Chasing the Wind

This teaching looks at change as the heart of healing. Drawing on Classical Chinese Medicine and Daoist imagery of wind, I explore how resisting change creates stagnation in the body, mind, and spirit—and how illness can become an invitation instead of a punishment.

What Is Acupuncture?

An introduction to acupuncture as a channel-based medicine, not just a technique for pain. I share how it listens to Jing, Qi, and Shen, why “all illness is energetic with physical manifestations,” and how channel work can support change on physical, emotional, and spiritual levels.

Suffering From Terminal Uniqueness

Many of us suffer from what I call terminal uniqueness—believing our suffering is more special or more unfair than anyone else’s. This teaching explores blame, responsibility, and the freedom that arises when we see our life as a curriculum for awakening.

Jing, Family, and the Blueprint Hidden in Your Kidneys

This teaching explores the idea that before we incarnate, our spirit chooses our parents and family for the Jing, essence, and lessons we need in this lifetime. When we see our life as a curriculum instead of a punishment, blame loosens and the doorway to acceptance, responsibility, and peace opens.

Qigong Foundations: Breath, Posture & Intention

Breath, posture, and intention shape the flow of qi and the quality of our life. This teaching offers a deeper look at how qigong foundations strengthen immunity, support clarity, and cultivate inner ease over time.

The Mind Leads the Body

This article explores how consciousness, belief, and honest presence shape our physical health. Drawing on both qigong principles and the science of “molecules of emotion” described by neuroscientist Candace Pert, it shows how thoughts become chemistry, how beliefs imprint on the body, and how simple awareness practices can gently update the body’s instructions from the inside out.

All Illness Is Energetic With Physical Manifestations

Illness begins in the field of qi long before it shows up as symptoms. This article explores how thoughts, emotions, and spirit shape the body, and why working only on the physical layer leaves the roots untouched. It offers a different way to understand diagnosis, treatment, and true healing.

The Three Ancestries and the Eight Extraordinary Vessels

The Three Ancestries and the Eight Extraordinary Vessels
An introduction to the deepest channels of qi in Classical Chinese Medicine. This article explains how the Eight Extraordinary Vessels hold our ancestral blueprint, guide life transitions, and shape the way our body, mind, and spirit respond to illness and healing.

PingFenQiuSe 平分秋色 – Equal Shares of Autumn Light

PingFenQiuSe is a phrase most often used in everyday Chinese to describe a tie game or two equal opponents. In Daoist cosmology, it points to something deeper: the perfectly balanced quality of the autumn equinox, when Yin and Yang stand in equal measure.

In this teaching, my teacher Master Zhongxian Wu explores how the equinox reflects harmony in nature, how that harmony is expressed in the Chinese characters themselves, and how we can use this time to nourish our own inner cultivation. It is a beautiful invitation to observe, harvest, and rest in balance rather than struggle against change.

Full Articles & Teachings

Below you’ll find full-length versions of selected teachings. Use the “Read Article” buttons above to jump directly to what you’d like to explore.

Suffering From Terminal Uniqueness

Suffering from terminal uniqueness happens to most of us—me included.

For much of my life, I tried to blame others for my difficulties. I blamed parents, partners, bosses, circumstance, fate. The story usually flared when I was sad or angry about not getting what I wanted—the relationship I thought I deserved, the job I was sure was mine, the life that never quite matched the picture in my head.

And, on paper, I had done everything “right.” I went to school, earned good grades, pursued a degree, got married and started a family, divorced, remarried, divorced again—the usual human curriculum. Underneath it all ran a quiet belief:

“My suffering is more unfair than everyone else’s. My life is uniquely difficult.”

That is terminal uniqueness.

Choosing Our Parents, Choosing Our Curriculum

My story began to change when I encountered acupuncture, Classical Chinese Medicine, and Taoist teachings on self-cultivation and longevity.

One teaching in particular stopped me in my tracks. I was told that at the moment of conception, the spirit and energy of your parents combine with the energy of the cosmos and with your own spirit. Before that gathering, your spirit has already chosen. You choose your parents, your family, and with them, the basic blueprint of this incarnation.

You choose them for the lessons you need.

Their Jing and essence infuse your spirit and help shape your particular expression of life. Your original blueprint—your curriculum—is molded first by the very family you picked.

When I fully took that in, something shifted. I began to see how much time and energy I had spent blaming the very people I had chosen to help me grow. If I chose them, then the onus is on me. I can no longer honestly blame anyone else for my life.

From that perspective, I am no different from the person sitting next to me in any circle. We are each working our curriculum, meeting our own version of the same human lessons.

When the Student Is Ready

There is an old Chinese saying:

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

I can look back now and see how many times, and in how many ways, my teachers have appeared—often long before I recognized them as such. These days, I consciously invite my teachers and masters to assist in my diagnostic work and treatments, and to help hold a sacred healing space where all things are possible.

