Gold Coast Acupuncturist Emily explains:
Living in accordance with the seasons from a Chinese Medicine Perspective.
Chinese medicine is a modality that encourages health through living a balanced life. Part of this balance is to live according to the seasons. This means eating seasonal food, exercising according to the season andit’s associated energy, and acknowledging everything around uschanges, so we in turn follow this pattern. Our external and internal life are intrinsically linked with this approach to health.
The autumnequinox, March 20, is the official start date of autumn. In mid March we are in the very last days of late summer, which is represented by earth, and the spleen and stomach organs. This time ofyear brings along much rain, and dampness. It’s important around this time of year to support our digestive health, and build our earth energy to avoid internal dampness, so we may have a fertile soil for autumn time(metal,lung and large intestine), to support us during the change the season brings. If we have supported our earth energy, moving into autumn we will have stronger immunity, less coughs,colds and sinus issues (common issues seen in our Gold Coast Acupuncture Clinic Vyne Health).
What can we doto balance our bodies and live according to the season at this time of year?
Keepyour earth energy happy by eating whole foods, lightly cooked, avoiding greasy or over processed goods, root veggies and yellow foods are particularly good.
Being mindful of what things you in need to let go off, what thoughts or ideas don’t bring value to your life anymore, to digest them fully, ready to release from our minds.
Having a healthy centre, earth/spleenenergy, gives all other systems stability and supports correctpre and post-natal qi.This issimilar to how our digestive system distributes nutrition to our body and eliminates waste. It’s vital thatit functions are optimal for health.
A good practice to startonce we transition into autumn is to build and balance both metal and wood.
Wood (liver and gallbladder) is the opposite of metal, and thus needs to be addressed tocreate harmony during autumn. Wood energy needs to move, it’s dynamic. So, you could start a walking meditation practice. This is best done in themorning, when qi and yang are at their greatest peak. Then of an evening, deep breathing exercises to strengthen the metal and lung qi. Metal has the action of cutting and releases that which no longer serves you.The spirit/energy of the lung isknown asthe po, and it enables us to havetheenergy to carry out our tasks with confidence and determination.
What can I start to do now to support myself?
Sit quietly with hands resting one on top of the other, palm up (left of top of right for women). Have hands resting at the lower dan tian (a few finger widths below your belly button). Draw the breath in slowly and smoothly, making no audible sound. With each breath try to draw it lower and lower, until you can feel your belly expanding. This can be difficult if you are a shallow breather, take it slowly, it can take weeks to get there so go easy on yourself. Visualise your lower dan tian (lower tummy beneath belly button) drawing the breath down and filling the space.Allow the breath to let go of ideas or patterns that have you feeling stuck or restrict your power. Let them go with the out breath,acknowledge that which no longer brings you value to hold on to. Imagine the clear air as pure qi which descends and expands through your body, filling every cell with pure, vital qi.Deep breathing such as this also activates the vagal nerve and calms an over-active nervous system, so it’s great before bed to deal with the days stress. If you find it difficult on your own there are lots of wonderful, guided meditations online. 5-10mins is all it takes.
These two simple exercises are easy to incorporate into everyday lifeand help keep qi flow harmonious during the autumn season.
Our Gold Coast Acupuncturist Emily Warren at Vyne Health is passionate about sharing her knowledge throughout her acupuncture sessions - it is through this sharing of thought, we learn to understand our why and our how’s in order to help create change, ourselves.
You can learn more about Emily here, or schedule in an appointment here!
https://www.vynehealth.com.au/book
