Why we gather: Entering the Vessels Online

I first experienced the extraordinary vessels as a cultivation practice in 1983. I was in love. My yearning and search for anything and everything extraordinary vessel was on. There was very little in writing and so my quest included asking every acupuncture or meditation teacher I met what they knew of the extraordinary vessels. In 1986 I met a teacher with a family lineage of using the vessels as a cultivation and clinical tool. Over the course of a few brief meetings, I learned the basics of this system. These basics, these very brief interactions, form the foundation of what has become my life’s work.

I began teaching Entering the Vessels, as a weekend workshop, in 1992—twenty-nine years ago. Our first online course was a little over a year ago. I am excited to be presenting it again this summer!

The following is a transcript of the opening session of our online Entering the Vessels Online Course.

Welcome to the NSEV Healing Academy and welcome to our NSEV healing community. We are a community and like all communities, we have our personal agendas, our reasons, our motivations, our desires, our expectations, or maybe we have none of those things for taking this course. But I can tell you that often what our agenda is transforms during this experience. Your professional interests will become personal and your personal interests will become professional.
. But for this way, for this path, this medicine, this healing, this cultivation to be real, it has to apply to everybody, to every being, all ages, all professions, all gender identities, all nationalities, all socioeconomic statuses, all the world's tribes coming together. 

To the health care providers and the healing professionals, I say we have so much to learn from our patients. When we gather together in this way, exploring our personal and collective humanity, our beingness on this planet together, we all benefit in ways beyond description. To the non-acupuncturist, I say, and to all of you really, even when you are not exactly sure what is going on, you can listen to the language. Let the metaphor wrap you, feel the vibration of the language in your being, feel it in your breath, and your spirit. Let it speak to you in that way.

In fact, it is my expectation, I do not know if I would call it my hope, but it is realistic that all of you will feel confused or lost at times, and this is a good thing. This is a moment of what my dear friend, Stephen Cowan, calls, "I do not know yet." It is an invitation to the unknowable into your life. It is inviting curiosity into your being. To the acupuncturist, I say we have amazing and extraordinary and very serious cultivators and cultivation instructors in this course. We all have so much, I know I do, to learn from them. Here we are, acupuncturists, mental health professionals, bodyworkers, energy healers, yogis, business professionals, activists, parents, children, brothers, sisters, seekers of all kinds coming together to explore these ancient wisdom traditions. Coming together to explore these vessels.

Sharing Lao Gong during our first Entering the Vessels Course

We are coming together to explore the most primordial aspects of ourselves, the most primordial aspects of our families, the most primordial aspects of our communities, and the most primordial aspects of our place on this beautiful planet, and the most primordial aspects of our place in this great cosmos. I believe this worldview, this path, this way holds a space and a time for everyone. In prehistoric times, and these prehistoric times still live deep within our being, communities gather around the fire, the life-sustaining fire, the life-gate fire under the moon, the very same moon that we gather under now. They gather to share stories, to figure out how they were going to spend their day, to organize their communities, and to discuss the way of the universe. Like in ancient times, we gather now in a completely different way around this new fire, the fire of our computers and our cell phones, that glow, but still under the very same moon, across time and space, but in the now-ness of this moment, whenever this moment is for you. We are seeking the source of our commonality, the commonality of our thinking, of our imaginations, of our senses, of our embodied emotional worlds, of our breath, and our one undivided spirit.

It is with this intention and with this invitation that I invite you to spend the next six weeks exploring the vessels together with all of us.

Entering the Vessels Summer 2021 is Enrolling Now!

Why we gather: Entering the Vessels Online

The following is a transcript of the opening of our first session in our online Entering the Vessels course. Our Winter 2021 course is enrolling now!

Welcome to the NSEV Healing Academy and welcome to our NSEV healing community. We are a community and like all communities, we have our personal agendas, our reasons, our motivations, our desires, our expectations, or maybe we have none of those things for taking this course. But I can tell you that often what our agenda is transforms during this experience. Your professional interests will become personal and your personal interests will become professional.
. But for this way, for this path, this medicine, this healing, this cultivation to be real, it has to apply to everybody, to every being, all ages, all professions, all gender identities, all nationalities, all socioeconomic statuses, all the world's tribes coming together. 

