Dyana’s Blog
Dyana’s writings about life, her teaching and learnings
Introduction to Qigong and Five Element theory
Qigong is an energy system developed in China between 4000 and 8000 years ago for strengthening and directing life force energy through the body. Ancient Chinese sages and healers observed the natural world, its cycles and seasons, the movements and habits of animals,...
Taoist Cosmology and Five Element Theory
In Taoist cosmology, first there was the tai chi, the oneness or great source. This gave birth to the opposite principles of yin and yang which, when aligned in the body, are known as the tai chi axis. From the balanced duality of yin and yang arose the five elements:...
Understanding Fire in Five Element Theory
From the bursting forth of new growth and aliveness in spring comes the ripeness and fullness of summer. Observing summer helps us understand the fire element in five element theory. Fire is associated with passion and spirit. Fire is represented by the bright red...
Understanding Earth in Five Element Theory
After the passionate energy of the fire element we move to the earth element. Earth is the element related to late summer; the time after the growth of spring and productivity of summer when we harvest the abundance of produce and begin to rest, nourish ourselves, and...
Mindfulness and the Prefrontal Cortex
A lot of us have heard about mindfulness and its possible benefits. Recently I have learned a few interesting things about the brain that have made the benefits of mindfulness meditation even clearer to me. Meditation produces a thickening of the prefrontal cortex –...
Introducing Kum Nye – Moving Meditation
An introduction to Kum Nye – the essence of moving meditation.
The Four Noble Truths and Modern Life
The relevance of Buddha’s four noble truths in our modern lives The fundamental and most important teachings of the Buddha are disarmingly simple. There is suffering There is a cause of suffering There is an end of suffering There is a way to the end of suffering. It...
Mindfulness and Buddhist Psychology
Have we reduced Buddhist psychology to mindfulness training? What might have been lost in the translation? The core teaching of the Buddha has always about how to reduce human suffering. The freedom or liberation his teachings refer to is freedom from suffering. It...
The Body as an Intelligent, Sensitive, Living Organism
Somatics and somatic movement classes grew out of Feldenkrais, and developed alongside new research into neuromuscular reprogramming. Somatics is based on the principle of neuroplasticity – the understanding that the brain is continually remodelling itself in response...
