Your Metal Element – Rebalance Your Thinking, Lifestyle, and Emotions for Better Health!
Fire > Earth > Metal > Water > Wood
are symbolic representations for five aspects of our spiritual and emotional lives that correlate with the cycles of nature, human experience, and human health—they comprise the 5-phases of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
Keeping these elements in balance and in motion is the foundation for health and longevity.
Each element contributes to a way of thinking, a lifestyle, or everyday health habit that is useful in moderation but toxic in excess.
An imbalance generates symptoms. The symptoms provide clues to the kinds of changes necessary to bring health back into balance.
When your metal element is out of balance:
Congestion, constipation, and rigid thinking are the most common complaints.
Here are some tips for maintaining metal element equilibrium:
Strengthen the Lungs
Breathe more consciously. To reduce anxiety, and to increase clarity/focus. Conscious breathing Opens up airways to allow oxygen to flow freely. Oxygen is vital for your brain function, metabolism, and energy. More oxygen = better breathing = more energy!
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Balanced Breathing: (inhale = the same duration as exhale) to calm the body and focus the mind helping to remove distractions.
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Stimulating Breathing: Inhale is longer then exhale—the sympathetic nervous system is activated.
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Relaxing and Calming Breathing: Exhale is longer than the inhale—the parasympathetic system is stimulated.
Movement for Lung Health
- Stretching and moving your body is essential. It is normal to get breathless during exercise. However, regular exercise can increase the strength and function of your lungs.
Diet and Nutrition:
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Eating well goes hand in hand with exercise in keeping your lungs clear, healthy, and not overburdened.
Take advantage of the fall harvest foods at your local Farmers Market to get the enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that will keep you breathing easy.
Good foods for healthy lungs include apples, nuts and seeds, cabbage, broccoli, kale, carrots, turmeric, garlic, onions, oranges and pomegranates.
As the weather gets colder, cooked foods aid digestion, nutrition absorption, and provide added moisture and warmth.
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Hydration. Water plays a huge role in health and is the base of any cleansing action. Pure, clean water is essential for keeping blood flowing to and from the lungs. It also keeps our lungs hydrated and the mucus flowing. Again, as the weather grows colder, warm beverages and soups are beneficial.
Emotional Balance:
Nature instructs us about our own cycles of creating and letting go. Fall is the season for setting clear boundaries, clearing out old and unresolved issues, and letting go of built up grief—leaving us receptive to the pure and new. The metal element returns us to our essence and reveals what is most precious in our lives.
Getting a seasonal assessment of your health even when you are feeling fine is a good way to stay on top of your wellness goals. An acupuncture tune-up can help to recalibrate any imbalances to help maintain health and wellness throughout the fall.
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The Healing Point Acupuncture Clinic
Xia Xin, L.Ac., CSMA
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