Fall into Good Health this Autumn –
- With Traditional Chinese Medicine’s (TCM) Five elements and the seasons. The four Key TCM Principles are:
Your body is an integrated whole. Each & every structure in your body is an integral and necessary part of the whole. Along with your mind, emotions, and spirit, your physical body structures form a miraculously complex, interrelated system that is powered by life force, or energy.
You are completely connected to nature. Changes in nature are always reflected in your body. TCM factors in the particular season, geographical location, time of day, as well as your age, genetics, and the condition of your body when looking at your health issues.
You were born with a natural self-healing ability. Your body is a microcosm that reflects the macrocosm. Think about it: nature has a regenerative capacity, and so do you. Sometimes, this ability may appear to be lost or difficult to access. In most cases, it is never completely gone.
Prevention is the best cure. Do you know your body is continually revealing signs about the state of your health? Let’s face it, it’s common to ignore these signs or symptoms until something more complicated arises. TCM teaches you how to interpret what your body is telling you. www.tcmworld.org
A recent article by the supplement company Cytoplan, suggested that having all year good health now, perhaps has its roots in the past with the ancient philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Sharing the benefits of taking time to change with the seasons if we want to encourage a balanced, smoother transition throughout the year to support our wellbeing.
The article went on to describe how TCM has long understood the power the seasons have over our constitution. It described this influence within the context of the five elements. Each element (wood, earth, fire, metal, and water) corresponds to a season, each of which has its own traits, both beneficial and challenging. It suggests that if we are able to balance these elements, it can lead to a smoother transition throughout the seasons and be supportive for our health.
“ Each individual is a blend of these elements, and in order to be truly healthy, they need to be balanced”- Dr Bret Mosher
What is TCM?
At the heart of TCM philosophy is the balance of yin and yang. To put it very simply, yin describes cooling and descending energy and looking inward, and yang describes heat, rising energy projecting outward. And it’s essential that these two opposing forces are in balance and are continually cycling through from one to the other. Often excess yang can be soothed with more yin practices and vice versa. It is believed that our balance of yin and yang, the five elements and the seasons are all of equal importance if we want good health to prevail. Here’s a brief description and explanation of each and their interconnection with one another:
The five elements, the seasons and yin & yang:
Wood – Spring: time of new life and rising energy (yang). Considered a time to support the liver and gall bladder with light cleansing foods, young plants and fresh greens.
Fire – Summer: period of luxurious growth, expansion, lightness, and outward activity (extreme yang). Nourish the fire elements with brightly coloured summer fruits and vegetables. A lively time of fun, joy and outward energy. The fire element rules the heart and small intestine
Earth – Late summer: this is the interchange of all seasons. This is the point of transition from yang to yin, between expansive growth and inward cooler seasons. Foods that support the earth season should be harmonised and represent the centre and includes sweet yellow or golden foods such as squash, carrot, cabbage, and sweet potatoes. It is considered the season of the spleen and pancreas, important for vital energy but also immunity – so interesting that nourishing foods are beta-carotene and vitamin C rich.
Metal – Autumn: this is when the harvest comes in and to pull inward and gather together, on all levels. The focus should be on fuelling and stocking up but also to study and prepare for the stillness of winter. Nourishing foods become heartier and warmer but also more astringent. Cooking methods should be more involved to supply a greater energy to the cooler season, which means longer slower cooking. Autumn is a time to support the lungs, which are associated with grief and sadness, and it is often a time when respiratory infections prevail.
Water – Winter: this is the end of all seasons and is an introspective time to reflect, contemplate and meditate. Energy is descending (yin) and it becomes more inward, so it is a time to become inward focused. Salty and bitter flavours support the cold season as they promote a sinking, centreing quality. The kidneys and bladder are the organs of winter and are seen as the root and foundation of the body
The five elements appear to be as relevant to us today as they were over 2,400 years ago.
Small steps we can take this autumn to boost our resilience and health by incorporating them into our lives:
Choose slowly cooked warming foods, stews, curries and soups, and include bright yellow and orange vegetables and fruits in autumn.
Aim to rest and take things more slowly, but continue to move and stay mobile. Choose more yin activities such a walking, yoga and stretching.
Choose astringent (bitter and contracting) foods such as green tea, broccoli, cranberries and grapes. As well as bitter and salty foods in winter such as chicory, burdock, cabbage, miso and seaweed.
Use Autumn and winter as a time to look inward, practice meditation and take up study.
Some additional dietary and lifestyle suggestions to help us naturally alter and align with the cooler months of autumn and winter are:
• Ensure you get adequate exposure to sunlight/daylight during the winter. This helps to stimulate serotonin production, which in turn helps with melatonin production thereby supporting the sleep/wake cycle. It may also be possible to get a little vitamin D (although sun is usually too weak October to May)
• Support thyroid health with foods that include tyrosine, iodine, zinc and selenium. Such as Brazil nuts, seafood & fish, seaweed, turkey, beans and wholegrains, as we need these cofactors for healthy thyroid hormone production
• Support having a healthy stress response with relaxation techniques, regular exercise, ensuring stable blood sugar levels by choosing to eat lean protein, healthy fats and fibre. You can eat foods rich in nutrients such as vitamin C, B5, B6, magnesium and zinc to help support the adrenal glands situated above our kidneys, responsible for our stress response. A varied diet including fruit and vegetables, such as oranges, peppers, strawberries, blackcurrants, broccoli, brussels sprouts and potatoes are all a good source of Vitamin C. Magnesium-Rich Foods that are healthy for us include dark chocolate (75% and above Cocoa solids), avocados, nuts, legumes, tofu, seeds, whole grains. And some top sources of B vitamins include meat (especially liver), seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, legumes, leafy greens and seeds.
• Look after the gut and liver, which are responsible for our immune system’s health, our digestive systems health, along with the removal of waste from our body, including waste hormones - promoting healthy hormone regulation.
Most of all, it’s important to be kind to ourselves, to nurture and nourish our bodies. There’s no reason to not look forward to the colder months of autumn and winter if we learn to accept that we may feel both the change in ourselves as well as in the seasons. That it’s natural for us to feel less energetic in the months of winter and an opportunity to relax in the knowledge that the year will cycle around again. If we can learn to focus inwardly in winter, then we will be more vital in the spring.
By choosing to accept and embrace autumn and winter as a time for rest, recuperation, reflection and nurturing, we might feel that it’s less of a challenge to face the darker days and longer nights ahead.
If you’d like to learn more about how to Fall into Good Health this Autumn – with Traditional Chinese Medicine’s (TCM) Five elements and the seasons, or need support with your Health & Wellbeing journey. Please use my contact form to get in touch.
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Helping you achieve success and fulfilment in all areas of your life. Best wishes always - Julie