I practice this medicine with the expectation that change is possible and that miracles are not rare—they are simply moments when we finally line up with what has always been available. No one should die from the thought of being uniquely broken.

My Biggest Fear Is My Truth

Underneath terminal uniqueness is usually fear of a very simple thing: the truth of this moment.

To avoid that truth, the mind generates an endless stream of commentary. It sounds like this:

• I can’t do it.

• I’m not good enough.

• I wish I had X.

• I wish I didn’t have X.

• There’s not enough time.

• I’m too old. / I’m too young.

• I don’t have enough money.

• It’s my fault. / It’s not my fault.

• They shouldn’t have done X.

• I should have done X.

• This isn’t fair.

• This should be happening.

• This should not be happening.

• I’m too different.

• I deserve X. / I don’t deserve X.

• The content of the thoughts changes. The pattern does not.

When you strip it all back, only one statement is completely true:

This is what is happening now.

What is happening now is what is happening now. The truth of this moment does not need defending or arguing. It simply is. When we meet it honestly, something softens. Qi moves. The body no longer has to clench around resistance.

Mind, Energy, and Illness

All illness is energetic with physical manifestations.

The mind leads the body. When you change the mind, the body will follow. The difference between a belief and a passing thought is simply a decision of the conscious mind.

Everything in the future extends from now.

We are the awareness of these thoughts—not the thoughts themselves, not even the body that hosts them. At a fundamental level, we are energy. Classical Chinese Medicine understands that all disease is rooted, in some way, in the emotions and in how qi responds to them.

When we begin to meet our life, our family, and our story without blame—when we release the grip of terminal uniqueness—qi can reorganize. The channels open, the body starts to follow new instructions, and healing becomes possible.

In Practice

As a Channel Practitioner and keeper of an oral tradition, I am continually grateful for any opportunity for healing and growth, both in myself and in those I work with. This work is one small way I hope to help raise the collective consciousness—one person, one session, one honest moment at a time.

Thank you for taking the time to read this teaching.

The Mind Leads the Body

Healing begins in the mind.

Before the muscles soften, before the breath opens, before the immune system recalibrates, there is a subtle shift in awareness: a change in how we relate to this moment. The body follows the instructions it receives from consciousness.

Ancient practices like qigong have said this for centuries. Modern science, through the work of researchers like neuroscientist Candace Pert, author of Molecules of Emotion, is catching up, showing us in biological detail how mind and body form one integrated system.

This article is an exploration of that simple principle:

Change the mind, and the body will follow.

Mind and body are one bodymind

Western culture has long treated mind and body as separate:

• “Mind” as thoughts, emotions, and inner life.

• “Body” as muscles, bones, organs, and chemistry.

But when researchers began studying neuropeptides and their receptors—what Pert called the “molecules of emotion”—a different picture emerged:

• Emotional signals are carried by chemical messengers that circulate throughout the whole body.

• Cells of the brain, gut, heart, and immune system all have receptors for these molecules.

• The nervous, endocrine, and immune systems form one continuous conversation.

From this perspective, there is no hard border where “mind” ends and “body” begins. There is one bodymind, expressing itself as thoughts, feelings, sensations, posture, breath, and chemistry—all at once.

Molecules of emotion: how experience becomes biology

Every experience you have sets off a chain of events:

1. Something happens.
   You see, hear, remember, or imagine something.

2. The mind gives it meaning.
   Often automatically, the mind labels it: safe, unsafe, possible, hopeless, exciting, threatening, etc.

3. An emotional state arises.
   That meaning creates a distinct pattern in the nervous system—what we call an emotion.

4. Chemical messengers are released.
   Neuropeptides and hormones shift in response to that emotional state.

5. The whole body responds.
   Heart rate, breath, digestion, immunity, muscle tone, even gene expression can be influenced.

These chemical messengers—the “molecules of emotion”—bind to receptors all over the body. This is one of the main ways the mind leads the body: through the meanings we give to experience, we change the signals traveling through our tissues.

The body is not passively “downstream” from the mind. It is listening continuously.

Thought, belief, and the body's “instructions”

There is an important distinction:

• A thought is a passing mental event.

• A belief is a thought the conscious mind has chosen—often repeatedly—to accept as true.

The body does not respond equally to every thought. It responds most strongly to what we habitually believe.

You can think of it this way:

Repeated thoughts + emotional charge → belief → long-term patterns of chemistry and tension → long-term patterns of health and behavior.

Some examples:

• If you repeatedly believe, “I’m not safe,” the nervous system learns to live in vigilance. Stress hormones become a familiar background. Muscles hold a baseline of tension.

• If you cultivate, “I can meet what I feel, one breath at a time,” the system gradually receives signals of greater safety and possibility. Over time, this can support more balanced chemistry, easier breath, and a softer body.

