Turtles contemplating together

I was shooting in the Los Angeles Arboretum a few days ago and wandered upon a group of turtles perched on top of a floating log. At first glance, the turtles don’t seem like interesting subjects. They don’t move much, standing in the same spot for hours at a time sun bathing and perhaps contemplating the meaning of life. I never paid much attention to them. But this time I decided to sit down nearby to observe them and do a little contemplation of my own.

Finish reading and view photos

Evotion recently completed the redesigned website for the National Campaign to End the Korean War

The redesigned website for the National Campaign to End the Korean War and the Korean Peace Project is done. Evotion completed the frontend website redesign — project management, information design, graphic design and html/javascript/php programming – as well as an upgraded backend content management system powered by Joomla. Visit: http://EndtheKoreanWar.org

About The National Campaign to End the Korean War
The National Campaign to End the Korean War is the collaboration of several leading Korean-American, veterans, and human rights organizations working to promote a U.S.-Korea policy that will bring about a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula. Their goal is to finally end the 1950-1953 Korean War through the signing of a peace treaty between the United States and North Korea.

Given the historic opening for peaceful relations with the election of President Obama, this coalition formed to strengthen their ability to uphold President Obama’s campaign promise to foreign policy that emphasizes diplomacy and negotiation, and to engage in dialogue without preconditions with other countries as a means for resolving tensions.

About Evotion
Evotion’s mission is to build and expand technology access for the change makers of the world. It is through empowering our teachers and activists, artists and philosophers, and healers and policy makers that we can empower the world. Founded in 2002, Evotion has been providing technology consulting, project management and web development services to nonprofits, governments, educational institutions, and small businesses. For more information, visit us at http://www.evotion.net

My Comments:
It’s been over 55 years and we’re still at war. It’s time to put the politics aside, end it with a peace treaty and work towards the future of a Korea that is no longer divided. The Campaign has an online petition on their website. If you support finding a peaceful end to this war, please sign the petition.

Lots of great news to announce after my return: an update to the Evosia clothing line, an acupuncture project that has been in the works, a revamped acupuncture web site and of course, pretty photos from the camping trip.

See you in a few weeks!

I just returned from an incredible trip to the California Desert — Joshua Tree National Park, Palm Desert and Palm Springs. Enjoy the photos!

[View with PicLens]

 

Shot with a Canon EOS 500D. Lenses: Canon 50mm 1.4 and Tamron 18-270mm 3.5-6.3.

Understanding Love and Attraction from a Daoist (Taoist) Perspective

Love and sexual attraction transcend the boundaries of race, class and even gender/sexual preference.

Most people are familiar with the Daoist (Taoist) concept of Yin and Yang. It is used in Chinese philosophy to describe and understand how seemingly opposing forces are in fact deeply interconnected and interdependent in the natural world. While they oppose each other, they co-exist in a dynamic equilibrium. If one disappears, so does the other.

In the realm of love and sexual attraction, Yin and Yang’s opposing energies create sexual polarity. A healthy relationship is often rooted in this harmony and balance of opposites. When this polarity is neutralized, oftentimes so is the attraction. Maintaining this polarity is important for lasting and fulfilling relationships.

Understanding Your Essence
While Yin is associated with the feminine essence and Yang with the masculine essence (Yang), our sexual essence and our physical gender as men or women do not necessarily have to be the same. There exist men with strong feminine essence and women with strong masculine essence. This applies whether your sexual preference is gay or straight.

Whatever your sexual essence, it is important to be aware of what it is and how you are projecting it. You tend to attract your opposite so if you are in your masculine, you’ll attract someone who is feminine and vice versa. If you are not attracting the type you want to be romantically involved with or if you feel like your current relationship is losing its spark, examine what you are projecting.

Love with Sexual Attraction
Love and sexual attraction aren’t necessarily one and the same. There are plenty of couples out there who are still together long after the sexual attraction is gone. They can still love each other very much. But then it becomes a relationship between best friends rather than lovers. If you want to experience the spark, excitement and magnetic attraction of a relationship that is emotionally, spiritually and sexually satisfying, you have to create and maintain sexual polarity.

