Days get longer as
Yang rises. Vibrant greens and
Abundant blooming.
Hello Friends of Flying Needle!
Happy Pure Brightness!
- fifth vernal solar node -
Hope this finds you well during these interesting times!
Seasonal Musings & Reflections
This first week of April is a potent time in a number of traditions. Ramadan is ongoing. Passover begins tomorrow at sundown. Good Friday and Easter Sunday arrive this weekend. And today is Qing Ming – Pure Brightness, both the 5th Vernal node, and a festival venerating the ancestors.
Here in the North Carolina Piedmont, we are drenched in pine pollen, and surrounded by a panoply of shades of green and vibrant flowers. The weather continues to oscillate widely and wildly. It's like a brilliant Summer day as I write this. Yet starting Friday, the weekend forecast is rainy, and at its low end, 40 degrees Fahrenheit colder than it is today.
Spring is glorious, and for many of us gloriously challenging to our wellbeing. It can be tricky to navigate all the rapid changes. Remember to move the body daily. Find ways to soften and slow down whenever possible. Enjoy the bounty of fresh local produce if you have the access and resources to do so.
Don't hesitate to reach out if you need additional support! Remember that harmonizing the human within the microcosm of the body, and within the macrocosmic exchange of forces between the heavens (that which is 'above') and the earth (that which is 'below' and around) is the work and play of classical Chinese medical practice.
Monday I returned from an incredible Clinical Integration workshop with Tom Bisio, and 16 colleagues in New York City. All All the participants have been training with Tom for some time (on the greener end 1 year, in the mid-range a decade, and a couple of folks for 20+ years). We worked in groups of four to assess and treat each other over the course of the 3 days we were together. Tom would move between the groups offering perspective, hands on engagement, and good humor. We had many opportunities to treat with multiple skilled sets of hands working together on one body. It was a transformative weekend for everyone: receiving, giving, and learning.
Hopefully, this will be the first of many opportunities for those of us with a common language and orientation to come together and develop and refine our capacity and skill in being of service to the alleviation of suffering on this beautiful planet.
May your Spring days be filled with beauty, mystery, and friendship!
May you and your kin feel both rooted and free!
May we walk in gratitude with our Ancestors!
May all being and becoming receive nourishment!
Connect to Nature.
Venerate Ancestors. Pure
Brightness has arrived!
It is my sincere hope that you have found something of use in these words.
If you know folks who you feel would enjoy this newsletter, please forward it their way! Thank you!
Wishing you and all your relations wellbeing and good medicine!
With gratitude,
Taran
PS Here's a link to a beautiful and nourishing conversation between Iain MacGilchrist and Zak Stein, two of my favorite contemporary philosophers: Is Value fundamental to the Cosmos?
Deeply resonant with our inquiries in this newsletter.
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