Today, we’d like to introduce you to Christine Castillo. Christine was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Chris Shelton Parisa Shelton.
Christine , thank you so much for joining us today. We’d love for you to bring our readers up to speed – can you introduce yourself and share your story?
My story: it is a remarkable one… When I met Chris, I was a walking time bomb waiting to explode. I had no tools to work with my emotions and my stressors, I’d cry at the thought of stress because I could not handle my emotional life properly. I suppressed many emotions, to the point of numbness. My only outlet was alcohol and destructiveness, I knew no other way to cope.
I was a single mother with twins living in my father’s basement, working at Stanford University as an officer working all hours of the day. At times I worked late night shifts, slept in my car so I could begin the next shift. I was attending classes at San Jose State University working on a Bachelor’s in Justice Studies to become an officer or a juvenile probation officer (at the time), working on internships mentoring juveniles, battling custody with the kids father and trying to keep myself afloat. I had undoubtedly so much on my plate. I felt the pressure of life eating at me little by little. I felt like a stack of rocks were building up on my shoulders from carrying all the responsibilities of life.
For many years, I walked this earth with an insane amount of stress not realizing it was stress, I thought it was “normal” and I thought this was part of the grind. I went day by day studying late nights, working, changing diapers, making late dinners, cleaning and getting ready for the next day. Life for me was one day at a time. Living in California and wanting to live a better life here, it is a relatable story. I was an ambitious woman, on a mission with goals in mind and a plan. My plan always involved making life better for my two wonderful children -who I felt deserved the world, and owning my own property to live in. The absence of their father made me ruthless. I stopped at nothing to work hard, take every opportunity, and do all I could in the amount of time given to me, even with all odds against me.
As you can imagine, this type of lifestyle did not last long. In addition to experiencing all adulthood stressors, my childhood memories had many unresolved issues which needed amending and required my peace. All my brothers and sisters encountered so many traumas growing up with social workers, Child Protective Services (CPS), placed in foster homes, living with family members and living in poor conditions. At some point, we were all separated and thankfully my father was able to get all of us back together. It was a difficult time in our lives.
Growing up, I witnessed my mother being sick my whole life. She was battling many medical conditions; schizophrenia, diabetes, arthritis, hypothyroidism, just to name a few. She was always taking medications. I observed the way she lived; in and out of doctor offices endless medications which all had side effects. Never having a real conversation with my mother, she was physically present but emotionally and mentally absent. She had her sweet nurturing moments, my fainted memories of her involved making things with her hands; sewing, taking care of animals, and making her famous curtido and agua frescas. Other days, she would have manic behaviors and would talk to herself. She had the same routine every day; she would wake up at the same time everyday. This was her life. When I reflect on this being a part of my life, I knew I wanted to change my life.
In 2015, I was hospitalized, I felt as if my heart was going to jump out of my body. I felt like I was drowning, experiencing abnormal heart palpitations, dropping weight, losing my hair, and feeling tired all the time. Resulting in a diagnosis with Hyperthyroidism, aka Grave’s Disease, which was very common in my family history. What I didn’t know is how much this diagnosis would affect my life. I began to think the worst of the worst: “My kids will grow up without a mother, father was never around, who will carry that responsibility?” I was scared and I had a wake up call. Once I was released, I made a promise to myself to take care of myself.
When I met Chris, I was seeking help and I needed answers which did not involve meds. I wanted to understand and learn what was going on with my health and why this was happening. I went for my first consultation with no expectations. After that day, it completely changed my life.
Today, I feel resurrected, my old life was a lesson for me to learn from, and I learned how I would want to recreate a new way of living for myself and my kids. Practicing Qigong has helped me learn self-empowerment, manage my stressors, let go of experiences and pain which no longer served me. It has taught me to balance my mental health. I have learned to forgive in ways I felt challenged in, because I never knew what forgiveness was, until I began to practice forgiveness. I learned what healthy relationships are, along with working on nutrition, exercising and practicing Qigong as part of my medicine. Learning to embrace my past as a way of beauty, even though at the time of my stressors, it did not seem so beautiful. How I see my life today is so different from where I was 8 years ago.
I was the client when I started this journey, became the teacher, and am now learning in mastering the ways of Curative Qigong. I am grateful to have learned these tools of holistic and alternative health with Chris. He has mentored me to become the person I am today, teaching me the fundamentals of Chinese Medicine, Curative Qigong practices, acupuncture, cupping and running a successful business. I am now a trusted affiliate of Morning Crane and owner of Morning Crane Healing Arts Center in San Jose, California.
Please tell us more about your practice.