I’m writing this on the 40th anniversary of Stonewall. Reflecting upon this day, love is a beautiful thing that should be celebrated and embraced without the judgments, restrictions and expectations imposed by culture, religion and fear. Help work towards moving our society beyond existing boundaries such as race, class and gender/sexual preference.

David Deida

The Sexual Body and the Yoga of Light:
A Weekend Workshop with David Deida, San Diego, November 6, 7, 8, 2009

Join David right on the beach at the luxurious Rancho Bernardo Inn Resort and Spa for this breakthrough weekend.

During the weekend, you will…

• Discover how to use the body as a vehicle for ecstatic dissolution;
• Understand why our deepest sexual gifts are often capped by our most intense resistance, and how to relax through blocks in our sexual artistry;
• Follow the course from scary neediness, through safe independence, into the oneness of perfect trust in devotional love;
• Find out how to turn hang-ups into playful gifts of loving humor in the midst of erotic embrace;
• Comprehend why honest and respectful communication can be very different from passionate and heart-awakening sex talk; and
• Learn breathing techniques to increase, decrease, and circulate sexual love-energy.

What many people don’t know is that every Weekend Workshop is unique and unpredictable. There is no “rote” program. Quite the opposite! In fact, the work in the room grows specifically from your interaction with David. To get a flavor of what happens inside the Workshop, here are a few voices from last year’s participants…

“David is hilarious — and a genius on stage. Awesome!”

“This was amazing — a chance to experience the vitality of David’s presence. I knew it would be great but the opportunity for direct learning from David Deida via people asking questions and David directly coaching them was extraordinary!”

“Being with David in person was amazing. His physicality brings tremendous depth to the lessons and practice and meaning of his words!”

“I loved the partner exercise where we stared into each others eyes and spoke about our desire for one another. I SAW the light, quite literally, in the man opposite me!”

“As a woman, I learned how to embody the divine feminine and move in and out of 3rd stage with grace and beauty. This intensive is the way to enlightenment for anyone…”

“How much more powerful David’s work is in person vs. on the page! It was simply PROFOUND!

Please come to the Workshop with your most pressing questions and challenges. Among the many avenues David will explore with you

• Why is feminine energy extremely attractive yet mistrusted by both men and women?
• Why do many men resist marriage even when they are totally in love?
• Why are the five biggest turn-ons for women different than those for men?
• Why is the word “surrender” so offensive to some people and so erotic to others?
• What are the spiritual prerequisites for experiencing the ultimate sexual embrace?
• What must you risk in order to experience deep sexual union and emotional communion?
• Why is it impossible to grow spiritually without embracing our darkest impulses?

“What a weekend! These were life-altering views to transform heart, sex, love and being em-body-ment. Beyond words!”

“I would tell anybody that this weekend would teach you how to live your life with purpose, be true to your mission on earth and to love completely.”

SCHEDULE:

The Workshop begins 7 PM sharp on Friday, November 6. We will finish Friday night’s session at 10 PM. Saturday and Sunday’s session will go from 10 AM till 10 PM with breaks. David will sometimes go beyond 10 PM but no one is required to stay past 10.

LOCATION:

Rancho Bernardo Inn Resort and Spa, with its rural setting, gardens, legendary spa will provide a unique, powerful and relaxing environment for the Weekend. We have arranged a large block of discount rooms for participants, but they are not unlimited. Please reserve your room early. As a service to you, we also create a message board if you would like to share a room with another participant.

NOTE: This Weekend Workshop is open to singles and couples of any sexual orientation. Participants should be prepared for explicit use of language and intensive experiential practice. Actual sex and nudity are not involved.

