Gathering The Energies Of Fall Series: Part II: The Mind

With last week’s Harvest Full Moon, Venus/Saturn/Node conjunction, and the more recent activities of Pluto (which brings to light all of that which is broken) and the Fall Equinox, many of us have had a lot of cosmic action going on, especially involving addressing and releasing things that no longer serve us.  It has been a whirlwind of purging, on emotional and physical levels!

Speaking of which, I hope you enjoyed the first installment of the “Gathering The Energies Of Fall” series, “Part I:  The Body”.  And, now, with Part II of the series, we continue on to discover how to harvest Fall energies for the Mind!  Next week, we’ll explore how the Spirit benefits from Fall energies.  Look out for it a day earlier than usual (I’ll explain why later!)

In the last post, we discovered how the Lungs, one of the two organs of Metal (the element of Fall) receive energy, take in our surroundings, and affect all of our bodymind rhythms, including bloodflow.  It functions as the receiver of energy – How are we taking in our surroundings?  How do we breathe emotionally?

We also learned of “The Great Eliminator”, the Large Intestine.  Slightly grossed out by this organ’s famous moniker?  Don’t be!  We Acupuncturists and Chinese Medicine practitioners love to talk about poop.  Why?  It tells us a lot about your digestive health, and about your health, in general.  Back in Chinese royal history, royal servants checked the bowel movements of their royal subjects. Not for kicks, but because what they observed told very important information on their employer’s health!  Not only is the Large Intestine in charge of getting rid of waste and toxins, but it also helps us get rid of toxic thought patterns.

Here are 4 ways to harvest your Mind-full Fall energies this year:

1. Re-evaluate what you have been harvesting in your life this Fall, and clean out what no longer serves you.  It is no coincidence that many of my patients have reported doing an all out clean-out of their belongings, and inventory of friends/relationships.  Some are even moving!  Clearing out and letting go are the name of the game right now, and this is prime time to do so with your mental patterns.  Have you been stuck on that ex who’s already moved on without you?  Release your connections!  That means, yes, getting rid of that favorite momento that reminds you of him/her, deleting that person’s number from your speed dial, donating clothes to Goodwill that subconsciously make you replay past memories of you two together.  As another example, are you a person who’s experienced many hardships in life, and continue to play the tape in your head that you’re still in that survival mode, that you are still that injured/overweight/displaced/bullied/physically challenged young person you used to be?  We all have defense mechanisms that served us during those times, which may have been helpful.  But, as life moves onwards and upwards, we may still think of ourselves as trapped, incapable, miserable, ugly, overweight, etc.  Now would be a good time to re-evaluate the truth in this assumption.  Most likely, you are no longer what you identified with, but you’ve kept it as current truth because it’s safe, and what you know.  Ditch the script!  Replace the damaging, outdated thoughts with current, loving, truthful ones that celebrate how far you’ve come!
2. Start incorporating a mindful practice into your life, if you aren’t already doing so.  When we create a practice of mindfulness, such as meditation, we get ourselves to a place where we are ready to let go of our thoughts that keep us in the past (depression), or get us stuck in the future (anxiety).  Get in the now!  I hear many times, from those patients of mine who don’t meditate, their overwhelm at beginning a meditative practice.  The secret:  don’t overthink it.  The basic premise of meditation is creating a mindfulness practice of keeping you grounded in the present.  This can take many forms:  sitting in silence and emptying your mind, guided meditation recordings, binaural beats, creating art, knitting, dancing (this physical outlet, as well as all physical outlets, gets you in your body and out of the over thinking of your mind as allowing primal beats to get you moving and releasing stagnant Liver Qi!), working out, walking in the park, birdwatching, observing and taking in nature…  The list is endless!  Meditation, or any mindfulness practice, in whatever form you choose it to be, will allow you to let go with more ease.
3. Allow yourself to grieve.  Some people really love Fall, other people find that it gets them melancholy.  That melancholy (and other symptoms like muscle weakness, low immunity, some allergy or asthma symptoms) could possibly be due to a deficiency of Vitamin D, a popular occurrence as we start putting on the layers, and experience less sunlight (for this, I recommend Vitamin D liquid supplement, so much so, that I keep this regularly in stock during this time of year!)  The emotion of Fall is Grief, and so it makes much sense, that we may take this time of cataloging what we’ve culminated this year, and feel sad about things we are letting go of, even if we know it is good for us to release them.  Change is good (although at the time it may not feel that way), and inevitable.  Grief is part of the cycle that allows us to help complete and give closure to chapters in our lives.  So, allow the tears to fall.  If need be, create a small ritual to honor this passing, and send that memory or person love and light.  By doing so, you create room in your heart to embrace more things that serve you right now!
4. Grant yourself the capacity to cough.  The capacity to cough is considered the power granted by Metal.  Coughing is associated with trying to expel irritants and mucous from the Lungs.  But this forceful body expression is also, on a figurative level, the rejection of something unwanted.  I’ve seen low level chronic non-productive coughing in those who have just lost a loved one (through physical death, or death of a relationship), since the Lungs can often experience, and process, grief in the form of coughing.  If this is something you’re experiencing right now, rest assured that this is one of your body’s ways of dealing with grief, and that, once you have significantly worked it from your system, it will stop.  In the meantime, allow yourself to grieve, and drink lots of pear juice, which is nourishing to the Lungs, particularly when coughing.

What patterns do you need to release this Fall?  
I’d love to hear what they are, and what’s worked for you, in the comments below!

Embracing with loving release,

P.S.  Check Out My Article Published On MindBodyGreen: “5 Ways Traditional Chinese Medicine Can Help Energize You”

The holistic health-oriented website, MindBodyGreen.com, recently published my article, “5 Ways Traditional Chinese Medicine Can Help Energize You”!  Think of it as a condensed version of my “Gathering The Energies Of Fall” blog series.

I love writing, and am passionate about reclaiming holistic health, so I thoroughly enjoy the opportunities to merge the two!  It doesn’t hurt that I used to be an underground zinester and community activist, who enjoys communicating and sharing ideas.  Must be the Gemini in me!

Please peruse the article, and feel free to Like it on Facebook, Tweet it, or post it on Pinterest.  Enjoy!

 

 

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