On Friday, April 2, we were notified of a patient at our clinic that tested positive for COVID-19. Our response was to immediately quarantine the practitioner treating the patient, and quarantine the entire clinic staff due to possible risk of exposure to the practitioner. Of course this meant the clinic was completely shut down.

The rules regarding exposure allow the practitioner to test for COVID-19, and if that person is asymptomatic, allow them to continue working unless symptoms are discovered.

However, we did not want to take that chance, and so the entire staff was quarantined.

Going forward, the clinic will have less than 15 minutes time from practitioner to practitioner, no lunch room, but instead eating in the long hallway with more than 6ft between practitioners. All surfaces will be cleaned continuously during the day. And all practitioners will continue to hand wash, wear surgical masks, and face shields.

We will take the utmost care for everyone that is a part of the clinic. We are all one family.

The clinic will be temporarily closed until further notice. We ask for your understanding and patience.

Thank you.

Starting June 1, 2020 the clinic will be back open, with the following hours during the week of June 1st to June 5th.

New hours will be determined for the second week of June, based on how well the current operations of the clinic run with physical distancing and enhanced hygiene policies in place.

Hours for Practitioners as follows:

Dr. Stanley Ngui: Mon to Fri | 7:00am to 1:00pm

Justin Ngui: Will not be working this week June 1 to 5

Jessie Zsolt: Mon to Fri | 5:00pm to 8:00pm

New policies regarding appointments:

• Patient may be accompanied by at most one person to their appointment.
• Patient required to bring their own mask (otherwise we cannot allow entry).
• At most one patient in the clinic outside of a treatment room at a time.
• Patient arrives in parking lot, waits for entry and calls reception at 905-597-5007 to notify the clinic they have arrived.
• Patient will receive a text message when able to enter the clinic.
• Sanitize hands and enter.
  
• Pre-payment required before appointment (through website or at reception desk).
• Treatment therapy with practitioner commences.
• Session ends and practitioner sees out patient.
• Patient sanitizes hands and exits the clinic.
  

We look foward to seeing all of you back at the clinc!

Please call to book your appointment!

Take a moment and consider the changes that occur when a thunderstorm ends a drought. The earth is dry, crops are not growing, people and animals are hungry, and water sources are running low. Then, the rain begins, the thunder rumbles at a distance, people and animals move towards shelter. We breathe a little deeper, and so do the plants. Lightening strikes, the rains begin, and then it is pouring. At first the water runs off the dry crusted ground, but then it becomes saturated and sinks down to the root beds. The storm eventually ends, and a rainbow returns chasing the sun. The rains cause the plants to grow, and the worms to come to the surface, feeding the robins. Within one day, we can see the plants grow bigger, and now they are a deeper more succulent shade of green. The people and the animals benefit as well, because now there is more food.

A thunderstorm encapsulates a natural transition and the effects of the storm cascade outwards influencing everything in its path.  Everything is changing all the time, but some changes are more influential than others. Under the right circumstances energy has the ability to pivot before stabilizing in a new direction, like in the example of the thunderstorm. Events that cause a shift in direction hold more of a charge, and these are the changes that stand out to us. They are of significance because shifting direction releases energy, and that energy ripples outwards into the world. This is what makes times of transition the most potent opportunities for us to harness energy and use it for our benefit. Consider how a windmill moves and generates power by taking advantage of the force of the wind. We too can use natural forces to fuel us. After all, the energy is already being released; we only need to learn how to tap into it, instead of letting it pass us by.

Written by Sijie Jessie Zsolt

Beginning on Friday, May 22, 2020

EVERY DAY, FOR 1 WEEK:

1. Select SUNRISE or SUNSET.

2. Practice QIGONG
(minimum of 15 minutes)

3. Take a PHOTO
(of the sunset or sunrise before or after you practice)

4.  Send your PHOTO
(at the end of the week send us your favorite photo to nguistyleimc@gmail.com and/or Instagram #nguistyleqigongchallenge)

YOU WILL BE ENTERED TO WIN THE PRIZE!!!!!
Upon completing the week of training at sunrise or sunset, and sending us your favorite photo, your name will be entered into a draw to win a free Tesla Energy Card; 

If you feel you have gained from this experience, we will introduce to you the next level of the challenge….. 

            Everything in this universe is made of energy, a force that we refer to in Chinese traditions as qi, pronounced as “chi”. Qi can take on an infinite number of forms and is constantly changing. In order for energy to change there must be a high point and low point, this is the principle behind yin and yang. Yin and yang are often described metaphorically in terms of lunar and solar, dark and light, soft and hard, or cold and hot. They are the expression of polarities, and they demonstrate that opposing forces facilitate change. Absolutely everything in the universe is transforming all the time – including the universe itself – making change the essence of the cosmos.

