Intelligence

It’s also with a heavy heart that I hereby announce that this shall be my penultimate season as a jobbing member of the Acu. editorial team before I bow out at the end of the year, after publication of the Winter 2023 release. Indeed, there is a stipulation clearly etched in the annals of the editorial team that a member’s tenure is a finite thing, and rightly so. After eight happy years in the post, the time has come to hand over the reins to another practitioner member.

More than a little poignant then, that all this should come at a time when autumn is now well and truly here, along with the corresponding energetics of the season. The metal element is according me the feeling of safety and that it is appropriate to now ‘let go’.

The run up to this autumn was heralded, as every year, with the annual ARRC Symposium and BAcC AGM and conference. Once again, the event was held at Yarnfield Park Conference Centre in Stone, Staffordshire with its excellent accommodation and catering facilities. The theme of the conference was ‘Imagery’ and, in addition to the usual opportunity for catching up with colleagues, there were a plethora of interesting musings on the subject.

One of the highlights for me was our own editorial team member Rev Deb Connor’s Visual Medicine™ Art Workshop on Saturday morning. We were all given disposable aprons, some paper, paint, and a small water bath, and encouraged to meditate whilst creating our own unique art pieces under Deb’s gentle guidance. Everyone seemed delighted with what we all produced in a relatively short time.

I definitely intend to display mine as I really think they are beautiful.

There was then time for some gentle yoga after lunch before listening to Richard Bertschinger’s fascinating talk on the nature of the trigrams in the Yijing. The Gala dinner in the evening followed by dancing was fantastic, as ever.

The turn of the season into autumn sees our new online Acu. topped up with a harvest banquet of articles for your reading pleasure, exemplified particularly by member Robert Moore’s evocative account of the Chinese medicine concept of late summer through the lens of his experience of his changing environment as an inner London resident.

Student member Petra Kwan has reviewed for us Toby Daly’s new book, An Introduction to Chinese Medicine: A Patient’s Guide to Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Nutrition and More. She describes it as an elegant and thoughtful overview of Chinese medicine, which is helpful both to members of the public, practitioners and students of Chinese medicine alike. Looks like it could be a very interesting book to have in your clinic waiting room, or perhaps even on your coffee table at home? Possibly a good idea for a Christmas present?

The current trend in the integration of artificial intelligence into daily life has prompted business leader turned integrative counsellor and coach, Sandra Hilton, to offer her own contemplations on its pros and cons. Sandra suggests whilst the technology is useful at answering questions about what has already happened and what already exists, AI cannot compete with our role in the world as sensing human beings – nor can it emulate the nuanced dichotomy of yin/yang, so important to rebalancing the masculine and feminine energies of the world.

Finally, Peter Firebrace takes us on a journey to the uppermost yin point of the body Cloud Gate LU 2 yun men. A point often used to treat shoulder pain, it has the ability to restore lung function where heat and cold dryness are present, and can also help regenerate the fading senses in old age.

I hope you enjoy feasting on all of these articles, as well as the other rich content we have for you in this autumn release of Acu.