12 Days of Gifts
Day 1 - Lymph Node Clearing
The turning of the wheel activates an energy of culmination and regeneration. Whether this is from the natural world or from our collective choice, these moments in time create opportunities to reassess the construct of our life and to harness new pathways of change.
Lymph is the fluid that flows through the lymphatic system, a vital part of the circulatory and immune systems responsible for maintaining fluid balance, filtering harmful substances, and supporting the body’s defense against infections. It consists of a network of lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, and lymphoid organs, including the spleen, thymus, and tonsils. Lymph, a clear fluid, circulates throughout this system, collecting waste products, toxins, and pathogens from tissues and transporting them to lymph nodes where immune cells help eliminate them. This system plays a crucial role in immune response, tissue repair, and overall health by assisting in the removal of excess fluids and serving as a key component of the body’s defense mechanisms.
This exercise consists of 7 parts. Take your time to explore each exercise and linger on areas that feel tender. From an energetic perspective, tenderness and even pain is a sign of a blockage. And blockages can be opened!
Day 2 - Meridian Opening
The meridian system is a phrase related to ancient energy principles. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that energy (also referred to as qi) flows throughout the body much like blood does. When this flow of energy becomes disrupted, symptoms and disease can occur. Acupuncture and other forms of Eastern medicine work to restore the flow of energy throughout the body using the meridian system.
Meridians are channels that direct the flow of energy through specific pathways of the body. They can be thought of as a superhighway that the energy in your body uses to move to your organ systems.
This exercise traces the 12 primary meridians. Tapping is used as a method for opening internal pathways by stimulating blood, oxygen and energy flow. This can reduce stagnation, open blockages, and lead to overall health and well-being that may lead to incredibly powerful changes within and around you.
Day 3 - Toe Tapping
As the basis of Asian medicine, energy circulation is important for maintaining health and immunity. Ideally, energy flows through its channels throughout the body without stopping. Its flow is even and balanced. Warmer energy concentrates in the lower part of the body while cooler energy concentrates in the upper part (Water Up, Fire Down).
When energy cannot circulate in this way, the body has less resilience against physical, mental, or emotional challenges and disease can result.
Toe Tapping, is ideal for creating healthy circulation, even while lying down. Toe Tapping involves shaking the legs in a way that can relax the mind and the whole body. It slows down brain waves and sends blood in the legs back to the heart while pulling down any warm energy that may be stuck in the upper body.
Lying with your back on the floor, scan your body and consciously and gradually release the tension from it.
Stretch out your legs, with your heels touching and your ankles lightly flexed. It’s alright if there’s a little bit of space between the lower back and the floor. Rest your arms comfortably at your sides, palms facing up.
Using your heels as the pivot points, repeatedly bring both feet to the center until your big toes touch.
Then move your toes apart. Touch your little toes to the floor if you are flexible enough. Move your entire legs, not only your feet.
As you repeat this back-and-forth motion for several minutes, keep your upper body relaxed. If you feel sharp or significant pain in your hip joints or legs, rest for a minute or two and then start again.
Day 4 - Wooden Pillow
Your spine health is connected to your overall health and well-being. The wooden pillow helps to gently open up your spine and revitalize your physical health. Wooden pillows are simple blocks of strong but lightweight wood that are ergonomically curved to release pain and tension throughout the body. The wooden pillow is a great self-healing tool for fast relief of head, neck, and shoulder tension. With this tool, you can effectively target your body’s energy points and meridians and feel your muscles relax.
The wooden pillow is one of my favorite tools and can be found at most of my gatherings. Try mine or order your own https://shop.bodynbrain.com/back-self-care
Benefits of The Wooden Pillow
Relieve tension in the neck and shoulders
Ease tension headaches
Reduce stress
Relax the spine
Improve sleep through the night
Promote proper energy circulation
Place the Wooden Pillow flat on the floor. For more comfort, place a towel over it.
Lie down and place the Wooden Pillow under your neck. Gently rock your head side to side on the area of discomfort.
Relax your jaw and open your mouth slightly as you breathe out. Focus on relaxing the muscles in your neck.
As you feel your muscles begin to relax, move the pillow down the spine to the level of the top of your shoulders and repeat the steps above.
Start by practicing for a few minutes daily, then increase to 20 minutes daily as you become comfortable.
Day 5 - Intestine Exercises
The intestines serve as an important system within us to support the digestion and absorption of nutrients and the expulsion of waste. In addition to the physical purpose of the intestine, there is also a subtle physical purpose. Our intestines not only digest and process food, but emotional waste as well. When our intestines are flexible, we are able to move through the emotional information that we have been exposed to faster than when our intestines are rigid and cold. Bringing heat and movement to this vital organ is essential for us to process and clear past experiences, trauma, emotional imprints and triggers.
