Positive Health Online

Chinese Nutrition - The Energetics Of Food

by Neil Kingham

Our western view of food and nutrition seems to focus upon chemical constituents and calories. However, according to the principles of Chinese medicine all foods can be categorized...

Choosing Your Own Direction

by Vicki McKenna

When I was in my mid-twenties, in the nineteen seventies, like many others I followed a guru and was a member of a cult. My teacher gave me a sense of direction and brought a sense ...

Coronavirus: A Daoist Approach

by Vicki McKenna

So here we all are – in lock down and under the threat of infection from a virus. It’s not an easy time for any of us. Hard for most of us emotionally as we are separated from our f...

Creating a Harmonious Home

by Vicki McKenna

After my toddler grandchildren have paid a visit, my living room looks as if I have been burgled. Toys are strewn about, a mess of paper and paints – interrupted works of art lie ab...

Daoist Diary - Late Summer

by Vicki McKenna

In her Daoist Diary for late summer, Vicki McKenna looks at how we face change in our lives. At these times we often feel vulnerable and deeply uneasy. We create strategies to allo...

Daoist Diary: Autumn

by Vicki McKenna

To followers of the Dao the seasons can be powerful teachers and through them we learn to flow better with the circumstances of our lives. This is a time of letting go, of withdraw...

Daoist Diary: Spring

by Vicki McKenna

Outer seasonal changes seem to affect us on an inner level. In Spring, this manifests as a surge of energy and enthusiasm for new projects. This is a very appropriate response, acc...

Daoist Diary: Summer

by Vicki McKenna

Vicki McKenna continues her Daoist diary from Issue 87 (April '03). According to the Daoist view, summer is the season of the fire element. The changing of seasons gives us the opp...

Daoist Diary: Winter

by Vicki McKenna

Regular Contributor Vicki McKenna presents the winter entry to her Daoist Diary. She looks at the importance of creating a restful time for ourselves in winter to build healthy imm...

Daoist Tips for 21st Century Living

by Vicki McKenna

This column looks at the Daoist way of life, which is one of balance – somewhere between strain and over-indulgence. A life where we can be ourselves, in harmony with nature… basic...

Daoist Tips for the 21st Century - Harmonizing the Spirits

by Vicki McKenna

It’s easy to lose touch in our hurly-burly world with a sense of inner calm and stillness – the centre of your being. As I write, the UK seems to be at war with itself over Brexit –...

Daoist Tips For The 21st Century - Let A Tree Be Your Teacher

by Vicki McKenna

A couple of years ago I visited the giant Redwood forests in Oregon and spent several hours experiencing the quiet serenity of these massive trees. No wonder these forests are consi...

Daoist Tips for the 21st Century - Living Abundantly

by Vicki McKenna

We live in times of austerity with job losses, short term contracts, government cuts to welfare benefits and many of us wonder how we can keep our heads above water and continue to ...

Daoist Tips For The 21st Century - The Mother of Us All

by Vicki McKenna

The woman who tucks in your label on the bus; the woman who packs up the leftovers for your lunch the next day; the woman who knits you a hat for winter; the woman who shows you whe...

Daoist Tips for the 21st Century - Transforming Emotions

by Vicki McKenna

Our health suffers when we avoid our emotions. Alcohol and drug abuse, screen time or over eating – there are many ways to suppress our feelings. And when we do this we may find our...

Diagnosis in Chinese Medicine: Intention - The Art of 'Doing Nothing'

by Angela Hicks

This column focuses on the importance and power of using Intention when treating patients. Intention can take us from being good technicians into the realm of healing, and result...

Drawing on the Dao: A Capsizing World

by Vicki McKenna

This article focuses on how to maintain balance and harmony the Daoist way in the throes of upheavals surrounding us ecologically, socially, politically and economically.

Drawing on the Dao: A more Flexible Approach

by Vicki McKenna

In this column the author shares her experience on how the Daoist approach helped her with her disability (she had polio as a child) and what led her down this route. She focuses o...

Drawing on the Dao: A Rich Weave of Adventure

by Vicki McKenna

The author explains the Dao Way, of the ebbing and flowing of energy with its fluctuations, times of fullness and emptiness as well as highs and lows, by opening with a quote by ...

Drawing on the Dao: Happiness

by Vicki McKenna

The author explains that Daoist philosophy teaches us that happiness is to be found within; that the Heart is ‘the spiritual and emotional centre of the body’ and on the deepest le...