Stay Healthy with the Seasons - Late Summer

Often associated with back to school, late summer, also known as ‘Indian Summer’, is the fifth season in Chinese Medicine cosmology. It corresponds to the Earth element. Earth energy is the mother, or the feminine energy that gives us our grounding and stability. It is also the season of nurturance and abundance.

Pause and try to feel how the energy has shifted since the height of summer. The temperatures might still be high, but the trees and plants are no longer growing and expanding. Their color is waning and their fruits have reached maturity. Some have started going to seed. It is the final weeks of nature's bounty.

If you haven’t visited your local farmer’s market lately, go and allow the smells and colors to wash over your body and spirit. Enjoy the plethora of fresh produce available in all shapes and sizes. Consider canning beets or tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, or freezing peaches and apples for a delicious pie later in the year.

In Asian Medicine, the organs corresponding to the Earth Element are the Spleen and the Stomach. The color is yellow, the emotion is sympathy/worry, the sound is sing, the smell is sweet. According to the Chinese Clock, the strong time of day for the Stomach is 7-9 AM and for the Spleen 9-11 AM. In the far east, it is often said that "If the digestive system is strong, the prognosis is good". It is considered the foundation of health.

As the energy in nature slowly begins its descent back down into the earth, good questions to contemplate are: What am I harvesting in my life right now? How can I nourish myself before we drop into the winter ahead?

If your life is not plentiful, what do you need to do to make it so? What can you nurture to create abundance in your life?

And, of course, if you haven't had an acupuncture treatment recently, do remember to come in for your 'seasonal tune-up'.