From the perspective of molecules of emotion, a belief is not just a sentence in your head. It is embodied—encoded in persistent patterns of signaling molecules and receptor activity throughout the bodymind.

Honest presence: when the body softens and qi moves

In embodied practices like qigong, meditation, and conscious breathing, a particular pattern appears again and again:

1. You turn toward your actual experience—sensations, emotions, and thoughts—without pretending, denying, or dramatizing.

2. The body begins to respond: shoulders lower, jaw softens, breath deepens.

3. People often describe warmth returning to the hands and feet, tingling, subtle movement, or a feeling of “something letting go” from within.

In qigong language, we might say qi begins to move.

In scientific terms, we might say:

• The interpretation of the moment is shifting—from threat to something more workable.

• Emotional state changes, even slightly.

• New patterns of neuropeptides and hormones circulate.

• The body, down to the cellular level, receives updated instructions.

The language differs, but the underlying process is the same: the way we meet the moment—our quality of awareness—translates into physiology.

When we meet each moment honestly, the body often feels safe enough to release its extra armor. That softening is not just mechanical; it is biochemical and energetic.

A practical way to let the mind lead the body

You do not need advanced theory to begin working with this. You need a few minutes and a willingness to be sincere.

Here is a simple practice you can use on your own:

1. Feel where the body is speaking

Pause and ask:
“Where do I feel this the most right now?”

It might be a tight chest, a knot in the stomach, a lump in the throat, a clenched jaw, heaviness in the shoulders. Just notice. No analysis is necessary.

2. Name the belief behind the feeling

Gently ask:
“What am I believing right now?”

Examples might be:

• “This will never change.”

• “I have to handle everything alone.”

• “I’m not allowed to rest.”

• “Something is wrong with me.”

You are not trying to fix it yet—only to see it clearly.

3. Meet the moment honestly

Honesty is different from negativity. It sounds like:

• “Right now I feel fear and tightness in my chest.”

• “Right now there is sadness in my belly and tension in my throat.”

• “Right now I don’t know what will happen, and that feels uncomfortable.”

Let the breath stay simple and natural. Allow the body to feel what it feels, without pushing it away or amplifying it.

4. Offer a new, truer instruction

Now gently offer the body a sentence that is both kind and believable. It must feel at least somewhat true, or the body will not trust it.

Examples:

• “I can feel this and still breathe.”

• “I don’t have to solve everything in this moment.”

• “It’s safe to soften a little.”

• “Help is possible, even if I don’t see it yet.”

Let this phrase ride on the exhale, as though each breath is delivering the message into the tissues. You are not forcing yourself to believe it; you are offering it, repeatedly and gently.

Over time, this is how the mind updates the body’s “software.” The molecules of emotion gradually reflect the new pattern. Tension patterns and habitual reactions can begin to shift.

The future extends from now

We often think of the future as something “out there,” separate from this moment. But in a very real way:

Everything in the future extends from how we meet now.

The future of your body is not only determined by genetics, environment, or chance. It is also shaped by:

• The meanings you give to what happens.

• The beliefs you choose to inhabit.

• The emotional and energetic states you repeatedly return to.

Each time you choose to meet experience with a little more honesty, a little more presence, you change the signals moving through your bodymind—your molecules of emotion, your qi, your breath and posture. Over weeks, months, and years, those small shifts accumulate into very real changes in health, resilience, and how you feel in your own skin.

This is not a promise of instant cure. It is a reminder of participation: you are not separate from what your body is becoming. The way you relate to this moment is already shaping your physiology.

Mind leads, body follows

To summarize:

• There is no real separation between mind and body; there is one bodymind in constant communication.

• Emotional life is carried in the body by “molecules of emotion”—neuropeptides and other messengers that influence the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems.

• Thoughts become powerful when we accept them as beliefs; beliefs set long-term patterns in the body.

• Honest presence softens the system, allowing qi to move and chemistry to rebalance.

• Small, sincere shifts in how we meet this moment can influence our future health and experience.

When you understand that the mind leads the body, practice takes on a different meaning. Every breath of awareness, every moment you choose a truer, kinder belief, is not “just mental.” It is part of a living conversation with your cells.

You are already influencing your body with every interpretation, every belief, every way you meet your experience. The question is not whether the mind leads the body.

The real question is: What instructions are you giving it—right now?

Qigong Foundations: Breath, Posture & Intention

Qigong is said to be the mother of Taiji (Tai Chi) and was originally called Dao Yin—guiding and leading the qi. These were simple exercises to stimulate the meridian channels and points, open the orifices, and gather, transform, and use qi for health, balance, self-awareness, and life force.

At the heart of qigong are three foundations:

Breath · Posture · Intention

Everything else grows from there.

