27/07/2022
Issue 85 - From the Editor, Cheryl Coull
Movement is Life
Here on Earth, most of us humans (not to mention all other species) are facing more uncertainty than ever before in our lifetimes: the senseless war in the Ukraine, human-caused climate change, a
pandemic that will not go away, and other mindboggling debacles and calamities. We NAJOM members appear to be carrying on steadfastly.
We write articles and publish this journal like clockwork, in July, November, March, keeping a schedule established 28 years ago when the world was a very different place. And we are very busy with our patients who need us more than ever, in part because mainstream healthcare is in a state of collapse, with severe shortages of doctors, nurses, clinics, hospital beds. But how are we really faring, as individuals, practitioners and teachers within this global community? Are we keeping healthy, hopeful, engaged? Are we staying connected with each other? Actually seeing one another in person at all? Is social media enough to make up for our narrowed travel horizons? Are we confident there is a cohort of younger practitioners and teachers enthusiastically moving our ideals forward? Or, after two years of global disruption, are we experiencing an ebb in our energies on a personal/professional level, feeling uncertain about where or how to move forward?
As you make our 85th NAJOM issue your summer reading, we invite you to consider the above and other questions in the context of your practice of Oriental medicine and your membership in
NAJOM’s global community. Where are you, and how are you, in Japan, North America, India, Europe, Australia, South America? If you like, email us just a short letter, sharing any experiences, perspectives or visions that we can excerpt from for our next issue, in order to create something of a “profile” of our NAJOM community of 500 members worldwide. As Shudo Denmei ever reminds us, “forget self, serve others” requires that we also diagnose ourselves, and respond accordingly. Let’s check our own pulses and draw from our medicine that, because of times like these, has continued to evolve over millennia.
Meanwhile, if this, our 85th issue of NAJOM, with its focus on an exploration of the musculoskeletal system is any gauge, we are strong and still moving forward despite the time-stopping events
of the past two years. “Movement is Life,” Bob Quinn reminds us, quoting Moshe Feldenkrais. Our writers on this topic share very useful, new, and refreshing suggestions for alleviating some of the most obvious forms of “stuckness” in the human body, and hence, its spirit. Once again, moxa is heralded for its potency and versatility. Quinn and Jeffrey Dann promote the elegant simplicity of Yin Sotai. Komatsu Hiroaki demonstrates how sotai gently facilitates movement in the misshapen heads of babies.
Takahashi Hideo takes up the ancient dashin to loosen troublesome lumps of abdominal jaki linked to back pain and nearly everything else. Shinohara Shoji and Honda Susumu shine a new light on the tendinomuscular or sinew channels, so obvious we often forget about them. And, thankfully, Pamela Ferguson, relentlessy upbeat
and reliably responsive to every NAJOM topic, shares her successes with mobility challenged patients – one of which is often herself.
Indeed, this issue does suggest the qi is flowing well in our community, and more than that, it iscarrying us to new places. As you will see in our Bulletin Board and Reports sections, teachers
are teaching again – in person.
And so in our next issue, we invite you to share your “Observations of a master at work: introducing the teacher of your style (summarize the style in just a few lines), with a concise but subjective description of a treatment you have observed at any point in your career; one that readers will find helpful in their day-to-day work, or that may influence how we all approach our work.” Please submit your proposals soon, and the deadline for manuscripts is September 10, 2022.
Thank you and best wishes,
Cheryl Coull, editor
