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February 12, 2021 is the beginning of Lunar New Year, this year we celebrate the Metal Ox, the second sign in the Zodiacal wheel. According to myth, the Jade Emperor established the order of the zodiacal animals based on when they arrived at his party. The Ox was in the lead, but kind-hearted in nature, gave Rat a ride on his back. As soon as they arrived at the party, Rat jumped down becoming the first animal in the zodiac, and Ox was second.

This article appeared on March 1, 2017 and remains deeply relevant today. This is the first newsletter published since the death of our dear friend and long-time colleague Paul Ponton from Covid related Pneumonia. As Paul and Jude have contributed to every newsletter since its inception, it didn’t feel right to publish without a contribution from them. As Jude is still recovering from Covid and navigating the loss of Paul with her permission we reached into the archives to choose an article that seemed so relevant to these times.

We are in the time of transition from the dwindling energy of Autumn to Winter, the cycle of the water element when our energy draws inward. The spirit of the Kidney and the water element is the Zhi that reside in the most hidden parts of our body. The Zhi spirits connect us to the collective unconscious, where we are aware of our infinite nature. The Zhi is the yin fire, the embers that ignite the spark of connection to our destiny. The Zhi dwell in the dimension known in Vedic philosophy as Karma, the unconscious forces and collective energies that influence the course of our lives.

How are the fires out your way? So much trauma, new and revisited, as we now struggle to breathe the air with hundreds and hundreds of fires burning at once:

Summer, the height of yang, activates and amplifies the energy of intention, and vision that were set in Spring. In Late Summer, this energy consolidated by the Earth element is realized as manifestation in a tangible form. Intention and vision are waveforms in the higher vibrational realms that must be acted upon before they can take shape in particle/physical reality.

As we approach summer, the season of the Heart (Fire Element), there is so much going on in the world around us that could trouble our hearts. In the view of Classical Chinese Medicine the primary function of the Heart is to open our awareness of unity and to help us to experience connection and community. The Heart is the “unifier” and is said to define our humanity. It is the home of our spirit. Especially in times of discord it is our hearts that yearn for unity. The Summer Solstice is the point where yin and yang come together and it is said that this is where the Heart sits, at this point of the unity of the yin and yang energies. The analytical mind divides, it perceives from the perspective of good or bad/beneficial or detrimental. The Heart recognizes the unity of everything, that there is purpose in everything and that all experiences are vehicles for transformation. The Heart is said to be the “voice of sacredness” that helps us to connect with our true humanity.

“Together, (these) two modalities balance Yin and Yang, both calm and stimulate, and simultaneously ground and lift up the Qi. This permits the integration of Water/Fire polarities within the body, allowing for a flow of Shen spirit in physical form and contributing to the manifestation one’s particular destiny.”[1]

I am an Aquarian, so I embrace new and progressive, but let’s face it, Aquarius for all its eccentric glory, is a fixed sign and set in its ways. Not to mention my grand fixed cross makes sudden change a bit of a challenge. So when it became obvious (transiting Uranus is conjunct a corner of that cross now) that my Acutonics classes and practice could not be performed in person with real live bodies in the COVID 19 Pandemic, I grudgingly accepted my new path to online classes, Zoom live distance sessions……and I created a Youtube channel.

I have been teaching Acutonics® for almost 17 years and have incorporated online (live classes) for the past several years. It began when a student from across the country wasn't able to make it to class, due to a change in her school schedule. So, I included her in my classroom via Skype. During these past several years, technology has come a long way. I have worked with several platforms and began using Zoom when they first launched their business. In the beginning, I could only have two or three students at a time without the whole platform or my computer crashing. Since then, I have been meeting with students online who are interested in extracurricular study and guidance, fulfilling their clinical hours, as well as teaching course curriculum classes from time to time.

Things sure have changed quickly. Many of us have had to pivot our lives over the last couple months to find new ways of educating our children, conducting business and our everyday tasks. What we thought could never be done, such as working from home, kids learning off of the television and celebrating special occasions over FaceTime has now become the new normal. We have been combining the creativity within our human spirit with technology, keeping the world moving forward. Yes, the world will go on. While we have a way to go and some bugs to work out, we are creating this world one step at a time. Mother Earth has shown us that with a little bit of help on our part, she can reverse many of the environmental challenges that we face. This is all so inspiring and encouraging to me. However, electronics have not always been my friend, I want to share what I have learned over the last few years, in hopes of making this transition easier for all of us.