Okay, so I wanted to share a bit about my process with the I Ching the other day. Things felt a bit uncertain, you know, like I was pushing against a current without really knowing why.
My I Ching Session
So, I decided to pull out my coins and just ask for some general guidance. Needed a bit of clarity on how to approach things. I settled myself down, tried to clear my head, which isn’t always easy, right? Focused on my feeling of being kinda stuck.
I took the three coins, shook them in my hands for a bit, thinking about my situation. Then I tossed them. Did this six times, like usual. I marked down the lines each time – solid line, broken line, changing lines, the whole deal.

After the six tosses, I built the hexagram. Turned out I got number 17, Sui. Following.
Dealing with ‘Following’
Alright, so ‘Following’. My first thought was, “Following what? Or who?” It felt a bit passive, and honestly, I was looking for a way to take charge, not follow.
I looked it up in my usual book. It talks about adapting, going with the flow, timing being important, and that following isn’t always weak – sometimes it’s about choosing the right thing or person to align with. It also mentioned something about needing to have your own principles even when you follow.
So, I sat with that for a while. It wasn’t the direct action plan I thought I wanted, but it made me think.
Putting it into Practice
Over the next few days, I consciously tried to apply this ‘Following’ idea. Here’s what I actually did:

- Listened more: In conversations, especially when I felt like jumping in with my own idea, I made myself pause and really hear what the other person was saying.
- Observed the flow: Instead of forcing my schedule or plan, I tried to see where things were naturally heading. Like with a small project I was tinkering with – I stopped trying to make it fit my original vision and just went with the direction it seemed to be taking on its own.
- Yielded a bit: There was a minor disagreement with someone. Normally, I’d dig my heels in. This time, I decided it wasn’t worth the fight and just let it go, followed their preference on this small thing.
- Looked for good examples: I paid more attention to people I respect, seeing how they handled similar situations. Tried to follow their approach, not blindly copy them.
What Happened
It was interesting. Things didn’t magically solve themselves overnight, obviously. But I did feel less stressed, less like I was swimming upstream. By consciously deciding to ‘follow’ the natural course of things or listen more actively, some situations just… smoothed out.
That minor disagreement? It just evaporated. No big deal. The project I was working on started feeling more enjoyable once I stopped forcing it. And listening more actually gave me some insights I would have missed otherwise.
Following, in this case, wasn’t about being passive. It felt more like active adaptation. It meant choosing when to lead and when to let the situation, or others, guide the way. It required paying attention, which is definitely an active process.
So yeah, that was my experience with hexagram 17 this time around. Just thought I’d share the process and how I tried to actually use the advice in my day-to-day. It’s always a practice, never a perfect science.