Thank you for taking the time to open and read this newsletter. Contributions are offered by senior faculty, Judy Bernard, Jude Ponton and Carmen Cicotti, each of them provides rich insights to aid our navigation through this season of Winter. Donna has shared a poem, and we've co-wrote a blog post. I chose a throwback photo as this month we celebrate the 20th anniversary of our first trip to Antarctica. This life altering journey gave us a deep understand of Sedna's power, she traveled with us, deepening our understanding of the weight of water's elemental power. It was also the first on many journeys to Earth's arctic regions.
Winter: Element of Water - Resonance, Heart, Hope, Stillness
Ellen F. Franklin, PhD, Donna Carey, LAc
The power of sound to travel through water at a speed four times faster than it travels through air provides a perspective on the season of winter and the Element of Water. Our bodies take in sound vibrations very deeply, traveling into our cells and souls. Specific planetary tones and intervals aid in our renewal, health and spiritual growth. This resonance, much like the flow of water, can promote flexibility and resilience. When we are open to the ways of water powerful change and transformation is possible, rippling out from us to those we serve.
Lao Tzu’s Taoist wisdom emphasizes the importance of harmony with nature, and water’s innate ability to overcome obstacles with grace, flexibility and resilience, needed now more than ever. This principle, captured by Lao Tzu’s writings also stresses the importance of adaptability.
In this interpertation by Ursula K. La Guin from Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Ways she amplifies the importance of water.
True goodness is like water.
Water’s good for everything.
It doesn’t compete.
It goes right to the low loathsome places,
and so finds the way.
For a house,
the good thing is level ground.
In thinking,
depth is good.
The good of giving is magnanimity.
of speaking, honesty;
of government, order.
The good of work is skill,
and of action, timing.
No competition,
so no blame
During these times that calls us outward to address radical social, cultural and societal changes, we must take time for inward reflection and renewal, to find the way of water. Carl Jung viewed all the aspects of water as relating to consciousness. He expressed that consciousness might be understood as a small island in the ocean of the unconscious, while the unconscious is part of the primordial condition of humankind.
Water is the element of empathy, connection and emotional currents. A symbol of adaptability and perseverance; it plays an essential role in sustaining life itself. Our emotions much like water are seeds for transformation. Harnessing our emotions is often related to the ebb and flow of tides. Water enhances our ability to flow and grow from overwhelming challenges. It is the memory of water, that helps us bring things into consciousness. Consider the power of Sedna amplified by Hygeia.
Here in Northern New Mexico, we’ve had our first big snow fall and a blast of arctic air, a true harbinger of the shifting season from fall to winter. Our beautiful sacred mountain Jicarita, a high point in northern New Mexico's Sangre de Cristo mountains, viewed from the Mothership is cloaked in snow, illuminated by the super moon. It brings to mind images of Poliʻahu, the beautiful snow goddess who resides at the top of Mauna Kea embraced in mist and clouds, wearing a mantle of snow. She feeds the springs and streams of the fertile landscape below. Measured from the sea floor, Mauna Kea is the world’s tallest mountain. Her name, Poli’ahu means cloaked blossom, or temple bosom. Both Jicarita and Mauna Kea are copulas or temples where supernatural beings are believed to reside. Connecting to this energy provides access to the Gate of the Ancestors our own DU 20.
Donna’s poem Poliʻahu is shared with you below.
As 2025 winds down and we take time to reflect it has been a year filled with magic moments, wonder, powerful connections and a very deep reset for us both. We are so grateful that in the Spring we were able to travel through much of Asia including Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Shanghai, China and Japan where we spent time with Izumi Masukawa are teacher and distributor.
This fall we were in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and many Baltic countries. We feel very fortunate that we were also able to visit with Acutonics faculty member Care Motika, who is now based in Slovenia. As our global reach continues, we are quite excited that Amanda Lamprecht, will be teaching Acutonics Level I: Sound Gates to Meridian Harmonics in person in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), South Africa, February 6-8, 2026. This class is open to everyone, to register or learn more, www.amandalamprechtyoga.com, or give Amanda a call at +1 (206) 940-6555.
We’ve not posted about this trip as there were so many gut-wrenching aspects amidst the beauty. It requires time to review images and reflect on the journey itself. Acutonics continues to take up a good amount of our time as we work with Nolan to strategically address our continued growth. Now more than ever people are seeking sound based solutions for health and well-being, and the growing body of research supports what we’ve been teaching for more than thirty years. We are very grateful to Nolan and Erika for all of their assistance this year making our continued growth possible.
Amidst all of this, we made the difficult decision to sell the Mothership, our beautiful 35-acre property and retreat center in the remote high mountains of Northern New Mexico. We’ve been blessed to find a new home in Bernalillo, New Mexico with easy access to the Bosque and Rio Grand River, and great views of the East Mountains, surrounded by Pueblo land and culture. We currently split our time between the two locations but look forward to getting settled in our new home.
May this season be a fertile opportunity covering you in a blanket of snow blossoms offering a time to renew, reset with grace, and super conduct your intentions for the coming year. May beauty, love and laughter embrace you and yours throughout this holiday season.
In gratitude for all you have done and continue to do to promote holistic well-being, and to mend all that is broken for those around you, your clients, community and the planet.
Let us celebrate and rejoice in all of the successes and the returning light.
Ellen & Donna