RootingShen:

RootingShen is a paradigm, arising out of traditional Five Element acupuncture protocols, classical theories of acupuncture and the philosophy of HeavenEarthMan. It stretches beyond the confines of modern acupuncture, drawing on the Daoist alchemical roots that gave rise to all acupuncture practices. It goes beyond culture, tradition, beliefs, assumptions and all such time/space specifics. It is therefore open to qualified practitioners of all practice modalities who are committed to living compassion, and suitable for all patients who are struggling deeply to be themselves in their lives.

This paradigm understands, diagnoses and treats people where there is a fundamental breakdown in the balance of the strength of the interior and/or the safeguarding of the exterior of an individual, leading to conditions that are classically called xie qi.

It consists of the following processes:
• attending to the source of xie qi & resolving its effects
• facilitating the re-establishment of the person's true qi & regulated movement (zheng qi), which may or may not involve re-aligning his/her 5 spirits and 5 wills, or jingshen (essences and spirits)

Any of the internal, external or miscellaneous causes of disease, from an Oriental medical perspective, can cause pathogenic xie qi:
•wind, cold, damp, dryness, fire, summer heat (the 6 external causes of disease)
•sadness, excitation, anger, fear, fright/shock, oppression (from grief/sorrow/melancholy), worry/overthinking (the 7 internal causes of disease)
•constitutional/hereditary factors, improper diet/eating habits, imbalanced work/rest/sleep, excessive sex, lack of/excessive exercise, parasites/worms (gu) or poisons/addictions, accident/trauma, wrong treatment (the 8 miscellaneous causes of disease)

Treatment may involve insertion needles, non-insertion needles, acupuncture points, work with plant spirits, healing techniques, rituals, prayers or anything that serves (and that the practitioner is qualified to and legally licensed to practice, and where the patient has given informed consent). It is an approach that is equally suited to major healing transformations and to day-to-day engagement with mindful life. This work is not dependent upon any common background, spiritual practice, religious belief or lifestyle of the practitioner or patient. RootingShen is not an external technique, rather it is an internal destination, for the practitioner becoming a better instrument of the Universe (please substitute your own vocabulary), and for the patient embracing his/her proper nature (xing) or authenticity, which in Oriental medicine comes from the ‘mandate of Heaven’.

The RootingShen paradigm arose out of Niki's work with zheng (regulated) and xie (perverse) qi during numerous treatments over 23 plus years. As with the rest of her practice, she was driven to widen her clinical skills to best serve the needs of the folks she was working with, then to research the basis for this expansion throughout classical literature. Her treatment style remains firmly within the realms of Five Element acupuncture, informed by traditional acupuncture theory & by Daoist philosophy.

For the practitioner, there is a developmental aspect to this work. Each RootingShen treatment is completely unique and makes new demands on the person’s capacity for unconditional love and compassion. The practitioner needs to leave behind assumptions, expectations and habits of everyday practice, being willing to submit to the process of miracles. Each treatment adds, however, to one’s breadth as a practitioner, both in terms of RootingShen and normal acupuncture/bodywork/plant spirit medicine/shiatsu/healing practices. RootingShen is primarily a model for rigorous practitioner development & professional self cultivation, rather than a treatment approach, as many protocols can be used depending on the background/legal qualification(s) of the specific practitioner and the modality choices of the informed patient.

For the practitioner, learning to become an instrument means knowing your unique gifts as a human being and as an individual, and then letting them go: chunk-sizing a logical development of new skills until you can both call on these at will and finally go beyond them into true submission to the mystery of the Dao.

"Great healers go straight to the point & loose no time - they solve the problem. If they are gifted, they can treat without much diagnosis because they have an authenticity that connects directly with the authenticity of the patient. Then there is joy in the practitioner that is received with joy by the patient. If the spirits are adjusted well, the healing will hold and the results will be amazing."

"Thus, become what you are as a human being, and it will be good for your patient. Healing is not nursing or mothering. The way to care for a patient is just to be yourself and be with him, looking into his eyes. When both patient and practitioner are in communication with their own spirits, the communication with Heaven is open. Thus, making your own spirits powerful is sufficient."

The above quotes were taken from notes from a seminar given in 1990 by Father Claude Larre and Elisabeth Rochat de la Vallée (from the Ricci Institute in Paris & the European School of Acupuncture), published in the Journal of Traditional Acupuncture, Winter, 1990-1991.

ROOTINGSHEN

Root (noun)
• the usually underground portion of a plant that lacks buds, leaves, or nodes and serves as support, draws minerals and water from the surrounding soil, and sometimes stores food
• the embedded part of an organ or structure such as a hair, tooth, or nerve, that serves as a base or support
• an essential part or element; the basic core
• a primary source; an origin
• a progenitor or ancestor from which a person or family is descended
• the condition of being settled and of belonging to a particular place or society
• the element that carries the main component of meaning in a word and provides the basis from which a word is derived by adding affixes or inflectional endings or by phonetic change
• a number that when multiplied by itself an indicated number of times forms a product equal to a specified number
• a number at which a polynomial has the value zero
• the note from which a chord is built

Rooting (verb)
• to grow roots or a root
• to become firmly established, settled, or entrenched
• to plant and fix deeply in the earth, or as in the earth; to implant firmly; hence, to make deep or radical; to establish
• to come into existence; originate
• to dig in the earth with or as if with the snout or nose
• to rummage for something
• to give audible encouragement or applause to a contestant or team; cheer, to lend support to someone or something
• to tear up by the root; to eradicate; to extirpate (with, up, out, or away)
• settle, root, take root, steady down, settle down (become settled or established and stable in one's residence or life style)
• take sides with; align oneself with; show strong sympathy for
• back, endorse, plump for, plunk for, support (be behind; approve of )

Shen (noun)
• a deity, the soul, the spirit, the 5 spirits (shen, hun, po, yi and zhi), the divine

Some Further Reading:
Arvigo, R Sastun
Bokenkamp, SR Early Daoist Scriptures
Chopra, D How to Know God
Chopra, D The Way of the Wizard
Deng, MD Chronicles of Tao
Forstater, M The Tao
Kornfield, J After the Ecstasy, the Laundry
Larre, C and de la Vallée, E Rooted in Spirit
Larre, C and de la Vallée, E The Patient-Practitioner Relationship
Lewis, IM Ecstatic Religion; a study of Shamanism
Ni, HC The Taoist Inner View of the Universe & the Immortal Realm
Robinet, I Taoism: Growth of a Religion
Robinet, I Taoist Meditation
Schipper, K The Taoist Body
Strickmann, M Chinese Magical Medicine
Winged Wolf Shaman of Tibet
Wong, E Cultivating Stillness

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