RESOURCES

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q - What happens during the initial visit?

Prior to the initial visit, patients complete an intake form. Matthew briefly discusses any health concerns, medical history, lifestyle and emotional issues relating to the visit. The appropriate service and treatment regime is then determined. The remainder of the visit is devoted to the treatment.

In subsequent sessions, clients have the opportunity to discuss issues that may have arisen in-between sessions. (Treatment structures are open to change if needed.)

It is not uncommon for clients to actually feel worse before feeling better. This is a normal part of the healing process. Clients are never pressured to continue with treatment should they be unwilling or uncomfortable.

Q - How often should I come for treatment?

The frequency of sessions depends on the kind of treatment and regime suggested. Reiki for instance does not necessitate regular appointments. Khadro Qi Kung CNT works better if done frequently, as the power of the therapy builds a momentum.

Q - When should my Hiimori Elemental Energy Work sessions end?

This decision depends on the client. Matthew’s door is always open.

Ultimately, clients should feel satisfied when their own healing powers are increased and they are no longer bound by the same unhappy energy and negativity.

Q - Where can I found more readings and information about the different services Matthew offers?

Please see below:

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I AM ALSO BLOGGING AT:

www.hiimorielementalenergywork.blogspot.com

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* Zuru Ling Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Center: www.zuruling.org

* Gaden for the West: www.gadenforthewest.org

* Gaden Relief: www.gadenrelief.org

* Khadro Chi Nei Tsang: www.khadro.com

* Reiki Threshold Vancouver: www.threshold.ca/reiki

* Institute of Traditional Medicine:

www.instituteoftraditionalmedicine.com

* Sitting at the Gate: www.sittingatthegate.wordpress.com

* Siberian Shamanism – Circle of Tengerism: www.tengerism.org

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A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF "WINDHORSE"

Gathered together, the many healing and counseling modalities I use form a constellation of practices I call Hiimori Elemental Energy Work. ‘Hiimori’ is a Mongolian term meaning wind horse. The latter is known as ‘lung-ta’ in Tibetan.

People may be familiar with the symbolic representation of this concept on Tibetan prayer flags that are hung throughout the Himalayan region. Wind horse is a vitalistic concept found in many Asian cultures.

As a concept, it is the principle and power behind all activity, change and expression. As a lived principle, it is the vital energy that runs through our nervous system, uniting our mind and body.

This life force is something to be cultivated and nurtured. Stagnation, diminishment and blockage of this vital energy can lead to ill-health, negativity and personal disempowerment.

To purify and increase wind horse – to raise and re-establish this energy-stream, whether through ritual or therapies – serves to raise one’s personal power. Deficiencies and obstacles may be overcome; health, energy, charisma and inner wealth can be created.

Wind horse is also known as Qi in Chinese culture and prana in Sanskrit.

A deeper understanding of wind horse can be arrived through the notion of Qi in traditional Chinese culture.

Qi is a range of energies associated with our lives and environment. Everything that exists is composed and defined by its Qi. Qi is not simply a life force, but a state of being. Qi is the fabric and pulsation of the cosmos itself. It allows anything to maintain its cohesiveness and allows for things to transform into other forms. It is the very plastic texture of the universe, and is represented in Taoist thought by the black and white symbol of Yin/Yang. Qi is both the process and outcome of all activity and change. In and through Qi, things resonate, energize and evoke each other.

Qi is directly related to another fundamental concept in Chinese thought, that of shen, or spirit. Shen is the fundamental texture unique to human beings. It is our capacity to develop relationships not restricted by time or physical contact.

Shen is involved in the prosaic and committed aspects of life. It allows for life-affirming activities, self-awareness, self-reflection and ethics. Shen allows a person to be the author of their own lives and to shape their own destiny.

Q - WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPIRIT AND WIND HORSE?

In Siberian, particularly Mongol-Buryat shamanism, the image of the cosmos is described as a large world tree that connects almost in wedding-cake fashion. There is an upper, middle and lower world.

The three souls, or vital principles, that make up human reality interact and circulate within these three worlds. These souls make up our personal energy, collective memory and personal imprint on life.

This shamanism teaches us that the center of this world and its supported worlds is in actuality your personal center. The world is your world, and you are responsible for it.

This is how we understand this thought’s animistic character. All things partake in this cosmic energy. All things have their own souls and place that are intimately related to your own core energy and being. It’s as if all things are primordially a part of your body.

In this light, there is an ethical call for balance and stewardship; of care for self and for the world. Without this ethic, there is disharmony, sickness and death.

The Siberian concept of ‘buyen’ defines what it means to be an upright human being: a person with ethics who possesses charisma, dignity, honour, integrity, moderation, honesty, generosity of spirit, compassion and spiritual strength. Having buyen means to express shen in a responsible way.

