Bison Stew

I meant to post sometime on Sunday, but I didn't, and it's Thursday before I know it. After my post last Friday, I witnessed some of the craziest storms I had seen in a long time. Fortunately I missed the downpour, hard winds, hail, thunder and lightning while at work. Then, when I left around 5, the temperature shot up! (I don't think it's gone down much since.) My classmate/friend Megan had called me earlier to see if I could help her move. She said my help was still needed, so I went over there after work. Who have known that I pretty much helped move pillows?! haha I helped a little with one couch, cut they had pretty much finished everything. I hung out over there for awhile and was pretty tired by the time 10/11 hit. 

I finally had an opportunity to sleep in Sat morning, so I took that. I was a little late but made it to yoga at 10. It was so hot out! I had to have a smoothie when I got home. I took a seat outside on the porch and caught up with Karishma before showering and getting ready for the day. I had plans to hang out with Lindsay! We caught up for awhile, and then the two of us met Seth, and his friend Tim, at Cubby Bear. (For those who don't know, Seth, Lindsay and I traveled together in Europe.) When we got to the bar it was in the 11th inning. I was very happy to be able to sing Go Cubs Go in Wrigleyville! As soon as the song ended, the DJ, and dancing, began. Seth and I were known to bust a move in Europe, and Cubby Bear was so different. While I don't particularly like the bar scene, I realized how much I had missed going out dancing. The problem is... Not everyone goes out with the intention of dancing. Sadly I did not get to dance too long because I had to babysit that night. :( I got home around 11 and crashed again!

I met a couple of my classmates at a cafe to study Sunday afternoon. Afterwards I realized that I was pretty prepared for my midterms and should have a little fun. I called Rachel, who I hadn't seen in probably a month, and the two of us went for a walk along the Lakeshore path. I had been on the go most of the day, so by the time I made it home, I was hungry! I had been a good patient and took my herbs Sat and Sun. Now it was time to try the bison recommendation. I didn't think I could do a straight up bison steak, so thanks to the internet, I found a recipe that I thought would work for me: Sweet potato bison stew. I feel like I now know why 1. perhaps why I decided not to eat meat and 2. why I haven't been cooking much lately. My 1lb. organic bison steak cost me a little less than $20. And the stew took over 2 hours to cook. (Don't forgot all of the prep time.) Besides some of the vegetables being a little crunchy, it had good flavor, and it was not too difficult for me to eat the meat. It's the way I grew up. 

While I was nervous, I aced my Anatomy Practical on Monday. I literally thought my hands were shaking, but I guess no one else could tell. Not a 100 without extra credit, but luckily we have a lot of opportunity for extra credit. My Tai Ji midterm on Tuesday was practically perfect-besides my butt sticking out. haha After my Clinical Counseling class that night, I was reminded of how much I love Turbokick at the gym. Even though it was so so hot in there, it was so great to make it to class! It had been awhile. Nothing too noteworthy yesterday or today. My energy has been pretty low this week, and for that reason, I am heading to bed soon. Tomorrow afternoon is the KC's Academy Awards Ceremony, and I am excited to see the kids. Then, I get to see Cristy!  

Yang Sheng

Wow... I just got done with a really intense (acupuncture) treatment. I had been seeing the same intern for a month or so but decided to switch it up today with one of the ones that is known as "the best" around here at PCOM (Barry) I can actually still feel the points where he needed. My treatment was so different than any of the treatments I received in the past, and I feel like he taught me as much as he could (seeing as I am just now learning the basics). Getting my weekly treatments always reminds me of why I am studying so much, why I may stay in on a Friday night, etc. It will all pay off in the end, and I can't wait to understand it all and share my knowledge with others.

I titled this blog entry "yang sheng" which is the nourishing life principle. Essentially it means understanding and knowing the constitution of your body and living by its constitution or makeup. (It is a way of preventative medicine.) For example, some people have a hard time digesting raw foods, so interns instruct them to cook their foods, eating them warm. Some people need more sleep then others and so on. That being said... Today was not the only day I've been told to eat meat. The issue that I'm working on now is blood stagnation, which goes hand-in-hand with qi stagnation. (My energy has also been really low lately.) Barry even pointed out spots in which the stasis presents itself in my body. Even though I have been eating a lot of tofu, beans, leafy greens, cherries and so on... It seems that I do not have enough iron in my body. While I made the decision not to eat meat for a reason, I am beginning to think my body needs a little. This medicine is so interesting, and I wish everyone would at least give it a try. I bet you will lean a lot about yourself as well as your body's needs.

