Panda Planner

Sometimes I write blog posts mainly as a reminder to myself. This would be one of those posts.

A friend recently told me about a practice she has started: after looking at the popular new calendar and daily planner called the Panda Planner, and realizing that the process of waking up and writing down what she is grateful for could be quite beneficial, she began to do her own version of it!

Buy the planner if you want to of course and support the creator of the process; however if you want to save $40, you can do this yourself in a composition book by your bed.

And it has rubbed off on me! After doing some research into the process, this is what she recommended: when she wakes up (in the morning), she writes down what she is grateful for first, next she writes what she is excited about for that day, that week or that month / year. Finally, she writes down several priorities that she wants to work on that day, week, month. It only takes 5 – 10 mins!

It is good to revisit what you wrote before you go to bed – check in with your earlier notes. You can even write more! But how did you do with your priorities? What do you want to work on tomorrow?

I started this process yesterday. So I am very fresh into it, but I am loving it so far!

Feel free to join us!

Thanks for visiting!

~km

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Leading Chi Kung – a new series, slowly shifting gears

Hello Dear Readers!

I am excited to say that leading Chi Kung yesterday went really quite well. Of course I was nervous / excited to start, but once we got underway, we steadily (and slowly) got through my planned class activities.

We did jiggling, some knee rotations and pressed a few acupressure points to warm up. Then we got into Dahn Hak Tap Qigong which is a nice way to warm up the Wei Chi (the outer, surface, protective, immune-system boosting more-yang-like Chi). We are also focusing on the Chi Kung principles, so I spent some time going through the first two of those. (You have to take the class to get the skinny on these!) And finally we got through about half of the Chi Kung waist powers – a great form working many parts of the body and different meridians.

I am adding in some Zapchen Somatic exercises a little bit, as a way of playfully getting people to come down out of their heads and into their bodies. For the most part however, I am sticking with the way I was taught (and therefore connecting with the powerful lineage of teachers through the morphic field).

There is still a little bit of space left in the class (happening in Crozet Virginia on Saturdays). We are going extra slow (not that this is bad) because some people have to miss the second class and one person missed the first. It is still a lot of new information to take in, but I am sensing into the energetic field and honoring people’s needs – whether to add anything else or be content with less (usually the latter).

I am looking forward to the next 9 weeks – to see how deep we might skillfully go. I think it is up to the group – if they do a little practice on their own, then they will slowly deepen on their own, allowing me to introduce more and more. I gave that as homework, so we shall see. 🙂

It is possible that in a few months I will offer a Chi Kung class in Charlottesville (several have requested this). This current class however goes through the middle of November.

Thanks for reading! Have a great week!

~km

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may the Eye become the Storm

I am a member of a dynamic and extraordinary meditation group. Gratitude, blessing, great fortune have I to be able to join them – we do shamanic journeying, Taoist meditations on Inner Alchemy and I lead meditations on advanced Zapchen Somatic practices, along with some Buddhist meditations. It is quite cutting edge!

Tonight we gathered, a trifecta of well wishing, loving, clarity-seekers. What is the message this angry hurricane (Florence) coming toward the Eastern Seaboard wants us to know? How can we nudge it toward peacefulness and dissipation? Is it urging us to wake up to climate change? Is it the perfect storm that is required to get people to wake up in the midst of their fear and terror? It seems like it is the perfect teacher of patience and soothing as some people are forced to evacuate and in order to drive 150 miles, they must wait in traffic filled interstates for 10, 12, 15 hours…

In the course of Miracles, one of the first lines is that there is no order of miracles too difficult. It is possible to intend for the storm to weaken or to deflect harmlessly north into the cooler Atlantic waters – and that level of miracle would be equal to healing one individual or anything else for that matter. We simply must have a clear enough intention, and the karmic conditions (working with wisdom beings, ascended masters, Christ and whoever else will assist with this powerful work). And we must also be open to the possibility that this storm is the perfect cause or condition for purifying the planet at the moment – even if it hits full force.

We can all take a deep breath. Notice any inner waves which reflect the outer waves running through the mid-Atlantic population. What is it that I need to relax just a little bit more. Yes be prepared, but do I have to watch the news every 30 minutes days before the storm makes land fall? Can I turn off the TV, turn off the computer (this is ironic as I sit here and type away)?

What brings me joy? Who do I go to for support? Who can I call to talk about my fears or worries? Lean into your social circle. Wish each other well. This is the best medicine.

