Navigating through COVID-19
by Rayén Antón
A year has already passed since the pandemic struck. We may or may not know more about virus behavior, but we certainly know more about ourselves. Restricted and not allowed to travel and go out, we were given an opportunity to observe our own interiors. Witnessing the beginning of a new cycle, being pushed into or surfing a new reality, having the chance to find the celestial within the mundane.
Especially during this year I’ve been extremely grateful of having the Engaging Vitality tools and framework. Why? Because in the midst of confusing information, restrictions, doubts, contradictions, and a generalized state of fear and anxiety, the palpatory references showed the way out of all mazes, and allowed me to facilitate a way to return to integration.
Orientation has been the key. Keeping in mind that if we listen carefully to the body, it will tell us the way forward. Knowing that the self-healing mechanisms involve all three realms of Shen, Qi and Jing as an integrated whole. In people whose system had already become compartmentalized, whether because of specific pathologies (e.g., WM diagnosed renal, cardiac, pulmonary diseases) drugs (including recreational drugs, or self-prescribed medication such as ibuprofen), or Shen related issues (mostly fear) the virus hit harder. To reverse this path, we need to de-compartmentalize the situation, integrate the organism again, and allow the Shen to lead the way in order to restore the proper functioning of Qi and Jing. This is what I call orientation.
When we talk about orientation maybe landscape images come to mind, mountain treks and journeys at the sea, and actually, we can engage treatment the same way as when we go out into these unknown territories. When we’re out in nature, no matter how adventurous the trip, we need to orient to something to navigate our path a mountain peak, the polar star, just some thing that remains constant no matter what. In the case of treatment, this constant to orient to, in my case is facilitating the patient’s system to get back into communication with its self-healing mechanisms, the inherent capacity to re-create itself out of the harmonious template ever present, its inherent potency.
If we orient to this underlying reality, no matter how intricate the presentation, we will be able to find ways to open up the gateways of communication. Techniques and points become navigation tools, the same way that maps and ships are tools to take us to our destination when we embark on a journey in an unknown environment.
In my clinical practice, Engaging Vitality as a frame of mind is and has been the lighthouse in this stormy and tormented sea, allowing me to navigate the myriad of symptoms, unexpected and novel events, while always maintaining the right orientation.
We’re not out of this stormy sea just yet, but nonetheless I dare to say I’m happy and willing to navigate these waters, the proven effects (in my personal practice) of this orientation keep encouraging me forward.
To read the full article, including in-depth COVID-19 case studies from Rayén's own practice, click the button below or visit the Engaging Vitality Resources Page.
Rayén Antón has been studying East Asian Medicine since 2002 and practicing Engaging Vitality in her private practice in Barcelona since 2011. She teaches the introductory and intermediate Engaging Vitality modules throughout Europe and the United States. For more information on Rayén and Engaging Vitality Europe, visit www.engagingvitalityeurope.com.