Q - HOW CAN WE ACQUIRE, EXPRESS AND PRESERVE THIS SPIRIT IN OUR LIVES?

The answer to this, in Siberian shamanism, is that we need more hiimori, or wind horse. All things spiritual are in proportion to the amount of hiimori we have in our lives. Without it, we have no power, nor do we have the capacity to overcome obstacles and negativity in our lives. We need spiritual power to have the creativity and courage to be awake, healthy and responsible.

The common image of the wind horse is of a mythic flying horse, like Pegasus. Often, it is carrying a basket of flaming inner-wealth jewels on its back. Through its symbolism, this image reveals a deeper truth: that our thoughts are mounted on our subtle vital energies, like a horse and rider. Where these energies go, so do our minds. Conversely, if we generate certain kinds of thoughts, we can direct these same energies in our bodies.

The consequences of this idea are both revolutionary and empowering. We can take responsibility for our health, mind and most of all our spirit. We can cultivate lives of creativity, love and joy and overcome forces of sickness and negativity. In essence, hiimori is a form of healing. It is a medicine for true spiritual metamorphosis.

At the heart of shamanic reality is the concept of ecstasies, or joyous selflessness. In most forms of shamanism, there are traditional rituals of sacrifice that carry a deeper significance of self-sacrifice. (This is in the sense of letting go of one’s ego and diving into the experience of the blissful unity of all things.)

Through rituals of ecstatic trance and sacrifice, the shaman’s individual ego dies in order to eternally live at the heart of being. Here, we see the inter-related shamanic concepts of the shamanic flight and the eternal return. A shaman can travel to any reality and can directly experience the sacred primordial time of gods and ancestors in the here and now. The shaman can also embody this sacred energy and share it for healing purposes. This is why the great scholar of religious thought, Mircea Elaide, called shamanism ‘techniques of ecstasy.’

The shamanic experience is therefore akin to connecting whole-heartedly to hiimori. It is a journey to absolute awareness outside of the architecture of personal and cultural conditioning. It is an experience of the non-ordinary at the heart of everyday reality. We completely open ourselves up, and hence are at home with all beings. In joyous, celebratory trance, all is new. We are directly aware of our shen. We are directly aware of our true spiritual nature and of the love, compassion and wisdom this selflessness embodies.

Once within this animistic matrix, we can access boundless energy, blessings and tools. Wholeness is rediscovered and embodied.

In this, we can see the foundations for the shamanic idea of the soul retrieval. Our soul, or vital energy, is often lost due to illness or trauma. Ecstatic healing gives you a life force boost. It allows you to come home again, cleansed, balanced, forgiven, inspired and empowered.

In sum, the healing we get through hiimori really lies in the experience of selflessness itself. This self-revelation is like recognizing our true enlightened nature, or Buddhanature. Once we see that we share an inborn divinity with all life, we see that our suffering comes from our self-cherishing at the expense of others, whereas our happiness comes from caring for others based upon this primordial nature.

Q - HOW IS HIIMORI ENERGY WORK SEEN AS ELEMENTAL ENERGY WORK?

It is as elements that wind horse energy can heal.

Wind horse expresses itself as five elements, or energetic principles: earth, metal, water, wood (wind) and fire.

These elements make up our psycho-physical bodies and animate our world. In our own nervous systems, each element corresponds with two organ functions. Many other psychological, emotional, psychic and spiritual dimensions of our personality manifest out of them.

Elements fall in and out of balance and harmony throughout our lives, depending upon the experiences we have. Imbalance brings suffering, reactivity, negativity and loss of vital power. Balance and harmony bring health, power, compassion, creativity, generosity of spirit and above all, an open heart.

In Tibetan Buddhism, we say that once these five elements are purified and positively enhanced, they transform themselves into the five enlightened wisdom energies associated with the five Transcendent Buddhas (Buddhas Akshobya, Amoghasiddhi, Amitabha, Ratnasambhava and Vairochana). These Buddhas are also angels that manifest out of and as pure love.

Q - HOW DO THESE TREATMENTS ACTUALLY WORK?

Throughout our lives, we think, feel and sense things. We process our experiences a lot like we breathe or digest, dealing with energies as information. We ingest and extract what is relevant or useful and we reject or ignore what is not. In this way, the flow of energy between the five elements of water, wood, fire, earth and metal is harmonious. They can feed and change into one another.

However, if we come into contact with something deeply troubling or traumatic, the affective charge is often too much for our nervous system to take. To survive, the nervous system makes a decision to store and ignore these energies in the body in order to process them at a later, safe time, or to hide them altogether.

These charges thus become immobilized within the body. Stagnant and unchanging, they become toxic and tax one’s systems. By arresting the flow of elemental cyclical transformation, they will eventually lead to illness – be it physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual.

