Grief
GRIEF: The Hidden Gateway to Autumn’s Deepest Medicine
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.”
— C. S. Lewis
Greetings to all my precious people!!
Every Autumn, trees perform the most beautiful act of grief imaginable – they release what has sustained them all summer, trusting that this letting go is not loss but preparation for new life. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, grief is not a pathology to be fixed but the natural emotion of the Metal element, the feeling that allows us to honor what has been while creating space for what’s becoming.
The Sacred Sadness That Clears the Way
At midlife, we often find ourselves in seasons of multiple griefs – not just the obvious losses, but the subtle mourning of who we used to be, dreams that didn’t manifest as expected, and the sweet sorrow of watching our children grow beyond needing us. This isn’t depression or getting stuck in sadness. This is the sacred work of clearing the emotional field so new possibilities can take root.
BREATHE: Inhale Possibility, Exhale What No Longer Serves
“Let go of the battle. Breathe quietly and let it be.
Let your body relax and your heart soften.
Open to whatever you experience without fighting.”
~~ Jack Kornfield
Greetings to all my precious people!!
You’ve been breathing your entire life, yet most of us have never truly learned how to breathe. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Lungs are called the “Master of Qi” and they govern not just oxygen exchange, but the very life force that animates everything we do. During Autumn’s Metal season, when Lung energy is at its peak, we’re offered a profound invitation: to transform breathing from an unconscious survival mechanism into conscious medicine.
The Revolution in a Single Breath
This isn’t about perfecting some complicated technique. It’s about remembering that every inhale is an opportunity to draw in possibility, and every exhale is a chance to release what’s ready to go. At midlife, when we finally have the wisdom to know the difference, conscious breathing becomes one of our most potent tools for transformation.
