Why call it “kika”? – kika is formed from two Chinese characters, or Kanji as they are known in Japanese. The ‘ki’ [ 喜 ] character means joy or happiness, the ‘ka’ [ 花 ] character means flower. Besides being taken from each of our daughters names the combination reflects a way of treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine is based on a “root and branch” approach. In order to get happy healthy flowers on your branches you need strong and balanced roots. The treatments on offer are to help strengthen your “roots” in order to maintain blossom on your branches!
So typically in acupuncture, treatment is structured in this way. Part is to strengthen the root or constitution and part is to address the symptom. Sometimes these parts of the treatment overlap.
The chi gong exercises can be seen as a kind of home therapy to strengthen one’s vital energy and improve health. Moving exercises co-ordinate the body’s muscle and nervous system and the standing exercises mimic the idea of a tree with strong roots, increasing stamina, circulation and lower body strength while relaxing the mind and lifting the spirit