Fire Horse Mid-Year Check In

I wasn't joking when I said it was going to be an intense year. How is it going for you so far? Let's have a check in, shall we?

Happy summer to everyone. The Fire Horse year is in full swing, and while not halfway through yet, we are reaching the pinnacle of this double fire energy of the year. Strongest fire animal, strongest fire year, strongest fire month. Remember earlier when I told you to buckle up? Well, maybe put a helmet on now too.

Just as each year in the Chinese calendar comes with a specific energy unique to the five elements, so too does every month. Summer, as we know, is associated with the fire element and June represents the peak of that fire energy. So here we are in the fieriest fire that ever did fire. I don’t know about you, but I’m seeing a lot of the annual predictions play out around me. I spoke earlier about opportunities and motivation abounding, presenting with them the risk of burning out too easily. It’s been so busy at the clinic for me with patients and new projects that I didn’t even get to last month’s blog post. Yikes. Now is a good time to assess your calendar and sheet of obligations. Do you have a good balance of rest and activity? Are you not overscheduling yourself? Most important, are the things you are doing serving you? Are they nourishing your soul? If not, perhaps it’s time to recalibrate.

Since you’re probably reading this as a Qigong practitioner, which means you’re working to cultivate mindfulness, let’s check in on your temperament. How are your relationships? Have you been irritable? Have you been more likely to snap? Water represents deep thought and reflection. Fire represents the things we blurt out without consideration. In this time of extreme fire, water is extremely weak, which means we might get ourselves into trouble right now if we don’t watch our mouths.

Fire illuminates. Whether that is things in the world around us which are revealing themselves as not being for the greater good or things inside of us which we don’t like but choose to avoid (change is hard!), fire energy is calling us to examine those parts of us to begin real meaningful transformation. Fire doesn’t just consume; it transforms one thing into something else. Use this energy to help you shed old patterns that don’t serve you anymore.

You don’t have to stretch that hard mentally to see how this crescendo of fire energy is playing out in the world around us. Fire melts the justice seeking energy of metal. Yet all is not lost. Factions are beginning to break away from their parent institutions and government is questioning if many of our current policies are worth continuing. Even the strongest fire burns low sooner or later.

So, what does this mean for you? In all difficult times, leaning deeper into our Qigong practice is always the best policy. Meditation and reflection act as counters to the strong fire energy, tempering and calming them, while building resilience and mental clarity. Difficult times are just that. But they can also be opportunities for transformation. Lean into your training so you can be the change you want to manifest in your life ❤️.