Breath and Jing: Your Original “Savings Account”

Breathing is the first and last thing we do in this incarnation. With our first breath—separating from the womb—we begin to draw on the Jing and Essence we inherited at conception.

I often describe Jing as your original savings account. At the moment of conception, the Jing of your parents combines with the energy of the cosmos and your own spirit. That blend becomes your blueprint for this life—your stored capital. The health and vitality of your parents at conception influences how full that account is.

As we live outside the womb, we slowly spend from this account. The qi we need for daily life is generated from Jing and stored primarily in the Kidneys, whose spirit is called Zhi, or Will. Between the kidneys sits the Gate of Life (Ming Men), just behind the navel. This is the fire that drives metabolism.

Our breath fans this fire. It supports digestion, absorption, and elimination—transforming food and grain into qi and blood, the “mediumship” of the body. The Lungs govern our defensive qi (wei qi), the smooth muscles, and the pores of the skin. Strong Lung qi means a stronger immune system, and this is directly tied to how we breathe.

Posture: How the Body Speaks to the Organs

The second component of qigong is posture. The way we stand, walk, sit, and lie down is how the body speaks to the organs.

• Standing nourishes the Kidneys

• Walking supports the Liver

• Sitting steadies the Spleen

• Lying down restores the Lungs

There is always a corollary:

• Excessive sitting weakens the Spleen

• Excessive walking taxes the Liver

• Excessive standing strains the Kidneys

• Excessive lying down depletes the Lungs

Medical qigong practices are designed to support specific organs and meridian pathways—either tonifying what is deficient or dispersing what is in excess. Much of this regulation happens through coordinated breath and posture.

Holding standing postures over time strengthens the legs and increases muscle mass. The body responds by increasing bone density in the femurs, which in turn supports the production of bone marrow and a more resilient immune system. This is one example of how a seemingly simple posture can have deep physiological effects.

Intention: The Mind Leads the Qi

The third component is intention. In this medicine we say:

Qi follows the mind.
Qi is the commander of blood, and blood is the mother of qi.

As our qigong practice deepens, the mind becomes clearer and more stable, and intention grows stronger. The body begins to direct qi to where it is needed without us having to micromanage the process.

I find it remarkable that our mind and heart can summon and direct energy that is universally abundant. Qigong is simply the training in how to gather, build, and store qi—first for our own healing, and then, when appropriate, for the healing of others.

The Three Treasures and Healing

There are three primary energy centers that correlate with the Three Treasures:

• Jing – Essence and blueprint

• Qi – Energy needed to fulfill that blueprint

• Shen – Spirit of the heart

Qigong practice nourishes all three. Breath feeds the Gate of Life, posture frees the channels and supports the organs, and intention guides the qi so the body can reorganize around balance instead of strain.

Over time, this work changes how we relate to illness and challenge. We begin to recognize that:

All illness is energetic with physical manifestations.

Addressing only the physical leaves the roots untouched. When we include energy, intention, and spirit, deeper healing becomes possible.

In Practice

I think it is extraordinary that we can participate so directly in our own healing—that through breath, posture, and intention we can influence how our qi moves, how our organs function, and how our spirit rests in the body.

As we practice, something else happens as well:

As we heal, those around us heal.

The shifts we make in our own field ripple outward into our families, communities, and the wider world.

Thank you for taking the time to read this teaching. My intention is to offer my energetic healing abilities to anyone who is ready and open to unlimited possibilities for health, happiness, and self-cultivation.

Chasing the Wind

Hello everyone, and welcome. This is my introductory teaching for Change Matters Healing—and a look at why I chose this name.

I’ll start with a simple truth I learned from my teacher, Dr. Jeffrey Yuen:

“People don’t change unless the pain is greater than the change.”
“There are no incurable diseases, only incurable people.”

Over time I’ve come to understand what he means:
for healing to happen, we have to be willing to change.

If our health truly matters, then change matters—and healing begins the moment we stop resisting it.

Why We Resist Change

There are many reasons we hesitate:

• It may not feel financially possible.
• There may be children, partners, or family depending on us.
• We may not know what to change or how to change.
• Old stories arise: “I’m not capable enough, educated enough, young enough, old enough…”

The mind creates an endless list until we throw up our hands and just keep going—doing what is expected, fulfilling obligations—while some deeper part of us quietly longs for a catalyst.

Very often, that catalyst arrives as illness.

Illness, in this medicine, is not just something “bad” happening to you. It is also an invitation:
a signal that something in your life, your energy, or your spirit is asking to move.

Change and Wind in Classical Chinese Medicine

In Classical Chinese Medicine, change is often spoken of as wind.

Wind is movement, unpredictability, and transformation. When we resist wind, we brace. We tighten. That resistance creates stress and stagnation in the body, mind, and spirit.

There is an old phrase:

“Wind is the spearhead of a thousand diseases.”

