How To Give Your Home An Energetic Makeover This Fall, According To Feng Shui

In feng shui philosophy, the season of autumn is related to the metal element. Metal, water, wood, fire, and earth make up the five "phases," or elements, that Taoists and Buddhists observe to relate the cycles of nature with the patterns in our homes, bodies, and lives. Many different ancient cultures have their own five-element system, such as the Native Americans, Tibetans, and Hindus. 

So what's "metal" about autumn? It's the feeling of the cool, crisp air on your skin, the poignant sadness that summer is ending, the leaves on the trees begin to die and fall away, and the sense of contraction—a hibernation of sorts.

Since autumn is a time to let go, it can quickly deplete our energy. In the five elements, metal depletes earth. (Earth being self-care, boundaries, and health.) Therefore, fall is a time when we may need a little nudge to keep up our physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

In your home (and on your body), you can begin to do so by incorporating more earthy colors. You can also display a beautiful statue or rock, something that has some heft to it, to bring in more earth energy for stability and self-nourishment. 

If there's something that needs to end, like an unhealthy relationship or if you have a project that's been dragging on (and on and on…), autumn is the perfect time to harness this metal energy to wrap it up! There's an area of the feng shui bagua map (more on what that is here) called Dui that relates to completion and the metal element.

You can tap into this completion energy by finding that area of the map in spaces where you typically work—you can divide up your desk, for example.

Don't forget that fall is also the harvest season and a time of joy! We can use its coming as a reminder to rejoice and be proud of our successes. Since autumn is connected with the mouth, we can also use this time to look at our speech and contemplate some ways in which we can heal with sound and speech. Here is a quick celebratory ritual to get you started: