Sorry to be out of touch. I was preparing and launching this year’s mentorship program, which introduces 80 wonderful souls to the classical view of the channels. Now that we’re at the end of the second week, I can write again. Writing during the mentorship is a experience of contrasts, because the goal of the mentorship is to convey and transmit the feeling of the channels in a way that is simultaneously specific and fully spaciousness, something that cannot be done in writing. I’m reminded of Andrew’s experience with the Dalai Lama, when the “DL” explained one of the great teachings of Buddhist logic: if you consider honey, as an example, you could write deeply about its history in medicine, its chemical composition, the miracle of bees, their extraordinary skills, and earn a PhD in such writings, all without having ever tasted it. And then, one day when that PhD finally actually tastes some honey, he freaks out, yelling, “Why didn’t you tell me! This is amazing, indescribable!” The definition, description, and even deep study of a thing are not the thing itself. The thing is not known until it is directly experienced.
Writing falls short. Once when we were traveling with Philip Glass’s band, and Philip was sitting across the aisle reading a PhD thesis someone had written about the motivation behind a certain one of his works. He turned and said with a frustrated expression, “I had no idea I was thinking these things. It’s useless. A good listen would be better than all this.”
When we study acupuncture, the channels are mysterious and even confusing. When we include all the channels of classical acupuncture, they can seem formidable. And while it is important to memorize their functions and pathways, it mustn’t stop at only things we learn from teachers or books. Great teachers trust that we will take the instructed material and bring it to life for ourselves in our own lifelong practice. It’s like gathering firewood and kindling, (things another can give you), and then, somehow and at some point, spontaneous ignition occurs. This is the direct experience, and after that, all additional learning is nothing but delight and there’s an ease to it. Rather than being nearly finished learning, once the ignition happens, our learning takes off, and we can move faster and with endless curiosity about our amazing medicine.
It’s a process. More than that, it’s a process within a community. We are all learning, and learning together. This makes the process immeasurably more flowing.
And I’m delighted to announce that in our community we are offering a new recurring session included in the membership of the Classical Medicine Academy hosted by Amy Lofting, called “A Listening Circle”. Everyone is invited to discuss their experiences of the channels, their high points and road bumps.
Here’s a note from Amy:
We begin with a welcome, then go around the circle for a brief check-in so that every voice is heard. Then we open the circle to sharing about how the medicine is moving in us/how we are receiving and experiencing it in our own lives.
Amy has wisdom in her ways, and it is a beautiful offering.
The first Listening Circle is at 2pm ET today.
Ann Cecil-Sterman,
Saturday, January 17th, 2026.
Manhattan