Good grief

Jefferson Breland

(9/2020) The other day I did an internet search for "When does Fall start?" Apparently, there is not one answer. Not only that, there are many different calendars. One source cites twelve different calendars each with similar and different numbers of days of the year. Essentially, the calendars differ based on beliefs and location. Since that is the case, we could have twelve different dates when Fall starts. This is very confusing to me.

The generally accepted answer to "What is the first day of Fall in 2020?" is September 22nd. This is based on the Autumnal Equinox, the day when day and night are equal lengths. As a kid, I thought Fall began when school started. School marked the end of Summer vacation. It meant the end of riding my bike all over the town, the end of little league baseball, the end of movie nights on Monday at the local ball field, it meant the end of camping trips with my family, the end of the ice cream truck driving through my neighborhood. Basically, it meant the end of my favorite things. Thus, for me, the arrival of Fall bore a sense of sadness that one could call grief.

Now, dear reader, since this is the Complementary Corner, you may be wondering what do my childhood feelings about Fall have to do with complementary medicine. I am glad you asked. The answers relate to how Fall shows up in us on the body, mind, and spirit levels. These answers will help us to live a more balanced and healthy life.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the seasons represent energetic shifts in Nature. These shifts are the foundation of a cosmology called the Law of the Five Elements. In brief, TCM divides the year into five seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Late Summer, and Fall. To each of these seasons they assigned a name that represents the energetic movement of that time of year: Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal respectively. These names are referred to as elements or phases. The founders of TCM used their observations of Nature to make associations to how humans reflected these energetic shifts in each season. These associations include color, sound, odor, emotion, body parts, and internals organs to name a few.

The Fall season is associated with the Metal element. Why Metal? The season of Fall represents the end of the harvest season. When this cosmology was developed, China was an agricultural society. Metal represents the minerals in the soil that are deposited by crop residues as well as color of the left white ashes of the burned crop residue after harvest.

Therefore, on the physical/Earth level, the Metal Element refers to the richness of minerals in the earth, the plants, and the bodies all living beings. On the emotional or mental level, Metal represents the intrinsic value of all things in life, that which is precious: for instance, the core values that lie within us, our families, our communities, and our societies. On the Spirit level, Metal represents our interrelationship between Heaven and Earth.

On the physical level, in the Fall season, Nature reveals the energetic movement from the peak of Summer toward the depth of Winter, in a number of ways. The hours of daylight are decreasing. There is a shift in temperatures. The air is increasingly drier. The quality of light is changing due to the drier air and changing the angle of the Sun. Leaves change color and begin to fall to the ground. It is the end of the growing season and time to harvest the last crops before winter. Overall, there is a sense of letting go in Nature.

On the physical level, we may notice this shift in nature in ourselves in a number of ways. We may wake up earlier in the morning. We can feel the cooler air against our skin and begin to wear warmer clothing. Our skin may become drier. We may be able to breathe the cooler and drier air more deeply. We may feel hungrier, craving fatty foods to prepare us for the cold of Winter.

On the mental or emotional level, I can’t speak to the seasonal shift in a tree or a crop in a field, and since we are Nature, I can turn inward to observe nature’s energetic shift in ourselves by observing my thoughts and emotions.

Returning to my reflections about the beginning school and Fall, my feelings were mixed. There was an excitement about going back to school because I like learning and seeing more friends. Simultaneously, there was a profound sense of loss for what not longer was. Each Summer is unique and will never happen again in exactly the same way.

As we get older, life generally becomes more complicated. We lose the simplicity and innocence of youth. We may lose our favorite stuffed animal, lose jobs, grow apart from friends, and loved ones may die to name but a few of the circumstances of loss. These feelings of loss are called Grief.

Grief is the emotion associated with Fall and the Metal Element, to describe our relationship with the natural process of loss and letting go. We grieve that which has value to us and is no more or will never be. It is an opportunity to honor whom we love or what has served.

Grief is an expression of Love. It is necessary to acknowledge love in order to move forward. Our honoring and offerings of respect allow us to begin the process of healing. This is why we have funerals and memorial services: to begin the healing processes for each person, family, community that has experienced the loss.

I offer here, it is important to have a ceremony for any loss, small or large. Ceremony is an important way to also let go of anything that no longer serves, i.e. an old story or belief about ourselves, which limit possibility in our life. It is through ceremony that we are able to connect the emotion of grief to the Spiritual aspect of Fall.

The Spirit level of Metal or Fall is that part of us that helps us endure the hardships of life. It is our connection to Heaven and our life’s purpose that help us to not only survive, but grow our wisdom from the great losses of our lives. Through loss, we are reminded of the impermanence of all things, especially of our limited time here on Earth. We see that like Nature changes, we change and only Spirit endures.

To weave together the Body, Mind, Spirit levels of the season of Fall and the Metal Element, I am going to introduce one of the more interesting components of the Law of the Five Elements: the associated internal organs. In this cosmology, the Lungs and the Large Intestine are associated with the Fall and the Metal element.

Through this pairing of organs, we can see a relationship between Heaven and Earth. On the more earthly physical plane, the respiratory and elimination function of the Lungs and Large Intestine reflect the gathering/growing and letting go cycles of Nature. We inhale air to fuel cellular function and exhale the by-products of that function. The Large Intestine releases the unused food and drink of our digestive system.

Through our thoughts and emotions, we connect to Heaven on a more conscious level. As we breathe, we receive the inspiration of Heaven. Similarly, the Large Intestine allows us to let go of what beliefs or ideas no longer serve.

On the Spirit level, the Lung helps us connect to our divine purpose as the Large Intestine helps us extract the gifts buried in a loss or a difficult situation. Both the Lung and Large Intestine allow us to let go of what has served its purpose to get us to this point in our life.

Licensed acupuncturist, Jefferson Breland may be reached at 410-336-5876 or visit www.jeffersonbrelandacupuncture.org. Be well.