigong healing, and self-transformation, we strengthen our self-balancing power, rejuvenate our vitality, and awaken our universal compass leading toward a healthy, harmonious life. With new life management tools and as we return from the retreat to our daily lives, we ..read more

Once in a while, nearly everyone gets constipated. It happens occasionally when we’re traveling or off our usual schedule, but some people are constipated nearly all the time. Everyone is different, some people poop several times a day while others only have a bowel movement every couple of days. As the most common gastrointestinal (GI) complaint in the U.S., constipation is usually defined as having fewer than three bowel movements per week or having hard, dry stools that are hard to pass. Food normally moves along via muscular waves in our GI tract that are called peristalsis. For the most p ..read more

Regrow, Revitalize and Regenerate - Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain APRIL 27 - MAY 1, 2022 with an optional class day on April 26th, 2022 The Royal Way Spiritual Center, The Ranch 8088 High Road, Lucerne Valley, CA 92356 $100.00 OFF until January 31, 2022 Welcome to the 2022 College of Tao Retreat in the beautiful, natural, and secluded setting of the Royal Way Spiritual Center in Lucerne Valley California. We shall focus on a more peaceful inwardly gathering that will align with our theme to “Regrow, Revitalize and Regenerate” ourselves. We recently visited the Retreat site and it's abso ..read more

Take a deep breath. Now take another one. Notice where your breath starts. In your chest? In your abdomen? Notice how you feel. When I first learned the simple technique of abdominal breathing, I hadn’t noticed that most of my day, I had been breathing shallowly. If you have ever watched a baby breathe, you may have noticed that they breathe through their bellies. As we get older, adults tend to breathe more from the chest and consequently miss out on numerous health benefits. Awareness of your breathing is very important to your overall health. One benefit is learning to relax your body. Ta ..read more

By Tao of Wellness It's normal for us to feel tension in our bodies now and then, but when the tension does not go away, it can affect our quality of life. It can give us chronic pain that makes it difficult to sleep, exercise, or makes us cranky. It is important to understand how this tension occurs and what we can do to release it. Skeletal muscles tighten up through two primary mechanisms: voluntary and involuntary tension. Voluntary muscular contraction begins with an intention to carry out a physical action. This intention occurs in the outer layer of the brain and sends a neurological s ..read more

If you have pain that keeps you from doing your daily activities, have you considered an anti-inflammatory diet? Such a diet, now the focus of many cookbooks, can help combat inflammation that may be at the root of pain experienced in the joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Fortunately, there are some foods that are anti-inflammatory in nature. SWEET POTATOES Benefits include high amounts of beta carotene, plus powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties that may help prevent chronic disease and cataracts. They can also help balance the glycemic index, which makes them an excel ..read more

According to Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), 32 million Americans are affected by food allergies. One in 10 adults and one in every 13 children are severely affected, while roughly two children in every classroom suffer from food allergies that are troubling and stressful to teachers, parents, and children alike. A food allergy is an overreaction of the body’s immune system to ordinary substances that are found in food. Food allergies can affect many different organs in the body, but they are especially pronounced in the lungs, skin, and digestive tract. While most reactions are m ..read more

We have spent the month of March talking about detoxification for better health. As we expel toxins, our body’s natural, healthy functioning improves, we age slower, have more energy, experience less pain, and are more efficient at fighting disease. We also look and feel better. Today let’s talk about cleaning products because many diseases are caused by environmental factors rather than by genetics. Many of us have been spending more time at home than before the pandemic began so it has become increasingly important that we create a non-toxic environment that can help keep us healthy. The En ..read more

Wellbeing in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is viewed as keeping the body’s mental, emotional and physical components in balance in order to engender a state of peace, calm and happiness, and freedom from discomfort, pain, or illness. From a western medicinal perspective, a healthy body regulates its metabolism and hormones by releasing the correct amounts of cortisol, adrenaline, and endorphins to manage physical and emotional stress. When excessive amounts of cortisol and adrenaline are released because of the pandemic, we have seen an increasing number of people in our clinic needing h ..read more