Why Your Body Wants to Slow Down Right Now

Feeling like skipping plans and just stay home? I've had more clients mention this in the last week than I have all year, and honestly, I've felt it too.

There's a reason for this seasonal feeling. In Chinese medicine, autumn belongs to the Metal element, and its organs are the Lung and Large Intestine. Metal governs boundaries: the boundary of your skin against the outside world, the boundary between what you take in and what you let go of, even the emotional boundary between grief and acceptance. As the natural world contracts toward winter, our own energy is meant to contract along with it, moving from the expansive, outward energy of summer into something quieter and more internal.

The trouble is nobody hands you a permission slip for that. Work, school and family obligations don't slow down just because the season is asking you to. You end up with this gap between what your body wants and what your schedule expects, and that gap is usually where the fatigue or the urge to set boundaries sets in.

I'm not saying cancel your life. Just try this: ten minutes tonight with no phone, no to-do list, nothing to do but sit. See what comes up. Half the time it's something you already knew and just hadn't had a quiet moment to hear.

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