Wind acts as a vehicle. It can drive cold, heat, or dampness into the body, pushing past our defenses if our wei qi (defensive qi) is not strong enough.

Wei qi circulates on the surface—in the skin, fascia, and sinew channels. These channels protect us from external influences. When we encounter wind and cold, a sneeze or a light sweat might be the body’s first attempt to push it back out.

If the wei qi is strong, the pathogen is expelled and we move on.
If the wei qi is weak—because of overwork, emotional strain, poor sleep, or other stressors—the wind can penetrate more deeply, and the story continues.

Wei Qi, Kidney Yang, and the Body’s Wisdom

Wei qi is an expression of Kidney Yang qi—our deep metabolic fire.

This defensive qi not only opens and closes the pores, it also influences the smooth muscles of the body:

• The walls of the stomach and intestines
• The bladder and uterus
• Blood vessels and lymphatics
• The respiratory, urinary, and reproductive systems

If Kidney Yang is insufficient, wei qi will also be weak. At that point, a pathogen can sink to the level of the blood, and the body has to make larger, more costly moves to protect the organs.

The body’s wisdom is remarkable.
Sometimes it diverts the pathogen through the Divergent Channels, or, if there is a strong emotional component, stores it in the Luo Channels.

Divergent Channels: Holding Things in Latency

The Divergent Channels are like side roads. Their job is to pull difficult influences away from the internal organs and hold them in latency—often in the joints and major articulations.

When this happens, symptoms may fade. Life “goes back to normal.” We feel mostly fine, maybe a little stiff, a little off—but nothing that seems serious enough to change for.

Then, months or years later, another pathogen or life stress arrives. The system is challenged again. If our reserves are low, the body can no longer hold everything in latency, and symptoms return—sometimes the same as before, sometimes completely new.

Once again, we are standing in front of an invitation to change.

Luo Channels: Where the Emotions Live

Many people say all disease has emotional roots. I would add:
true healing has to include the spirit.

The Luo Channels are created throughout our lives to store unresolved emotional experience—grief, anger, fear, shame, betrayal, heartbreak. They hold what we haven’t yet been able to digest.

When the Luo are full, there are often visible signs along their pathways—varicosities, spider veins, discolorations, nodules, changes in the skin. These are not just cosmetic details; they are stories written on the body.

Full Luo vessels, recurring symptoms, and old emotional loops are all saying the same thing:

“Something here is asking to move.
Will you meet it now, or store it again?”

Another invitation to change.

The Eight Extraordinary Channels: Where Your Story Is Written

All of these movements—pathogens, emotions, life events, choices—are born, financed, and recorded within the Eight Extraordinary Channels.

You can think of them as the deep architecture of your life:

• Where your ancestral patterns live
• Where your Jing (essence), Qi, and Shen (spirit) are woven together
• Where your particular curriculum for this life is stored

From here, your unique way of becoming ill—and your unique way of healing—unfolds.

Through pulse reading, tongue diagnosis, palpation, questioning, and listening, a skilled clinician can trace this story. We look for the root of deficiency or stagnation, support the body’s natural healing, and, when needed, help re-establish latency until your system has enough resources to fully clear what it’s ready to clear.

Fear, Courage, and the Breath

So where does fear fit into all of this?

In my experience, our greatest fear is not wind, or pathogens, or even death. Our greatest fear is our own truth.

The difference between fear and courage is often just one breath.

Our defensive wei qi is governed by the Lungs, and sourced from the Kidneys. When we strengthen Lung and Kidney qi, we are not only enhancing immunity; we are strengthening the will to face what we have been avoiding.

As we nourish the breath and tend the Gate of Life, we build the internal resources needed to walk through fear instead of circling around it for years.

Why “Change Matters Healing”

All of this is why I chose the name Change Matters Healing.

• Change is built into the fabric of this medicine.
• Change is carried by the wind.
• Wind, when resisted, becomes the spearhead of disease.
• When welcomed, it becomes the movement that carries us toward healing.

If you want to heal and live with less disease, change is inevitable. It can also be deeply creative and even exciting. Sometimes all that’s required is a safe space, clear intention, and a willingness to let the channels of the body and spirit move again.

The more we fight change, the deeper and more entangled our diseases tend to become.
When we align with change, we discover new space—inside and out.

There is a classical teaching I return to often:

“If the spirit is at peace, the heart is in harmony.
When the heart is in harmony, the body is whole.
If the spirit becomes agitated, the heart wavers.
When the heart wavers, the body becomes injured.
If one seeks to heal the physical body, therefore, one needs to regulate the spirit first.”

Creating Space for Possibility

Out of the Void of Nothing come the ten thousand possibilities.

The more inner space we have, the more possibilities we have in life—more room to respond differently, to choose differently, to heal differently.

My work is to help create that space:
in the channels, in the breath, in the mind, and in the heart—
so you can see the possibilities that have been waiting all along.

