Walking through the Gate of Hope: Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.

Each of the hundreds of acupuncture points has a variety of functions on a body, mind, and spirit level.  Today I am moved to focus on the spirit of a point that embodies the gifts and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.  The point is on the meridians associated with the Spring, or wood, element.  Take a moment to think about the energetic of the springtime – it is about change, growth, rebirth, and action.  When you think about a sapling growing up and out of the earth, what qualities makes that sapling surge towards the sun?  It is the way it is flexible (growing around rocks, twisting and turning effortlessly in order to reach towards the sun), the way it is as strongly rooted as it is growing towards the sky, and its determination (it never forgets that its job in the moment of spring is to GROW).

It is not hard to understand why I chose points on the meridian associated with spring to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.  Springtime within us, when in balance, brings rise to action, change, benevolence, justice, leadership, flexible determination, perspective.  It is beautiful that dreams themselves are associated with the Springtime element.  The two meridians associated with Spring are the Liver and the Gall Bladder.  It is the spirit of the point called Gate of Hope that is called to mind as I honor MLK today:

Liver 14, Gate of Hope:  In pain and darkness, it is hope that brings the possibility of light.  Hope gives us a reason to wake up every day, to envision greater possibility in our life and in the world, and to strive for this vision.  When we walk through the Gate of Hope, we leave behind the belief that things cannot change and that my actions do not matter, and rather focus on possibility and how we can make change manifest.  The Chinese say that when we find hope we should share it with those we meet because we need more hope in the world.  It is easy to see why the spirit of this point comes alive within me when I think of the hope and dreams of one man that so fearlessly led a nation marching towards a vision of peace and greater possibility.  The Liver brings rise to dreams while sleeping and the ability to make these dreams manifest while awake.  Feel the urgency and the power of walking through the Gate of Hope with these words from his I Have a Dream speech:  Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

This point is found on the torso, on the paramedial nipple line, in the 6^th intercostal space.