THE GRACE OF METAL
What Do You Need to Let Go of In Your Life?
Metal is the time of year when the days grow shorter, the weather gets cooler, and the leaves start falling to the ground to leave a potential for growth. Autumn is the time of grace where we learn to release what is no longer needed, what is not in alignment with our higher self. It’s a great time to shed habits, attitudes, food choices, relationships, and behaviours that do not serve us.
Letting go allows for renewal
It’s time for you think about what you really need and to drop what you don’t. There is a sensation of "shedding" in autumn. When the leaves on the trees begin to change, it asks us to let go and indulge in the magnificence of transformation. When we step into this season our body wants to shed and focus our energy to flow more inward. We are stripping away what we don’t need for winter and hibernation. After summer there is a back to school feeling that shifts our focus towards new goals for our lives. When your Metal Rhythm is in balance you can feel strong and vital. It helps you think clearly and make good decisions. You are more capable of managing your emotions and if you are sad, you are able to better process it. It’s easier to control and organize things in daily life. You are less vulnerable to coughs and colds and your skin and hair looks beautiful.
Emotionally Metal is linked to grief and nostalgia. When out of balance you can feel sad and unable to create structure. Letting go inevitability will cause some grief to arise. Maybe we are letting go of a relationship, of our youth, of an old career, of the world we used to know, and the grief feels big and overwhelming. As humans we have so many struggles with this natural emotion. We are taught to repress and suppress grief, to “soldier on,” put on a happy face, and move on. Simmering in an overwhelming state of grief can make it difficult to attend to our daily lives. Avoiding this incredibly powerful emotion will lead us to stuff it somewhere, only for it to most likely resurface later. Unresolved emotions can lead to physical, emotional, and spiritual disease.
The Metal energy corresponds to the lung and large intestine organs. When humans lose something, we grieve. Your large intestine makes sure you get rid of waste and your lungs breathe in new oxygen, which at the same time represents new energy. When your Metal element is weak, these organs can be affected. For example, when you think it’s hard to cope with change you can suffer from constipation because your intestines are literally choked by the disturbance. Or when you repress grief, you can experience asthma symptoms or get different kinds of skin issues. Like our lungs, our skin breathes. When we have to let go and don't want to, we hold that energy in our lungs and heart for a long time. Imagine being like the trees in the fall time. They let go of their leaves effortlessly, with grace, and there is no resistance.
Letting go of the summer
Think of pumpkin spice lattes and cozy fireside snuggles. Some places in the world don’t get the beautiful blessings of the change of seasons like we do here in the Pacific Northwest.
Our fall time arouses our senses. The air becomes cool and crisp on our skin. We welcome the tastes of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and brown sugar, and the smells of woodsmoke. The land is filled with sights of brilliant colours of gold, orange, and reds. Metal energy is all about the harvest and the power of completion.
Letting go of your children going off to college
Metal traits encompass the winding down of things and have an incredible ability to remain composed and detached. When we stand in the power of metal energy, we can acknowledge the loss, but also focus on the prize. Metal people can easily separate because they know that every ending is a beginning. Think about your children stepping towards their independence. It may be an ending of the family life you are familiar with but it’s a new beginning for the next stage of both their lives and yours. You’ve filled them with your knowledge and wisdoms of life and created a solid, sturdy foundation for their vigorous growth. Their new path makes room for evolution and expansion for you all.
Letting go of stuff
Fall is the perfect time to organize and let go of what we no longer need both in the physical and emotional world. Think of clearing out your closets and making new space for both your home and mind. Are you holding onto old energy and emotional baggage? Cleaning out a closet, organizing an area of your home or donating items that you no longer use to a local charity can be a cathartic process which creates space for creative energy to guide you forward in life.
Letting go of stress
Think about your breath. Anxiety and stress develop when our minds get lost in past or future thoughts. Mindful breathing is such a simple powerful technique to ground yourself in the here and now. Deep breathing stimulates the vagus nerve telling your brain to calm down. When you focus on your in-breath and out-breath you are essentially drawing yourself back into the present moment.
Letting go of frustration
Frustration is not always a bad thing as it can be a useful indicator of the problems in your life that might motivate you to change. Many times, we want to change something in our lives but only make a half-hearted attempt. If you really want to make a change in your life, then you must get serious about it and commit to doing it. Other times frustration is caused by not excepting what is. We try to control things we can’t. Metal energy is about surrendering into the unknown. When you learn to truly accept this reality, you come one step closer to being able to deal with frustration in a healthy way. We want to let go of negativity that can be destructive physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Learning to recognize, and finding healthy ways to relieve the tension that can build in your body when you get frustrated is a good first step. Exercise or try Donna Eden’s “Letting Go of the Venom” exercise.
Letting go of rigid beliefs, bitterness, anger, and the need to be right
Our ego mind hates being wrong. Metal energy out of balance makes it difficult to let go of what we believe is right. One way we stay locked in the past is by trying to desperately prove that we are the victim, and the other is the wrongdoer. If you are holding onto anger, then you are struggling to let go of something that happened in the past. Maybe you feel wronged, mistreated, or taken advantage of, which are all very understandable reasons to feel angry. But holding onto anger can keep you from enjoying the present moment. Letting go means being willing to release the past and future and live in the present moment. Letting go doesn’t mean forcing yourself to get over it or making yourself forget what happened. Instead, letting go is a process of surrendering painful beliefs and emotions, and welcoming in love, understanding, forgiveness, and self-compassion. If we can just loosen up on our beliefs and accept that other people's experiences, opinions, and actions are okay too, then we have a lot less to be angry about. Metal energy in balance understands what was done was done. Why would anyone want to act, respond, or engage in any way other than what’s optimum? The healthiest thing for you is to move on and practice letting go of the past.
