Thanksgiving in North America
In almost every society there is a ceremony where people express thankfulness for life’s blessings. In agrarian societies, these ceremonies were directly connected to the harvest season. As evident from most of the cultures, people would associate these with harvest festivals in gratitude of the God who protects them and their crops.
In USA
Early settlers took the idea of harvest thanksgiving from Europe to North America. A collective Thanksgiving prayer was held in the Virginia Colony on December 4, 1619, near the current site of Berkeley Plantation, where annual celebrations are still held on the first Sunday in November.
The early settlers of Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts were particularly grateful to Squanto, the Native American who taught them how to catch eel, grow corn, and who served as their native interpreter. Without Squanto’s assistance, the settlers might not have survived in the New World. The settlers, also called Pilgrims, set apart a holiday immediately after their first harvest in 1621, when they held an autumn celebration of food, feasting, and praising God. Contrary to legend, there is no evidence that any Native Americans actually attended the event.
World Taiji and Qigong Day 2010
World Tai Chi and Qigong Day (WTCQD), also spelled World T’ai Chi and Ch’i Kung Day, was celebrated this year on Saturday, April 24th, 2010, at 10:00 am local time. This year was the eleventh year of this international event!
Everything began in 1998 when the local Tai Chi Club held a mass Tai Chi exhibition and taught on the lawn of the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, bringing together nearly two hundred people. In 1999, Bill Douglas founded World Tai Chi and Qigong Day to increase awareness of the profound health benefits of practicing Tai Chi Chuan and Qi Gong.
This worldwide event, like a sunrise, waves around the world on the last Saturday of April. It begins every year in the earliest time zones of New Zealand at 10 am, then participants across Oceania, Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, and South America take part, and ends a day later with the events in the last time zones of Hawaii. Sixty-five nations, hundreds of cities and tens of thousands of people join together on this day in the spirit of global and personal healing.
The mission of this multinational effort is to expose people to the growing body of medical research related to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and direct them to teachers in their home towns.
This annual event is open to the general public, everybody is welcome and no experience is needed. Demonstrations and free mini-lessons in various styles and forms of Tai Chi Chuan and Qigong are offered. It is fun, easy, interesting and everybody is a part of a truly unique, international wave of health and breath.
This year, for the first time, Leamington became part of this international event. Reiki-Do, with the help of Dr. Derrick J. Beleutz Chiropractic and the Half Century Club is organizing a WTCQD celebration. Reiki-Do is a registered member of World Tai Chi and Qigong Day.
The event was held on Saturday, April 24th, 2010, at 10:00. The planned location was the Seacliff Park waterfront, in an attempt to benefit from the amazing energy of the Erie Lake. The back-up plan, in case of bad weather, was to have the event at the Half Century Club, on 160 Talbot St. East, Leamington, who had generously offered a big enough room to accommodate the expected participants.
We used a number of free advertizing methods: radio, local TV channel, our combined e-mail lists and flyers in order to maximize the attendance. We invited everybody to join us in this celebration! We insisted on the fact that this event was for all age groups and that no previous knowledge was required.
Saturday morning came and as the forecast had predicted it started raining, so we headed towards the Half Century Club. We were there half an hour before 10:00, just in case people decided to come earlier. Ten minutes before 10:00 people started to show up and kept coming in until a few minutes after 10:00. Actually, we had to go get more chairs, as we had a much bigger attendance than expected for this first edition of the WTCQD event. We were so happy that the rain hadn’t discouraged them from joining us!
Dori Patriche, who conducted the event, is a Qigong practitioner, a black belt in multiple karate styles and an experienced energy practitioner and teacher. Other teachers and practitioners were also invited. Unfortunately, none of them could make it, either because they were involved in the same event in a different location, or because they were not in the area at that moment.
Dori opened the event with a short presentation of the WTCQD event, the origins of Tai Chi and Qigong, the type of exercises they involve, and of course the benefits of practicing them consistently He insisted on the fact that they are not only powerful tools for personal development and spiritual growth but also efficient techniques for self-healing used in the Traditional Chinese Medicine. More than that, he mentioned that Qigong is the origin of all Chinese martial arts and that at its origin Tai Chi Chuan is a hard-soft martial art.
After that, he demonstrated how only a few minutes of Qigong practice could increase people’s vitality. He asked for two volunteers, one for the experiment, and the other as a witness. The witness used the muscle testing method, before and after the other one performed Qigong exercises under Dori‘s supervision for only a couple of minutes, in order to evaluate his vitality level. Everybody was surprised by the result of the test.
Later Dori invited everybody to join him in a few basic Qigong exercises. He mentioned that people who had problems standing for longer periods of time could perform those exercises sitting on a chair. During the breaks between series of exercises, he explained what the health benefits of those exercises were. He also demonstrated how some simple movements used in Qigong could be used for self-defense.
