Outside the grass is still green, but heavily sprinkled with dry, fallen leaves. The equinox has passed and we can feel how Yang is moving toward the Yin of winter. It’s Autumn.
Metal, the element associated with this season, has many blessings to offer, chief among them the ability to let go. Just like the trees are letting go of their leaves, we can cultivate our own powers of clarity and discernment, choosing what to hang on to and what to release. In making these choices, like metal, we can be either strong and flexible, or rigid and brittle: We get to choose.
Balance is another gift of Autumn. Day balances night, rest mitigates activity. The Crane Frolic, a venerable Qigong form associated with Autumn, includes lots of balances on one leg. This is a physical skill, but also embodies the focus and discernment of the wise Crane, which watches and waits, standing patiently on that one leg, until a fish swims by, and (Boom!) the crane strikes with the precision of a knife.
In TCM, the organs associated with metal energy are the lungs, large intestine, and skin. We detoxify, letting go through exhalation, perspiration, and digestion whatever no longer serves us. It’s the season when nature supports and encourages us to strengthen our immune system, just in time for moving indoors and into flu season. This is an excellent time to appreciate how rich and healing breathing practices can be: We let go with an exhale, a sigh, a song, a wail, or a shout, releasing whatever is weighing us down, until we can float effortlessly above the changing earth with the clear perspective of a migrating crane.
