In Chinese Medicine, autumn brings the season of metal. This season is associated with the Lungs and inspiration, and the Large Intestine, which controls what we hold onto vs. letting go of that which no longer serves our highest good or nourishes our life. The Autumn Equinox, Mabon, is a time for honoring the equal parts of day and night, reaping a harvest, and warming our bodies and hearts by acknowledging the heat of summer and preparing for the hibernation and reflective time of winter.
METTALURGIC: THE TECHNIQUE OR SCIENCE OF WORKING OR HEATING METALS SO AS TO GIVE THEM CERTAIN DESIRED SHAPES OR PROPERTIES.
As we come into the Autumn season, we are welcomed by the crispness of air and the golden light of late September. Sipping a Kangen-watered turmeric maca coffee (with activating black pepper, of course), I look out into the yard to see leaves falling, clouds drifting, and gray skies and seas.
Autumn Equinox celebrates the harvest, the season from which we reap all that we have sown in the warmer months. It's the time when the exuberant fire energy of the summertime melds into a more rarified and concise form. We can find ourselves in an uncovered state, assessing the paths we have taken throughout spring/summer which has led to our sufficiency stores for upcoming winter.
Often, this time is one of great reflection, and is a time when we can truly let go of what has not served us, or that which has fulfilled its purpose in our lives. Letting go with as much grace and ease as possible is a lifelong lesson that is offered to us again and again with every process of change. We can get hung up on what it, attached to what may come of it, or we can concede to a higher vision, to the next stage of our evolution, and we can let be.
GIVING; GRATITUDE
The key, almost completely, is gratitude. Giving thanks for what has transpired, what is appearing now, and with an open-heart towards what may unfold, we give to ourselves the great gift of loving what is. When we love what is, we can finally accept and love ourselves.
This is a time of shedding a layer of summer, letting go of what is outworn or no longer befitting. In Chinese medicine, autumn brings the season of Metal, associated with the Lung and Large Intestine. The lungs are our source of inspiration, the giver of breath and life. They also associate with grief, so we may feel emotions of this as well.
The large intestine is associated with letting go vs. holding on. To function smoothly and clearly, we must have a balance of letting go and holding on- we must absorb what is nutritional and beneficial to us, while distinguishing it from what must be released.
The Po is the spirit of the lungs, and it relates to our instinctual, animalistic nature. This is the part of us that protects us via instincts that animals possess, like a sense of comfort around a specific person, in a new space, walking alone at night. We are constantly picking up clues that help us survive. It's as simple as instinctually reaching for a sweater as the sun sets and a chilling breeze blows through the autumn leaves, giving us goosebumps. Instinct is different than intuition. Intuition helps us make clear decisions from our gut/heart. Instinct keeps us alive in the Earth's circle of life.