Five Common Misconceptions About Meditation

Five Common Misconceptions About Meditation

In clinic I hear a few common misconceptions about meditation. I hear them all the time. 1. I’m a failure because I can’t get my mind to still and quiet. 2. It’s hard. 3. It’s boring. 4. I want to get something from it. 5. I don’t have the time. Let’s take a look at...
Beat the common cold with ginger and cinnamon

Beat the common cold with ginger and cinnamon

Chinese medicine sees there being two types of types of common cold; the “hot” cold and the “cold” cold. Sound odd? It is not. Just recall your own experience. There are colds that slowly come on. They start off as a general feeling of being...
Falling apart, or falling together?

Falling apart, or falling together?

I first noticed it in Taipei while immersing myself in Chinese. Erroneously, I thought that the drip, drop, drip of daily lessons and street-level exposure would generate a steadily rising line graph of comprehension and ability. I was wrong. Learning Chinese, like...
Asking the right questions

Asking the right questions

There is a method of telling fortunes in Taiwan. Actually, there are many methods of telling fortunes in Taiwan. Fortune tellers in Taiwan are as numerous as psychotherapists in any trendy west coast American city, and for the most part serve the same function. Which...
Forget affirmations, buy Taiwanese stationary!

Forget affirmations, buy Taiwanese stationary!

. Affirmations never worked for me. They are like lost post-it notes from another dimension, lacking a certain verve, and calling to a dream that might be best forgotten. Taiwanese stationary on the other hand, incorporates the best of intentions, with the slight...
Summer Cold

Summer Cold

No, I’m not talking about the sneezy summer sniffs, Swine flu, or “Summer Bug” that has invaded your respiratory system. I’m talking about something else. Something that in China is as obvious as 2+2=4, but here in the west is elusively absent....