Thank you for taking the time to read this teaching.

What Is Acupuncture?

What Is Acupuncture?

People often ask me, “What exactly is acupuncture—and how does it help?”
For me, acupuncture is first and foremost a way of listening.

It is a classical medicine that reads the language of the channels—how your Jing (essence), Qi (energy), and Shen (spirit) are moving through the body. Needles are simply one of the tools we use to translate that language and support the change that is already trying to happen.

A Medicine of Channels, Not Just Points

In Classical Chinese Medicine, the body is mapped as a living river system.
The channels carry qi and blood, connect the organs, and record the story of your life—illness, trauma, habits, emotions, and choices.

When something in that system becomes blocked, depleted, or disturbed, the body begins to speak:

• pain that won’t quite resolve

• sleep that never feels fully restful

• digestion that is off

• emotional weather that lingers—grief, anger, fear, worry

Acupuncture works by meeting those messages at specific places on the channels.
A needle placed with clear intention doesn’t “force” the body to do anything. It reminds the system of what it already knows: how to move, reorganize, and return toward balance.

All Illness Is Energetic With Physical Manifestations

From this perspective, illness begins energetically—long before it shows up on a lab test or imaging study. The physical symptoms we experience are the later chapters of a story that started in the subtler layers of energy, emotion, and spirit.

Acupuncture allows us to meet illness at that earlier level.
By working with the channels, breath, and intention, we invite qi to move where it has been stuck, nourish where it has been depleted, and clear what no longer needs to be held.

The needles are very fine, and treatments are generally gentle. Many people experience a sense of deep rest, warmth, or subtle movement during or after a session.

The Mind Leads the Body

In this medicine, the mind leads the qi, and qi leads the blood.
Where attention goes, energy follows.

Acupuncture sessions are not just about lying on a table. We spend time exploring how you are arriving—physically, emotionally, and in your life. Often, simply naming what is true in the moment allows the channels to respond.

When the mind begins to soften its grip on old stories—“I can’t,” “I’m broken,” “It’s too late”—the body has more room to reorganize. The needles, breath, and intention work together to support this shift. When we change the mind, the body can follow.

A Collaboration, Not a Fix

Healing is not something done to you. It is a collaboration between your body, your channels, and your willingness to meet what arises.

My role as a channel practitioner is to listen, translate, and support.
Your role is to stay curious, honest, and engaged with the process:

• coming exactly as you are

• sharing what you are experiencing, as you are able

• noticing changes—subtle or obvious—between sessions

• practicing any simple qigong, breath, or awareness exercises we agree on

Over time, many people notice shifts in pain, sleep, mood, digestion, and overall sense of connection to themselves and their lives.

Why I Practice This Medicine

I did not come to this work because my life was perfect.
Like many people, I spent years blaming others—my family, circumstances, fate—for my struggles. Classical Chinese Medicine, Daoist cultivation, and my teachers showed me another view: that we each come into this life with a blueprint, a curriculum, and that we are not as “terminally unique” as we think.

Acupuncture and channel work became one of the ways I could meet that curriculum honestly—first in myself, and now with those I work with. I practice this medicine because I have seen that when the channels open and the spirit has room, change is possible in ways we could not imagine beforehand.

Beginning Your Own Healing

If you feel called to this work, you are welcome to begin exactly as you are.
We start with what is true in this moment and move at a pace that feels workable for you.

Whether you are facing a specific condition, moving through a major life transition, or simply feeling a quiet inner nudge to grow, acupuncture and channel-based healing offer a way to meet change with support instead of resistance.

All illness is energetic with physical manifestations.
As we tend the channels, we create more space—for breath, for clarity, for possibility.

You are welcome to reach out if you would like to explore how this medicine might support your path.

All Illness Is Energetic with Physical Manifestations

Abstract

This paper explores the proposition that all illness is, at root, an energetic disturbance with physical manifestations. It draws on traditional understandings of qi (vital energy), modern psychoneuroimmunology, and prior reflections on how the mind leads the body.

The core thesis is:

The body follows the instructions it receives from consciousness.
Over time, patterns of anger, worry, fear, sadness, and chronic emotional distress shape the flow of qi and are eventually expressed as physical symptoms and disease.

This is not a denial of genetics, pathogens, or environmental factors. Rather, it is a reframing: every physical condition also has an energetic and emotional dimension. When we address only the physical layer, we treat the manifestation. When we address the energetic and mental layers, we begin to work at the source.

1. Illness as energetic pattern, not just physical defect

In standard biomedical models, illness is described in terms of:

• Structural changes (e.g., tissue damage, degeneration)

• Biochemical imbalances (e.g., hormones, neurotransmitters, inflammatory markers)

• External agents (e.g., bacteria, viruses, toxins)

This view is useful and often life-saving. But it is incomplete. From an energetic perspective:

• Physical changes are the end of a chain, not the beginning.

