… and with it comes the beauty of falling leaves, colder temps, and bright blue skies (we can only hope).
This season, as with all the seasons in Chinese medicine, is associated with its own system of organs, elements, emotions, physical ailments, and even time of day. This season is closely related to the lung and the large intestine, otherwise under cover of the Metal element in Five Element Acupuncture.
The Metal Element
Among these associations, we have the organs themselves, the channels associated with them, and all these present with exaggerated or collapsed expressions that become more obvious within the season. How this shows up in the fall, is as difficulties with breathing, the immune system, allergies, physical symptoms such as neck pain (stagnation along the channels), and problems with elimination like constipation.
Emotionally and mentally, we may have deeper feelings of grief, an inability to let things go, feel a sense of things being out of our control, and have stronger feelings of disappointment. All things that are appropriate to let your body and mind feel, process, and move forward.
It’s the getting stuck in emotions that makes moving forward difficult and this is a particularly hard season to get unstuck. Take a few moments reflecting or journal on this today and see how this season is affecting you personally, what is coming up for you more strongly these days than in the past, and does that relate to these associations? How does the emotional aspect affect your physical and vice versa? How does the change in temperature, light and season affect your mind and body?
As with what I’ve mentioned before, season changes come with changes in our food and diet as well. What we eat during the summer, is not necessarily appropriate to continue through the fall, and can be damaging to our bodies and minds, exacerbating current health ailments or creating new ones. In Chinese medicine, we talk a lot about living with the seasons, going with the flow of your environment, and letting the external natural rhythms guide your internal self and habits.
Among these is transitioning to more cooked foods, eating more root vegetables, pears, apples, stews, and soups. Eating with the seasons supports a natural rhythm in your body, that you may or may not even be aware of. In essence, you are preparing for winter, you are making it easier for your body to rest and digest, breaking down your foods a little (with the cooking), warming your digestion so that it flows easier, and warming the inner fire to keep you warm and sustained through the cold and darker months to come, as well as providing it with more moisture as it is a drying season in nature.
For more on what the fall season and its associated Metal element say about your health, check out my previous post on all the elements and their seasons here.
and for just more info on the Metal element and its associations…
Taking care of your lungs.
Seasonal changes, in general, have a tendency to exploit any weakness we have in their associated meridian system, that or you can see a boost in the overall health of the organs in general.
Unfortunately, this year, we are being bombarded by a very potent virus that attacks the lungs and causes long-lasting effects that we don’t even understand as of yet, and to add a cherry on top, the west coast seems to be burning up and littering ash and particulates across the states and in our lungs… not to mention, it is allergy season for many as well.
In Chinese medicine, the lung system is paired with the large intestine organ system and makes up for our ability to inspire and let go accordingly. This stands for both the literal sense of breathing in and letting it go through the breath and the large intestine as well as our mental and emotional associations with this concept.
Making sure that your lung and large intestine health is at the forefront of your priorities is of real importance these days, and that means taking care of your immune system, staying properly hydrated, and making sure your detox pathways are supported.
Some quick ways to aid in this are keeping a good air filtration system indoors, keeping the windows and doors closed, using a humidifier, and neti pot at the end of the day.
In addition, supplementation can be helpful as can Chinese herbal medicine.
Some of my favorites for Lung Health:
- Strengthen Metal – Kan Herbs
- Breathe – New Chapter
- Vitamin D or a Vitamin D Complex
- N-Acetyl Cysteine
For Immune Health and Allergy Relief etc. please check out my favorites through the link to my online FullScript store in the sidebar.
For signing up, you automatically receive a 10% discount on all supplements and herbs.
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