Autumn, the season of letting go
As I was preparing the newsletter, several themes came to mind for the autumn season. Fall is my favorite season, so I love getting out my fall boots and fall jackets. I was feeling excited about my themes and meditating on positive words such as “gratitude”, taking in the “harvest” of what I have worked hard on. Yet I was feeling this inertia when it came to journaling these thoughts. I was waiting for the perfect, cool crisp air to inspire me. After a few weeks of feeling what could only be described as apathy, I had a deep realization of why I couldn’t settle down to write. It was because I couldn’t bring myself to write about these positive words when I was really feeling a lot of sadness and grief. I’ve been feeling this deep heaviness of heart for quite a while, but it was overwhelming at the beginning of this season.
Sometimes when grief weasels its way into a good life, the emotion feels baffling. You think of anyone you know that may be going through something worse and this makes your own feelings of sadness seem selfish. That is why it took me a moment to acknowledge these feelings. Why was I feeling grief? It was my old life. I was sad because old relationships, habits, dreams, aspirations, and routines are a thing of the past and parts of it I missed. Just 3 years ago, I was running an acupuncture practice and thinking about having children. Now, I am running Golden Door with no aspirations or dreams to have children. Having a deep relationship with Brooks, having Rosie and Golden Door are enough. Once I acknowledged these feelings of grief and loss, I began working on healing and letting go. I’m feeling more inspired to write about the themes of fall with the acknowledgment of this grief. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, fall is the season of powerful transitions. The trees shed their leaves and we go from long, hot days to shorter cold days. It is the season of the metal element and the lung and large intestine. The emotional themes for those two organs are grieving and letting go.
The lungs are considered Yin, and as with everything in Chinese medicine, they have a Yang partner and that is the large intestine. Healthy balanced lung Qi is essential for our everyday functions of respiration (breathing), our immune system, and the health of our skin. Healthy balanced Large Intestine Qi helps with our everyday function of getting rid of toxins and body fluids that we don’t need. Some signs that your metal is out of balance are; shortness of breath, frequent colds or flu, asthma, low energy, allergies, sinusitis, excessive crying, grief, sadness, edema, holding on to the past, abdominal fullness, diarrhea, excessive gas and constipation. If you find any of these issues begin to surface this is the season to balance this energy. Here are six suggestions to enable these organs to return to a balanced state:
1. It’s natural to start to eat warmer, heartier foods once the air shifts to cooler weather. Chinese medicine LOVES warm foods, it warms the channels and the organs to keep them functioning and working in harmony. According to Chinese medical dietary therapy, pungent foods help prevent the cold and flu in the autumn include radishes, onions, scallions, ginger, garlic and cinnamon. These should be cooked and eaten along with other foods, such as meats, soups or stews. White foods including onions, garlic, turnips, radishes, daikon, cabbage, cauliflower, and pear are traditionally seen to be protective of the lungs, so if you feel any cough, allergies or asthma adding these foods can help. It’s also beneficial to slightly increase the spicy flavored foods to move excess mucus that can be more apparent this time of year.
2. As we lose less sunlight this season our vitamin D levels decrease. We also can notice more lethargy along with lower mood days. If you are feeling this way, waking up earlier with the sun and getting 10 minutes of sunlight in the morning is ideal to keep those numbers and moods optimal. If you don’t get enough time outside, take your vitamin D around 11AM or noon when the sun is at its peak.
3. If you find that respiratory symptoms tend to be your issue, focus more on your breathing. Yes, that’s right, so many of us breathe incorrectly. I love the book BREATHE by James Nestor. It’s a great read and includes breathing exercises. Breathing exercises or even taking a breathwork class at a yoga studio is an experience everyone should try at least once. If you are a little shy about taking a class, Lianne is offering Individualized breathwork sessions at Golden Door and they are on sale for $60 for an hour for this season of metal.
4. Grief cleanses us of what is no longer needed in our lives. Weeping is the physical act of allowing our bodies to release the past. We can all agree that crying helps, however, sometimes it makes it worse. In Chinese Medicine, if you cry too much, it can weaken the lung. So, if you find that crying is making you feel stuck or out of balance, you can release grief in other ways. For issues you cannot resolve directly with others, or for old issues with yourself, write them on paper, being as specific as possible. On a full moon (except around the October Eclipses) burn the paper, symbolically releasing the content, setting intentions for blessings and new beginnings.
5. Keep your intestine regular. Of course, fiber intake and water are a big part of keeping the large intestine regulated, but if you need extra support; Acupuncture, Chinese Herbs, and a good magnesium supplement can help. In China, there was a research study that was completed on both organs. Knowing the correlation between the lung and large intestine, researchers used herbs that stimulated the large intestine and measured the cells in the lung and found that the function of the large intestine does correlate with the immunity of the lung. Read more here Specific Link between Lung and Large Intestine: A New Perspective on Neuropeptide Secretion in Lung with Herbal Laxative Stimulation - PMC (nih.gov)
6. Autumn is the perfect season to get Acupuncture! It’s amazing what the little needles can do for your body and emotions. Acupuncturists can use points on the Lung and Large intestine channel to balance your emotions or physical symptoms of these organs. If you need more ideas on how to balance your Metal element, ask your acupuncturist!