            However, yin and yang are not separate polarized forces, for without one, the other cannot exist. Yin and yang are interdependent and therefore cannot be separated – they are two sides of the same coin. After all, we could not have day without night, or hot without cold, and we only understand one in relationship to the other. Yin and yang show us how we can exist in a world that is simultaneously built of sameness and difference, and that we need to embrace them both to see clearly.

            In our lives, we are sometimes lucky enough to open up and feel our connection to the infinite sea of existence within us and around us. People that have these experiences often describe a sense of peace, oneness, and clarity. But in the modern era, it can be very challenging to embrace our connection to something greater than the physical world, leaving many of us feeling isolated and unsure of the role we are intended to play. Contemporary western society has a tendency to lean towards an individualistic perspective as we have moved away from prioritizing community, and towards an ‘every person for themselves’ model. It is no surprise that in the 21^st century our young people are reporting overwhelming levels of alienation, anxiety, and depression. After all, it is very hard to go it alone, when our togetherness is one of the ways to remember that we are inseparable from the vastness of the universe.

            However, our experience of individualism is also important, because it can help us to understand our unique place and guide us on our life’s journey. We must learn to love and respect ourselves as a facet of something extraordinary. Each of us is a unique blend of yin and yang, synthesizing a vibration that makes us who we are. However, like the rest of the universe, we are not fixed in place, but instead are in a constant cycle of transformation. We cannot change where we come from, but we can choose our direction moving forward. We are all unique expressions of this universal force, and therefore each of us plays a role in changing the direction of the universe.

Written by Sijie Jessie Zsolt

Whether it is getting out of bed in the morning, filing our taxes, or going for a run we are bound to experience moments where we simply do not want to do the thing that we are attempting to do. Internal resistance is what we feel when our mind creates a blockage in the flow of energy, and something that can be easy becomes hard, tiring us out before we even begin. These blockages are created when there is an internal struggle between two parts of ourselves and one tells us to go, while another insists that we stay. For instance, our logic might be telling us that it is time to complete that project, but our emotional mind is telling us “I would really rather not”, or maybe it says “I would rather continue to watch Netflix”. Resistance can be deceptive, because it tells us that the thing we are resisting will be painful or exhausting, when it is the resistance itself that depletes our energy. When we understand the nature of resistance we can learn how to transform it, and this is key to unblocking our creative energy and living effortlessly.

Acknowledging our ability to choose opens the door to transforming resistance as it creates the impulse to willingly begin a task. Almost everything is a choice although we may not feel like it is when we do not see any preferable alternatives. Considering why we are doing something and taking responsibility for our actions is very important. We are going to do an experiment, sit quietly for a moment and then say the words “I have to go for a walk”. After repeating these words listen carefully to the sensations in your body and in your emotional state, notice if you feel light or heavy, vibrant or dull, uplifted or depressed. Now, we are going to do it again, but this time, say the words “I choose to go for a walk”, and again take a moment and feel how these words affect your experience.

 The difference between the two phrases is simple but the effect can be dramatic. Feeling like we “have to” boxes us in, and can disempower us, or even make us feel numb or lifeless. While remembering that we are choosing our path opens us up, empowers us and can bring us to life. In order to joyfully accomplish our daily tasks, we must align with the energy of choice. When we choose something our will power is engaged and we feel motivated. Conversely when we demand something of ourselves, we direct our attention inwards and try to force ourselves to do the thing, and this internally directed force creates resistance. Instead of using our energy to push at ourselves, we can use it to do the thing that we choose to do. These two approaches may seem similar, but the outcome is very different!

Even when we align with our choices, there are times that we are tired, lack motivation, or our emotional state distracts us from the task at hand. In order to move forward smoothly we must accept our starting point and embrace ourselves in the present moment. This is why, before we begin a task it can be helpful to touch inside of ourselves so that we can understand how we are truly feeling, whether it is sadness, joy, fear, frustration or any other state of being, we can take notice of what is there and use it to fuel our actions. So, instead of trying to override how we feel, we can tune in, feel it, accept it, and carry forward.

Take some time before you begin a new task and think about how you want it to go, using the mind to visualize what you are going to do before you do it. When we attempt to plan while we act, we are multi-tasking, and our energy is split in two directions at once. Using imagery and our feeling senses before acting, can set us up for an easier task. Once we understand our starting point, have chosen where we want to go, and can see where we want to end up, there is only one thing left to do – relax and enjoy the ride. We can now settle in and enjoy being present with the experience of doing.