Letting go of grief
We all experience loss, separation, and “letting go,” and we feel sadness at those times. Grief cleanses us of what is no longer in our lives. Grief is something you must move through. You have to understand and process it in order to move forward in life. The truth is that we lose everything, eventually anyway.
Fear of loss can’t protect us, and when it stops us from loving, committing and being willing to feel deeply, it harms us greatly. Grief is something we must take with us. It is something that makes us different from our past, and it greatly informs us about our hearts and life.
Allow room for inspiration!
The antidote to grief lies in inspiration. It helps us to feel connected to life and to a higher consciousness. When we find value within ourselves our sense of self-esteem is restored. It makes life worth living again. Fostering tenderness, kindness and compassion towards ourselves during challenging times can create human connection, receptivity towards all beings, and acceptance in relinquishing what we cannot control.
Letting go of who we think we are
We are always letting go of who we used to be. We go from being an infant to a child. Suddenly we are teenagers, and we begin to want to let go of our attachments to our parents. Independence drives our individuality and suddenly we want to break free and experience the world in a new way. We then become a young adult, a husband or wife, and maybe parents ourselves, life seems full of new dreams and potential. As young parents we get to reinvent the wheel and relive our youth while prompting our own children. We feel infallible until our own children begin to leave the nest and suddenly, we realize it’s our turn to let go of who we have become.
Let go of the old and bring in the new
As a grandparent, I can't do everything I used to do. I’m not as strong so I’m less able to go on the wild adventures I once used to. I'm more careful about what I put into my body, and I don't party that much anymore. As we come into our later years of life we unexpectedly realize we are not quite the same friend or partner we used to be. Not letting go of who we used to be makes it difficult for us to enjoy who we are now. Pining over what was only creates more grief. Metal energy is about realizing the past is the past. You can acknowledge your reminiscent thoughts but try to consciously release them. When we let go of who we or our partners once were to us, we allow them to become who they are now. Bring in the strength of the Metal energy, which is all about finding grace. It’s then up to you to love, value and respect the people in your life for who they have become.
WAYS TO NURTURE YOUR METAL ELEMENT
Fire Ritual
For issues you cannot resolve directly with others, or for old issues within yourself, try the “Fire Ritual”. Write down what you are struggling with on a piece of paper. Make a fire or light a candle and burn the piece of paper in the flames. Think of the “Phoenix rising” and watch it burn up and curl up into ash. You are symbolically releasing the old energy that is no longer serving you and bringing in something fresh and new.
Breathe
Breathe in through your nose, drawing the fresh air deep down into your belly. Take in as much air as possible. Hold your breath for a count of five, then exhale through your mouth from the bottom of your lungs until empty. Do this 3-5 times up to 3 times daily. As simple as this sounds, most of us don’t breathe deeply and this affects our memory, concentration, energy level, emotions and immune system. Breathing deeply with intention and gratitude, we are flooding our cells and brains with oxygen and energy that is vital to the body’s functions. In addition, breathing can deeply help with acknowledging our grief and loss, while nurturing our lungs with tenderness, compassion and love. The next time you notice tension, strain, and rigidity within your body, try Donna Eden’s exercise called “Freeing the Diaphragm.” It will help to open up your lungs and allow you to breath in more acceptance.
Go Outside in Nature
One of the best things we can do to strengthen the lungs and our immune system, is to soak up nature and breathe in clean, crisp fall air. The connection between our breath, bodies, emotions, and nature is powerfully healing.
Taking a walk outside circulates blood and oxygen throughout our bodies and stimulates a healthy immune response.
Rub Your Large Intestine 4 Acupoint
This acupoint supports both the lung and large intestine. This sits on the top of your hand in the web between your thumb and index finger. It’s a great way to get rid of toxins, drugs, anesthetic and waste products. It has a great effect on our mind and clearing out dense emotions like grief, sadness and feeling blue.
Hold the Metal Neurovascular’s point
This point is just above the hairline, over the middle of your forehead. Hold for 3 minutes or more, while thinking of your loss, grief, or sadness. I like to lie down in bed and prop myself with pillows so I’m comfortable.
Your hands are magnetic and will draw your blood into your forebrain, bringing more clarity and wellbeing to your mind, to help ease your emotional pain.
We can use the teachings and practices of Energy Medicine to support our body, mind and spirit in the midst of seasonal change. The characteristics of “Metal” are solid, sturdy and fixed. It is the metal in the earth that gives it its inner structure and value. Metal allows us to shine, to be brilliant, to inspire. Metal also has a component of flexibility, as it can be remolded many times. It’s helpful to remember that when our Metal energy become rigid, it becomes too inflexible for its own good. Make some time to enjoy the benefits of nurturing the positive strength of your Metal element. Whether it means cleaning out a closet, winding down a relationship, or ending an unhealthy habit, finding ways to “let go” will help ease your transition into fall season of life
Grief and gratitude are kindred souls, each point to the beauty of what is transient and given to us by grace.
~ Patricia Campbell Carlson
Love Becca