David Deida

Aligning with Love: The Yoga of Sex, Wealth, and Worship
A Weekend Workshop With David Deida, Miami, October 2, 3, 4, 2009

The Sexual Body and the Yoga of Light:
A Weekend Workshop with David Deida, San Diego, November 6, 7, 8, 2009

The Sexual Body and the Yoga of Light:
A 7-Day Training Intensive with David Deida in San Diego, November 6-13, 2009

This 7-Day Intensive is David Deida’s advanced training for men and women ready to illuminate the unseen depths and shadows of their being. Practitioners from all over the world gather with Deida for an unparalleled opportunity to explore every nook and cranny of their psyche and desire. Journeying solo, partnered, and in groups, virtually no stone is left unturned in seven days and nights of investigation, insight, and celebration.

In this 7-Day training we go far beyond the weekend and dive deeply into advanced practices that enhance our heart’s depth and presence, turning lovemaking into whole-body prayer and true spiritual communion as we learn how to create and sustain the authentic yoga of intimacy throughout the days and nights of our years.

What are you really here to do–professionally, intimately, artistically–and how committed are you to doing and living it? To get there, Deida teaches, we need to surrender to the boundless self that we truly are and learn to live in the unbearable pleasure and vulnerability of that exquisite state of openness. And most of us require a dedicated practice, a living yoga, in order to sustain this.

During this training, we engage in practices that focus on where we are most contracted, and “for a lot of people that means sexuality, life-purpose, and intimacy,” says Deida. We spend our time deepening and fine-tuning personal practices, both in and out of the classroom, using traditional means such as breathwork, meditation, yoga, and dance, as well as the custom-designed personal practices for which David Deida is so widely hailed. Working in groups, with partners, and individually, we learn to:

* identify our unique gifts and give them more fully;
* learn when to respect boundaries and when to press through them;
* ease beyond fear into ecstatic surrender;
* open out in connection when all we want to do is close down;
* employ ecstasy to heal past wounds and melt open beyond the self;
* offer our deepest presence and love;
* skillfully navigate the differences between men’s and women’s internal sexual circuitry;
* discover how to access the freedom of consciousness and humor amidst anger, lust, and jealousy;
* design a deeply personal spiritual life; and
* create a daily sexual yoga practice, solo and in partnership, that will continue to grow along with the depth of our heart’s desire to turn our entire life into an artful, whole-body offering of love.

Whereas “healing old wounds” is most fruitful amidst patience and firm boundaries, the yoga of transformation that Deida teaches involves carefully stretching to play at your vulnerable edge and just beyond, including your limits and gifts of body, mind, and emotion. Just as you are, sourced in loving awareness, no subject is taboo. All fixations and unique twists of character are welcomed with compassion and humor. Every struggle and life situation is workable in this teaching. Together with an international gathering of men and women dedicated to authentic spiritual practice, you will have the opportunity to go as deep as you choose:

* explore all of your real desires, dark and light, in a compassionate and skillful setting;
* learn how to create a spiritual portal through the sexual act;
* determine when to heal restfully and when to leap beyond being frozen in terror;
* learn the artful use of natural substances, sex, music, and nature to enliven the creative matrix of your life’s offering;
* investigate your taboos and learn how to offer love’s gift in moments of resistance and closure;
* understand the powerful sexual dynamics of money;
* discover the difference between emotional neediness and devotional yearning;
* illuminate the “cult” blueprint often hidden in teacher/student and lover/beloved intimacies;
* develop your capacity for sustaining radical relationship through heartbreak and comfort;
* uncover your deepest purpose and learn why you haven’t yet fully offered yourself;
* familiarize yourself with the basics of straight and gay sexual yoga (and everything in between); and
* cultivate the true yoga of light, bringing authentic presence and bright love to the places in your life and relationships that many are hesitant to illuminate

Participants should be prepared for explicit use of language and intensive experiential practice. Actual sex and nudity are not involved in this training. Precise rules of relating between all participants creates a safe space for magnifying love’s free flow throughout the training. This 7-Day Intensive and the Weekend Workshop are open to singles and couples of any sexual orientation, with a strong emphasis on personal instruction and one-to-one feedback and refinement. Enrollment in this training is by application only.