Thanks for reading!

~km

Donation to Kirby’s blogging efforts

Hi dear Readers, Help me buy tea so I can continue blogging. So if you enjoy what you are reading, please make a little donation. Thank you very much!

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A great herbal medicine documentary series (free for another 7 days)

I am currently watching a great series on herbal medicine and the best part is, for a very limited time, it is free to watch online. Yes it is a pain to be forced to watch an hour and a half / day of educating and engaging documentaries… 🙂 but it is so worth it so far!

Episode one is more about the history of herbal medicine and where allopathic medicine took the reins and that tragic situation. Thanks Rockefeller and Carnegie Foundations (being facetious here…)

Episode Two is still available for another few hours… it is on herbs for Anxiety, Stress management and Pain relief. It is going fairly in-depth on various herbs for these categories.

In a few days, I’m looking forward to the episode on Lyme’s treatments. I suspect I know a lot of those herbs already, but any new research in this department would be great!

Here is the link: https://remedy.thesacredscience.com/register-g to sign up!

Enjoy!

~km

Funky gritty impulsive trickster in relationships (next 10 days or so)

As a tiny bit of context to this post, look up retrograde movement of planets on Wikipedia if you don’t know what retrograde means.

I have been too busy to peek, but I wonder how many people are writing about the building T-Square in the sky right now. It involves Venus, Mars and Uranus. (And my natal Jupiter… but that is personal) 🙂

The bizarre part about this is that all three of these planets are either slowing down to go retrograde, are just coming out of retrograde (moving slowly out of stationing direct) or are currently retrograde. It seems like it has been a long while since something like this has happened? If I were to hazard a guess – 20 years?

Therefore, not only will relationships have a wrench thrown in them for a couple weeks (or longer), but the pace and timing of these normally quick personal planets (Mars & Venus) are much slower and possibly even distorted as Venus slows to station retrograde.

Uranus is retrograde in early Taurus. Mars is barely direct, creeping through the sky (from our perspective), in very late Capricorn – it reenters Aquarius in a week. And Venus is beginning to slow significantly in late Libra as it preps to turn Rx in early Scorpio on Oct 6th. In other words, wow! Should be an interesting time in the news, in relationships and I can easily see emotions and tempers flaring in the sports world.

The real zinger is if someone has a personal planet or a chart ruler in late Cardinals signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn) or early fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius). Then this T-Square really pulls a punch! For me as I mentioned above, it is tweaking my natal Jupiter which I have exalted in late Cancer.

Depending on house placements and which planets are involved, this might manifest in many many ways. For instance, having these three planets transiting your angular houses (1st, 4th, 7th and / or 10th) will make the manifestation very tangible and real in your life. Probably showing up in your relationships (1st / 7th) or in your public / home life (4th / 10th).

Uranus is the unpredictable planet which demands the truth. It marches to the beat of its own drum, has very impulsive ingenious energy. It is the mad scientist energy and it also plays a major role in spontaneous, insightful, creativity and all things off-planet/outside-the-box like astrology, acupuncture, astrophysics and healing with electricity (for instance, like working with Tesla coils in healing).

Venus shows what we like, what we desire, what do we long for. This includes clothing, fashion items, luxury items, bedding, how we pamper ourselves, etc. It is also our aesthetic sense – do we have refinement, an artistic bent or are we more bohemian and devil-may-care? Venus shows what we like in relationships as well as physical items. Do we want more freedom in relationships (Sagittarius / Aquarius)? Do we want to be front and center in them (Leo / Cancer)? Are we more plodding, patient, taking our time (Taurus and to a certain extent other earth signs)?

Mars is the energy which shows how we go about getting what we want. Are we aggressive? Assertive? Combative? Is there a little refinement or are we gruff and vulgar? Uranus would add some temporary vulgarity and coarseness during this brief transit by the way. Mars rules steel, weapons, steel vehicles, firearms (along with Uranus),  and more.

When all three of these come together… look out! Stay away from firearms for a few weeks. Especially if there is anyone around who might go off emotionally. Speaking of emotions – Venus square Mars increases passion – those two planets alone! Add Uranus, and well, now we have a potential powder keg for any individuals without much awareness of how to self-regulate.

