Great power, not clinging to power,
has true power.
Lesser power, clinging to power,
lacks true power.
Great power, doing nothing,
has nothing to do.
Lesser power, doing nothing,
has an end in view.

Late summer is associated with the Earth element in Daoist wisdom. The Earth element governs our bodies' digestive function. The Yang aspect governs ingestion, and we relate it to the Stomach organ. The Yin aspect is the Spleen, which attends to assimilating what we ingest. The mandate is to transform raw material into nutrients, to transform burden into nourishment. But how do we know what to ingest? How do we know what to assimilate? How do we know what’s good for us, and how much is enough?

The I Ching, known in Chinese as the Yijing and in English as the Book of Changes, is among the oldest written texts in human history. Its roots reach back to the Western Zhou period, roughly 1000 to 750 BCE, where it began as a divination manual before evolving into a foundational cosmological and philosophical text. It has been studied continuously for more than three thousand years, shaping Taoist and Confucian thought, influencing philosophers from Confucius to Carl Jung, and remaining as relevant now as when it was first consulted by kings.

There are moments in the treatment room when something shifts before I have done anything at all.

The patient settles onto the table. Their breathing changes. Whatever has been moving too fast in them begins, almost reluctantly, to slow.