shockingly strange

higgs boson might be so abhorrent to nature that its creation would ripple backward through time and stop the collider before it can make one, like a timetraveler who goes back in time to kill their grandfather

article:   http://arxiv.org/abs/0802.2991

class schedule fall 2009

swimming dragon tai ji III
clinic theater observation I
materia medica II
diagnosis I
history of medicine

green spaces improve health

i was directed to this article on BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8307024.stm

it says something that i have felt for a long time - spending more time in and around natural spaces has positive effects on mental and physical wellness... especially helpful in mediating depression and anxiety.  here are some of the other illnesses they listed as benefited most from living in green spaces:

Coronary heart disease

Diabetes

Respiratory infections and asthma

Migraine and vertigo

Stomach bugs and urinary tract infections

entrainment

entrainment is the phenomenon of resonance... when you have 2 (or more) cycles that line up.   it's one of my favorite things.  it happens all the time, everywhere.  some examples:

• when you synchronize your body with music through dance
• when musicians play music together
  
• when that rattling sound in your car gets louder in a certain RPM range of your engine (some little part somewhere is resonant with the engine vibrations)
  
• as the moon pulls large masses of water around the earth, causing tides
• when someone pushes you on a swingset at just the right time intervals, making you go higher and higher
• when you tune a guitar string to another sound or string
• when a DJ mixes 2 songs together by matching their tempos (beat matching)
  
• when you catch a wave by paddling into it while surfing

the list is endless.

what does this have to do with chinese medicine?  many ways...  one of the fundamental principles of this practice of medicine is the alignment of the human body with various natural cycles, both internal and external.  illness can stem from misalignment.  we seek to reunite via resonance.

week 2

just had second day of work at ACTCM's community ear clinic. so far, i really enjoy the clinic work. it's a good, calm energy there, and i appreciate being able to do things that help out the patients and the student interns (i find peoples' medical records and create new patient charts, for the most part).

on the esoteric tip, my 'history of medicine' class is bringing up all kinds of things i have been ruminating about with respect to chinese medicine and healing in general... so far, the big one is the fact that students of chinese medicine who have little to no background in the chinese language are essentially engaged in a huge social experiment of integration. i feel lucky to be doing this in the san francisco bay area, where the resources in terms of asian medical disciplines are vast.

language represents fundamental way of thinking. it is a microcosm of the macrocosm of how any culture views reality, at least that is what i feel, and my teacher seems to echo this. i wonder how much of the reality that i see and that i have been indoctrinated to see through my cultural upbringing is unique.

on one hand, it seems that the human body is pretty universal (on this planet), and so the principles that the chinese discovered by which to maintain and restore health should also be universal. the question is, can these be translated? either way, i'm going to continue learning mandarin ;)