All in all, life is good. I can feel the intensity of school picking up, which brings me back to my "go, go, go" schedule, but I am happy. I find that I am taking better care of myself and my needs. Last Sunday was the perfect mix of work and play for me: yoga, studying over brunch, studying with my classmates, a Wrigley rooftop date with Carryn and Kay, gym, studying/dinner, a walk with Amber (who moved less than a mile away) and a little studying before bed. My week was a little less balanced: classes, midterms, work and studying. I can't believe it's already Friday. Besides babysitting on Saturday... No set plans for the weekend. Let's see what happens with the weather.

Weekly Recap and What I have Learned

Last weekend seems like it was a long time ago. What did I do? 

As of July I started working another shift in the clinic (Friday afternoons). While it's nice to have another opportunity to make some money, between last Friday and yesterday, Fridays seem to be the best days for weather. Oh well. It is what it is. Last Friday I got acupuncture at 11, worked 12:15-4:45ish, helped out at KC's for a little over an hour and then went to yoga. I felt loved to get out of class with a couple of friends wanting to hang out, but I felt like I needed the night to get some work (and odds and ends) done. While some call it lame, I have been told to develop my study habits now. I didn't get that much done in regards to studying, but there was laundry, e-mails, etc. Saturday consisted of CPR/First Aid certification (I am going to need that for being an observer in the clinic come September!) followed by babysitting at 3. It was a long night of babysitting, and I even stayed overnight to babysit a couple of hours in the morning (5:30-8:30AM). Dominique and I met for brunch at Nookies Tree Restaurant in Lakeview. We hadn't had Karissa/Dominique time in awhile, so that was really nice. The food was delicious too! After our brunch date I sat myself up in Caribou and worked on a couple of papers. 

10-9:30 in PCOM always makes for LONG Mondays. Tuesday night I got to see Cristy, David and Parker. I am going to miss them so much!! I wasn't hungry when they ordered food, but as soon as I left, I got really hungry. I decided that it was necessary to pick up food from Late Night Thai before starting my paper. On my way over I happened to get in touch with Dave. I hadn't seen him in over a month, but he told me he'd meet me at the Thai restaurant. We have such an interesting friendship... Nothing much to say about Wednesday. By the time class ended at 4 on Friday, I was so ready to not think for the evening. Emily came into town, and the two of us grabbed dinner at House of Sushi and Noodles. Then, we met Grace Charlie and Jess for dessert at Icream. I would describe Icream as a crazier version of Coldstone. I'm not supposed to be eating anything cold or raw (aka ice cream), so I was happy to see that they had "hot pudding" as an option, in addition to the soy option. It was soo overwhelming there! You walk up, have the option of hot pudding, ice cream, frozen yogurt or sorbet. Then you can pick the flavor of the last selection. Step 3 involves mix-ins, and step 4 concludes with your color?! I told the cashier to just make me something. I forgot the name of mine, but I think it had white chocolate and cream soda flavored hot, soy pudding with nutella mixed in (natural brown color). I tried a couple of bites and felt like it needed crunch, so I added graham cracker bits. I would say that it was decent-good, a fun experience, but I don't think I would fork out the $5+ often.

Yesterday consisted of yoga, financial work (at the clinic) and studying- woohoo! I knew that today would be a fun day, so I put in some work last night. My family came in around 10 for the Cubs vs. Twins game. I had not gotten in touch with my Mom in over a week, so it was nice to be able to catch-up with her (and of course see Monica and my Dad).  With the Fehler family luck, we had some issues getting our tickets. Luckily, there was a rain delay, but the first part of the game was cold and drizzling. As well, the game was incredibly boring: The Cubs lost 2-0. :( We filled our stomachs and enjoyed one another's company a little longer at Mystic Celt.  One of the best parts of my parents coming in was them bringing my sister's bike that she doesn't use. I had been wanting/planning to get a bike for a long time but would always end up studying or doing something else. After they left, I went straight to Target (and Sports Authority) to get a helmet, a lock, a rack for the back and some lighting for the dark. Even though I am a little nervous, I am incredibly excited to cruise around the city!

Below are a couple of valuable lessons I learned this week:

1. For the most part, I cannot get work done in my apartment. 

2. If I don't have some sort of plan or to do list, I am not very productive. 

3. A day mixed with work and play is the best for me. :)

Doing Nothing

In contrast to my last post, I have done nothing since I got home from work about 6 hours ago. I had a bad headache all day and haven't felt like doing anything since I got home. I had two midterms and a quiz this week, so all I really remember from the week is studying. I haven't gotten everything back, but I feel good. 

