We had a very interesting discussion on last night, when Peter Stanton joined us to explain how Chinese medicine practitioners would approach illnesses like lupus. He explained that lupus fell into a group of illnesses that were affected by the Dai Mai meridian, which is a horizontal flowing energy meridian around the belt area.

He explained that there were four key areas to consider:

• Hydration- he recommended drinking water as a habit with a pinch of sea salt to replace minerals
• Oxygenation- getting oxygen into our cells by walking, swimming or anything that improves breathing
• Free flowing energy-the importance of keeping emotional stuff flowing, this could be done through meditation, gardening, drawing, painting, walking
• Adrenal glands- which they believe have two parts, one that is replenished through the lungs and the rest of the body , one that is not replenished which lies in the kidneys.

It was a very enjoyable evening, with lots of good debate, so thank you to everyone who came along, to Mel for organising it and to Peter Stanton for explaining it all so clearly to us.