In Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine, each season is associated with a particular energy, channel, set of organs, and emotion. Within each of the seasons its associated energy is at its peak. Besides its time within the season, it is also a part of a greater cycle of transformation that flows through the year. In this progressive cycle, metal is the energy of autumn. Metal is associated with the powers of transformation, protection, release, and inspiration, and the lung and large intestine are its represented organs. Emotionally, metal is related to letting go, and often in autumn, we feel punctuations of loss or grief, resentment, regret, or inspiration to create change. Autumn is a time where this emotion is both most energized and supported, and offers an invitation to release those things that are weighing on us in order to renew and ensure a more contemplative and nourishing winter and a fruitful spring. Everywhere around us, leaves transform their colors. Released from their tree, these leaves blanket the ground, transforming into fertile soil through the cover of winter, and eventually becoming the fodder that nourishes the roots and sprouts of springtime. Likewise, harvest occurs nearing autumn, in which the nourishing parts of the plant are separated and taken into storage. Extra plant matter that is left outside to provide soil nutrients for spring. Similarly, the lung and large intestine provide a passage of healthy exchange between ourselves and the outside world, where we can release turbid qi outward in order to make room for the pure energy that will nourish us inward. Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine can be very helpful to help facilitate the healthy flow of this energy, whether it’s manifesting through emotions such as those mentioned above, digestive upset, current or past persistent respiratory infections, or seasonal affective disorder symptoms, to name a few. For more, please feel free to call or email our acupuncturist Jon Conant at jonc@rootwholebody.com. You may also schedule a brief individual consultation.
