Autumn, dryness and the Lung
Autumn belongs to Metal and the Lung. Here in San Diego County that means Santa Ana dryness, and the classics had good advice for it.
The three months of autumn are called Gathering and Leveling in the Huangdi Neijing. The year turns inward, and the phase in charge is Metal (金), paired with the Lung (肺) and the Large Intestine.
Dryness is the climate of Metal
Every phase has a climate it is sensitive to, and Metal's is dryness. Here in North County that is not abstract: the Santa Ana winds arrive, the air goes thin and crackling, and a lot of people notice it in their skin, their sinuses and their throat first.
The Lung opens into the nose and governs the skin, so those are exactly the places the classics would expect dryness to show up.
Grief, and letting go
Metal's emotion is grief. Autumn is a natural season for letting go of what is finished, and a natural season for sadness to surface. That is not something to fix so much as something to make room for.
Eating for the season
Pears, lightly cooked. Soups and broths. White foods the classics associate with the Lung: daikon, cauliflower, almonds, a little honey. Pungent flavors such as ginger and scallion in moderation, to keep the Lung qi moving.
This is general wellness information, not medical advice.
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