Spring

To paraphrase from the Yellow Emperor, “Spring is the season where all living creatures grow”

Growth is a vital part of our lives, not just physically but mentally. The spring season brings warmpth that pushes our Yang Qi (Energy) from it’s hybernative state of winter to the exterior of the body. The sun rises earlier and in the early days of spring you can feel the increasingly warmer early mornings…your body is teling you to get up earlier!

Spring is the best season to do new things.

This season is associated with the Wood element according to the five elements theory. Wood is about growth, budding, regenration, new, creativity. The movement of this element is in a spreading direction – outwards, upwards and downwards (all directions).

It’s easy to observe this inclination of growth and regeneration in nature. Flowers bloom, new seedlings sprout and animals are born in the spring season.  But what about in our bodies? Do you observe the inclination to grow, to learn, to do new things with the onset of spring?

Awareness is the first step. As you become aware of enviornmental prompts, allow your body and mind the time to explore the different lifestyle of the spring season.

Great things to do in spring are:

– Learn a musical instrument

– Take an art or dance class or workshop

– Go for a drive to the countryside, stop for a moment and take a walk in the bush.

– Get around sunrise and take a walk in your local park

– Eat regular, lightly cooked meals

– If you had a fully cooked diet in winter, you can start to add a few raw foods to your diet, like some fruit, or a salad with your cooked meats.

– Drink Chrysanthemum (Ju Hua) or Jasmine tea.

– Do any kind of exercise or increase the intensity of your exercise

– Sing

– Laugh

Spring is a good season to challenge ourselves to do new things mentally as well as getting physically active. If you live in Australia, we have Christmas around the corner, there is still time to embark on something new, read a book, change careers or make changes to our mental outlook before the new year hits us!

Seasonally, wind is a prevalent pathogen in spring which can often cause allergies, skin conditions and hayfever to be agrrivated. Chinese herbs, tea (check out our new Spring Tea below) and acupuncture can be effective treatments for these conditions.