The only real struggle is within us, and the irony is that we are bound for annihilation when we fight with ourselves, yet this is what so many of us choose. So please, do not fight with how you feel, because you cannot win – we must work together with all the parts of ourselves to succeed. Each of us has a voice of struggle, a voice of wisdom, a voice of logic, a voice of creativity, and a voice of love. It is only when we take care of all the parts of ourselves that we are taken care of. We do not need to remove resistance from our lives, never to be seen again, but rather meet resistance with openness so that we may transform it into our dreams, because where there is resistance there is potential.

Written by Sijie Jessie Zsolt

As we continue on the journey of self-development there is a natural tendency for many of us to need to know when and how we will arrive at our destination. In our search for answers about how to get there, it can be easy to miss that we are evolving and simply asking the right questions encourages the transformation. Constantly focusing on how we will achieve our goals can depreciate our sense of personal value as we get stuck in a loop of ‘not there yet’. For it is not our success or failure, that define us, it is the relationship we have with ourselves and it is through this relationship that we connect to the rest of the world. 

The part of us that needs to know is on a quest to find logical explanations for our circumstances and how to move forward. This need to know can be considered an aspect of the conscious mind and it wraps information into small packages of thought. The trouble with the conscious mind is that it is only a small fraction of the mind as a whole and when we weight it too heavily, it overshadows our innate, inborn wisdom.  Too much focus with the conscious mind narrows our perspective and disconnects us from the mysterious growth that unfolds when we do not calculate every step. When the conscious begins to surrender to our deeper ways of understanding we can see that questions are more important than answers. When we ask questions and remain open we see that there are infinite potentials and that following the threads of our curiosity tends to lead us to deeper learning and provides the mind with an advantageous direction. 

Setting goals and having something to work towards is one of the ways to provide us with a sense of direction and purpose. But goals can be hijacked by the conscious mind and used as a measuring stick for whether we are doing well or not. Most of our life is spent growing into goals rather than achieving them, meaning that the way we grow, one small step at a time, is where we should place importance. After we set a goal we must surrender to the changes that take us there because inevitably we will make some stops along the way and find ourselves in some unexpected places before we arrive. 

The conscious mind becomes our ally when we use it to make decisions about when and how to act. We can use it to filter through information and then choose which way we want to go, but as we take the journey, we can settle in and embrace our unanswered questions as a source of strength and willingness to learn.

Written by Sijie Jessie Zsolt

In the last article we discussed different modes of perception and the cultivation of awareness around how we feel. Developing awareness and acceptance of our feelings can lead us on a path to a more fulfilling and fruitful life. However, once we become more aware we can easily be left desiring change. Learning how to encourage change in the direction we choose, requires tapping into the power of our own mind, but first we need to understand why our mind works the way it does. 

Each of us perceives the world through a series of learned subconscious patterns. These patterns come together to create a paradigm that is uniquely biased and inseparable from our sense of self and our lived experiences. Consider a baby, when we are born everything is new, and so each reaction is authentic and uncontrolled. As we grow, we learn how to survive under the conditions that we are provided with, and thus we learn what to expect from the world. Then, throughout our lives, these expectations creep in and become our reality as we continue to repeat these patterns. Personal transformation is inevitable, but the direction of that change depends on the direction of the mind.

The mind is powerful and it creates our reality, so taking responsibility for how we feel is central to our ability to change. No matter the situation that we are faced with, our reaction is ours. Developing clarity between a situation on the outside and our reaction on the inside is key to creating desired changes.

As we practice awareness of our daily experiences, we may encounter feelings that we do not understand. For instance, if we had a bad experience on the beach as a child and we were very afraid, we might learn to associate water with fear. Later in life we may forget the original experience but maintain a fearful association with the water. Then, every time we are near water we may feel fearful, and begin to believe that the fear is justified and that the water is dangerous. This principle applies to things that bring us joy and comfort as well. In another example, as a child we may have experienced meals to be a time of connectedness and enjoyment for our family, so throughout our life meals continue to be a pleasurable and relaxing time for us. Memories become experiences and experiences become the essence of who we are. We are able to change, but first we must recognize that our perceptions of the world are reflections of the paradigm within which we live.

Once an experience is internalized, it exists within us as a potential vibration, and when that memory is stimulated our mind will reproduce the vibration. So, when I go to the beach my mind connects water to fear and the fear vibration is reproduced. I become afraid, and then I may start to make sense of the vibration by thinking something bad will happen when I am on the beach. Once a vibration has been created it can be challenging to change it using a thought, instead we need to use a different vibration to rebalance it. You can begin to experiment with this in your own practice by recalling joyful and comforting memories and then noticing how exploring the memory changes the way you feel. Recalling memories can be a great way to begin to understand how your mind produces vibration that changes the way you feel. Learning to transform the way we feel is essential to making desired changes and tapping into the power of our mind.

