One theory is a Catholic priest, Valentine, was imprisoned for helping Christians escape Roman prisons. While he imprisoned himself, Valentine fell in love with a young girl who visited him. Allegedly, before his death, Valentine wrote a letter and signed it, “From your Valentine.” Thus, the first Valentine’s Day card was created, or so it is reported. continue reading
By Xiaomei Cai, L.Ac., Ph.D.
In China, the New Year celebration is the biggest holiday of the year. Everyone makes a great effort to reunite with family members and spend some time together.
In the days leading up to the New Year, the focus is on cleaning the house, decorating, and making feng shui adjustments that suit with the new energy arriving. The Monkey’s flower is
The New Year’s Eve dinner is the feast of all feasts! Dish after dish arrives at the table. The sense of having more than enough is important – it represents the hope that there will be food aplenty for everyone throughout the year. Likewise, many of the individual dishes are symbolic. For example, the essential fish and dumplings mean “prosperous” (these are a play on words), while noodles and long beans are representative of “long life.”
Shou Sui means “after the New Year’s dinner,” and refers to the tradition of staying up at least until midnight to watch the fireworks – but many family members stay up all night, talking and catching up with relatives and friends they have may not have seen all year.
There are different ways of wishing people “Happy New Year,” depending on what region of China you are in. We are from Southern China, where our traditional greeting is “Gong Xi Fa Cai!”, which means “congratulations and prosperity.” Other greetings are:
The themes of the New Year, as you can see, center around harmony, prosperity, safety and good health.
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The Chinese calendar welcomes the New Year on January 27, 2017: the Year of the Fire Rooster.
It will probably come as no surprise that one of the Rooster’s outstanding characteristics is punctuality. The rooster crows to get us all up and moving and ready to face the day. Smart, confident, not afraid to speak up, the Rooster has lots of energy and self-discipline. The Rooster is raring to go, with lots of ideas, and doesn’t want to have to wait for others to catch up. This is the year of the Fire Rooster, which specifically points to trustworthiness and a knack for handling money. So, all of us should take note – this is the year to start a beneficial morning routine and keep our finances well-organized.
The Rooster takes pride in his fine feathers and has been known to strut around, showing off and being overtly flirtatious. He might tend to lecture a bit too much and be a little bit too certain that he is always right, but make no mistake – he is paying attention and noticing everything about others, too. Roosters are a great communicators who enjoys giving gifts and creating a welcoming environment. They don’t hide or keep secrets; they put themselves out there, just as they are.
Roosters can be impatient and tend toward perfectionism, so they are bound to feel high levels of stress at times. For everyone this year, the challenge is to find time and ways to channel the energy – cardiovascular exercise like running and swimming are beneficial – and relax – by spending time outdoors and travelling. Make a point of eating regularly and healthfully, no matter how busy you are, and keep up with preventative health measures like getting acupuncture treatment.
We wish you and your loved ones the very best in health and happiness in the coming year. From all of us at Art of Wellness, Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Here are some ideas for creating a morning routine inspired by the Rooster:
The flu, also known as influenza, is a highly contagious respiratory infection that is caused by a number of viruses. To date, there are approximately 26 to 30 different known strains of the flu virus. This is one of the reasons the flu vaccine has only mild efficacy. The flu vaccine itself, typically only covers five to seven strains of the flu. Symptoms of the flu include fever, coughing, a sore throat, fatigue, muscle aches, pains, runny nose and watery eyes. continue reading
It’s the new year, and we start it with plans for the creation of new, positive habits. But, we all know it is easy to become frustrated and abandon our attempts before we’ve begun to feel the benefits. Here are some tips for setting intentions and making changes that will last, not just for through this year, but for a lifetime.
When we live our lives in accordance with our positive intentions, every action becomes an expression and validation of our selves and our power to achieve our goals.
