Autumn: Season of the Metal Element: nurturing self-worth & self-forgiveness

Metal is the element most closely associated with autumn in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) system. A precious substance found deep within the earth, the issues and opportunities it mirrors within us are our core ones: questions of identity, purpose, and self-worth, the gold of our essential nature. 

To reveal those inner riches, to let our luminosity come forth, we must investigate & clear away the habits of mind and body that no longer serve us. Just as the trees drop their leaves in the fall, we too let go of what has died within us to make space for the next cycle of growth. 

Indeed, grief is the emotion connected with Metal & with autumn.

It’s reflected in the seasonal dying away of the natural world and extends to feeling all that is temporal or vulnerable, whether inevitably or avoidable.

One quality of balanced Metal energy is the ability to move with grace, resilience - with mettle - through the grief that comes from loss. We neither overly identify with it, nor are we numb to it.

The rituals that hold us steady during times of turbulence are another expression of this element. Metal provides structure. You may find yourself now wanting to create or restore the routines that give an order, a rhythm, to your days.

The shining mental clarity that lets us envision possibilities, new ways forward, is also a property of well-nourished Metal.

Such a clear or white color corresponds to the foods that temper the Metal within us (cauliflower, onions, daikon, turnips), many of which have the pungent flavor that is equally medicinal.

Metal is also nourished by deep breathwork. The organs this element expresses itself through are our Lungs & Large Intestine, with their relevant actions of respiration and elimination, taking in and letting go.

As we follow the inner-focused energy of autumn, and undertake the work of self-inquiry, balanced Metal energy is essential. We need it to examine our personal harvest with a healthy detachment that leaves room for self-forgiveness. It also ensures that the boundaries we set - the structures that honor & reflect our sense of self-worth - can be flexible without losing their integrity, and allow us space to breathe.

The wisdom of the Metal element, and of fall, guides us to temper our routines with spontaneity, to balance our solitude with connection. It reminds us to sweep away the clutter that hides who we are, the debris that stills the fresh air of inspiration, so that you may see what next wants to be born within you.

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