How Does the Metal Element Show Up In Our Bodies and Minds?

The metal element is about both contraction and letting go. Try this experiment: Exhale fully. Feel yourself empty, hold your breath out for a few seconds (if it feels safe for you to do so). Then when you’re ready, let that go and let your inhale flow in. Breathe normally for a moment. Notice the sensations of your body, any thoughts or feelings you’re having. You might try this a few times. What is the quality of that full exhale and holding the breath out? Can you feel the density of the contraction, your body condensing? What does it feel like as you let the air come into your body? Can you let it feel effortless?

Metal teaches us about both density and spaciousness. These are strong opposites, like “yes” and “no,” and provide differentiation and structure. Deep inside the earth, immense pressure condenses and creates layers of different types of rock. We can see the layers and colors of the different minerals in the rocks, cliffs, and mountains that we see above ground. They look solid, yet if you you zoom into the atomic level, they are actually full of space and highly organized. Through space and structure the unique properties of these molecules are expressed. For example, diamonds are super strong and gold is softer, more maleable and highly conductive. What is your essence? Who would you be, if you were totally aligned with yourself?

The metal element is a time in the cycle for these explorations of self. Working with the metal element can bring clarity and maturity by letting go and accepting who you are. Some of the elements that are in the earth under this immense pressure make beautiful crystals, gold, platinum and other materials that we consider precious. This process has something to teach us about our essence, our uniqueness, that we get to express in this one precious life. The pressures of life, losses, time, and maturity, allow us to distill our true essence. When we are in balance in our metal element, we are able to let go of judgement and be more accepting of ourselves and others.

The metal element is about clarifying who you are and becoming more yourself. My teacher Nini told us all a story about a wise teacher who said “when I was young I was a tree, now I am an incense stick.” This is a time in the cycle of simplifying, so that we take only what we need into the future. In order to do that, we have to let go of a lot of stuff. Throughout our lives we experience loss and we grieve these losses. The organs of the metal element are lung and large intestine. Through the metal element we are in a constant exchange with the external world. We have to breathe in and out every moment of our lives. In our large intestine we prepare to let go of what we have taken in and processed by drawing out any last nutrients. This ability to exchange and discern lays the basis for immunity by helping you to answer the question, what is me, what is not me? Feeling disconnected and lonely can be a sign that the metal element is struggling with this aspect of exchange with the environment and other people, or lack of connection with yourself.

Place your hands on your waist, the squishy part between your hips and ribs, front and back and take a few breaths. What is the quality of this area? More dense? More spacious? It is interesting to note that these the organs, the ascending and descending colon and the lungs, are rather large empty spaces that fill our torso. What would it feel like to be supported by the bouyancy of these hollow tubes full of space? How do these organs help us to relate to the internal and external worlds through breath, bacteria in our gut, the surface of our skin?