Towards the end, Dori answered some questions about Qigong, like where it can be practiced in the area, or if there was any diet associated with practicing it, and so on.
The event took longer than anticipated, a little over an hour and a half. People seemed to be filled with that energy that infuses all life. Everybody left with the feeling that they had become a part of something greater than themselves, something that felt like sending a wave of peace to themselves, their families, their community and the entire world! Many of them decided to join Tai Chi and Qigong schools in the area.
The event was an undisputable success: it had a great turnout and it lasted longer than planned. Our efforts had served a noble purpose!
The Channel below broadcast 24 hours of live-streamed World Tai Chi and Qigong Day events on April 24th, 2010. You can continue to watch some Tai Chi and Qigong demonstrations, even though the event is over.
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For more information please visit WTCQD‘s website.
Many thanks to the Leamington and District Half Century Club for hosting the event, to Dr. Derrick Beleutz Chiropractic Clinic for their kind help advertizing the event, to Chris Labbate from Forge Infinity Studios for the picture taken during the event and to all those who took the time to join in this great celebration!
See you all again next year! In the meantime, tell us how YOU celebrated the WTCQD 2010.
Related article:
World Tai Chi and Qigong Day
Reiki on Dr. Oz Show
It is a good sign that the mainstream media begin to show interest in alternative medicine and particularly in Reiki as an important part of energy healing. This exposure comes from the fact that more and more renowned specialists and researchers in the medical field acknowledge the contribution of alternative treatments to the general health of the population.
On Wednesday, January 6th, 2010, Dr. Oz had a special segment on his show about alternative medicine treatments and mentioned that some of them have been known for centuries or even millennia. He brought on stage aromatherapy, acupuncture, and Reiki practitioners who gave demo-sessions and he interviewed the recipients. All of them admitted that their problems were going away or were partially relieved.
Mehmet saved Reiki for last, saying “The next one I’m going to talk about is one of my favorites. We’ve been using it in the Oz family for years.” Then he mentioned that his wife is a Reiki Masters and that he and Pamela Miles, the Reiki Practitioner on the show, have worked together in surgery.
Happy New Year 2010
… and year-round blessings from
Martha, Dori,
and Reiki-Do
Buddha’s wishes are our wishes for the world:
This is my wish for you:
Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life.Buddha
Nothing says Happy New Year more heartwarmingly than this song…
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Natural solutions to prevent and treat the swine flu
The subject of swine flu H1N1 epidemic continue to captivate the interest of the public and media, both main stream and secondary channels. Unfortunately, most of this interest is concentrated on the vaccine debate. We want to offer a brief list of natural solutions to this problem.
The natural methods to prevent and treat the swine flu infections are not H1N1 specific. They are well known natural ways to keep our body in good health or to recover from a disease. These methods are divided into thee categories: immune system strengthening methods, flu prevention methods and natural remedies for flu and flu-like diseases.
Immune system strengthening methods:
There is no method to protect us from coming in contact with the swine flu virus, or with any other virus for that matter. The most efficient method to protect ourselves from swine flu is to keep our defense line – the immune system – in good shape. Here are the most effective ways to keep ourselves healthy:
Swine Flu (H1N1) and Vaccine Awareness
The subject of H1N1 flu epidemic and the vaccination against this type of flu is vast and so many information sources, including websites, are advocating pros and cons. There are two main groups trying to captivate the attention of the general public, one promoting the vaccination and the other one opposing it.
Analysis of the general trends
The first of these two opposed groups that includes government officials, researchers from pharmaceutical companies, and a big majority of medical doctors, are vehemently promoting the following concepts:
- H1N1 poses a major risk, including death, to the general population’s health
- Vaccination is the only efficient way to avoid the flu
- Vaccination is secure even for small children and pregnant women
- In some areas the spread of this virus is, or could be, so fast and out of control that it justifies general vaccination; voluntarily in the beginning, due to insufficient supply of vaccines
- The cost of not supplying the vaccines to the general population is too high to be ignored and justifies the imposition of the vaccination.
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The other group led by medical professionals open to holistic health methods and independent researchers, including also alternative health therapists and health-conscious individuals, are advocating the opposite ideas:
- H1N1 does not pose a health risk much greater than other type of flu
- Vaccination is not the only way to prevent the flu
- The side effects and the long-term implications of the vaccination are far too serious to be ignored
- There is evidence of contaminated lots of vaccines supplied by some pharmaceutical companies
- There is evidence that the total number of cases of H1N1 is much lower than reported by various commissions and media
- The long-term implications of the vaccination and its associated costs are much higher than the cost of not performing a generalized vaccination.
European roots of Thanksgiving
In almost every society there is a ceremony where people express thankfulness for life’s blessings. In agrarian societies, these ceremonies were directly connected to the harvest season. As evident from most of the cultures, people would associate these with harvest festivals in gratitude of the God who protects them and their crops.
