Letting go of what haunts us
Autumnal blessings, dear ones! 🍁
Deepening into the colder part of autumn allows us to reflect on what we’re harvesting from this year, with gratitude for the gifts and lessons — as well as to notice if any unnecessary energies are lingering or “haunting” us… and if we’re ready to let them go! 🍂
When we embrace a practice of Pausing to Appreciate what we've experienced and received, and how that has nourished us, we can better clarify what has served its purpose and what’s ready to be composted!
I invite you to pause and notice:
What dreams have come true?
Which efforts have brought an abundant harvest?
✨Soak that in, and enjoy a few moments to fully appreciate those gifts! ✨
What has served its purpose and is ready to be released, so its compost can nourish your next new beginnings?
Is there any energy, idea, memory, story, or belief that’s lingering, perhaps even “haunting” you, that feels harder to let go?
If so, what impact is that having on your life, your health, your work, and those around you?
Sometimes we don’t even fully notice these things, until we pause and take time to reflect! (Or until something comes up that triggers us, and we realize how much is still held beneath the surface!)
Bringing gentle awareness and compassion to how we answer such questions allows us to move toward healing, such that we can feel free to grow, co-create a thriving life, and bring forth our gifts more fully in the next phase of our evolution. ☯️
Shall we stay on the well-worn path shaped by the likely limiting beliefs we adopted in response to past stress?
Or shall we choose a new path, to explore what's most nourishing for who we want to become and what we're here to offer now?
I’ve been reflecting on these questions for myself this fall, especially as my youngest is turning 2 this weekend (!!), and I’m so grateful to be fully celebrating her birthday, without the kind of lingering birth trauma I had to process for my son’s first several birthdays! It's deeply healing to experience the beauty of choosing a different path, with more support. 💕
And, I’m thoroughly enjoying my first semester on the teaching faculty at my acupuncture college… but before the semester began, I definitely had to let go of old body-memories of school stress, so I could be in alignment with my Essence and fully embrace the Present! (So grateful for my amazing partner and for all the tools and practices available to me now, that I didn’t have when I was in school or when my eldest was a toddler -- certainly appreciating this harvest!) ❤️
I’ve also been supporting clients lately in letting go of ideas, beliefs, and patterns that no longer serve them (physically or emotionally), and it’s beautiful to see their transformation — and the Ease with which that happens, when working with the energy of the season!
🍁🍁🍁
In Daoist medicine, Autumn relates to the Metal Element, which includes:
The Lungs & Large Intestine
Letting go and grieving
Trusting the Universe’s timing
Appreciating transient beauty
Harvesting and composting
Gathering seeds to prepare for spring
Inspiration & expiration of breath & life
Honoring the ancestors
Gaining clarity, insight, and courage
Reflecting on the past
Clearing out the old
Making space to gather resources — so we can have what we need to turn inward for the winter, and allow next year’s dreams to gestate in the darkness… ✨
It’s a season in many cultures when the veils are said to be thin, and we can both honor and connect with our ancestors, appreciating their gifts and engaging in deep healing work that extends in both directions of our lineage.
It’s an ideal time to let go of past traumas that may be haunting us — whether our own, or inherited from our ancestors.
In the spirit of collaborating with Nature, I’m in the midst of doing several sets of Ghost Point sessions, as well as Dai Mai (Belt Channel) treatment series — all utilizing the natural energy of autumn to clear out baggage from the past, so my clients can let go of what no longer serves them, and move into greater clarity and freedom.
Sometimes we don’t even know how heavily old energies or emotions are weighing us down, until we let them go!
Once we clear those out, we're more free to create thriving lives aligned with who we are now, and who we want to become. 🌈
And, sometimes it’s hard to do that deep clearing work ourselves, without compassionate support — especially if painful emotions have been stored for a long time. It can be vulnerable, uncertain territory!
That’s why I love the beautifully specific body maps that Chinese medicine offers: they help us clear out old, stuck energies that we might not fully access on our own — these deep clearing treatments can have a profoundly life-changing impact!
The Ghost Points were how I first felt the power of Chinese medicine myself (in 2007), and are still some of my favorite treatments to do with people.
Ghost Points help the body-mind-spirit let go of any “hooks” or “ghosts” of the past — whether those are literally energies we’ve taken on from someone else (such as can happen in an abusive or unhealthy relationship, or after the sudden loss of a loved one), or whether more internal, in the form of negative beliefs or stories that have “hooked” into our psyche, altered our self-image, and slowed down our evolution.
As long as those “hooks” are stuck, it’s likely to be a struggle to change our habits, patterns, inner dialogue, self-image, and trajectory in life — everything can just feel HARD!
But once we clear how those hooks are held in the body, it’s much easier to shift our mindset, emotional & physical energy, and make choices that help us feel aligned with our True Essence, find our next right step, and bring forth our true gifts in the world! (Which is what we're all here for, right?!)
It’s liberating and rewarding and so inspiring, both to feel and to witness — which is why I love the work I do! ☯️
As we each courageously let go of the past and become more fully aligned with the Essence of all that we are, we simultaneously illuminate, encourage, and amplify each other's potential for healing, growth, and thriving.
And it all starts with a bit of self-reflection, willingness to let go, and maybe a bit of extra support along the way!
Thank you for sharing your journey with me as you have so far (in whatever form that has taken!). Thank you for Being in this world, offering the gift of your Presence and engagement.
It's an honor and pleasure to work with clients who vulnerably share their embodied, emotional worlds with me, who engage deeply in their own alchemical healing work — internally and in community, on the treatment table and in classes, in person and online. Thank you!
I believe that as more of us learn to shift our own physical-emotional ecology healthily, and to encounter our personal challenges in empowered, thoughtful ways, the easier it will be to shift larger, global challenges too, one day at a time.
When we get better at working with our own Qi and aligning with our True Essence with every challenge we face, we grow our ability to co-create a more loving, respectful, healthy, sustainable world.
And it starts with the individual. It starts internally, as we acknowledge and clear out the old, gather seeds to plant in the Darkness, and gently nurture their fruition into the Light. And, it's all infinitely more possible and enjoyable to do so in loving Community!
Thank you for Being all that you are, and all that you're Becoming.
Feel free to email me and let me know how you're doing — I'd love to hear from you! (Now that I'm slowly re-emerging into the online world after a much-needed hiatus!) And of course, if you want some compassionate support in alchemizing anything you're ready to shift, I'm glad to be available for that, too — you can check my schedule here. ❤️
Wishing you peace, rest, strength, nourishment, and courage as we deepen into this autumn season!
much love,
Jem
P.S. Feel free to share this post with anyone you think might benefit, so we can all continue to embody the courage it takes to co-create a thriving world together!
Click here to access the complimentary Mini-Course on Embodying Courage
(If you already have access, consider taking a few days to revisit it as part of your autumn reflection — these essential practices are always nourishing!)
