Let go of the battle. Breathe quietly and let it be. Let your body relax and your heart soften. Open to whatever you experience without fighting. ~ Jack Kornfield
Autumn is my favourite season. I revel in its riot of colours, I breathe in deeply its crisp and refreshing air, I nourish myself with its abundant harvest of fruits and vegetables, and like a joyful child I dance my way through piles of leaves and relish the sound of their crunching beneath my feet. Autumn greatly appeals to my nature as an introvert – I love spending quiet time alone curled up with a good book, puttering in the kitchen making hearty soups and savoury preserves with my fall bounty from the farmer’s market. Autumn is a season tailor-made for homebodies like me.
You may have noticed that over the last few weeks there have been some common threads woven through my posts. These threads are an integral part of the larger tapestry that is Autumn and all that this season means for us on a physical and energetic level. The daylight wanes and the temperatures cool; the natural world sheds its summer clothes and quietly prepares for winter slumber. Though our busy modern life seems to draw us ever farther from our connection to nature, when we take the time to listen to our bodies, to listen to our inner selves and the innate wisdom we have within us, we realise that we are deeply moved and shaped by the rhythm of the changing seasons.
Traditional Chinese Medicine teaches us that our vital energy moves through channels in our body called meridians, nourishing all of our cells and tissues. The meridian lines are connected to organ systems, and while there are clear links to the Western understanding of organ function, TCM also assigns other physical and energetic attributes to these systems. TCM also acknowledges the important role that the seasons of the natural world play in our physical and energetic well-being. The autumn season is associated with the Lung and Large Intestine meridians. These organs separate what is essential from what is waste; they eliminate what is unnecessary or toxic and welcome what will nourish and heal. Their energy is one of ‘letting go’, releasing what no longer serves us, creating space to respond to our changing needs so that we have room to grow and move forward on our path.
When we avoid introspection, when we turn away from ourselves and ignore the signals being sent by our mind and body, we are fighting a battle we cannot win. We are an integral part of the natural world. What if rather than struggling against its changing nature, we relaxed and softened into that change? What if rather than clinging tightly to what we know, we released our grip and let go, making space for something new? Autumn is a time for us to dive within and plumb the depths of our experience. Let yourself be nourished by the changing season. Open your heart and your mind to whatever comes, and release what it is time to let go.
Each new season brings change; whether subtle or profound, we are all affected by the changing nature of the world around us. In autumn, we see shorter days and cooler temperatures. Depending on where we live, there might be a riot of colour to signal its arrival, one last hurrah before the natural world settles into slumber.