Calendars, whether written or symbolized by solstice markers and stone circles, are probably as old as humanity. Although today we think of calendars as ways of remembering holidays and other important dates as well as organizing or allocating time, they also have many other important uses. Calendars mark times for planting, harvesting, sailing (tides), healing, and blessing; they may advise us of activities to do or avoid. The original time keepers are the sun, moon and stars, and calendrical systems are based on their movements.   The traditional Chinese calendar is based on the moon a ..read more

©Kenneth S. Cohen Frances Steloff, 1978, Photo by Lynn Gilbert My love of books was largely due to one bookstore and one person in particular: Gotham Book Mart (1920-2006) and its founder, Frances “Fanny” Steloff (1887-1989), or “Miss Steloff” as everyone called her. I didn’t know that Gotham Book Mart was the literary heart of New York City or that among the people who loved it and shopped frequently were: Charlie Chaplin, WH Auden, Allen Ginsberg (who was a clerk there), Arthur Miller, George and Ira Gershwin, Anaïs Nin, Ezra Pound, and Katherine Hepburn. I found the store “by chance” in th ..read more

©Kenneth S. Cohen Photo: Paul Gallagher and Ken Cohen practicing Tai Chi Push Hands ca. 1980 My mind and heart are filled with thoughts of one of my oldest and dearest friends, Paul Gallagher (1944-2023). May his memory and the teachings he shared with so many be a blessing. “Who is this rude young man?” Probably not how you would expect me to be greeted! Well, it was not said out loud but rather a thought in the mind of the great Tai Chi Master Paul Gallagher when he first saw me. Let me explain. It was 1974. I was teaching my very first Tai Chi workshop at the New England Center for Persona ..read more

©2022 Kenneth S. Cohen, from my Facebook Post of October 21, 2022 Asian styles of bowing are among the most profound spiritual practices, whether it is the Namaste of palms together in India, the bend from the waist of Japan, the enclosed fist of China or the full prostrations of Tibet. I learned to bow from my Japanese Tea Ceremony teacher who described bowing as “yielding to the mystery of being human”. We could also say it is yielding before a common mystery, a realm beyond knowledge. In the tearoom there is no high or low, only Buddha bowing to Buddha. If you have been in my classes or jo ..read more

Photo by Ken Cohen, Chinese New Year at Jasmine Seafood Restaurant, San Diego ©Kenneth S. Cohen Calendars, whether written or symbolized by solstice markers and stone circles, are probably as old as humanity. Although today we think of calendars as ways of remembering holidays and other important dates as well as organizing or allocating time, they also have many other important uses. Calendars mark times for planting, harvesting, sailing (tides), healing, and blessing; they may advise us of things to do and things to avoid. The original time keepers are the sun, moon and stars, and calendric ..read more

©2021 Kenneth S. Cohen Because of the unique nature of various healing and/or spiritual healing traditions, mistakes might be made regarding regulation and certification when we group them together under generic categories such as energy medicine, complementary medicine, biofield therapy, etc. For example, since Islam, Christianity and Buddhism are all “religions” (even though the category of religion did not exist in ancient India — Dharma is not religion), should we assume that requirements for ordination are the same in all three? Or if we were to host a philosophy of religion conference ..read more

©2022 Kenneth S. Cohen "Awaken the mind without fixing it anywhere." This famous phrase from the Diamond Sutra could apply equally to the concept of qi, life energy. When the mind is fixed, limited by static words and concepts, it loses touch with the ever changing, fluid reality. Similarly, when the qi is blocked, unable to circulate, it becomes like water behind a dam, too much energy on one side, too little on the other. This imbalance creates disease. Indeed, many early texts on Chinese medicine imply that the mind is qi. The meridians of acupuncture--the energy channels that conduct qi t ..read more

©2021 Kenneth S. Cohen An earlier version of this essay was published in Qi: The Journal of Traditional Eastern Health & Fitness 30:3 (Autumn 2020). I have never been a fan of online learning, and until the coronavirus pandemic had never been willing to offer online classes. But you know what they say: never say “never.” My hesitation has been based on some core beliefs that I still hold: 1. It is only possible to learn Qigong and Wu Shu (Chinese martial arts) accurately in person. Over the long term, online learning is likely to cause the loss, misrepresentation, and deterioration of the ..read more

©2021 Kenneth S. Cohen Healing Clays Many years ago, I took classes with an outstanding Daoist and doctor of Chinese medicine, Dr. Stephen Chang, whose ancestors were physicians to Qing Dynasty Emperors. One of the treasures I learned about was Jade Cream, a healing and cosmetic cream that includes Jade, Myrrh, Pearls, Zicao (lithospermum), Sesame Oil, and other ingredients. Dr. Chang explained that the ingredients only combine harmoniously and produce the best qi (healing energy) during particular phases of the moon. I love these kind of creams, and have made my own using a base of beeswax a ..read more

Originally published in Alternative Medicine, January 2006 © Kenneth S. Cohen “A cup of tea is a cup of peace.” These words were spoken to me some thirty years ago by Soshitsu Sen XV, descendant of the sixteenth century founder of the Japanese Tea Ceremony. I was a beginner in Japanese Tea Ceremony, and it has taken me a long time to realize the depth in that simple sentence. I believe that Sen was talking about far more than mental tranquility or the biological effects of theanine, the mood-altering amino acid concentrated in green tea. He was speaking about tea as a Tao, a path in life, a w ..read more