Just like a tree cannot grow well if its roots rot, if we don’t have strong intestines, we will feel foggy, scattered, or anxious. No matter how much knowledge we hold about how to heal and relax, our system cannot work well if our intestines are full of bad bacteria. When our intestines are uncomfortable, and our bodies feel uncomfortable, then we will stay in a state of heightened discomfort. On the other hand, when our guts are comfortable, then our bodies, minds and hearts will also be stable.
Taking good care of our intestines is a shortcut to building strong overal. One mind-body exercise that builds up the energy in our lower energy center, calms our minds and emotions, and moves waste through our gut is Intestinal Exercise. With Intestinal Exercise, we can clean our bodies, clear our brains, and develop strong, healthy roots for our thoughts, words, and actions.
Make your spine long and straight while keeping your shoulders relaxed.
Imagine a string behind the navel pulling it back toward the spine as far as it can go. Then release it and relax.
Let your breathing happen naturally as you keep your mind focused on the sensations you feel inside your lower abdomen.
To help you focus, rest both palms on your abdomen, making a triangle with your thumbs meeting at your navel in a straight line and your index fingers meeting in a point below them.
Exhale any pressure you feel through your mouth.
Move at a steady, comfortable pace.
Start with one hundred repetitions of moving the abdomen in and out.
Day 6 - Healing Hands
Do you know that you hold a powerful gift in your own hands? The subtle physical body shows an opening in the center of both hands that allows energy to flow forth from each palm.
These epicenters are often used without even realizing it. Can you remember cradling a child’s boo-boo as a parent or reaching out to put your hand on a loved one’s back who was in need of support? These actions are more than emotional shows of support. They are the transference of healing energy that supports life to find its way back to balance.
A Practice of Presence & Love
Greet yourself each morning with a moment of presence.
Settle into your body and your breath.
Consciously ask for the flow of life to make itself felt within you.
Take time to sense any fluctuation in heat, pressure, movement.
Trust that your life is proof of the flow of life within and around you and that there is no getting this wrong.
Bring your healing hands to an area on your body that needs support, balance, health, strength.
Leave your hands on this area and tune into the life that is flowing through you and to you.
Receive.
This is a powerful practice. I hope it brings you a deeper connection to yourself and your own innate healing ability.
Day 7 - Brain Wave Vibration
Brain Wave Vibration is a form of meditation meant to clear the mind and help return the brain to a relaxed and energized state.
Brain Wave Vibration is very easy to learn, beginning with turning your head left and right. When gently shaking the head from side to side, a “phenomenon of integration” takes place in the brain. The left and right hemispheres become integrated horizontally, while the vertical integration of the three-tiered structure (neocortex,limbic, brain stem) occurs as well.
Along with the integration of the brain, the outer layers of the brain gently get rocked to sleep and provide a clear pathway of connection to the brainstem. The brainstem is responsible for controlling vital involuntary actions like breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure and acts as a integral pathway of connection between the body and brain. When the pathway of connection is open between the body and brain, we are able to sink into our bodies and slow the mechanisms in the brain that lead to overthinking. This creates a clear and centered space for us to meet our daily lives.
Brain Wave Vibration can be explored in two ways.
Sit with a straight back, relaxing your neck and shoulders.
Close your eyes and move your head from side to side. When you first begin, move your head slowly. Then, when you begin to feel the rhythm of your body, gradually increase the speed of your movement. There’s no need to strain yourself or move too quickly.
After one to three minutes, stop and exhale deeply three times.
In this state — keeping your eyes closed — breathe comfortably and feel the sensations inside your head. You should be able to sense that your thoughts and emotions have calmed down and you feel more relaxed. People with a keen energy sensitivity may even be able to feel energy ‘moving’ as if inside the brain as different functions become balanced.
Sitting
Stand with your back straight. Close your eyes and look down inside yourself for a few moments.
Make relaxed fists with your hands and use the pinky end to tap your belly two inches below your navel. Alternate both hands and tap repeatedly in a steady rhythm. Keep your arms, shoulders, and abdomen relaxed. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth, releasing your tension.
After a couple of minutes, or at least 100 taps, continue to tap as you begin to shake your head left and right gently, as if you were saying, “No.” Let your neck and shoulders relax further.
Then let your head move naturally in any direction, such as side to side, forward and back, or in a figure eight. Keep your awareness on the sensations in your body and keep inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth without forcing it.
When you loosen even more, stop tapping and start shaking your entire body. You can do this in any position and can change your position as you shake. Make every part of your body vibrate as you continue to exhale your tension and old energy from your mouth. At first, you need to vibrate your body consciously and deliberately this way. But the more you shake, the more your brain will go into a relaxed, meditative state, and you’ll be able to experience subtle involuntary vibrations.
Standing
Many of these exercises come from an ancient Korean energy practice called Sundo. This is why you see alot of Korean practitioners teaching these exercises. I love this man and have met and worked with him and his colleagues!
