The Metal element of traditional Chinese medicine aligns with the relatively yin(1) qualities of autumn. Other examples of yin energy are darkness, evening and balance between activity and rest.
The Fall energetic season marks a time of decline. Nature begins to draw into itself. Fall and Metal present an opportunity to dive into new experiences letting go of the old.
We often must go deep within ourselves to do so. This is one of Metal’s clear attributes. And it’s why Metal supports us to let go of the past so well.
Predominantly yin, Metal expresses itself less visibly than the other yang elements of Wood, Fire and Earth.
When we’re unable to live in the present, we live more in emotions of grief and regret. We keep looking back to what was and is no more. Grief and regret can take over our emotions signaling we are out-of-balance with Metal.
Good Breathing Keeps Us Present to Life.
Traditional Chinese medicine tells us that Lung(1) houses the corporeal soul—P’o. In another article about how P’o contributes to our ability to remain present, we said:
“Good breathing roots P’o into the body and causes us to feel more animated and alive. It gives us animal vitality and the ability to live in the present.”
The breath of Metal’s yin organ Lung animates us by expanding our spiritual essence. And it has a counterpart to full and present living: the Fire element’s yin organ, the Heart.
Heart, circulator of blood and symbol of life and love is analogous to joy. When we focus on good breathing and supporting our healthy blood circulation we have more vitality. We develop an even greater zest for life.
When people experience anxiety, nervousness and fear—signs of not being grounded in the present—we tell them to breathe deeply and consciously. We instinctively know the breath will bring them back to the now moment, grounding and centering them.
In these cases, the breath stops or gets stuck in the throat or becomes very shallow. You can’t breathe properly if you’re focused on past events or what might be.
Learn more about how Fire and its organs influence our joy and vitality in life here.
We trap ourselves in emotional spin when we dwell on memories and traumas that happened long ago. It’s all old stuff and it ages us sapping living essence from our lives.
Only the present moment holds the essence of life we seek.
“With the goal of experiencing moment-to-moment aliveness and newness, expectations, misconceptions and judgments need to be suspended. Knowing less and being more present are the ways to prevent aging and disease.” —Charles A. Moss, M.D. in Power of the Five Elements…
Being Out-of-Balance with Metal Shows Up in Thought and Body.
It’s natural that during energetic Fall, most of us may mildly experience emotions of grief and worry. But if we obsess in these emotions we become very much out-of-balance with Metal.
You may have noticed people who are emotionally maladapted to Metal. This serious imbalance shows up physically in many ways. They may have a weeping voice quality, whitish palor and rather musty odor of decay.
Often but not always these people will be elderly where grief and regret over what they might have done differently in life hounds their thoughts. Thinking it’s too late, they let these emotions influence their overall attitude in life. They begin to give up on life.
When out-of-balance with Metal we’ll feel easily intruded upon or sorrowful. We feel a deep sense of disappointment over things we were never able to accomplish.
Read our article on the five phases of the aging process according to traditional Chinese medicine here. See if you’re in balance with your current phase of life.
We don’t affirm life when we dwell on missed opportunities or our so-called failures in life. Like attracts like and so we’ll keep drawing more sadness to us.
By doing so, we’ll actually hasten our end of life. We initiate decay in both thought and body by refusing to let go of the past. We must participate and live in the here and now to be in balance with Metal.
Traditional Chinese medicine seems to embrace the old axiom, “As above, so below:”
As goes the thought, so goes the body.
Embrace, Don’t Repress Your Natural Emotions of the Season.
When we don’t take Metal’s beautiful attributes to heart, we become dissatisfied with life, work, and relationships. We even find it difficult simply to spend time alone with ourselves.
Life having lost its richness for us, we become cynical, bored and apathetic. Excessively self-critical, we begin to feel inadequate, worthless and full of guilt.
We’re not saying to deny feelings of regret, sadness and worry. That is not healthy.
If we feel these emotions, we can examine them and understand they are parts of us. And with that understanding, place those emotions in our hearts. There we will allow the Heart to consume them with the Fire of Love.
And then we can move on. We will know that all is well.
But some people repress their very normal feelings of grief, loss and disappointment. This too leads to imbalance with Metal.
“The price paid for denying the expression of this range of emotions is often an inner deadness, a cut-offness or a melancholy depression. Many people whose Metal Element is imbalanced seem to be devoid of any strong passion or emotion at all.” —Peter Mole in Acupuncture for Body, Mind and Spirit
But when we adapt well to Metal, we’ll tend to be very present and optimistic. We’ll allow ourselves to fill our lungs with rhythmic conscious breath. Balance of Metal grounds us in both breath and the present moment. By inviting the beautiful inward focusing energies of Metal, we can let go of the past.
The inner life is the foundation of all our vitality—physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. And the inner life never truly full without the conscious breath an integral part of it.
Invite in the energies and frequencies of the Metal element. Allow them to flow in your life. They will bring a new richness and sparkling quality to your life.
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Endnotes:
According to traditional Chinese medicine, Metal’s organs are relates are the yin Lungs and yang Large Intestine.
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Sources:
Mole, Peter. Acupuncture for Body, Mind and Spirit. United Kingdom, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2014.
Moss, Charles A.. Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance. United States, North Atlantic Books, 2011.