Chinese New Year 2021: Year of the Metal Ox

The Chinese New Year falls on February 12 this year, marking the beginning of the transition into a new cycle of the Chinese zodiac. It is time to bid farewell to the Year of the Rat and move forward into the Year of the Ox.

More commonly referred to as the Spring Festival in China, the Chinese New Year celebrates the beginning of a new lunar year and the beginning of spring.

Year of the Metal Ox

This coming year honors the Ox, the second animal of the Chinese zodiac. The Ox is associated with hard work, discipline, productivity, and serenity, and this year will be favorable for nurturing and maintaining relationships. Following the tumultuous Year of the Rat, the Ox year is predicted to usher in positivity and steady restoration. Those who focus on applying themselves and working diligently will surely see their work rewarded.

The Element Metal

In traditional Chinese medicine, the Five-Element theory outlines the relationship between the different elements in nature (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water) that succeed each other in a continuous cycle. Each element is associated with different internal organs, colors, flavors, senses, and emotions. Balancing the energies of each element is essential to support body, mind, and spirit. 2020 was the year of the Metal Rat and 2021 follows as the year of the Metal Ox.

Metal Associations:

Color: White

Season: Autumn

Organs: Lungs & Large Intestine

Emotion: Grief

Balancing Metal Ox Energy

Nourishing the Lungs

The Metal element rules the lungs and large intestine, so take care to nourish the body with seasonal foods and maintain internal warmth. Warming spices such as turmeric and cinnamon will help to increase your internal metabolism and circulation. Arogya’s Turmeric Ginger tea, one of our most popular teas, offers a perfect balance of warming, spicy flavors and citrus notes.

Drinking healing tea is an excellent way to stoke your inner fire and strengthen your reserves. Our Lung Wellness and Essential Wellness blends are both wonderful tonics to support the lungs and overall respiratory health. With immune-boosting and anti-inflammatory herbs, these two powerful blends can soothe irritation and loosen congestion.

Autumn is the season of the metal element. You can find more advice in our previous blog, Staying Healthy in Autumn, about maintaining balance in the lungs and what foods are especially beneficial for our bodies.

Creating Space

Metal is associated with organization, order, and developing boundaries. Taking time to reduce clutter and maintain a tidy space is an excellent way to bring metal energy into your home. Cleaning the home is also traditionally part of the Lunar New Year celebrations as a way to say goodbye to the past year and welcome in the new one. Check out our blog on Clearing Space in the Chinese New Year.

Breathing and Letting Go

The structure and rigidity of Metal needs to be balanced by the ability to let go and soften boundaries to make connections. Guided mediation and breathing exercises stimulate the lungs, while simultaneously softening the heart. Practicing meditation and mindfulness can create a sense of peace, clarity, focus, and connection.

With their profound therapeutic qualities, essential oils are also effective for regulating emotions and releasing emotional blocks. Arogya offers signature essential oils blends that can be applied topically or diffused to inspire, uplift, and soothe the mind. Joy is a delightful blend of sweet floral, citrus, and grounding earthy notes that are designed to inspire lightness in your heart, and our In Sync blend helps foster connection, cooperation, and inner reflection.

Acupuncture and massage can be incredibly beneficial for promoting inner calm. By working to unblock the meridian channels of the body, these powerful therapies work on all levels of your being, helping you let go of whatever tension you need to release and bringing ease to the body and peace of mind.

Though 2020 was a challenging year for all of us, the energies for 2021 look promising and suggest that this year will be the time for rebuilding. In this year of the Metal Ox, we wish all of you the confidence and clarity to step forward into your destiny. May this year be full of abundance, positive change, health, and opportunities.

Happy New Year! Or as is said in Chinese, “Gong Xi Fa Cai!” in the south and “Xin Chun Kuai Le” in the north.

By Nicole Briel