More notes on Dragon's Way

• Breakfast should be your richest meal, lunch your biggest, dinner your smallest.  

Last night I went over to Donna's after Vinny's.  Her son was away and it was a chance for us to hang out sans kids and finish a conversation we'd started last week.  It was amazing.  An hour turned into two and then three.  We talked, listened, shared, watched Lucy play, put on jackets and eventually went inside as dusk turned to night and the balance tipped towards the warmth of the house.

We drank tea, I had some cantaloupe, she had an ice cream sandwich, and then she had more tea and I enjoyed a mug of hot water.

By the time I got home it was 9:30.  I felt hungry.  Not overwhelmingly so, but my stomach had much less in it than it is used to having.  (It is very interesting that my stomach, and mind, have adjusted easily to this transition of having less food to work with.  It has been easier for my stomach than my mind.)

I knew I was going to be up for awhile (it was a LOST night) and felt a stab of fear that it was going to be hard to be up and conscious and feel hunger.  I went into the kitchen, but nothing called out to me.  I made some hot tea with honey, grabbed my herbs (I take them in pill form) and plopped down in front of the tv.

The feeling of hunger, which I think was truly more a feeling of absence...or roominess, passed.  And this morning, I realized that my stomach didn't hurt.  (It is recommended not to eat past 7 or 8pm to prevent digestion of your dinner from taking Qi that could otherwise be storing up as you sleep.)  Usually I feel something in my stomach when I wake up.  An ache, a heaviness, a hardness...some sort of energy blockage with a physical manifestation. 

I think it's actually been a few days since not feeling that way, but I didn't notice it till today.

• "Believe it or not, walnuts or pine nuts are excellent foods, and I recommend that you include them with breakfast each morning.  The walnuts and fruit are suggested to give you a really solid Qi foundation and a good amount of quality energy to begin your day."

• "Your stomach literally hates to receive cold things."

• Inborn Qi vs. Acquired Qi.  The Qi we are born with (Inborn) is like our savings account of life force.  We are born with a fixed amount and when this Qi is gone, we die.  Acquired Qi works like a checking account.  We can add Qi to this account throughout our lives, at any time.  But, if we spend from this account more than we put in, then the Qi automatically begins to be deducted from our savings account.

"Unfortunately, most people don't build up enough Acquired Qi in their checking accounts and must routinely withdraw 'funds' from their savings account of Inborn Qi for the day-to-day expenditures of life's activities.  What are these activities?  They include respiration, metabolism, healing from internal and external assaults, sleeping, eating, digestion, elimination, thinking, feeling, intuition, working, dealing with stress, balancing emotions, and more!  This is particularly true for anyone coping with the demands of today's world and who is constantly on the go, mentally, physically, and even emotionally."

"Your life is like a candle---you can be born with a small candle or a tall candle.  You have no choice in this.  How you protect its flame is now up to you.  If you've been given a long candle and you burn it carelessly, you will not last as long as a shorter candle that protects its flame.  The better you protect your light, the longer it remains lit."