29d • General discussion
We Begin Wednesday in the Classroom . . .
From Snake to Horse: A Journey Still Uncoiling:
Welcome to this tender moment between the year of the snake and the year of the horse. Though we've celebrated the Lunar New Year, we find ourselves still dwelling in winter's embrace—still in the year of the snake until Feb 17th, and still wintering through to emergence of spring in March 20th.
While the Lunar New Year asks for us to jumpstart with our resolutions and our goals, winter asks us to still turn inward for retrospection, and the energy of the snake asks us to shed the weight of no longer what serves us, so when we enter year of the horse in one month we find strength in our stance for foward movement, and in 2 months, we powerfully gallop into the emergence of spring and new growth.
In Chinese Medicine, the winter season belongs to the kidneys, summer to the heart, and spring to the liver. These three organs share a special anatomical and spiritual relations, and from this wednesday to summer, we will cycle with the season, caring for our kidneys, enlivening our liver, and illuminating our heart.
From Now until March 20th, this will be our focus . . .
Water Element
Winter's Invitation: The Season of Deep Waters
Winter corresponds to the Water element—the season of stillness, depth, and profound introspection. Winter asks us to descend into our deepest reservoirs of being.
This is not a time for outward expansion but for inward cultivation. The Snake year invites us to shed what no longer serves, to release the old skin of identity that blocks our path forward. Before the Horse can gallop, the Snake must complete its sacred work of transformation.
Letting go is also the process of making space for what is new. Wintering asks us to listen to our hearts beckoning for what is authentic purpose and geared towards fulfillment and joy, and plant those seeds now. When water touches a seed, life begins, but the work is still undercover, to grow get grounded, rooted, and strong, before coming to the surface.
We will discuss the organs of winter in depth:
The Kidneys and Bladder:
The Kidneys
In Chinese medicine, the kidneys are far more than organs of filtration. They hold our essence (Jing)—our fundamental life force, our ancestral inheritance, our deepest reserves of vitality and wisdom.
The Bladder
The bladder, the kidneys' yang partner, governs the transformation and release of fluids. It teaches us discernment—what to keep, what to let flow away, what we truly need versus what we carry unnecessarily.
We will discuss their main energetic / spiritual quest: Fear & Courage
Each element in Chinese medicine corresponds to an emotion. For Water, that emotion is fear—particularly fear of the unknown, the unknowable, the vast dark depths we cannot see or control.
We will look at food choices, herb choices, qi gong practices, to strengthen our kidney but for the reserve of our health and for the willingness to dive into investigating the unknown.
The Heart-Kidney Axis: Where Fire Meets Water
The Heart (Fire)
Houses the spirit (Shen), governs consciousness, joy, and our capacity to connect with life and others
The Kidneys (Water)
Hold our essence (Jing), govern our deepest reserves, our will to live, our fundamental vitality
In Chinese medicine, the heart and kidneys share a sacred physiological and spiritual relationship. Fire must descend to warm the waters below; Water must rise to cool and nourish the flame above. When this axis is balanced, we experience clarity, courage, and calm. When disrupted, we may feel anxious, restless, unable to rest or to act decisively.
This winter, we explore this mysterious connection—how our deepest fears and our greatest loves are intimately entwined.
Shedding the Snake's Skin
Before the Horse can run free across open meadows, the Snake must complete its molting—releasing the old skin, the outdated identity, the protective layers that once served but now constrain.
What weights do you still carry that belonged to an earlier version of yourself? What identities have you outgrown but not yet released? What stories about who you are or must be keep you coiled when you long to gallop?
This liminal time—between Snake and Horse, between winter and spring—is precisely the moment for this sacred shedding. Not through force, but through the gentle, persistent invitation to let go.
Our Ultimate Fear: The Great Unknown
All our smaller fears—of failure, rejection, loss, change—are tributaries flowing into one vast ocean: the fear of losing ourselves entirely.
We fear the dissolution of the "I" we've worked so hard to construct and maintain. We fear the ultimate unknown—death itself, the final shedding, the complete release of everything we've called "me" and "mine."
And yet, the spiritual traditions whisper: What if this very fear is the last barrier to true freedom? What if what we most resist holds the key to what we most deeply long for?
Book Club
Who Dies? An Invitation to Explore
The Book, "Who Dies: An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying by Stephen and Ondrea Levine"
The Exploration: Together, we'll investigate our deepest fears—of loss, of losing ourselves, of death itself. Not to conquer them, but to meet them with tender awareness and curiosity.
The Practice
Through contemplation, sharing, and gentle inquiry, we'll explore what it means to live and die consciously—to shed our armoring and meet life fully, just as it is.
The Transition Ahead: From Coiling to Galloping
Winter's Depth
Honoring the Snake's wisdom—going inward, shedding what no longer serves, meeting our fears in the darkness
Spring's Emergence
The Wood element rising, new growth, the first tentative movements toward expansion and expression
The Horse's Freedom
Unburdened and vital, ready to run—not away from fear, but into authentic aliveness, carried by courage and trust
The Year of the Horse promises movement, momentum, vitality, and freedom. But this freedom is earned through winter's quiet work—through the willingness to descend, to feel, to release, to shed.
Join Us on This Journey
We invite you to join our book club as we read Who Dies together—a community exploration of conscious living and dying, of meeting our ultimate fears with open hearts and curious minds.
This is work we do together, in circle, where each person's courage inspires the courage of others. Where we practice shedding, releasing, and discovering what remains when we let go of who we thought we had to be.
The Snake prepares the way. The Horse awaits. The journey is ours to take.
Uplevel in membership, and beginning wednesday, look at the classroom space for our conversation to unfold.
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We Begin Wednesday in the Classroom . . .
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