I can easily see players on professional sports teams getting ejected for crazy, rash, impulsive, violent, emotional reactions. No matter what sport – especially soccer, football and who knows, if a pitcher plunks a batter who has this T-Square hitting his natal Pluto or Mars… then there might be a bench-clearing fight on our hands! (Baseball for those not in the US or Japan)

And as we have impulsivity, heightened reactions and increased passions, of course relationships are going to be affected! Be aware that you might want to think twice, take some deep breaths before reacting emotionally for the next couple weeks. Take a little bit of time and space to let your head clear if you can. Nothing like making a huge mistake and wishing you could have taken that outburst back.. Of course it can be repaired. And with Mars and Venus involved, love making might help with that repair – provided there is enough trust at that point.

So may cooler heads prevail. May everyone have the insight and awareness to notice when their egos are heating up, or putting up a serious resistance. At least with these planets involved (at least Mars and Venus), we tend to blow hot quickly and then cool off just as quick. Although with Uranus in the mix, the affront might be too egregious. Then it will take time to repair and forgive.

Lay off the gas. Slow down. Take some deep breaths. Yin yoga. Feldenkrais, Craniosacral Therapy, Deep Tissue massage would all be good during this time.

And good luck! 🙂

Thanks for reading as always!

~km

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Hi dear Readers, Help me buy tea so I can continue blogging. So if you enjoy what you are reading, please make a little donation. Thank you very much!

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Qigong results?

A friend asked me recently if Qigong – Chi Kung – would benefit symptoms from mold toxicity. She also referenced my using Qigong to keep any Lyme’s symptoms under control. This is my response:
I am excited to have you in the class! Keeping in mind it is for beginners (there are at least 2 or 3 people in the group with little to no experience with spiritual practice / bodywork / yoga etc), we will go slow.
Very slow.
I will drop in nuggets of wisdom and if individuals seem to be ready for more, there might be time for a little one-on-one work. With that said though, reviewing the basics over and over can be a very important practice. Like I said previously, learning the 10 Foundations is all you really need.
You asked about how Chi Kung is helping me to control any lingering Lyme’s symptoms. Some of what I am about to share is pretty advanced. Not everyone who practices Chi Kung will have the same results. I have put in years of practice and hard work with meditation practices, Tibetan yoga and now Taoist yoga (Chi Kung)…
For me, when I practice Chi Kung for longer than 20 minutes, I start to generate inner heat – the inner furnace is definitely going! This in turn seems to clear my head of any inflammatory fog, it works amazingly for my digestion and it also seems to clear any emotional confusion as well around my heart you might say. It is also important to work with a teacher who knows what to do with this heat – I have heard that if you let this heat linger in certain organs for too long, it is possible to cause harm. Therefore, I will also talk about how to center it and refine this Chi.
Do not expect to have results right away however – it might take months or years to notice significant results. In the meantime though, practicing Chi Kung will help to calm your mind and soothe your spirit.
You should not look at the finish line. That is really far away. Rather however, look to this day. Or tomorrow – what can I do today to move toward more stable self care? Can I watch 10 minutes less TV or Netflix and add in 10 more minutes of something that leads to self-regulation and greater resilience? If we just change 10 minutes / month, that would be two extra hours of self-care / kind-hearted practice per year!
What would that be like?…
I’m not sure about the mold symptoms, but I strongly suspect it would benefit that as well. One key theme of Chi Kung: we are harmonizing our Chi (life-force energy) and blood. As we cultivate clean, clear, virtuous Chi, we inadvertently push out negative Chi – inner obstacles, toxins, negative emotions and over time we can even start to work on deeper imprints and no-longer-serving-us beliefs. I’m talking years though. Maybe 10 to 20 years.
Using Chi Kung as a self care tool requires that we commit to it at least 5 days / week. Daily would be best – even if just 20 – 30 minutes. That way our Chi can start to become refined, more virtuous, cleaner and clearer. Personally I am working up to 60 – 90 minutes / day. That allows me to do Bone Breathing or Bone Marrow Chi Kung and to work with clearing my meridians (acupuncture / Chinese Medicine energy channels).
These are all fairly advanced topics. Therefore it will take me a while before we start discussing any of this (above). You are getting a sneak peak at what is possible with diligent, devoted practice.
Thank you for your questions!
~km

Eliminate the unnecessary to reveal the essential

Wow that title is a mouthful! What the heck does it mean?

It means that right now, I am letting go of anything miscellaneous, anything even remotely distracting, anything ambiguously affecting my mind stream.

Tinder – gone. Seriously – I have gone on several Tinder dates. One woman I am still good friends with. But that was one out of about ten who I met.. Not the greatest way to meet mindful, grounded, embodied, inspiring women. Or men (I’m assuming!).