Day 8 - Dahn Jon Tapping for Water Up, Fire Down
Just as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west due to Earth’s rotation, there are natural laws your body follows. One law, discerned by traditional Asian medicine, can decide the health of your body, mind, and spirit. It’s an essential principle of energy circulation in the body.
Water Up, Fire Down is a basic universal energy principle in our bodies for creating optimal energy circulation. According to this principle, cool water energy, produced in your kidneys travels toward your head, warm fire energy, produced in your heart travels down to your abdomen. If you feel calm and focused (“cool headed”), and you feel energized and motivated (“fire in the belly”), then you know your energy is following the ideal Water Up, Fire Down circulation pattern If you feel hot-headed and unfocused, and you often feel tired and unmotivated, your energy circulation is turned upside down, and this is a clear sign that you need attention.
You can begin to bring fire energy back into the abdomen by getting to know your low belly. This area is a powerful epicenter of creation for all humans, plus our physical health is powered by this space. This area is known to be an important center throughout many traditions and has many names including sacral chakra, hara, tan tien and dahn jon.
Today’s exercise employs the tool of tapping to activate greater circulation in the belly and stoke the fire that is essential to create our overall optimal health.
Jon - Field
Dahn Jon = Field of Life
Dahn - Life
Get into Position: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and toes pointing forward.
Locate Dahn Jon: Find the spot about two inches below your navel.
Form Your Fist: Make a loose fist with one hand (usually the right).
Start Tapping: Use the pinky-side edge of your fist to gently tap the Dahn Jon area.
Breathe and Relax: As you tap, exhale through your mouth, releasing tension from your chest and shoulders.
Focus: Keep your gaze soft, looking at a point on the floor, and focus your mind on your Dahn Jon.
Count: Aim for around 300 taps initially, but you can do more (500, 1000) for greater energy.
Finish: After tapping, rub your lower abdomen clockwise (right side up, left side down) to circulate the energy, feeling warmth and peace
Day 9 - Belly Button Healing
The belly button represents the beginning of our life, the entry point from which everything we needed to survive and grow in our mother’s womb came. Once we’re born, it’s also a point through which health of body, emotions, mind, and spirit can originate.
By stimulating the navel, you pump the nutrients, toxins, waste, lymph, and blood gathered in your abdomen, causing them to pass through more easily, which helps your systems stay clear and flowing. It also warms your abdomen, which increases immune function, and relaxes muscles and fascia, which calms you and helps you breathe more deeply, sending more oxygen to your body and brain.
Your gut, behind your belly button, produces over ninety percent of the serotonin in your body and about fifty percent of the dopamine. These are two hormones that are responsible for keeping you satisfied and happy, among other things. Problems in the gut are linked to problems in the brain, such as depression, Alzheimer’s, autism, and ADHD, due to a close link between the brain and the nervous system in charge of the gut. This system, called the enteric nervous system, is often called the second brain, or gut brain, because of its extensiveness and semi-autonomy from the brain in the head. A healthy gut is important for a happy mood, a healthy brain an overall health and well-being.
Belly Button Healing is a powerful way to revitalize your health while experiencing your deep inner nature. The love and connection that can arise from Belly Button Healing will change your relationship with yourself and with other people.
Belly Button Healing is the regular and mindful stimulation of the navel with a tool or your fingers. This self-acupressure technique releases prenatal energy which is considered to have the most powerful healing potential in Eastern Medicine. The navel is also connected to all organs and body parts, so tension in one area of the navel can be attributed to pain or an imbalance in the corresponding part of the body.
Day 10 - Rest and Digest
The belly button represents the beginning of our life, the entry point from which everything we needed to survive and grow in our mother’s womb came. Once we’re born, it’s also a point through which health of body, emotions, mind, and spirit can originate.
By stimulating the navel, you pump the nutrients, toxins, waste, lymph, and blood gathered in your abdomen, causing them to pass through more easily, which helps your systems stay clear and flowing. It also warms your abdomen, which increases immune function, and relaxes muscles and fascia, which calms you and helps you breathe more deeply, sending more oxygen to your body and brain.
Your gut, behind your belly button, produces over ninety percent of the serotonin in your body and about fifty percent of the dopamine. These are two hormones that are responsible for keeping you satisfied and happy, among other things. Problems in the gut are linked to problems in the brain, such as depression, Alzheimer’s, autism, and ADHD, due to a close link between the brain and the nervous system in charge of the gut. This system, called the enteric nervous system, is often called the second brain, or gut brain, because of its extensiveness and semi-autonomy from the brain in the head. A healthy gut is important for a happy mood, a healthy brain an overall health and well-being.
Belly Button Healing is a powerful way to revitalize your health while experiencing your deep inner nature. The love and connection that can arise from Belly Button Healing will change your relationship with yourself and with other people.