How to Breathe Deeper and Let Go This Autumn
Christina J. Barea is the founder of 5 Phases Health and a Medical Qigong Instructor with over 20 years of experience helping adults build strength and vitality through movement and nutrition. She is the award-winning author of Qigong Illustrated, a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutritionist, and Ordained Daoist.
Every autumn, trees let their leaves fall so their roots can hold what matters through winter. Your body follows a similar rhythm. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), autumn belongs to the Metal phase, which links the breath you take in with your capacity to release what has run its course. Here you can explore what Metal governs and try a simple breath this week.
What is the Metal phase?
Five Phases Theory is a framework within TCM that maps the body and emotions onto five patterns found in nature: Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire. Each phase connects to particular organs, a season, a color, and an emotion. The word phase is deliberate. Your body moves through these patterns over time, much as the year moves through its seasons.
Metal is the phase of autumn. Picture a tree as the days grow shorter. After a summer of growth and fruit, the tree draws its sap back toward the root and lets its leaves go. Nothing has gone wrong. The tree is making room for what comes next and conserving its strength for the cold months ahead. The Metal phase governs that same capacity in you: taking in what nourishes you and letting go of what is finished.
A quick note on language: when an organ name appears capitalized here, such as Lungs, the word refers to the broader TCM organ system. Lowercase lungs refers to the physical organs.
Metal at a glance
Each phase carries its own set of correspondences. These are Metal's.
Quality | Metal phase |
Spirit of the phase | Flexibility and adaptability |
Organs | Lungs and Large Intestine |
Governs | Breath, skin, and longevity |
Season | Autumn |
Color | White |
Energetic direction | Contracting, drawing inward |
Emotion | Grief |
Virtue | Integrity |
Breath, skin, and boundaries
In TCM, the Lungs and Large Intestine work as a pair. The Lungs take in fresh air, and the Large Intestine releases what the body has finished with. Together they carry Metal's rhythm of receiving and letting go.
Your lungs cannot move air on their own. They rely on the diaphragm beneath them and the intercostal muscles between your ribs. When those muscles stay supple, the ribcage can widen to the front, back, and sides, and the breath fills the chest. Long hours of sitting or a forward slump at the desk can tighten them, and the breath grows shallow.
These muscles deserve extra attention after midlife. The American Lung Association notes that lung function declines gradually after about age 35, partly because the diaphragm can weaken and the ribcage leaves less room for the lungs to expand. The same source names staying active as one way to protect and even strengthen the lungs. Movement that opens the ribcage and trains a full breath is a natural place to begin.
TCM also describes a protective energy, often called Defensive Energy, that circulates at the surface of the body between the skin and the muscles. In this tradition, the Lungs govern that energy, and a full, steady breath helps build it.
Metal governs the skin, too. Your skin is where you meet the world. Rather than a wall, think of your skin as a breathable membrane that keeps you connected while protecting what lies within. Healthy boundaries in the Metal phase work the same way, in your body and in your relationships.
From grief to integrity
Grief is the emotion of the Metal phase and a natural companion to letting go. You might feel grief when saying goodbye to a person, a role, a home, or a younger version of yourself. Many of us in midlife carry several of these at once.
Five Phases Theory treats grief as a messenger rather than a problem to fix. Given room to move, sorrow tends to pass through and leave us clearer. Held tightly, sorrow often settles in the chest and narrows the breath. The fallen leaf offers a gentle reminder here: what we release is acknowledged and freed, not lost.
The virtue of Metal is integrity, and here the word carries a simple meaning. The inside matches the outside. Who you are within and how you meet the world line up. Integrity grows less from adding and more from releasing. As you let go of what is borrowed or finished, what remains is authentically yours.
Boundaries live here as well. A balanced Metal phase is open enough to stay warmly connected and clear enough to protect what matters to you.
Signs of Metal in balance
When the Metal phase is well supported, you may notice changes in both body and mood. In the body, the breath tends to feel full and easy, reaching the sides and back of the ribcage without strain. Your chest and shoulders feel open rather than braced. You may find that colds pass more easily, that elimination feels regular, and that your skin feels comfortable. Moving your arms and upper body feels freer.
On the emotional side, sorrow comes and goes rather than settling in to stay. Letting go of a habit, a belief, or a relationship that has run its course feels possible, even when the choice is hard. Your boundaries hold without turning into walls. Students often describe a growing sense of inner clarity, along with more room to breathe.
A breath to try
This seated practice comes from the Metal phase cooldown in my book. All you need is a sturdy chair and about five minutes.
I invite you to settle toward the front of the chair, feet flat and spine long. You can rest one hand on your lower belly and the other on the center of your chest. Let your jaw soften, and close your eyes if that feels comfortable.
When you are ready, begin with a slow, complete exhale through the nose. Then welcome the breath in, letting it fill you from the bottom upward: first the lower belly, then the sides of the ribcage, and finally the upper chest beneath your hand. Pause for a moment at the top. Release the breath in reverse, from the chest down to the belly, and rest briefly before the next breath.
As you breathe in, you might picture a soft white mist around you, like an autumn morning. Imagine the mist entering through your skin and filling your chest with clarity. As you breathe out, let something you no longer need drift away with the air.
Six to nine breaths are plenty to begin. In our practice, we call your comfortable range The Wall: the point where you can breathe fully without forcing or straining. If you feel lightheaded, return to your natural breath. If you ever notice sudden shortness of breath, please speak with your doctor.
Begin with one breath
Metal is one of five phases, and each offers its own path back to balance. As autumn turns toward winter, the next article in this series explores the Water phase and the deep reserves that carry us through the colder months.
For now, consider a small commitment. Return to this breath once a day for the coming week, and notice what shifts in your body and your mood. Small, steady practice tends to add up over time.
If you would like to discover which phase is calling for your attention first, my book, Foundations of Longevity, Volume 1: Qigong & Fitness, includes a self-assessment and a program lasting eight weeks for each phase. You can learn more at 5 Phases Health. You are welcome to begin wherever you are.
This article is for general education. The practices described here complement, rather than replace, care from your physician or another qualified health professional.
Read more from Christina J. Barea
Christina J. Barea, Founder, Medical Qigong Instructor & Therapist
Christina J. Barea is a Medical Qigong Instructor & Therapist, and the founder of 5 Phases Health, where she helps adults build strength, energy, and resilience through movement and nutrition. Over more than two decades, she has taught thousands of students, authored the Silver Nautilus Award-winning book Qigong Illustrated, and filmed three seasons of Qigong programming for Atlanta community television. Trained in medical Qigong, personal fitness, and nutrition, Christina blends time-tested practice with practical, everyday tools. Today she focuses on guiding readers toward living their best life, one daily step at a time.
