Preserving Health in Spring
by Angela Tian Zhu
The laws of nature are: Sow and grow in spring, grow in summer, harvest in autumn, store in winter. And our human bodies should follow the laws of nature to prevent illness and enhance Physical and Mental Health.
“To go with it will bring health; to go against it will bring illness”.
The law of spring is: As the yang energy goes up, the yin energy goes down. Yang energy creeps in after the winter solstice (the shortest days of the year). Because it is still cold, people still think we are in winter, but the energy of spring starts from there. Winter is the time for storing yang energy, when we stay indoors more than during other seasons. Eat warm food, have warm drinks, wear more, and use heaters to stay warm to store and preserve energy.
It is not just humans that do this – animals hibernate during winter to store their energy. Plants are the same. When spring comes, the temperature rises and the yang energy increases; all things on earth start to grow. Soil starts to become loose; bugs and animals start to emerge; birds return. This is nature helping us store in winter, waiting for spring, so everything can grow.
For human bodies, the stored energy needs to be released in spring. If we don’t, we might become sick during spring because of the increased inner heat in the body. If we didn’t store enough energy in winter, or damaged the energy in winter, we will have not enough energy to release and become more deficient leading to becoming unwell.
That is why there are some people getting colds, sore throat, phlegm, coughs, allergies, itchiness, there is an increase in strokes, and chronic hepatitis can play up during this season.
How do we preserve health in spring?
1. Refresh the spirit: springtime connects liver’s energy in Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). One of the functions of the liver is that it releases emotions to maintain peace of mind, happiness and control anger. When our Qi flows freely we can help prevent depression and anxiety. So walk in nature, look at greens and exercise.
2. Ensure you get enough sleep: we often feel sleepy during spring because the temperature goes up; the blood vessels, sweat glands and pores are diastole; the circulation is exuberant, and getting enough sleep is especially important for pregnant women, children, and for the elderly.
3. Get up earlier: because sunrise is yang energy rising, getting up when the sun rises will assist your yang energy in growing. Because spring time is liver time, and in TCM the liver nourishes the ligaments, this is the season to stretch it and exercise the body, improve circulation, and remove stagnation and toxins to make the body more flexible and healthier.
4. Clear the heat: after hibernation, we may store some heat. The temperature increases during spring and germs become more active, which is why there are more contagious viruses, germs, sore throats, flu, itchiness and allergies. Clear the heat in the body the following ways:
- Drink more warm water and tea
- Eat a lot of green vegetables and less red meat
- Eat less spicy food
- Drink less alcohol.
- Nourish the liver: Liver stores blood, Helps Qi flow freely and its indicators are the eyes. We can nourish the liver in the following ways:
1. Appropriate exercise such as Tai chi, Qi gong, walking, dancing etc. to ensure there is enough fresh air, moderate sweating.
2. Eat less sour and oily food.
3. Maintain peace of mind to avoid getting over angry witch can damage energy (Qi) of the liver.
4. The liver connects to green colour – go into nature and look at green colours to help the liver’s energy to feel calm.
5. Avoid draft: Spring is a windy season; nature is very wise in using wind to blow away coldness, on the other hand people can catch the wind, which causes colds, coughs, asthma and arthritis. Also wind makes us feel emotionally unsettled.
6. For people with winter depression: spring is a good season to recover from it. Do appropriate morning exercise and have healthy diet to combat depression.
“Traditional Qi ” has two concepts : prevention and wisdom
Written by Angela Tian Zhu (Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner)
© Copyright Angela Zhu 25.9.2022
