I’d like to tell you about the time I spent as an airplane mechanic and the valuable lessons it taught me about life and the human body.

On a macro level of just about anything, systems have concepts and the concepts are what make them work. The system of an airplane, for instance, has many concepts in motion: hydraulics, pneumatics, electronics… Those concepts are put into fruition through apparatuses. And in each apparatus, there’s a collection of smaller concepts that are connected to make that apparatus work.

For example, you might have a specific problem – let’s say the landing gear won’t go down. We review all the concepts involved, from the most obvious to the least obvious until we get to a point where the problem and solution are clear.

This is a just like a human being! We are the giant airplane made of smaller pieces that make the airplane work. Our micro system is as small as our macro system is large.

I approach clients the same way I would an airplane, in a system-to-concept, macro-to-micro way. A client might give me with a specific pain or condition. I do not diagnose (because I’m not a doctor), but I listen to the issue and pursue a trail of clues. I’ll ask: are you breathing? Are you drinking water? Are you sleeping? And if gather more information and keep narrowing it down, the body starts to tell us exactly where the Chi is blocked.

Besides systems and concepts, fixing airplanes also taught me two other very important lessons: 1) Do not worry and 2) Do your best.

When you are flying up in the air, you can’t stop and fix whatever you might be worried about. Whatever you go up with is exactly what you come down with, so you might as well get comfortable with it.

“IT’S TOO LATE TO WORRY, SO YOU MIGHT AS WELL ENJOY YOURSELF!”

One of the reasons you are flying is to have fun. You can’t enjoy yourself if you are worried. If you have done all the things you are required by the FAA and you can’t find anything wrong… well, get up in the air and have a great time. Don’t worry if you are going to crash. There’s nothing to do about it if you do, and you’ll miss the whole point of flying in the meantime!