Autumn- Metal Element
Posted: October 10, 2019
After a hot, humid Missouri summer I am taking myself away for a week in California! In addition to cooler, dryer weather, I am looking forward to time with family and a chance to take in the vast beauty of Yosemite National Park. I expect to return with revitalized Lung qi and new inspiration. How will you inspire yourself this fall? May this Newsletter stimulate your steps for self-care and good health in this season of Metal.
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Yosemite National Park
Pivots and Transformations
Earth Element is usually associated with the end of summer, the time of harvest, and does not have a season to itself. However, the function of Earth element to create transformations in energy (most notably, the transformation of food into a form of energy that the body can use, called gu qi) causes it also to be associated with the transformation of each season into the next. The transitional times between summer and fall, fall and winter, winter and spring, and spring and summer are each associated with the power of Earth.
As we transition from Summer to Autumn, the season of metal, it can be an extremely useful time to receive acupuncture treatment in order to facilitate our capacity to move easily between the seasons with optimal health.
Taking in, Letting go – Metal Element
The organs resonant with the Metal element are the lungs and large intestine. The qi that flows though the lungs and the meridian named after the lungs serves us on the mental and spiritual levels as well as the physical.
As the autumn is the season that resonates with the Metal element, at this time of year we are more susceptible to respiratory challenges, as well as emotions of grief and loss. Letting go of the summer season and feeling is the beginning of this metal season. We are already noticing the loss of light as the days become shorter. Soon leaves will fall away from the trees, things in nature will die as the temperature drops. With the Metal Element, we also have more capacity to experience inspiration, awe, and reverence.
Read more about the physical, emotional, and spiritual gifts of Metal Element in my article.
How to Optimize Health This Season
In this article I offer a variety of tips to prevent and treat illness associated with metal imbalance. To learn about preventative health, hygiene and diet choices, yoga and breathing exercises, and my recommendations for meditation and relaxation follow the link to my website.
Metal: Sex, Drugs, and Rock n’ Roll
Addictions to intense physical experiences such as sex, drugs, and even exercise and food, are recognized with in Five Element medicine as an imbalance in the Metal Element. Spiritual seekers use practices like meditation to experience an expansive awareness and connection with the greater energy of the universe.
Without our spiritual connection fulfilled, it is easy to look to other mind-expanding or intense physical stimuli for a way to extend ourselves beyond the skin boundary. Acupuncture is one way to help us experience ourselves in harmony with the environment around us.
Read on…
Read on…