The Turning Point

Our Logo For The Turning Point Integrated Therapies. 1988-2015

The I Ching Hexagram 24.Fu / Return (The Turning Point)

The year was 1988.

I had just earned my advanced degree and license in massage therapy after informally practicing Polarity Therapy for many years prior.

It wasn’t so much that I longed to go into business as a massage therapist, but rather it was a licensing requirement by the State of Washington to provide hands-on treatment as a healing artist. Two other avenues were available for this designation at the time: earning a degree in medicine, nursing, or divinity. As a busy mother of two teens, a pre-teen, and a toddler, I chose the most expedient option. I enrolled in night classes for an intense, in-depth study of anatomy, physiology, and practical application to add to my blossoming awareness of my own aptitude for intuitive healing modalities.

I was seeking a more meaningful outlet for my devotion to provide clarity and support for personal healing, both for myself and for those who were beginning to come to me.

For most of my life, I had created businesses around what interested me at certain times. A short lucrative career in real estate, a construction company, a broker of products (a story for another time), a Celebrationist - performing weddings and ceremonies, A Reiki master and teacher, a convener of Women’s Spirit Circles, a writer, and most recently an author.

I guess I was meant to be an entrepreneur.

So, at that time, I launched The Turning Point Integrated Therapies and began building a thriving practice. That work continued for almost 30 years before I reached yet another turning point in my life: a new marriage and retirement.

One morning, as I gazed at the application for my business license, wondering what name would stand the test of time, I glanced at my bookshelf and was compelled to pull out the I Ching, an ancient Chinese divination tool for navigating change.  

Here’s how the name revealed itself to me:

I disregarded the toss of coins usually associated with using the messages and randomly opened to the page for FU, the Hexagram 24 meaning, Return. Upon reading its meaning, I knew for sure that I had found my new business name, logo, and direction.

This is what I read:

 THE TURNING POINT

 After a time of decay comes the turning point.

The powerful light that has been banished returns.

There is movement, but it is not brought about by force.

The movement is natural, arising spontaneously.

For this reason, the transformation of the old becomes easy.

The old is discarded, and the new is introduced.

Both measures accord with the Time; therefore, no harm results.

Over the decades, I spent considerable time, not only taking ‘required continuing education’ classes to retain my necessary licensing, but also indulging my insatiable curiosity to study the many avenues of ancient esoteric knowledge that occupied my consciousness at that time. I absorbed and refined everything that came to my attention and resonated with me, my heart, and my path. Many modalities were helpful and added depth to my practice; some were not as effective, but all were informative. I still have a thick file of acknowledgments, certificates, and degrees. And I continue expanding my awareness informally to this day.

More from the I Ching regarding the character FU:

The idea of RETURN is based on the course of nature. The movement is cyclic, and the course completes itself. This is the essence of the phenomenon known as Yin/Yang. Therefore, it is not necessary to hasten anything artificially. Everything comes of its own accord at the appointed time. In this way, a state of rest gives way to movement. This is my Devotion. The idea of Returning has been the core concept that has infused my time here on Earth and remains so.

There’s a critical term used by self-help and support groups that meaningfully interweaves, underpins, and sustains ‘The Work’ of a Healing Artist, and that's Loving Detachment. More than important, it is crucial to maintain clarity and remain free of believing one’s work as a healer is based on personal power or prowess. It’s also fundamental in learning to avoid the insidious sieving effect that comes from the recipient’s trauma and pain, which is a common mistake made by intuitive sensitives who wish to be in service to others. I believe that to feel and know energetically, without absorbing that which belongs to another, is probably the most important overall concept I’ve gleaned. Even now, in retirement from active practice, this concept redirects me to center when I encounter what I call - a Disturbance in The Force.   

When I decided to embrace my path and step onto it with courage and hope, the struggle to remember who I say I am and how I wish my life to be was and is still real. Whenever I congratulate myself on an accomplishment, receive kudos, or think I know all about something or someone, an unpleasantly quick reminder, like a punch in the gut, snaps me back to a humbler state of mind.

This has been my path.

This remains my path, regardless of what I’m currently focusing on.

I would even go so far as to call it my personal Mission Statement against which I measure my integrity to myself and all others. And this remains a daily practice for me.

This is a path that continues to restore my peace in turbulent times.

Everything changes sooner or later for better or worse.

We do our best to change what we can within our frame of reference.

But if we can’t, if I can’t?  I’ve found serenity in accepting that:

After a time of decay - comes the Turning Point.