Caitlin, Margot and Mary were in town last weekend, and it was so nice to see all of them- a little difficult though because they wanted to go with the flow in regards to scheduling, and I had studying to do. No huge plans for this weekend, but I want to get ahead for the week. I feel like I'm still at Northwestern for the reason that I pretty much always have something to do. Heading to bed early... nothing too exciting. 

Mind Over Matter

Oh my gosh... I still can't get over this, which probably explains why I am blogging instead of studying, but after studying from 1ish-6 today, I decided that it was the perfect weather for a run. 

I figured I would probably run for an hour or so, but then I saw the Sears Tower in the distance and decided I wanted to run there. I had no set path- just followed the tallest building in the city and went whichever way the streetlights allowed. It was so strange how easy the run felt, even at the end: I had my goal in mind and was not going to change my mind (powerful stuff). I would say that I have run an hour (at most) recently, but today I ran for 2 hours. When I look at google maps, it says that the shortest walking path is 10mi round trip, so I know I ran more than that. 

What an amazing sense of accomplishment. Let's see how I feel tomorrow! 

Intuition

After going to bed at 4AM I did pop out of bed fairly easily at 9:30 to get ready and run to yoga, which started at 10. The class ended around 11:15, and I stayed until noonish. If I hadn't had class at 1, I may have stayed longer. Master Joyce began talking about the tension in my body. I ha always attributed it to stress, but she said other culprits exist. In my case, she believes that I am not utilizing all of my energy like I should. She says that I have a lot of leadership energy, and therefore need to be in a leadership role. I told her about some of the comments people made at camp (both this weekend and in February). She told me that one of the other Masters asked about me at the regional training. Upon seeing me, He mentioned that I have the same energy as Melissa Sabumnim. I don't know Melissa but have been told that she is a dancer and an amazing performance. Hmm... What is it with people saying that I need to be on stage and performing in some way? I don' know where to go with those suggestions in the present moment, but will keep them in mind. 

An Uncommon LIfe

I should probably get into bed soon seeing as I still have to edit a paper, and I want to get to morning class. However, my vision for tonight included writing about camp. If I wait too long to write, it won't contain as much detail or emotion.

I would not have been at May YEHA camp if Puran Nim had not called me last Tuesday night (one week ago exactly) and told me that he found me a good flight deal. (He even offered to buy me my ticket, and I could pay him back.) Not letting any thoughts get in my way, I booked my flight with him on the phone. I was excited at the time, but as the week progressed, and I reminded myself that this would be my fourth weekend in a row out of Chicago, I wasn't feeling 100%. Even when I got there I still questioned my decision a little. (I was hoping to see more familiar faces from last camp!) As training began all of those thoughts disappeared. The theme song for camp, Life Uncommon by Jewel, was a perfect choice for me as was the theme of loving yourself. (This is something I struggle with constantly.) Saturday's morning training consisted of stations. My group, the Soul Warriors, began at the hop shim ("one mind") station. Master Danielle began by asking why we have not yet achieved world peace. The answer is... We do not all have the same mindset or intentions. Therefore, there are too many goals that are trying to be reached. At the station each person received a sword to be held in one hand. On the count of three each person steps to the left, dropping their sword and catching the one on the left with the same hand. It sounds easy, but it took our group 20 mins to accomplish our vision of 5 in a row. Everyone has different ideas, and not every one's mind focuses on the task at hand. After a few short minutes I trusted the people to my left and right and did not worry about swords dropping. We got in a rhythm. I don't remember the comments that I made, but afterwords Danielle told me that I was a good leader. Positive feedback always makes me feel good. Next, I did some DahnMuDo with a mountainous backdrop, followed by two different meditations. In the first one, Master Aaron led us out of our bodies and into the body of an eagle and a mountain lion. When I approached a "grizzly bear with a message," as the mountain lion, the bear told me to live in peace. It may sound crazy to some of you who don't meditate, but it came without any thoughts.

In the afternoon we did a training with Master Blue Ocean in which we danced for about three hours straight. Then, we focused on loving ourselves. I was surprised at how focused I was dancing for that long: my mind did not wander; I just danced. The night training was more difficult for me a we were supposed to connect with Mother Earth and all that she does for us. I don't disagree at all but did not feel as connected as I wish I would have. Regardless... I kept choosing to push myself. During the morning DahnMuDo training the trainer said, "Every moment is a new choice. Choose." I couldn't agree more. Each of us has the power to make our own decisions. Another quote I heard from camp goes something like this, "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Live in the present."

