Covid-19 - A Daoist Perspective
Ken Cohen (Gao Han) is a leader in the dialogue between ancient wisdom and modern science. He is a world-renowned health educator, China scholar, and Qigong Grandmaster. In a Zoom presentation (part of the Alternatives programme from St James Piccadilly), he discussed the Covid-19 pandemic from a Chinese astrology and Daoist perspective.
We are familiar with the Chinese years ascribed to animals, and use the signifiers in much the same way as we use sun signs to qualify personality and presage global events. However, each year also has one of the Five elements attributed to it and the animals themselves also are also associated with an element. Ken explained that 2019 - The Year of the Pig - was also an Earth year, and that Pig’s element is Water.
The Law of the Five Elements, which is the foundation of our acupuncture practice, is essentially a creative and harmonious cycle, but there is also a controlling cycle which can be destructive too. In Chinese medicine the Earth and Water elements together create potentially conflicting energy with the consequent weakening of their respective organs, the Spleen and the Kidney. The Earth absorbs the Water which means that the Spleen becomes damp and congested, creating phlegm. The Kidney which controls our core energy becomes depleted, impacting multiple systems in our body and especially our immune response. The Metal which is the child of Earth is also compromised and so therefore are the Lungs. So in 2019 when the Covid-19 outbreak started the astrological map was ripe for a damp, toxic and febrile virus.
Ken went on show that most infectious diseases since 3000 BCE have started with unusual or inappropriate interactions between humans and animals, usually initiated by the loss of a natural habitat. Moreover, factors like pollution might further explain why the disease has spread prolifically in densely populated urban areas: the carbon molecules in our systems deactivate our natural immune response to the Covid-19 virus. Significantly too – Wuhan where the outbreak started had just rolled out 5G and there is some concern that the minute electrical impulses which control so many of our own internal systems are being disrupted by the electromagnetic forces.
Ken has been described as one of 9 “exceptional healers” able to demonstrate extraordinary physiologic states (evidenced through EEG, body potential, and bio-electric fields) and the first Qigong practitioner in the West to treat physician-referred patients. He demonstrated moving exercises, and breathing meditations that could decongest the spleen and support the lungs and the kidney. The kidney especially responds to the inner stillness of meditation.
He described Qi Gong as acupuncture without the needles in terms of its ability to move blocked energy and promote healthy flow to all the organs, and this is essentially the principle underlying the Five Element Acupuncture tradition. By maintaining energetic balance and harmony we build resilience against the impact of the viral invasion, and strengthen the ability of our organs to cope. We seek to reset and rebalance, reduce stress, promote connection and compassion which in turn impacts the health of our body, mind and spirit.