• Before the lab value shifts or tissue breaks down, there is a long history of how a person has related to their life: their emotions, beliefs, stresses, and unresolved experiences.

• These histories live not only in memory, but in posture, breath, nervous system tone, and the flow (or stagnation) of qi.

To say “all illness is energetic with physical manifestations” is to assert that:

1. At the deepest level, we are fields of energy and information.

2. The mind and its patterns—beliefs, perceptions, and emotional habits—organize this energy.

3. Persistent distortions in energy and emotion eventually crystallize into physical conditions.

Physical illness is therefore a late-stage expression of energetic and informational imbalance.

2. Qi and the bodymind: one system, many languages

Classical Chinese medicine speaks of qi: the dynamic, organizing life-force that animates and connects all levels of being. Qi moves through channels (meridians), nourishes organs, and responds to our environment and inner life.

Modern science uses different language, but points in a similar direction:

• The nervous system, endocrine (hormonal) system, and immune system form an integrated regulatory web.

• Emotional states are carried in the body by signaling molecules and electrical patterns.

• Experiences and meanings are “encoded” in patterns of muscle tension, breath, heart rate variability, and immune activity.

In earlier writing on “The Mind Leads the Body,” we explored the work of neuroscientist Candace Pert, who described “molecules of emotion”—neuropeptides and other chemicals that carry emotional information throughout the bodymind.

From the perspective of qi:

• Electrical signals, chemical messengers, and fascial tensions are all expressions of underlying energy states.

• Qi responds to and reflects consciousness. How we habitually think, feel, and interpret our experience shapes how qi flows or stagnates.

When qi is harmonious and responsive, we experience:

• Flexible emotions

• Smooth digestion

• Resilient immunity

• Restorative sleep

• A feeling of being “in ourselves” and available to life

When qi is chronically disturbed, we begin to see the early signs of disease:

• Persistent tension or heaviness

• Unrefreshing sleep

• Recurrent digestive or immune complaints

• A sense of being “stuck,” numb, exhausted, or over-activated

If these patterns continue, they eventually consolidate into diagnosable physical conditions.

3. The mind gives the body its “instructions”

A key distinction used in prior work is:

• A thought is a passing mental event.

• A belief is a thought the conscious mind, over time, has decided to accept as true.

The body does not respond equally to every single thought that flashes through awareness. It responds most deeply to what is repeated and emotionally charged—in other words, to our beliefs and enduring emotional climates.

A simplified progression looks like this:

Recurrent interpretations → persistent emotional states → chronic energetic patterns → physical manifestations.

For example:

1. A person repeatedly interprets life events as threats (“I am not safe,” “Something terrible is coming”).

2. The emotional tone of fear, hypervigilance, and anxiety becomes familiar.

3. Qi begins to gather in the upper body (chest, shoulders, neck), breath becomes shallow, and the nervous system amplifies sympathetic (fight-flight) activity.

4. Over time, this may manifest physically as high blood pressure, tension headaches, digestive problems, immune vulnerability, or sleep disruption.

In this sense, belief is physiology. The mind is not separate from the body; it is a patterning function within the bodymind that constantly tells the system what sort of world it lives in—and the body responds accordingly.

4. Emotional energies and their physical echoes

Many traditional systems map specific emotions to particular organ and energetic patterns. While the details vary, there is broad agreement that long-term emotional distress shapes physical health.

Below is a simplified view, consistent with classical qi-based frameworks and modern stress research:

4.1 Anger and frustration

Energetically:

• Healthy anger is a clear, decisive energy that protects boundaries and moves us to action.

• When anger is suppressed, chronic, or misdirected, qi tends to rise and stagnate—especially in the chest, neck, and head.

Possible physical expressions:

• Tension headaches, migraines

• Eye strain, visual disturbances

• Hypertension

• Tight shoulders and jaw

• Digestive irritability and reflux

Psychologically, unresolved anger often shows as irritability, resentment, or a sense of being blocked. The inner message is something like: “I cannot move the way I need to.”

4.2 Worry and rumination

Energetically:

• Worry is a repetitive mental circling.

• Qi becomes knotted in the center, dispersing our capacity to digest both food and experience.

Possible physical expressions:

• Bloating, irregular appetite, indigestion

• Fatigue after eating

• Muscle heaviness and a sense of being “bogged down”

• Impaired concentration and “brain fog”

The deeper belief is often: “If I keep thinking, I can control everything.” The result is energetic overuse of the mind, underuse of grounded presence.

4.3 Fear and anxiety

Energetically:

• Acute fear is natural and adaptive.

• Chronic fear gradually drains and tightens the system. Qi contracts and retreats, often into the core.