Lessons learned from the past year

I just turned 34! If we were in China, I would probably have to treat you all to a nice dinner. For that reason I’m glad I grew up with two cultures so I can pick and choose the best of both worlds! That being said, giving is an important practice. Giving is how we express our heart. So today, my birthday gift to all of you is the important lessons I learned from the past year. Some come from personal experiences and others are nuggets of wisdom or sparks of inspiration I thought I’d share. Enjoy.

Go out and get some sun.
Go for a walk in the sun. Go hiking and enjoy nature. I did a lot of that this past year and it’s done wonders for me. It has helped me get back on track with what’s important in my life. It has given me time to reflect and think. Nature is a wonderful teacher and a constant inspiration.

The long term benefits of sunshine are many. First and foremost, you will feel happier and more alive. You will be more active. You’ll look sexier with a tan. It’ll help you stay fit. And your body needs the sun to make vitamin D. The amount of Vitamin D you get from food sources alone is not enough. Depending on the vitamin supplements, absorbency rate can be as low as 10%. So stop wasting money and stop popping pills. Go outside. 15 minutes of mid-day sun is sufficient to make one day’s worth of Vitamin D. Vitamin D in turn promotes optimal health. It’ll reduce your risk of diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and Multiple Sclerosis.

If you do plan on being in the sun an extended amount of time, use sunblock instead of sunscreen. Sunblock uses inert ingredients such as zinc and titanium oxide that washes off at the end of the day. Sunscreen contains cancer causing chemicals that are absorbed into your body.

When your car’s check engine light turns on, don’t keep driving
That’s what I did on my camping trip to Joshua Tree. The Check Engine light came on and I decided I could wait to have it checked out when I get back into the city. I kept driving. 15 miles later and my engine started smoking. I blew the gasket and cracked the radiator. It was an expensive $2800 lesson in taking care of my car.

I was very lucky. My car broke down in one of the few areas on a lonely stretch of highway that had cell phone reception. My friend Ian, whom I called for help, happened to be hanging out with his friend Charles, a AAA plus member. Using his membership allowed me to make the 100 mile, $800 towing trip back to LA, for free. Thanks Charles! Thanks Ian! I am now also a AAA plus member.

When you hear a loud humming noise while you’re driving, stop to check it out.
You’d think I would have learned from the check engine incident. I think it’s sinking in now. At the time I thought it was a plane flying overhead or that cranky old truck in the next lane. Or perhaps a UFO hovering nearby getting ready to abduct me. Nope. I drove for about 2 miles on the 10 Freeway with a flat tire before the tire started coming loose. Luckily, no accident and there was a shoulder I could pull off to. The tire was on the side that was away from the freeway so I had no trouble getting the spare in.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts. Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
‘Nuff said.

The secret to longevity is to do what makes you happy
The energy that sustains us comes from feeling good, not necessarily from eating well or sleeping well. If you look around, health nuts aren’t exactly the happiest of people. When life is about constraint, limits and “have-to’s” rather than inspiration and possibilities, life simply isn’t fun.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t eat well or sleep well or take care of your health. They are all very important. But being happy should come first. When you’re happy and balanced, eating healthy, sleeping well and taking care of your health will come naturally. When you do it the other way around, it becomes forced and you have to constantly discipline yourself.

Doing what makes you happy comes from knowing your purpose
There are two kinds of happiness: false happiness and true happiness. False happiness is doing stuff that makes you happy for the moment. They are activities that distract and numb you from the daily pain that you feel while you’re avoiding something or uncertain what your life is about. True happiness, on the other hand, comes from knowing your purpose and having it give direction to everything that you do in your life – from waking up and making your way to work to how you plan your day and how you interact with others.

There’s something calling out from deep inside each of us to live whole, inspired and fulfilled lives. We all have a purpose and it is up to each of us to discover what that is. Most of us don’t know what that is because we’re too distracted by the things we feel we “have to do” in our lives. Work. Money. Family. Career. Business. Legacy. Peer/Cultural Pressure. Looking Good. Fear.

