LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Combining left and right brain disciplines in business


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Cathy Mu and Julie Gleeson met in a networking group for local business people and had instant chemistry. Mu the CPA and Gleeson the coach are women who live their lives striving for mindfulness and radiating positive energy. Mu became Gleeson's CPA and the latter discovered that Mu is also a Qi-Gong Master, who uses her practice for circulating the Qi or spiritual energy in all avenues of life, including the achievement of prosperity.

For the uninitiated Qi-Gong is an ancient Asian martial art used to channel one's Qi (vital energy) for good.

Mu explains that during her early formational years she sometimes wondered if she would not have to choose between her different aspirations - her "left-brain" pull for analytical and organizational work, and her "right-brain" practice centered on intuition and her spiritual quest. As she grew up in China, Mu witnessed her mother's recovery from illness through the practice of Qi-Gong and that practice became a part of her life. "I witnessed how Qi-Gong and the work with energy flow strengthened my mother's spirit and body," she remembers. "In China and later in the U.S. where I came to study, I sought Qi-Gong masters to deepen my practice."

As Mu earned her MBA from the University of Nevada and entered the business world, Qi-Gong became a side element of her life, until 2008 when she said a friend asked her if she would come to Sebastopol for a workshop with Qi-Gong Grand Master Chan. Mu says that it was during this workshop that the grand master tested her and designated her as a Qi-Gong master herself.

From then on, Mu has merged her two practices: CPA and financial planning, associated with Qi-Gong. She explains that Qi-Gong teaches how to move and channel energy in the body and in relation to the universe. It is a way to channel health, wisdom and also abundance.

Gleeson, who owns the Moraga-based coaching practice The Art of Living, says that Mu has more integrity than anybody she has ever met in her life, something she particularly values as Mu is her CPA and financial planner. She says that Mu leads with the heart, always placing the interest of her client first. She adds that the Lafayette woman also laughs a lot, something really good in a field too often driven by anxiety and scarcity.

Mu's CPA and financial planning practice is located in Walnut Creek, while she teaches Qi-Gong via the internet through a series of live video conferences. She says that she has students from all over the world who work with her and receive her energy. Each monthly module focuses on different physical systems such as Qi-Gong for the digestive system, the circulatory system, etc. She says that it is better to work on different systems at different times of the year. Abundance and prosperity are part of the series because she feels that everything is connected and that good health and abundance are connected.

Mu and Gleeson also hold workshops locally from time to time. The next one is scheduled in Moraga on July 28. Information will be posted on Gleeson's website at theartoflivinginc.com. More information about Mu's Qi-Gong practice can be found at purebeautifulhealing.org while information about her CPA practice can be found at www.CathyMu.com.