February 19th, 2011. "rain water, the 2nd small Spring season arrives

    "Rain Water" seems to be an awkward translation. It means 2 things, the Rain and the melting snow water. Apparently in general it indicates the starts of rain, instead of snow.Meanwhile as the snow stars to melt, the earth is getting watered pretty well. As the spring energy getting more and more, the Yang energy that was hidden under the earth starts to rise up as well. Now it's the moment we will start to find the trees and other plants growing.
    
    On the other hand, this is also the 3rd wind season. As the temperature is getting higher, our pores will start to open more. But with the wind blowing at the same time (plus some leftover coldness from the winter), it is very easy for us to catch wind related cold. So besides our seasonal organs ---liver and gall bladder, we also need to do exercises for the lungs as the lungs are "in charge" of the skins and the "protective energy" of the body. As long as our lungs energy is good, we will be "shielded" from and harmful element and won't get hurt. If you don't know how to or just simply too lazy to practice, the simple way is to make sure to wear the right clothes and keep your body under a very balance condition, not sweating and not cold either. Sounds too simple but not many of us are able to really follow this rule. As long as you are being reasonable with your activities and clothes, you should be fine because the air of this season is also very moisturizing, so your lungs will not struggle to much to stay in good shape anyway. 
   
    The weather in this season is very unstable, and it has the most "cold wave strike back" among all seasons.This kind of unstable weather pattern can easily make people's mood wavy as well. And it's not very friendly for those who have hypertension, heart condition and asthma. In order to avoid these effects, one first needs to make sure to stay conservative on taking off the warm clothes too soon. Remember, it is always better to feel hot in the spring than feeling cold. Also, as we already talked about liver being the seasonal organ and its nature (detail please see my post on "Spring commences"), make sure to follow the nature of the liver and do the Qi Gong exercise for liver.


    Food wise, as the windy weather may cause dry skin and dry lips, take more fresh vegetables and juicy fruits. Also try to take more warm congee (rice soup and mixed grain and bean soup) to nourishing the stomach and spleen. Avoid oily and greasy stuff to prevent Yang energy leakage. And follow the simple rule of "more sweet, less sour".