Truth is, it doesn’t have to be a mutually antagonistic relationship. When you discover your purpose it doesn’t mean quitting your day job as a corporate executive to become a basket weaver. You may end up doing what you are already doing but now you have a sense of purpose behind it. With purpose, a mundane task like moping the floor becomes moping the floor to create a clean and light environment for others to enjoy and be inspired by. Heading to the check out counter becomes having a great interaction with your cashier, who in turn is going to share that positive energy with all the customers that come through that counter the rest of the day.

Your purpose may change and evolve over time. You may lose focus. Give yourself time for regular silent contemplation to stay connected to what your purpose is.

Acting on your purpose requires execution and planning
Once you know your purpose, you have to breath life into it through action. For example, if your purpose is to make extraordinary movies to inspire the world to end global hunger, it doesn’t just happen on its own or right away. There are steps to get there, a lot of hard work and most likely a lot of struggle and pain along the way. And you may not see the fruits of your labor in your life time. But your purpose is what it is. It is what you have to do. To do otherwise, you’re not living. You’re suffering.

Execution is what differentiates people who make things happen and people who watch things happen or wonder what happened. The world does not lack ideas or ideals. We all have tons of them. What we do lack are people who can stick to something, plan it out and make it into reality. Once you find your purpose, start working on your long term plan. Envision your life and what you want. Then take solid concrete steps, however small, to get there.

Get your love life handled
Love is one of the most beautiful experiences of being human. When we’re in love we feel completely alive and inspired. Yet it is often one of the last things in our lives that we work on. While we take endless classes, seminars and workshops for work, hobbies or self-help, we let our love life stagnate, we put up with the person we’re with or we try to convince ourselves we’re happy being single and independent.

Love is a state of being for creating a deep intimate connection not just on the physical and mental levels but also on the spiritual level. It’s not just about hot physical sex and sharing similar interests. It is about living with an open heart, becoming free from our self-imposed constraints and being inspired to live life fully.

Being love and being open to love is a lifelong practice that requires having a partner who will play with you on this higher level. Make love a priority in your life.

Further Exploration
Words To Live By: Author/physician Shigeaki Hinohara
7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
Intimate Communion: Awakening Your Sexual Essence by David Deida
Way of the Superior Man by David Deida
AAA Road and Travel Services

10 tips for new interns

I’m about to finish my last clinical hours as a Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture intern at Yo San University. I put together these ten tips to help make the transition smoother for future acupuncturists preparing to go into their final year in clinic. Interns past and present, please feel free to chime in with your suggestions.

1. Manage Your Time.
Time management is probably the toughest issue for most new interns. If there’s one thing you should focus on first, this would be it.

Wear a wristwatch and always be aware of how you are doing on time. Know when in the hour you need to get certain things done by. You have 1 hour for each patient and that hour includes intake, diagnosis, treatment plan, put in needles, leave them in, fill herbal prescription, take out needles, and clean up. It can be a little overwhelming at first, especially if something doesn’t go smoothly. You have to factor in if the patient comes late, if your supervisor is busy with another intern, if the patient has a complex condition that requires a more lengthy intake, if the patient needs to change, if you are doing cupping/moxa/tuina/Qi Gong, etc.

Getting your time management down will make everything else easier. You won’t feel as rushed. You have more time to think, relax and be who you are in the treatment room. And since you aren’t fighting against time, if something unexpected comes up, it’s not going to be a meltdown.

Intake and needling were the 2 things that slowed me down in the beginning. It’s important to focus during the intake and ask relevant questions. Read the patient’s file ahead of time, either before the shift starts or while you still have the previous patient “cooking” with the needles. Once you start seeing regulars, their intakes can be done very quickly.

As for needling, I used to take one needle at a time, insert, and repeat. It would take me 10-15 minutes to finish. When I started gripping the spare needles between the pinkie and ring fingers of my off-hand I cut my time by more than half. Free handing instead of using guide tubes also helped speed things up. As I became more familiar with locating points on the body, that also made things go faster.

2. Ask Questions.
You are going into your final year and this may be the last opportunity you get before you graduate and go off on your own. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Take notes. Figure out for yourself what works great and what don’t.