Amazon Prime – going very soon (I have a list of items I want to save money on the shipping for, then it is going in a few weeks).

Netflix – been gone for several months now. Seriously – it has such good shows that binge watching TV is way too easy!

Watching sports highlights – slowly easing myself off of this deeply ingrained habit.

Working on the occasional board game – gone. Yes it seems innocuous enough, but when my mind continues working on the game after I have left the drawing board, then we have a serious distraction going on! I want easy spontaneous joy right now please. To get there, the mind must be emancipated from all these little distractions.

I know, you might say, “but Kirby, none of these are that bad, right?” Right! But is that an argument to use to keep something?

Does it truly bring me long-term joy? Nope. Does it feed my soul? Rarely – there are some decent, heart-touching movies from time to time. But those aren’t what I tend to binge watch.

I want to truly rest my kidneys down. To get in touch with my deep rhythms and deep needs. What will truly feed me, at that level? I want my autonomic nervous system so regulated that when I want / need to nap, I can easily fall asleep for a couple hours. The fuses that have been blown out, the wires that have been crosses, and the jumbled circuits require down time to heal, repair, re-organize / re-orient.

I am beginning to lead Chi Kung in two weeks. Time to walk my talk. Slowly, step by step. So yes, I do a minimum of 30 mins of Chi Kung every morning. If I can afford it, I do 90 minutes. And wow is that juicy! I often generate heat after about 20 mins, as I ponder what I am burning off. Lyme’s residual symptoms hopefully! Not sure if my meditation / Dharma practice (Tibetan Buddhist) fuels the fire and Chi Kung is just an avenue for it, or if the Chi Kung itself is that potent.

Good wholesome yogic heat, Chi cultivation. Yes please. Sign me up ASAP 🙂

And I am still interested in meeting interesting, dynamic, inspiring women who I could potentially date. I want to grow that part of me. I want to touch and be touched, lovingly, compassionately, respectfully, to embrace and be embraced. Healthy wholesome loving contact. What would that be like? My heart likes that idea. I want to dive into life instead of standing on the sidelines taking little bites and nibbles!

And I want to embody my intention to move toward liberation. Why do I have to wait until doing a 10-day meditation retreat to soften my edges? Why not start right now?

One little baby step at a time. This is where I am at. I’m sure I will be tempted to reactive Netflix in a few months. But if my bodywork practice has taken off enough, I might be tempted, but I won’t have the time! Yay! Doing what I love, benefiting others, setting myself up to take the time off I want and need. This sounds real good.

Thanks for reading!

[Edited 9/1/18 – if I didn’t have such a busy life, I would not be letting go of so much above. It is pretty strict to attempt to let go of all my “vices.” However, I am leading Chi Kung, working in 3 different bodywork offices, hopefully soon there will be astrology classes and people want me to lead webinars on various bodywork topics… Good word – I’m exhausted just naming all these things. Therefore I don’t have any – ready ANY – time to fritter away frivolously.] =^D

 

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Loving what I do

For those of you who are new to this blog, a bit of background…

I have been practicing bodywork – Craniosacral Therapy, Polyvagal Therapy and more recently Birth Process work (Pre- and Perinatal Psychology) since 2005. In addition, I have added massage and Asian Bodywork and Qigong / Tai Chi onto that list as well. Oh and we can’t leave out practicing Tibetan Buddhism..

You might be wondering, “How could he possibly include all of that in one session?” Or one modality fusing them all together?

Well the easy answer is, in a one hour or even 90-minute treatment, I am not able to combine all of that.

With that said, having all these tools at my disposal allows me to approach clients wherever they are. Sometimes they come in asking for massage and I get the sense that Craniosacral Therapy might really benefit them. If I am skillful enough in explaining what I am sensing, then we might do 20 minutes of CST and 40+ minutes of massage. And they are introduced to slower rhythms and deeper serene fluid tides in their body.

At other times, I will introduce a Qigong technique while doing Craniosacral, or I might drop in other embodiment techniques when I am working on someone’s head. They might ask, “why can’t I get out of my head?” Because you have habituated that stance for so many decades now! But, with a competent practitioner, a client can co-regulate with me. I can invite their body to notice what it is like in the different layers of their skin, their fascia, their viscera. We go slow. You can never go too deep, just too fast.

That is a maxim I live by. And the majority of the time, it comes through in the bodywork I practice. Myrna Martin – one of my PPN / birth process work teachers says, “By going slower, we will get there faster.” Too true!

