Letting Go and Opening Up- Fall 2019 Newsletter

Letting Go and Opening Up

LETTING GO
Autumn holds significant transitions for many of us.
Summer is drawing to a close, temperatures are cooling and the duration of daylight is slowly fading. Families are experiencing big changes as the more relaxed pace of summer shifts into structured days of school and evenings and weekends filled with extracurricular activities.

Autumn is the season of Letting Go. Seasonally the trees and plants "let go" of their leaves as they prepare for the winter ahead. (As I was drafting this newsletter a leaf fell gently upon my paper :)) So too, we must begin to reflect and discern what we are ready to "let go of " as we transition into this new season. We may view the process of letting go as sad or difficult. We may be grieving the loss of summer and the moments we have spent with those we love. We may be grieving the loss of a particular stage in our life that has been completed such as a child graduating from high school and moving onto college (yours truly :))

In Five Element acupressure the Element of Fall is Metal and the meridian organs are Lung and Large Intestine. The extreme emotional state associated with Metal is grief or sorrow.

Taking Time to Pause and Reflect on your Body, Mind and Life:

1) As you reflect upon what you are letting go of this fall, honor and recognize any feelings of grief associated with the process of letting go.

2) Take time to explore where in your body you hold patterns of tension. This may be felt as a sense of holding back or an inability to release or relax tension patterns. Where does your energy move freely through your body and where does it feel stuck? Awareness of stuck areas provides an opportunity for delving deeper into information that may be stored in this area.
For example: is there a fear of moving forward or letting go?
Ask yourself what would that body area feel like with less tension?


Self-care Suggestions

We can support our Metal element through breathing exercises that promote a full exhale or letting go breath pattern. We can support a healthy colon by eating some raw foods, minimizing mucous producing foods and exercising abdominal muscles. We can be mindful of clearing our lives of things that no longer serve us including objects, ideas, behaviors and relationships.

OPENING UP
As we begin to mindfully reflect on what we choose to let go of, we can begin to create space to open up to new ideas, opportunities and possibilities. We can explore how different we can feel in our bodies as we let go of holding patterns that create tension, limited range of motion and pain.

Our body can experience more ease and comfort,
our mind can be more creative in the discernment process
and our life can flow more smoothly.

Wishing you health and joy during these beautiful autumn days and beyond!

Lisa