Written by Sijie Jessie Zsolt

Meeting ourselves with acceptance, curiosity, and love, has a magical way of enriching our lives. Sometimes a resistance to life can develop when we do not exercise our awareness and deep listening skills. But what exactly is it that we are attempting to do? Mindfulness has become a buzzword that can be so general that it loses potency, and the direction for practice can become muddled. Refamiliarizing ourselves with our ability to feel can be a beautiful way to enrich our lives and deepen our understanding of others and ourselves. I cannot imagine a more pertinent time for an internal practice than in this time of social isolation. Deepening our relationship with ourselves can transform the world around us. Becoming curious about our experiences and getting to know ourselves means learning to feel, and feeling can come in many forms. We can feel with the five senses and we can feel with the emotions. We can also feel the more subtle exchange of energies. Connecting with spirit becomes a perspective through which we are able to embrace our life’s experiences, and it does not require that you follow a religion in order to participate.  Each aspect of our experience comes together to paint the landscape of our life, and how deeply we choose participate is up to us.

The five senses: sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing connect us to our environment. An external stimulus from the environment is perceived through our senses and guides us in making sense of the world. Hearing the echo of an empty room, smelling the fragrance of freshly cooked rice, or seeing fresh green grass in the springtime offers us understanding of our environment. The five senses open us up and connect us to the external world.

If the five senses are a gateway to the external world, then the emotions are a gateway to our internal world. Anger, joy, worry, grief, and fear, all become internal sources of stimulus. But our internal world does not remain isolated from our experience of the external, as there is an exchange between the emotional and sensual aspects of our awareness. Emotions can cascade outwards and influence our senses, just as sensual experiences can stimulate an emotional response. We can experience this overlap between our sensual and emotional worlds when an external stimulus transforms into an internal stimulus, such as the sun shining on our skin transforming into a feeling of joy. We can also experience how an internal stimulus can influence our perception of an external stimulus; it is in this way that sadness can influence our ability to taste our food. Understanding the exchange between these two spheres of awareness, we can start to see how we are co-creating our reality.

Energetic perception continues to occur even in the absence of stimulation from the five senses. Take for instance, walking into your home at the end of day and finding it empty. There is a feeling when the house is empty compared to when someone is home, and you may even feel it before you open the door. Another example of this is when you are thinking about an old friend and then they phone you out of the blue. Energetic perception can easily be dismissed as coincidence. Empathy is the cross over between energetic and emotional perceptions. The stronger of a connection we share with another person, the more energy exchange there will be between us, and the more we can be influenced by the way they are feeling.

Spiritual perceptions can be understood from a universal perspective. This way of perceiving can bring a sense of peace or understanding to a situation. It can also help bring light into challenging times, as it is a more holistic way of experiencing the world. Spiritual perception has a wide frame as it can hold our other experiences inside of it and provide us with a sense of belonging. 

Throughout our life experiences we transition through these different modes of perception. As individuals it is common to lean more heavily into one of these areas of experience than the others and different activities tend to sync more strongly with one mode of feeling than the rest. For instance, the muscle burn associated with exercising stimulates us on a physical level, while watching a good movie might stimulate us on an emotional level, and meditation can stimulate us on a spiritual level. Living a balanced life means welcoming all of our feelings into our awareness. We will most likely favour some feelings over others but if we listen carefully to our experiences we can develop clarity of where we lean more heavily and where we are missing sensations.

There is a chance, that as we practice building our awareness, we will find certain areas that are numb. This may apply to parts of our body, our emotional states, or possibly some of the more subtle modes of perception. A lack of feeling is also relevant, and with some awareness, self-love, and patience we can bring those places back to life. As we practice we may also encounter physical, emotional, or energetic discomfort. Discomfort, or pain, is how we understand that something is out of balance and needs some care and attention. Pain does not mean that you are doing something wrong, it is a message, and if we listen, it can teach us how to lead a more balanced and joyful life.

In cultivating a relationship where we respectfully listen to ourselves, we will begin to understand how each of these perspectives influences one another. Often it only requires embracing our experience for us to understand and learn how to adapt. It is in the acceptance of our experiences that we are able to feel our way through challenging moments and deeply enjoy our lives in all that they have to offer.

Written by Sijie Jessie Zsolt