The Art of Attaching & Detaching

The beauty of the autumn trees never cease to amaze me how they show such brilliance luminous color just before they release their leaves to the ground below. For only a few weeks the fall colors are a spectacle of awe and symbol of stillness before letting go. I find it poetic that the last moments before letting go boast such beauty as if it were a metaphor of appreciation before release.

There is a savoring of sweetness in the weeks watching the colors change, each day more yellow cascades down our creek line cutting through the vast landscape illustrating the contrast in foliage. There is a brilliant aspen grove high above where I do my standing practice. I start in darkness with cold fingertips from the crisp morning air, immersed in twilight color that seems deeper blue day by day as I face the east welcoming renewal. Time passes breath by breath as the inner heat generates from my bodies ability to match gravity's force to create inner lift and expand my structure. About the time I dial in my alignment and have taken enough breaths to transform my resistance to something new, the rising sun begins illuminates the aspens high above me. The shine is a little brighter each day, yellow spreads through the green leaves and the first rays or light peak over the mountain, golden sun kissing that grove with a brightness that seems so magical it could only be a fleeting moment to savor. I absorb the light while I can knowing it will pass as the autumn fully begin letting go in the next few weeks.

The metal yin energies are responsible for the attachment and sustaining of bonds, this is done though the inspiration of the breath and relates to the lung energies. The lungs connect us to our instincts and identity as they naturally respond and react to the stimulus that inspires us. With each new breath we take in experience and become more of who we are by choosing to bond the external world to our inner terrain though our breathing. The lungs are known as the tender organ as they are sensitive to the world around us and our openness can be gauged through our breath patterns. We hold our breath when we are scared, go shallow and rushed when facing conflict or feel inspiration when the artistry of expression or connection takes out breath away. If we are deficient in the ability to create bonds and connections we feel uninspired and lose the capability to develop inner authority or confidence.

The trees are said to be the lungs of the earth, responding and reacting to their environment, you can tell if the air quality is clean based on the mosses and lichen that grow in a forest, the populations of insects and the nature of the earth they are planted in by the way they grow and the plants that accompany them. They provide oxygen and tell the stories of the ancestors though the leaves movement in the winds. They teach us how to respond to the air and move with it and release when the time is right to preserve ourselves. Balanced Lung energies support us to identify and respond and how to have confidence in the ease of raising without too much burden.

The capacity to detach is found in the function of the yang aspect of metal element and is modulated by the out breath and the release of waste through the colon. Balanced metal energies set up the maturation of letting go. The colon energy holds on to the last bit of waste and extracts the last bit of useful hydration before eliminating and releasing it. There is a deep knowing of self and maturation that comes from the capacity to take in and release, our identity is developed through this process. The inspiration and resources we connected to become part of us and we can let go of the parts that aren’t useful or have expired. When we contract in release we naturally move on and don’t resist change.

There is a relationship between this process and our maturation and identity, a deep knowing of how to value or honor what we has inspired us and find space to let it go. Relationships, material objects, phases and the inevitable loss through death and decline all serve as a playground for our consciousness to develop and work with these energies. Experience in attaching and detaching grows our inner authority and our truth helping us to contact back inward to what we are made of. Just as the trees show us this process each autumn with the utmost beauty and simplicity this art of transition becomes a growth phase we can touch into year after year as a source of our own inner evolution. Taking the time to assess what you have and what is important while leaving behind that which doesn’t serve you invites the ultimate freedom. The freedom of letting go and excitement of moving on sets up the conditions for future growth and inspiration to come making space for what is new while keeping the rhythm of expansion and contraction in motion.