So I am loving what I am doing right now. The closest thing I can call this synthesis is “Process Buddhism” which Khenchen Konchog Gyaltsen, a Tibetan Lama, monk and venerated spiritual teacher entitled it. I don’t have an agenda for what a given session will look like – my client’s name their intention and then their body and energy follows that intention, with my guiding the process.

And thankfully all the hard work I have put into learning these modalities is paying off. I am almost to the point of needing to start a wait-list for clients. At present, I still have room for 2-5 new clients a week.

Thank you for visiting and leave a comment if you want!

For bodywork, you can email me at kirby [at] mkirbymoore [dot] com

Donation to Kirby’s blogging efforts

Hi dear Readers, Help me buy tea so I can continue blogging. So if you enjoy what you are reading, please make a little donation. Thank you very much!

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Leading a series on Chi Kung Foundational practices starting in Sept

Hi all!

Just letting you know that I am leading a series of Chi Kung classes starting in September. The classes will be at a beautiful location in serene Crozet, Virginia (if you are in Central Virginia and might be interested, let me know!). There is space to practice both indoors and outdoors (next to an idyllic lake).

I am asking for $20 / class suggested donation or $160 for the series of 10 classes which allows you to save a little bit!

Email me at kirby [at] mkirbymoore.com for more!

May all beings cultivate harmonious life-force energy!

Tumultuous Astrological season (wrapping up with a…)

This material is copyrighted by M Kirby Moore. Please respect my creative property. Thank you for visiting!

Who has heard that we currently have 6 planets retrograde (Rx)? Who knew that twice in the past six weeks we had partial eclipses?! Anyone aware that we have Neptune and Pluto back in sextile aspect, meaning the opportunity for Yods (double inconjunct or Quincunx aspects) is now back?

Well I’m an astrologer – part time anyway – so it is my job to keep tabs on some of this stuff. 🙂

Actually at this precise moment, we have Mercury stationing direct on Sunday, Mars stationing direct at the end of August and then in early Sept Saturn slowly turns direct as well. Plus Jupiter just came out of Rx a few weeks ago – so it is slowly gaining steam. What does all this mean?

It means that you might be stuck behind several people at stop lights who just sit there when the light turns green – Mercury ruling traffic is basically standing still in the sky for the next 4 – 5 days – plus Mars rules steel and machinery (cars and trucks for that matter).  I have had to honk at three people who did this in the last couple of days! (I live in a relatively educated and more enlightened in some ways city, so it is a little amiable tap of the horn; one thing I love about Charlottesville is that you don’t hear many horns blaring.) So when I say this tumultuous astrological season is wrapping up with a… I am looking for the “Blleeuurrr” sound which means it is tapering out, fizzing out, burning out, amounting to not much! With all these planets slowing down to turn direct (come out of Rx), things in our lives might be at a stand still for a few days or even a couple weeks (if not longer).

This summer has also seen (on August 3rd) a tight configuration involving Mars square Uranus by transit with the Moon also hopping on board (conjunct Uranus). Did anyone have or witness some bizarre irrationality that day? I sure did! Mars / Uranus is explosive enough but then throw the Moon in the mix and tempers might flare over petty little things. That was happening in the early Fixed signs – Taurus and Aquarius to be exact.

And the second eclipse happened early on August 11th – with a Yod to the Sun involved as well! Specifically, the Sun was in Leo along with Rx Mercury, and there was a (3 degree orb) Yod pointing at the Sun from Neptune and Pluto! Thankfully there didn’t seem to be too much chaos / bad news as a result (confusion from Rx Mercury, mixed with potent Sun / Pluto discord).

I am really looking forward to clearer skies! By late September we will be down to 3 planets Rx plus Chiron (and Pluto is direct October 1st). But then Venus does go Rx in October – be aware in new relationships (get second opinions about new people met under that influence) and try to be more flexible and patience in existing relationships as well. ❤

By late November things will really quiet down as far as Rx planets go. In fact, January and February will be surprisingly quiet (nothing much Rx!). Wow! Of course transits continue, progressions evolve, habits arise, life continues, cycles go through, waves arise. We can surf! Breathe and surf.

Thank you for reading!

Donation to Kirby’s blogging efforts

Hi dear Readers, Help me buy tea so I can continue blogging. So if you enjoy what you are reading, please make a little donation. Thank you very much!

$10.00