Autumn: A time for Clarity, Action and Your New Beginning

Everything is interconnected. Here are tips to help make the best use of Autumn for Mind, Body, Spirit and Space.

Autumn is a time for letting go, organizing and being accountable. If you have been experiencing great ups and downs this year, it’s not about to end shortly. Staying on top of it with health, wealth, happiness and organization will make the ups happier and the downs smooth out.

Autumn is a time of turning inward; a time to gather what is good, healthy, abundant and pure to our centers; a time to let go of what no longer serves us well and release what holds us back. It is a great time of year to check in with ourselves regarding forgiveness, boundaries, non-attachment, our purpose, letting go, transformation.

“It is a natural time to receive what is pure and sacred from the heavens while giving up the heaviness to the earth through the dance of embracing two polar-opposite energies – receiving and releasing. As we step onto the harvest field of this coming season, may we acknowledge the voices from our spirits that we find in our emotions and bodies. May we be inspired to reflect, cultivate discipline, and artistic expression; may we contract into our depths and expand into the purity of our beings; may we exercise the alchemy of transformation, by treasuring what is truly sacred in our lives and hearts.” [from InnerFire.org]

A time of alchemy. In some cultures, Autumn is associated with the Vulture, picking apart and organizing (in the truest sense); transforming what has no life force and turning it into flight. When we are burdened, we don’t have ‘lift off’.

When we hold onto things that no longer serve us, or when we have an excess of sadness, grief, or attachment (another form of not letting go) we are experiencing a Metal element imbalance. That sadness and grief is associated with the proper functioning of our Lungs and Large Intestine (and skin) which are the organs associated with the Metal element and Autumn. Those organs help us interface with the world, protect us and help us eliminate that which doesn’t serve us any longer.

If you want to experience more joy, happiness, abundance, use the energy of Autumn to boost your immune system, your clarity and your ability to create alchemy in your own life and in the lives of others, incorporate some of these tips into your daily life:

SPACE: Home or Office:

Clear out the clutter and do a thorough cleaning, especially of the areas that are in the near right corner and the mid-right corner of your home or office. The Bagua areas associated with Metal are Helpful People and the Children & Creativity areas.
- These two spaces are associated with Metal energy, both can be enhanced with objects made of metal, round or oval objects or art, white or grey/metal colors, but they have differences:
  - Helpful People: place items in white or grey, photos of mentors or places you’d like to travel, increase wealth with a feng shui cure of 6 coins placed in this area.
  - Children & Creativity: items in white or light pastels, photos of joy, creativity, children.
Make sure your windows and mirrors are clean, allowing you an accurate reflection and absorption of clear images.
Donate or sell everything that you haven’t touched in a year or that doesn’t make you very happy when you see it, even clothes, old files, old books, dried flowers, you name it: let it go.
Allow at least 1/4 of the space to be open and available, 1/4 of the book shelf, closet, filing cabinets. This creates ease of flow and invites more goodness into your life.
Be sure your metal objects work perfectly (scissors, knives are sharp, car is in order). Because we create that which we see, Feng Shui recommends that you do not display knives or swords unless you want to create the energy of conflict or sharpness.
Introducing nature into your home, surrounding yourself with autumn colors is another way to use the energy of the season to create support in your life. Autumn colors are actually a mixture of Earth energy (yellows) which support Metal energy and a mixture of Fire energy (Red and orange) which ‘controls’ metal energy.
To create help in clearing and being more clear, cutting away the excess, you can use other metal elements, silver colors, the organization and associated with accounting and conditional support.

MIND / BODY / SPIRIT

Breathe. Often we don’t take a good belly breath of inspiration. When you come to a traffic light or when you get up in the morning, or anytime throughout the day: breathe nice, slow, full breathe. Do the “Breath of the Dragon”: inhale and then on your exhale, pretend you are breathing out fire, make it audible and clear your lungs, pulling in your belly muscles. Aim the invisible Fire at anything you want to delete in your life. It’s fun!
Detox your mind, body and spirit. Check with your health care practitioner for ways to detoxify your large intestine, lungs and skin (for skin it can be as easy as using shower mitts or loofah, stroking from extremity toward your heart will help to invigorate the skin and lymph).
See an acupuncturist for treatments to tonify the lungs and large intestine. Our bodies are always moving energy in ways that western medicine doesn’t always acknowledge. An acupuncturist can help keep you healthy so that dis-ease doesn’t have a place to set in. Regualar maintenance of our bodies energy, organs and attitude build a strong foundation for joy, prosperity and love.
Forgive and forget. Write on a piece of paper all the grievances you have for your entire life and those you are holding at fault. Write it all. Then wrinkle that paper up into a small ball and hold it in your hand tightly. Carry it around with you–all day–all night. Carry it as long as you can until you can literally throw it all away. I heard of this exercise from a friend of mine and I think it exemplifies how crippled we become by carrying grievances, toward others and toward ourselves. (See coupon below)
Nutritional support for metal: pungent foods including onion, garlic, chive, turnip, ginger, radish, daikon root; dark leafy greens, such as kale, broccoli, chard, and spinach; golden, orange vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, yams; seaweeds and fiber; oats, rice, amaranth, quinoa.
Avoid cold drafts, wear a fashionable scarf to protect your throat area, sing and speak clearly.

Rhythms and cycles of our planet life are an integral part of the functional of all dynamic systems. In a cascading fashion, all things are connected. In fact, Hippocrates recommended that all individuals who wished to study medicine first become fully aware of the seasonal changes and the coincidental changes within humans and animals. (N.E. Rosenthal, Seasons of the Mind New York, Bantam, 1989)

Take some time to notice your internal desires and you are half-way home to discovering what balance means for your unique life.

Autumn: A time for Clarity, Action and Your New Beginning

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