Autumn
Autumn is here, the time of harvest and a time to pull inward. As we gather together on all levels, storing food; warm clothing; and planning for all the winter activities, it is a good time to assess where you are in your mental and physical health. It is my hope to give you some thoughts and ideas of how to look after yourself during this transition to make it more pleasurable and healing.
In Chinese Medicine Autumn is associated with the element of Metal.
Metal is associated with the following correspondences:
- the color white
- the flavor pungent
- the emotion grief
- the lungs and skin
- the sound of weeping
In Ayurveda it is the time of Vata dosha, where there is a tendency to become cold, dry and anxious. Interestingly there are some similarities in the two systems.
In nature we see that the plants energy is going inward, as the leaves and fruits fall and the seeds dry to return back to the earth and wait to be born again in Spring. In us, this time of year can bring about dry conditions, of the lungs, skin and even of the mind.
We can help protect and prepare ourselves for this time of year by being aware of our lifestyle, diet and practice. For the lifestyle it is time to refocus scattered energies from the summer, this can be helped by adding more sour flavored foods to the diet: lemon, sourdough, sauerkraut, olives, pickles, leeks, aduki beans, rose hip tea, vinegar, cheese, yogurt, grapefruit and the more sour varieties of apples and plums. Remembering that the sour flavor, a little goes a long way!
To counter dryness we can add more moistening foods such as: spinach, barley, millet, apple, seaweeds, almond, peanut, sesame seed, honey, dairy products, eggs, clam, crab, oyster. Herbs such as Marshmallow, licorice, fennel, slippery elm, ashwaganda and flax seed can help moisten the lungs and skin.
Protective and purifying foods for the Metal element are: garlic, onion, turnip, ginger, horseradish, cabbage, daikon, beta carotene foods such as carrot, winter squash, pumpkin, broccoli, parsely, kale, mustard greens.
The metal element is associated with the colon and the lungs, which are also responsible for elimination in our bodies and energetically in our spirits. In our diet most of us have an insufficiency of fiber in our diet and the incidence of cancer is highest in these two places: lungs and colon. So adding fiber to the diet is good to do year round. We get our beneficial fiber from the vegetable kingdom and whole grains. The pectin from apples, cherries, carrots and other produce is most beneficial and oats are a great way to get your fiber in by having a bowl of hot oatmeal in the morning with some cinnamon and honey, yum!
Energetically we can use practices like breathing to heal the lung energy as we find in Qigong and Yoga to help focus and internalize our energy. Meditation and the practice of letting go that which is not needed is an excellent practice. Preparing to go inward is sometimes a difficult practice for us in the modern age, but I think it has huge potential for our health. So here is to your healthy and wholesome fall!