3. Trust your Intuition.
Work on your intuition while you are in the clinic. Our medicine is more than just treating the symptoms that are present. Sometimes the patient leaves out an important piece of information. Something tells you to needle a certain point. Practice seeing beyond what’s “there.” Use all your senses, including your 6th sense, to help you.

4. Look Professional.
As a medical professional, patients look to you to help take care of their health. This is a big responsibility. Be respectful of yourself and your patients by dressing the part. Looking professional helps leave a positive impression and builds trust. Have good hygiene, wear clean non-wrinkled clothes, and follow a professional looking dress code. Check out some of my tips in this blog for help.

5. Take Care of Yourself.
Eat well. Do self-cultivation. Get enough sleep. Have a life outside of school. You want to serve as a positive role model for your patients. If you are taking care of your health and your life, it will show. No words are needed to convey that to your patients. Your patients will respect you and be more compliant with your recommendations. You won’t get sick as easily. You’ll be more present. And when things do go crazy, you are able to stay centered and grounded.

6. Be fully present and confident.
Patients don’t get better with just your kickass acupuncture skillz alone. The energy you project and emanate is equally, if not more important. When you are able to connect with your patients, they will be more relaxed and open to the healing process. The last thing anyone wants when they are sick is a healer who is uncaring, not confident, or closed off.

Maintain a positive attitude, a good sense of humor, and a smile. Practice being compassionate, fully present and dedicated. Work on your listening skills. Maintain good eye contact. Your positive energy will raise theirs as oppose to theirs bringing yours down.

7. Get a good hand moisturizer.
You are going to be washing your hands a lot. They’re going to get dry. Invest in a good, travel size hand moisturizer that you can keep in your lab coat at all times. Whole Foods has a good selection. They have samples you can try. Find one that’s not too oily but also not too light. It shouldn’t be too fragrant either. I like the Kiss My Face stuff. EO is good too.

While you’re at it, get some good breath mints. I like the Tao of Wellness’s Frosties Crystals. Strong, effective and made with Chinese herbs!

8. Stay on top of your new patients.
Interns have trouble getting their new patient requirements done on time. We need 60 to graduate. I recommend getting started right away since it will only get harder and harder later when more repeat patients want to come back and see you.

If you are doing 5 shifts, block out at least 2-3 new patient slots per week. Get people you know to come in and see you. Call in those favors from friends. Practice promoting yourself. Start talking to anyone and everyone about the benefits of acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. Then close the deal. Give out your business card. Hand out discount coupons. Remember to have them come in to see you specifically.

It’s truly amazing the amount of pain and discomfort so many people put up with while not knowing what our medicine can do for them. It can dramatically improve people’s lives. With that in mind, why wouldn’t you be excited talking to other people about our medicine?

9. Do Externships
Externships are a great way to experience different settings in which we practice our medicine. You see patients you may rarely see at our clinic. For example, at Being Alive you treat HIV positive patients. Many of them have a history of drug use and other serious diseases. You also get to work with a really gifted supervisor. Carolyn Leigh is amazing. Intuitive, compassionate, and smart.

Over at the Venice Family clinic and the Venice Pain clinic, you treat a lot of pain cases. Dr. Kord uses mostly distal and scalp acupuncture to almost miraculous results. I’ve had patients with pain scales of 7-8 out of 10 walk out with pain completely gone. Dr. Wing brings a more balanced approach to acupuncture with excellent results as well.

You also get a lot of new patients through these externships, and you get to work on your time management as these environments are much faster paced. You’ll learn how to treat 2-3 patients an hour.

If you plan on working in a complementary environment with medical doctors, nurses, chiropractors, etc., experience at this externship sites will look great on your resume. These clinics are established and more easily recognized by other medical professionals than a place called “Yo San Clinic”.

10. Don’t Stress
Don’t expect to get everything right, especially on your first day or your first week. To take some of the stress away, I recommend asking your friends to book you when you first start.

Learning this medicine is a life long practice. Going into clinic as an intern is only the beginning. You will know what you know. Rely on your supervisors to help you. That’s why they are there. Be ok with not knowing an answer to a patient’s question. You will make mistakes. The most important thing is that you continue to learn, improve, and grow.