This time of year has long felt like a time of intriguing and exhilarating paradox for me. A time of abundance and harvest, all the colors and tastes of food in season, delicious nourishments, a festival of flavors.... And at the same time, from this place of abundance and joy, we are entering into the season of letting go, the exhalation. We are returning to our most essential connection with life, returning to our breath and body, our embodied spirit. For more ideas and information on the season of Fall and its element of Metal (Lung and Large Intestine), please take a look at this blog. And also this one, on keeping healthy this time of year....

Such an interesting time of year, this piece of the cycle. August 1 is the halfway point between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox. In the Chinese calendar, some mark the beginning of August as the beginning of Autumn (Lung time) while others feel it is the season of Late Summer (Spleen/Earth time), between Summer and Autumn, which feels right to me. Late Summer is associated with damp climate; autumn with dry (although some raininess too). Here we have some of both now, as the hills turn golden brown, yet the fog brings some damp. 

Earth. Fire (summer element) giving birth to Earth, the element of this season of late summer, which began a few weeks ago. Think of the ashes of the fire transforming into rich fertile soil, growing our nourishment with loving abundance. Earth is the center of the five elements in Chinese Medicine, relating to the organs of Spleen and Stomach in the body. Late summer is the center of the seasons on the Chinese calendar (which begins in spring), but Earth times also center us throughout the year; during the first and last week of each season, Earth element is present along with the energy of the element of that season.