Our practices, once you master them you become a better version of yourself. These are tools which one can use when there are imbalances within the body. For Example, when someone feels as if they are experiencing high anxiety, a terrible heartbreak, loss of a loved one, tragic accident, traumatic events past or present. Traumas cause unseen emotional blockages internally – these are part of the human experiences. What makes Qigong practices so unique? Have you ever gone to the doctors and had a regular check up, knowing that within yourself you knew something was not okay internally? Something felt off, but all the results are showing you’re healthy. So you start the research: mental stress, emotional stress, what is anxiety, why am I continuing to have stomach problems even though blood labs are showing good health. Well, Qigong is learning all the intangible things schools and doctors forget to talk about. It’s the unseen illnesses which are caused by our own thoughts, habitual habits and patterns. It’s The energy Qi (chee) which was given to us during conception, it was our parents’ habitual habits we have learned and learned no other way of living. Have you ever had a feeling in your throat, the stuckness which has been there your whole life and there was never a diagnosis of that feeling? The unspoken words you never said to an old boyfriend, the emotions you suppressed when you were a child. You replay those moments over and over of how things would’ve gone if you said them a certain way. Those emotional factors come into play in anger, regret, hurt and pain. Causing obsessive thinking, which can definitely be a habitual pattern. Something a pill can probably help for the time being, but will not help in the long run. Qigong helps the long run patterns we never learned how to change. Illness caused by our own habitual patterns of holding onto our own sufferings because we never learned any other way. It’s the subtle things that no one has answers to but Chinese Medicine does… It is truly simple and subtle the practices we teach. One: Qigong (chee-gung), is a simple exercise and energy cleansing exercise. When I listen to people wanting to release emotional stressors, I think of Qigong. It requires your undivided attention, your intention, time and sacred space. This is something we all need to provide for ourselves.
So, as we mentioned to our audience earlier, you were introduced to us by Chris Shelton Parisa Shelton and Morning Crane dba Shelton Qigong and we really admire them and what they’ve built. For folks who might not be as familiar, can you tell them a bit about your experience with Morning Crane dba Shelton Qigong.
As I mentioned before, I was seeking answers. Before visiting Chris, I had already seen various doctors and even after seeing Chris, I continued to hear the same results with my diagnosis. Results: I would need to take medication for the rest of my life to manage my hormone levels. As I continued to learn more about hormone imbalances; it all sounded very complex and I almost felt as if I had no control over this disease. Until I met Chris who taught me ways to take care of myself and learn how to better heal myself.
I began with the introduction with Chris’ book: Qigong for Self-Refinement. I read that book cover to cover, with this, my curiosity grew about other ways to look at the body as a whole. My whole life I have been exposed to western medicine, seen many people suffer with illnesses taking medication with side effects. Traditional Chinese Medicine, TCM offered a sense of hope. In Chris’ book he explained his life story which was very similar to mine. Both single parents and overcoming difficult obstacles in our lives. It was incredible to hear his life story and how far he has come to be where he is now. He taught me a new way to live life and has given me hope to live life differently. Both Chris and Parisa are down to earth people who keep it real which made it easy for me to work with. They provided knowledge in areas I have never been exposed to, before meeting Chris and Parisa I never once tried meditation. I never knew what Qigong was, let alone how to pronounce the word Qigong (chee-gung).
The book opened my eyes to the basic fundamentals of TCM, Five Elements traits and characteristics which can cause illnesses in the long run, meditation and lenient Qigong exercises to alleviate any emotional stress, pain and discomforts. It was truly motivational for me to learn this and learn so many details as to our bodies and seasonal changes we encounter, we are sometimes never consciously aware of, until we slow down or get sick. Practicing Qigong has taught me to learn more about how my body works. The more I came in to see Chris and Parisa the more I learned about how cupping can help, little did I know how much cupping has elevated my health by detoxifying and moving my Qi & blood which has been stuck for a really long time. I felt 100% better every time I would leave the clinic. Many of my emotional imbalances began to disappear. Chris would listen to my experiences in life, would magically heal me and coach me on ways I can better take care of myself.
Chris had the 30 days of Qigong on Youtube videos for free for us students to watch, study and practice. This became a ritual for me, I began waking up at 5am to practice Qigong, so I can begin work at 7am. It was truly a revolution of change for me. People began to notice how different I was, in a good way. I felt better everyday, I wasn’t feeling exhausted and tired all the time like before. As I would visit Chris at the clinic, I began to tell him with excitement what I had been feeling. He had a video on the Triple Burner/Pericardium/Heart, which were areas at the time I felt the most suppressed in. I mentioned I had gotten so much better at Qigong. I began to feel the areas and the energies in my body which he would teach us about. It was an amazing moment to remember. Soon I became so conscious of my emotions, triggers, the meridians in the body, I could feel my tongue pulse connected to my heart, just like he had mentioned in his story when he first began his journey with Qigong Meditation. It was an accomplishment for me to get this far, and how connected I was within my body. It was beautiful.
Chris and Parisa have given me tools to use when I don’t feel like my normal self or become sick, I know exactly what to do. When I see one of my kids dealing with a cold or an illness, it has become easier for me to identify symptoms and the root causes of their sickness and I know to provide herbs, vitamins for
becoming more aware, and self conscious of who I am as a person. This allowed me to grow, prosper and teach others what I have been taught. Sessions with Chris and Parisa have been life changing.
Website: https://healinghands-massage.us
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morningcrane_sj/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-castillo-889530241/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christinecastilloqigong/
Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/morning-crane-healing-arts-center-san-jose-2