There is always a need to clean this dead energy within our bodies and to maintain a proper energetic flow within our nervous systems.

Hiimori Elemental Energy Work, whether using the healing modalities of Reiki or Khadro Qi Kung Chi Nei Tsang, involves the subtle energy through which Qi circulates. This delicate body is soft and pliable, like the petals of a flower. Its plasticity suits our purpose, because it allows us to access its inner workings and to assist and direct its functioning.

Our nervous system is very powerful but it is also emotional, or non-rational. The energies that flow through it, underneath our logical mind, only ask that they be recognized for what they are. These energies possess a content, not just as a charge but as given information. Once they are heard, they pass. They progressively discharge themselves naturally and organically.

In light of this, Hiimori Elemental Energy Work must begin with the practitioner helping the client, henceforth called student, listen to his or her own body. The most important reason for this is that most people don’t really know how they feel at a given time. Some do not feel much about anything at all.

This is especially true of people in end-of-life situations or dealing with grief. Often times, people in such circumstances describe themselves as frozen or shut-down. Many people will do anything not to feel, if feeling means directly confronting difficult, painful events in their lives. Most of the time, people do not feel their feelings (though they may be thinking about them), simply because they are not relaxed or peaceful enough to stop and listen to themselves.

For any energy work to be efficacious, a practitioner must settle the student by creating a safe, gentle meditative space. Students can then feel safe enough to make themselves vulnerable, in order to open up and explore. Like turbulent, turbid water becoming still, one’s personal issues, like sediment, can stand in relief and be recognized.

This is a good analogy because Hiimori Energy Work is mostly breath work and soft touch. It has the power to move and transform, in the spirit of gentleness, like water.

To be open to yourself is to rediscover your earth element. To be in touch with this is to receive the emotional support, nourishment and nurturing that is crucial to a healthy life. To feel your earth is to be truly embodied.

Not to be in contact with this principle is to have the imbalanced habit of being too much ‘in your head.’ Over-thinking, worrying, stressing out, being unable to relax—all are signs that a person is alienated from others and themselves. Negative and unhappy, the person becomes thoroughly reactive. Their life manages them rather than them managing their life. The final product of such an imbalanced life is that the person ends up being a passionless, unfeeling robot – a zombie imitating life.

To set your feet firmly and deeply in your earth is to begin to feel and live again. Your metal element, that capacity for feeling and self-reflection, is then activated. Eventually, through the proper circulation of elemental energy, your fire element is harmoniously expressed. With this, the fire, passion, enthusiasm and spirit for life returns. You regain your soul, or shen.

Hiimori Elemental Energy Work is not about fixing the student. Instead, in Socratic fashion, it is about being a midwife for personal growth and spiritual change. The practitioner is there as a support, witness, friend and guide. The practitioner helps students listen and self-discover so that they can understand how they feel, validate the shadow parts of themselves and integrate all aspects of their lives.

Thus, they can heal themselves. They can outgrow old ideas, patterns, habits and world-views that make them unhappy. They can purify what does not feel good, and let go of defences and coping mechanisms that may have been helpful but are now irrelevant.

With balanced Qi, or raised wind horse, so to speak, students can then share this inspired healing energy with others. Rather than feeling frustrated and stuck in a circle of dissatisfied wants, they can manifest their desires. They are in open communication with the world. They bring forth a new earth, or sense of themselves. Rooted and balanced, they are both satisfied and at peace.

Their new earth reveals a new polished metal as well, as students feel a greater connection between body, mind and soul. Students can then own and act on their feelings and respond to situations in a way that reflects their real values.

Finally, their water element is again empowered and invoked. The potential in their lives that was hidden or seemingly inaccessible is discovered. They become creators; true authors of their lives.

In a way, this is where Hiimori Elemental Energy Work becomes a true shamanic soul retrieval. Through this energy work, the student’s elemental essence, or life-force, is brought back. He or she can again feel whole. The elemental angels are called into the body and felt joyously in the heart.

In sum, Hiimori Elemental Energy Work offers a perfect inner alchemy. A veritable technique of ecstasy, it allows both practitioner and client to share in the direct experience of becoming conduits for healing energies. Ultimately, individuals can overcome the deep, personal alienation they feel from themselves and others. They can discover and feel the selfless, inter-penetrating web of life that is our primordial nature.

SOURCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Chia, Mantak. Chi Nei Tsang. Destiny Books (Vermont), 2007.

Eliade, Mircea. Shamanism Princeton University Press (New Jersey), 2004.

Kaptchuk, Ted J. The Web That Has No Weaver McGraw Hill (New York), 2000.

Sarangerel. Riding Windhorses Destiny Books (Vermont), 2000.

Thurman, Robert. The Jewel Tree of Tibet Free Press (Toronto), 2005.