New Years Eve, 2023

I wrote this 6 years ago on New Year’s Eve and whilst my understanding and what not has developed over the last few years the overall message remains the same. Instead of chasing the next big thing, or the new year diet and detox, invest in a daily practice. Detox daily and I don’t mean coffee enemas, I mean sweat it out, breathe it out and remove the shit (you know what it is) with a regular practice. If you’re chasing highs be prepared for lows, if your low what was the high that put you there? Reconnect the gap this year to build your body to meet your mind. We owe it to ourselves to raise up our consciousness. Time to rise and shine. 

In the past 10 years working in therapy I have noticed a disturbing trend in people, whether they have done drugs or whether they haven’t. When people experience a heightened state of consciousness, whether it is through taking drugs, jumping out of an aeroplane, going to a spiritual practice like Vipassana or even giving birth, they go through a heightened state of awareness, which then leaves the body severely depleted. 

(I want to make a serious point that there is absolutely no difference between drugs, giving birth, eating food, jumping out of a plane or meditating. The internal environment is exactly the same. You’re not adding anything to the body that’s not already there).

Theses things all feel so good, a state of bliss that forever changes peoples lives, raises their consciousness, their awareness.  But what happens after is a severe depletion of hormones, neurotransmitters, nutrients and what we call in Chinese Medicine, Blood, Fluids and Chi. 

This depletion leads to many signs and symptoms, like depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue, digestive issues, sleep problems and many other issues. This is due to a massive gap between the physical and consciousness. A huge empty space. If we do not repair and fill up the emptiness with Chi, then it will be fill itself with the other forces of nature. 

The physical body is mortal; it is designed to breakdown and die. I believe it is a tool to raise consciousness, a temple. Think of a beautiful temple like Angor Wat in Cambodia.  It hasn’t been used for spiritual practice, in hundreds of years and now it is falling apart, tree roots are growing through the foundations, there is mold on the walls, the structure is crumbling, only being held together by nature.

The human temple is exactly the same. If it’s not being used to raise consciousness then it becomes a victim to nature. Viruses, bacteria, fungus, parasites, and heavy metals invade us and fill the space, the nervous system starts to breakdown, the body begins to crumble, but is held together by the mere forces of nature that need our body to survive. We get through, but we feel like shit. 

In the time of instant gratification we can get whatever we want, whenever we want. You can experience enlightenment on a Friday night, where it takes the Buddhist a lifetime of practice to get what you can get by taking ecstasy over the weekend (edit: these days it ayahuasca). Credit Cards allow us to buy whatever we want when we want, just because we want it. 

There’s only one problem. Interest. The interest builds up so quick you don’t even realise how far in debt you are until one day, the debt collectors start ringing you on the phone or knocking on your door saying you owe us this much money. How would you like to pay? Visa or MasterCard. But you don’t have it.  

With drugs the interest rate is high. Lets say 40%. And don’t forget it’s compounded. So if you’re just paying back the minimum, you’re staying in debt for about 10 years. And that’s if you cut up the credit card. 

And that’s ok if it’s money, sure pay them back $80 a week for the next 10 years and you won’t really notice it until you go to get a loan and get knocked back. But that’s ok you can still live. 

However with the body it’s different. It affects your wellbeing. How would you feel if I told you for your Christmas/new year’s bender, that after you’re going to go through bouts of depression and anxiety for the next 10 years. Would you still do it? Probably, coz it’s fun and life sucks. And then you’ll just borrow more down the road when you start to feel shit again. But for a lot of people this ends in disaster. If you don’t have the bodily reserves to borrow upon you’re going to end up very sick. 

“It’s ok though, I’ll just do a detox and everything will be ok then…” Let’s go back to Angor Wat. What would happen if we went through and pulled all the roots out of the structure and foundations? The building would crumble. I’ve seen so many people who go through detoxes who end up more fucked up than they were when they started. They don’t put up any support foundations to rebuild the temple. They just pull the roots out and crumble. 

The body has many pathways that run through it. Nerve pathways, blood vessels, Fascia and fluid pathways and channels for Chi. If you don’t work on building and fixing these pathways then the body will crumble. 

The real temple in the human body is the organs, from the brain, to the heart, the ball bladder and the intestines. These are the real temples. The pathways are the roads between. The roads need to be cleared and repaired. 

I have nothing against instant gratification. In my life it has been one of the best things to happen to me. But as I get older, I’m sick of paying interest. Personally I want to feel bliss. Not just on the weekend, everyday. The more meditation, Qi Gong, Tai Ji, I do the closer I get. The more nutrient dense foods I eat, the closer I get. 

The human body is designed for bliss. We wouldn’t respond like we do to drugs, adventure sports, giving birth, or meditation, if it wasn’t. Everything we need is already within us. It lies dormant in our organs, until we activate it. The above activate it instantly. But there’s interest to pay. However if you pay the interest prior you can experience the same states without debt collectors chasing you down. It all comes down to our choices. The choice of instant or lifelong. I know what I choose. 

The time has come to bridge the gap between the physical and consciousness. If your chasing happiness it’s inside you. If you’re chasing bliss. It’s inside you. It’s hiding in your organs. Maybe you can’t feel it because there’s a block on the roads in between, maybe the organs don’t have the chemicals. The physical body has all the answers you want. Build your body back so that it can hold the consciousness that you’ve raised it to.  

Here is what I believe the best way to rebuild your temple. 

Repetitive movement repairs the pathways. Movements that you repeat over and over like in Tai Ji, Qi Gong , Yoga, even conscious resistance training can help to rebuild and unblock, nerves, muscle, fascia, fluid, blood vessels and meridians (chi channels). Acupuncture and deep tissue massage therapies will also aid in the unblocking and rebuilding of these pathways. When the pathways start to clear and rebuild this will aid in the repair of the organs. The clearer the paths the more Blood, Chi and Fluids get to the organs. 

To help the organs repair, including, receptors, transmitters, hormones and so on, highly nutritious seasonal food, high dose nutrition, mineral and herbal remedies.   As well as working with nutrients and herbs deep breathing techniques used in Qi Gong and Yoga, will help to massage the organs, as well getting abdominal massage. Self-massage may also be applied. 

Finally, the most important thing to do is to nourish your destiny. What is your purpose? What is your truth? What were you born to do? The most important thing in life is to do the work of what I call the soul.  It sounds crazy I know but honestly nothing seems to heal quicker than by being on YOUR path. Whether it being a healer, being a teacher, a builder, a parent, a CEO or a servant. Be the best version of you. Only you know what it is. If you don’t know. Cultivate Chi. Cultivating Chi is one of the best ways I have discovered to fulfil yourself in the meantime. It may just be that you may need to cultivate Chi for 10 years until you discover what your path is, but by that time it wont matter and you will have so much to give, destiny will come that oh so much easier. 

This new year make your resolution to bridge the gap, pay off the interest, clear the debt, cut up the card, close the account and invest in the things that build and cultivate Chi, Blood and Fluids. 

Happy New Year.