When Survival Instincts Feel Threatened...
On my walk yesterday, I noticed the spirit of this autumn season play out in front of me. Each season, according to Chinese medicine, has a spirit, or consciousness that is alive in the collective. During this autumn, metal season, the spirit is called P'o. P'o is nature's intelligence to survive.
Walking through the woods, I observed the squirrels gathering nuts and burying them for the winter. They instinctively know to store away resources for the winter.
I witnessed flocks of geese flying south. The birds have a deep knowing that they survive in warmer temperatures. Certain animals are now preparing for hibernation in the winter. This is all nature's intelligence on survival: P'o.
P'o lives in us humans as well. The ability to take in and let go from the lungs and large intestine, which are energetically running the strongest in the autumn, are the organs of P'o. If we can't take in or let go, we don't survive.
P'o is also why discipline and integrity are the positive qualities of this season. Discipline and integrity help us survive! Without discipline and integrity, we become lazy, non-trustworthy, and unaccountable. In primitive times, these qualities wouldn't have fared well in a community, when we all depended on each other for survival.
Being that most of our survival needs are met with food, heat, and comfortable homes, our P'o nature isn't being threatened as it was when we lived in tribes. So we have to watch P'o's subtle tendencies to avoid becoming overly attached, greedy, possessive, or resisting change.
When we are in our P'o mind, we are in our instinctual brain. If we are living in our P'o mind, we are living like animals. As evolved humans, our P'o nature needs to be governed by our observer, known as the Hun. The Hun is our wise brain that is responsive, rather than reactive. It's the mature mind that can see what is best for the collective. It's also the mind that sees when it's time to let go.
Letting go is the teaching of the autumn metal season. Our P'o mind feels safe when things stay the same, maintaining the status quo. But change is constant, so our observer, the Hun, lets us know when it's time to let go of a relationship, or an addiction, or a behavioral pattern that doesn't serve us or those around us.
Self-observation through the Hun mind is our superpower as humans. It is the basis of mindfulness. And it's what makes the yoga practice so unique. When we observe our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, without judgment, we can course correct.
When we notice that we're holding on tight to how things used to be, we become rigid. It's like holding onto the breath, not wanting to let it go because that inhale felt so good!- but we know we will suffocate if we don't let go and exhale.
When we expect our relationships to make us feel the same way they did when we fell in love, or when we don't want our children to grow and move away, we know this wouldn't be healthy. Yet, our P'o nature can be sneaky in what we become attached to and grasp onto.
To observe where your P'o nature may be out of balance, witness where you may be rigid and not wanting to change. Where you may be thinking, "it's my way or I'm out!" or "I can't let go", this is rigid metal energy that's based in fear. And most of our fears are deeply rooted in concerns of survival.
When we observe where we are tightly holding on, loosening the grip and energetically starting to let go is so liberating! It's not easy, but practicing mindfulness and recognizing how clinging doesn't serve us helps us gradually create space to let go and trust that our wise mind is leading us to more freedom.
Breathwork is a great practice to help us not cling so tightly. It provides an energetic and emotional clearing, allowing us to embrace change with more grace and ease.
I hope to breathe with you soon so we can allow our P'o nature to be in service to our Hun wisdom.
Hope to breathe with you soon.
From my heart to yours~
Namaste,
Maggie