Chinese medicine keeps a calendar of its own. Each season belongs to one of the five elements and one of the organ systems, and each asks something different of us. Autumn belongs to metal and to the lungs.
Metal and the lungs
Metal is the element of structure, edges, and refinement. Its season is when the year's expansive energy contracts: leaves fall, days shorten, the air turns crisp and dry. In the body, the lungs govern breath, the skin, and the body's outer defenses, which is one reason colds and dry coughs arrive with the season. Dryness is autumn's characteristic challenge: dry skin, dry throat, a cough that tickles and will not settle.
The emotional quality of the lungs is grief, and the lesson of the season is letting go. Trees do not cling to their leaves. The classical texts suggest that autumn is the time to finish what spring and summer began, gather in the harvest, and release what no longer serves so there is room for what comes next.
Living with the season
- Moisten. Pears, apples, honey, sesame, almonds, and soups all counter autumn dryness in the traditional kitchen. Warm water through the day.
- Protect the neck and chest. Wind is the other autumn visitor, and Chinese medicine watches the back of the neck especially. A scarf earns its keep.
- Breathe on purpose. A few minutes of slow, full breathing each day is the lung system's own exercise.
- Go to bed earlier. As the light shortens, so should the day.
- Tidy something. Metal likes order. A cleared desk or closet is seasonal medicine.
Where acupuncture fits
Treatment in autumn often focuses on strengthening the lung system and the body's defensive layer before winter, and on easing whatever the season stirs up: allergies, early colds, dry skin, and sometimes the low mood that comes with shorter days. Many people schedule a seasonal visit at the equinox for exactly this reason.
If autumn tends to catch you off guard, talk with Cara about a visit to meet the season on your own terms.