The Metal Element and the Alchemy of Grief

The Metal Element asks us what we are ready to release, what is worth keeping, and what can be distilled into gold. In this three-hour workshop, we’ll explore grief, connection, space and transformation through the lens of Five Element acupuncture. Metal is concerned with value and essence: what is truly precious to us, what no longer serves us, and how we make space for something new. We’ll look at the ways grief can shape us, how connection helps us return to ourselves, and how letting go can become part of a deeper process of coming home to ourselves.

Stillness is vital to the world of the soul. If as you age you become more still, you will discover that stillness can be a great companion. The fragments of your life will have time to unify, and the places where your soul-shelter is wounded or broken will have time to knit and heal.

You will be able to return to yourself. In this stillness, you will engage your soul. Many people miss out on themselves completely as they journey through life. They know others, they know places, they know skills, they know their work, but tragically, they do not know themselves at all. Aging can be a lovely time of ripening when you actually meet yourself, indeed maybe for the first time.

—John O’Donohue

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Rumi - 'The Guest House'