“When we gather together in this way, exploring our personal and collective humanity, our beingness on this planet together, we all benefit in ways beyond description.”

To the health care providers and the healing professionals, I say we have so much to learn from our patients. When we gather together in this way, exploring our personal and collective humanity, our beingness on this planet together, we all benefit in ways beyond description. To the non-acupuncturist, I say, and to all of you really, even when you are not exactly sure what is going on, you can listen to the language. Let the metaphor wrap you, feel the vibration of the language in your being, feel it in your breath, and your spirit. Let it speak to you in that way.

In fact, it is my expectation, I do not know if I would call it my hope, but it is realistic that all of you will feel confused or lost at times, and this is a good thing. This is a moment of what my dear friend, Stephen Cowan, calls, "I do not know yet." It is an invitation to the unknowable into your life. It is inviting curiosity into your being. To the acupuncturist, I say we have amazing and extraordinary and very serious cultivators and cultivation instructors in this course. We all have so much, I know I do, to learn from them. Here we are, acupuncturists, mental health professionals, bodyworkers, energy healers, yogis, business professionals, activists, parents, children, brothers, sisters, seekers of all kinds coming together to explore these ancient wisdom traditions. Coming together to explore these vessels.

Sharing Lao Gong during our first Entering the Vessels Course

We are coming together to explore the most primordial aspects of ourselves, the most primordial aspects of our families, the most primordial aspects of our communities, and the most primordial aspects of our place on this beautiful planet, and the most primordial aspects of our place in this great cosmos. I believe this worldview, this path, this way holds a space and a time for everyone. In prehistoric times, and these prehistoric times still live deep within our being, communities gather around the fire, the life-sustaining fire, the life-gate fire under the moon, the very same moon that we gather under now. They gather to share stories, to figure out how they were going to spend their day, to organize their communities, and to discuss the way of the universe. Like in ancient times, we gather now in a completely different way around this new fire, the fire of our computers and our cell phones, that glow, but still under the very same moon, across time and space, but in the now-ness of this moment, whenever this moment is for you. We are seeking the source of our commonality, the commonality of our thinking, of our imaginations, of our senses, of our embodied emotional worlds, of our breath, and our one undivided spirit.

It is with this intention and with this invitation that I invite you to spend the next six weeks exploring the vessels together with all of us.

Entering the Vessels Winter 2021 is Enrolling Now!

A Comprehensive & Holistic Approach to Chronic Pain

“A person’s relationship to pain is made up of complex perceptions that are unique in each individual. Any comprehensive pain program must first understand and then address each of these influences that are at the “root” of the chronic pain.”

A commonly used medical definition of pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. I appreciate this definition because it understands pain as a sensory and emotional experience. This definition requires any authentically comprehensive approach to pain to include both the sensory and emotional components and understand it as a human experience. 

Acute pain is short lived & primarily associated with tissue damage from injury or illness before healing is complete.  Acute pain is a symptom of an illness or threat . Acute pain is seen as having value as a normal warning system. 

Chronic pain, on the other hand, is pain that lasts long enough or is intense enough to affect a person’s normal activities and well‐being. To be considered chronic,  the pain must last for at least 1 to 3 months. Chronic pain can be the result of an injury or illness but continues after expected recovery time. It is not necessarily related to tissue damage. Chronic pain can be intermittent or constant but usually involves some baseline of pain. Chronic pain is no longer viewed as a symptom of an illness but as a discrete illness in and of itself. Medically speaking, chronic pain has no value or benefit as a warning system although, on a deeper level,  it may reflect and be the manifestation of ongoing functional and psycho-spiritual imbalances.

Science does not have a complete understanding of pain although it has observed some of the mechanisms of pain. The understanding of the exact nature of the processes within the body that lead to the unpleasant sensation of pain is still evolving.