In Britain
Harvest is from an Anglo-Saxon word “haerfest” which meant ‘Autumn.’ It then came to refer to the season for reaping and gathering grain and other grown products. In Britain, the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox is called the Harvest Moon. So in ancient traditions Harvest Festivals were traditionally held on or near the Sunday of the Harvest Moon. This moon is the full moon which falls in the month of September.
Reiki-Do’s Anti-Spam method
Believe it or not, for every single thing in this world there is an opposite. Every new invention can be used for good, but also for bad. The nuclear energy is maybe the most famous example.
The e-mail, this powerful tool used to connect people from all over the world, has become infested with spam-mail that has as purpose to deliver un-requested advertizing, or even to take advantage of an unsuspecting reader.
Blog Spam
One of the latest internet tools, the blog (short for web log), that makes possible publishing and managing articles on a website, became a victim of the above-mentioned spammers. Un-ethical programmers developed programs, called spam-bots that can browse the net searching for blogs, guest-books, or any other public discussion boards accessible online, displaying hyperlinks submitted by visitors; they can also detect posts that allow comments and automatically post random comments or comments that contain links to commercial services, with the purpose to increase the site’s search engine ranking. An increased ranking often results in the spammer’s commercial site being listed ahead of other sites for certain searches, increasing the number of potential visitors and paying customers. Sadly enough, simple blogs cant fight this spam-bots efficiently.
Reiki-Do uses one of the most powerful blog tools called WordPress (WP) that gives the webmaster the possibility to manually choose which comments to publish and which one to block. This had been an efficient anti-spam method, till recently, when the number of daily spam comments exceeded 50. At this point, an automated anti-spam method became necessary.
Fortunately, other programmers have created tools to fight the blog spammers efficiently. Each of these tools attempts, by using different methods, to distinguish between a human and a spam-bot trying to insert a comment in an article. Each of them has strong and weak points. In all cases, the annoying consequence for a person who tries to make a comment is that the person has to prove that they are ‘human’.
Sad Anniversary for Qigong
This year marks a decade from a very sad event not only for the Qigong community, but also for the entire humankind: the ban on Falun Gong and the wave of persecutions against its practitioners that followed. Maybe not everybody knows or remembers the development of the events, so I will give here a short version.
Falun Gong is one of the most important phenomena to emerge in China in the 1990s. A well-known sinologist, Benjamin Penny, says that while Falun Gong is a "Qigong cultivation [spiritual self-development] system," the heavy emphasis on morality makes it appear to be a religion.
Qi Gong in Modern China
After being an intrinsic part of the Chinese social life for millennia, the modern history of Qigong is full of ups and downs. Immediately after the Communist revolution it was ignored or barely tolerated. And then, it had fallen into official disfavor when Mao came to power, and was denounced as a lingering manifestation of the "ancient superstitious beliefs of Taoism and Buddhism".
But it never went away and gradually resurfaced as the Cultural Revolution ware on and the government changed its attitude. Whether the Qigong exercises were religious or not, they were indisputable Chinese, and they came to be viewed as politically correct, worthy of polite attention if not outright devotion. Also, Qigong was sanctioned by the authorities because of its practical benefits as a fitness regime. When people exercise regularly, they tend to be healthier, which takes pressure off the public health care system. So, Qigong moved slowly from being left alone, to being actively encouraged by the Communist Party.
The Benefits of Reiki for Hospitalized Clients
St. Clair College
Directed Study 63-477
by Kelly Sabara
My Reiki journey began in late August 2006. My best friend had discovered the Reiki-Do Natural Healing Center, a place where Reiki treatments were offered by two Reiki Practitioners and Teachers. She raved about her first experience getting Reiki and encouraged me to give it a try.
My first experience as a client was a back treatment, as I had been having pain in my lower back. At the time, I was also seeing a chiropractor and taking anti-inflammatory medication. They informed me that Reiki works with all other forms of health care and enhances their effects as well. I was a bit sceptical, but kept an open mind. After the treatment, my back pain was gone, and after a few more back treatments it stayed that way.
I began receiving regular Reiki treatments and discovered an immense interest in energy healing. I took my Level I Reiki course at the Reiki-Do Natural Healing Center. Eight months later, I took the Level II Reiki course, and the next year I became a Reiki Master Practitioners. Reiki and nursing are my two passions in life. I have been studying Reiki almost as long as I have been studying nursing and they fit extremely well together. I use Reiki every day, especially in nursing, and in any number of situations. Reiki has helped me to be more creative, more balanced, more relaxed and more aware of the world around me.
Reiki is inexpensive and is easy to learn and the whole notion of holistic healing is interesting (Bossi et al.). The purpose of this article is to explore what Reiki is and explain the benefits of using Reiki on patients in hospitals.