Possible physical expressions:

• Chronic tension in the lower back and pelvis

• Weakness or instability in the knees and legs

• Sleep disturbances (especially waking in the early hours)

• Endocrine imbalances, stress-related exhaustion

The underlying message is: “The world is unsafe, and I am not supported.” The system remains on alert, and deep rest becomes difficult.

4.4 Sadness and grief

Energetically:

• Healthy grief moves in waves—rising, cresting, and receding, allowing integration.

• When sadness is unexpressed or becomes a constant background, qi sinks and collapses.

Possible physical expressions:

• Chest constriction and shallow breathing

• Recurrent respiratory issues

• A sense of heaviness or depression

• Postural collapse (rounded shoulders, sunken chest)

The silent belief may be: “What I loved is gone and nothing new is possible.” The system loses its natural rhythm of opening and closing.

4.5 Long-term emotional distress

When anger, worry, fear, and sadness become chronic climates rather than passing states, the cumulative effect is:

• Dysregulated nervous system (either over-activated, under-activated, or swinging between the two)

• Disrupted hormonal cycles (stress hormones, sex hormones, thyroid, etc.)

• Altered immune function (overreactive, underreactive, or misdirected)

• Structural changes (muscle shortening, fascial adhesions, joint wear, organ strain)

At this stage, illness is not “caused” by a single emotion but emerges from long-standing energetic patterns reinforced by repeated beliefs and experiences.

5. Honest awareness as energetic medicine

In earlier writing, the principle was stated this way:

When we meet each moment honestly, the body softens, qi moves, and healing becomes possible.

Honesty here is not about harsh self-critique. It is about accurate contact with what is actually happening:

• In the mind: the stories and beliefs we are running

• In the emotions: the feelings we are allowing or resisting

• In the body: the sensations, tensions, and signals present now

When we turn toward experience with this type of presence:

1. Internal conflict decreases. We stop spending energy pushing feelings away.

2. The nervous system receives cues of increased safety and coherence.

3. Qi begins to redistribute: areas of chronic tension can soften, numb areas can come back to life.

4. Over time, this can stabilize as new patterns of breath, posture, and chemistry.

Practices that support this include:

• Meditative awareness (non-judgmental observation of mind and body)

• Qigong and other mindful movement (inviting qi to circulate through breath and gentle motion)

• Conscious breathing (softening the exhale, allowing the body to down-regulate)

• Skillful emotional expression (speaking truthfully, grieving, setting boundaries)

These are not merely “relaxation techniques.” They are ways of reprogramming the body’s energetic instructions at the level of consciousness.

6. Illness, responsibility, and compassion

The statement “all illness is energetic with physical manifestations” can be misunderstood as blame: “If you are sick, you must have thought or felt the wrong way.” That is not the position here.

Important clarifications:

• Many factors shape our energy: family patterns, trauma, culture, environment, and events far beyond our control.

• Genetics and external agents (infections, toxins, accidents) are real and matter.

• Energetic and emotional patterns often arise as adaptive responses to difficult circumstances.

Rather than blame, this perspective offers:

• Acknowledgment that our inner life is not irrelevant to our health.

• A sense of participation: we are not powerless passengers inside a failing machine.

• A direction for practice: by working with mind, qi, and emotion, we can support and sometimes transform physical outcomes.

Energetic work is not a replacement for medical treatment. It is a dimension of healing that can:

• Make conventional treatments more effective

• Improve quality of life and resilience

• Help prevent some patterns of progression or recurrence

• Align the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of our being

7. Conclusion: from energy to manifestation, and back again

To say that all illness is energetic with physical manifestations is to recognize a simple but profound sequence:

1. Consciousness relates to life in a certain way (beliefs, meanings, interpretations).

2. This relation generates emotional climates (anger, worry, fear, sadness, or openness, trust, gratitude).

3. Emotional climates pattern qi—either flowing, balanced, and responsive, or stagnant, chaotic, and depleted.

4. Over time, qi patterns imprint themselves in the physical body as posture, breath, chemistry, and structure.

5. Eventually, these patterns are given names in medical language: hypertension, IBS, autoimmune disease, depression, and so on.

If we only address step 5, we are treating the visible portion of a much deeper process. If we also work at steps 1–3—mind, emotion, and qi—we are engaging the roots.

The body follows the instructions it receives from consciousness. When anger softens into clear boundary, when worry yields to grounded presence, when fear is held in safety, when sadness is allowed to move as grief and then release, qi can resume its natural flow.

In that flow, the physical body is no longer carrying the entire burden of unresolved energy alone. It becomes what it was always meant to be: a faithful expression of a living, evolving field of awareness.

This is the deeper meaning behind the idea that all illness is energetic with physical manifestations. It is not a slogan; it is an invitation—to meet our minds, our qi, and our emotions as active participants in the story our bodies are telling, and to gently begin rewriting that story from the inside out.