Here is one very simple and useful view of how we experience pain.  For the purpose of our discussion, let’s say we puncture our finger: 

1. The pain receptors ( nociceptors) in our finger are activated by tissue damage (trauma)

2. A signal then travels the peripheral nerve to the spinal cord.

3. Within the spinal cord, chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) are
released & activate other nerves that pass the signal to the brain. 

4. Within the brain, the signal gets to  the thalamus (inner chamber). The thalamus then sorts and sends signals  to the somatosensory cortex (sensation) frontal cortex (thinking) and limbic system (emotions). 

It is very important to understand that the experience of pain can be modified or intensified anywhere along this pathway!

Science & the types of pain

Based in part on where the distortion occurs in this pathway, medical science has identified four basic “types” of pain: Nociceptive Pain, Neuropathic Pain Pyshcogenic Pain and Idiopathic Pain 

Nociceptive pain is when the normal process of stimuli damages normal tissues or has the potential to do so if prolonged. It can affect the bones, joints, muscles, skin, connective tissue and the internal organs.

Neuropathic pain is the abnormal processing of sensory input by the peripheral or central nervous system. It can be centrally generated or peripherally generated.  

Psychogenic pain is pain that results from a psychological disorder, such as depression or anxiety. In this case the psychological issues are not as a result of the pain. 

Idiopathic pain is pain that exists with no known physical or psychological cause. The cause of  the pain is not detectable with  our current medical knowledge. 

Developing Chronic Pain

There are many influences that lead to a person developing chronic pain. Three areas that can be of great benefit to focus on are the relationship to pain, underlying mechanisms & existing pathologies and environmental factors. 

A person’s relationship to pain is made up of complex perceptions that are unique in each individual. This is influenced by personal history, family culture and environmental factors. 

There may also be underlying mechanisms & existing pathologies that contribute to developing chronic pain. These can include pathogens such as chronic viruses or mold, imbalances in the gut microbiome or functional disturbances in any of the organ systems.  

Chronic activation of pain pathways include structural or functional changes in the the peripheral nerves, spinal cord or changes in the structure and chemistry of the brain.

Any comprehensive pain program must first understand and then address each of these influences that are at the “root” of the chronic pain.  

Chronic pain and the issues that arise

When a person develops chronic pain there are many issues that may arise for them to deal with. These may include social factors (changes in family and work) , flare ups,(bad days)  pain modulation,(dealing with the pain daily)  inaccurate conceptualization, (how they view themselves and others) avoidance,(extreme fear) expression disharmony (changes in affect) and catastrophising.(exaggerated negative response to pain) . It is extremely important to note these issues are a result of the chronic pain and the unique history and physical/emotional/spiritual make up of the person. Unfortunately, chronic pain sufferers, especially those experiencing these issues, are often blamed for their condition rather than understood and supported. I have found this “ blaming the victim” manifesting with the family members, friends,  work associates and healthcare providers working with chronic pain sufferers. A comprehensive approach to pain must address these issues as an integral part of the healing process. 

The Extraordinary Vessel Model for understanding and treating pain

The Extraordinary Vessels  are one of the world’s oldest systems for understanding and positively influencing the human experience. Evolving originally in ancient China, the Extraordinary Vessels were used in cultivation practices (Shamanism, Alchemy, Qi  Gong, Meditation, Breath and Movement) long before they appeared as part of acupuncture. As a style of acupuncture the vessels  are the most primordial pathways. They  influence on the deepest level the must fundamental functional and structural aspects of the body. The vessels treat the patient as a unified whole of mind, body and spirit. Generalized stress patterns, chronic habituated movement and emotional patterns, and generalized areas of contraction and inflammation  are identified and addressed in a simple, global and effective manner. 

The extraordinary vessels  also address the deepest levels of the sensory, emotional, spiritual and social experience allowing them to effectively address all levels and aspects of the chronic pain experience.

Extraordinary Vessel paintings by James Hanlon

End of Part 1: Coming Next: Treating Chronic Pain!