Sunday's first training consisted of DahnMuDo from the creator himself. He was so funny. He encouraged us to be sleek and smooth, not worrying about perfection (not my usual approach). We stretched a lot, which felt good. When we had to hold a position with our neck and feet just slightly above the ground, I wanted to drop my neck so bad, but he reminded us all that The pain and difficulty is usually forgotten later. I can relate to that: I tend to remember the things I do not do/accomplish.

The afternoon consisted of informational speeches and videos about Dahn Yoga, YEHA, opportunities, upcoming events, etc. At first I thought it would be boring, but I left that afternoon feeling so inspired. I will probably be speaking to a lot of you personally, but did you know:

Every day, 50,000 die due to poverty–related causes. That amounts to 18 million people per year.
Every day, more than 3,000 children die of hunger and easily preventable diseases.
Every day, some 1.2 billion people do not have access to safe water sources.
Every day, more than 1.3 billion people live on less than $1.
Every day, our planet is warming at a rate faster than at any time in the last 10,000 years.
Every human being on this Earth is affected by these problems.

For these reasons, Dahn Yoga began the "One Dollar Enlightenment Project," which asks people to donate $1/month. The $1 you donate will be used to support Education, Health and Environmental projects around the world congruent with the Millennium Development Goals mandated by the United Nations. One of the first targeted projects will be supporting the United Nations' effort to combat the global AIDS pandemic, especially the prevention of mother-to-child transmission. Primary prevention, testing, counseling, and better integration of care, treatment and support are key to combating MTCT. Ilchi Lee, the founder of Dahn Yoga, set a vision of 100,000,000 Earth Citizens. The Chicago region has a goal of 1,000 by Labor Day. Please help me with this cause, and I will add you to our count. (http://www.ibrea.org/Earth_Citizen/One_Dollar_Project/)

For some other awesome videos (You know you like to procrastinate.) check out what's happening 40 years to the day of Woodstock (http://www.brainartfestival.com/). I tentatively bought a ticket already.

My current vision includes being more dedicated to my yoga practice, finishing school, becoming a Master and/or Brain Management Consultant and working towards creating an entire health center with both preventative and curative health care options: acupuncture, chiropractic, massage, nutrition, psychology, general MD/DO, etc. 

Our last night included dancing, skits, a closed eye walk and a bonfire. The skits were awesome this camp. We had some really stiff competition, but Chicago ended up taking first place. We were all going CrAzY!! Then, we were all supposed to trust the person ahead of us as we were lead to a huge bonfire. There we had a beautiful meditation training under the stars and looked into the eyes of our fellow YEHA members to see that each of us is the same person. We all feel the same emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, etc., regardless of sex, race, religion, ethnicity, age and so on. There were hugs all around, and it was a great last night.

I skipped breakfast and slept in a little on Monday. Then we gathered at the Ilchi Lee Museum for a hike up one of the mountains. There we did another amazing meditation surrounded by mountains. We were all supposed to come up with a standard for ourselves to shout to the mountains. A lot of people yelled love. While I think love is important, that's not the message I was receiving. After awhile, I got it... UNCOMMON. Just like the theme song, I want to/need to lead a life uncommon. I've been struggling with this for a little while now: knowing the person that I once was and also recognizing the changes. Sometimes I feel like I am being pulled in two different directions. So even though most people don't say I Love You often, I am going to say it more often. Everyone needs to be loved and to hear that they are loved. When other people are going out at night, I might be home working towards my vision. My decisions are my decisions. My thoughts are my thoughts. I cannot care what others think of them. 

Everyone had the opportunity to share their experiences, and that was so incredibly touching. I cried a lot. Before leaving I received a couple of comments from others that stuck with me. 1. "I am so powerful." 2. "I have good energy and am good at gathering people together." Through my trainings I have been able to learn a lot about myself. For example, I don't like too much consistency/redundancy. I have a harder time telling men that I love them. (I think I have always thought of the phrase as only applying to friends, family and significant others.) I don't always take compliments well. The easy way does not make me feel the best. I know there is more that I have learned, but those are some of the things sticking out right now. I feel like I could go on and on talking about my experience and this great organization, but I think it's time to wrap it up. Please feel free to ask me more questions. 

If you want to learn a little more about YEHA and the organization, check out www.youngearthhuman.com.