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Autumn has now arrived in Melbourne. According to the 5 elements theory, this is the season of Metal. The organs that are associated to Metal are Lungs and Large Intestines.
Why Metal?
Metal elements are the minerals that are found in Earth. As the leaves fall off the trees, they rot and turn into nutrients for the Mother Earth.
How to look after your mental and physical health in Autumn?
1. Time to get organised in Autumn
Metal is not only structured, but it presents itself in a strong organised form. Therefore, autumn is the time to get organised. Animals starts to collect food and getting themselves ready for hibernation. Human do the same unintentionally. You hear people joining the gym, getting a personal trainer, planning for a project, organising activities, renovating their homes, sorting out their wardrobes etc. Getting organised in our lives allow us to plan for the better and ready for the worse.
2. Keep moist
As the weather becomes cooler and dryer, we can suffer from dryness in the body. We tend to have more dry mouth, dry skin, sometimes we can also develop a dry cough as the Yin in the Lungs become more depleted from the external cold and wind. You can also have some dryness in the stools. Make sure you keep hydrated with fluids orally and moisturise your skin with oil based moisturiser. Some pear and apple juice can also nourish the Lung Yin and moistens the bowels.
3. Breathe, breathe, breathe
If you have been thinking about signing up to a breathwork class. This is the time to do it.
Breathwork has been found to improve one's mental and physical health. As mentioned earlier, the Lungs are the main organs of the season. Let's optimise its' ability to work better in this season.
Maximising oxygen intake into the lungs can help improve your immunity, boost energy, improves your mood and allows fluids in the body to shift to places that it needs to a lot easier (This is a topic for another time).
All these little things will help us get through autumn more pleasantly. If you would like to know how to improve your immune system by strengthening the Lungs this season, contact your closest Chinese Medicine practitioner for more information.
Till then, stay warm!
Jyn