August 23rd, 2011. "The End of Heat", the 2nd small Autumn season arrives

      "The End of the Heat" is the 2nd small Autumn season and the turning point for temperature. This is when the celestial longitude reaches 150 degree. Also this is the main harvest season, not only for farmers, if you have been taking care of yourself for the past half an year; it will be your season to "harvest" as well. 


      Although being the "end of the heat", when there is a bright day the highest temperature will be not less than in summer, this is also being called "autumn tiger" in China as well, because the heat will still "bite" like a tiger. However, during late night and early morning, we can really feel the "end" of the heat. The temperature difference will be greater and greater. Also as the farmers hate to see this season being too rainy, so does our body. Because as the heat is leaving us, the humidity is still around, we need to make sure to kick the excessive harmful fluid out of our body, so we will not be bothered by them in the winter. It may sounds contradicting, but this is also the season of dryness. Meaning we may get some health issues that caused by low moisture condition. So how does this make sense? Well, one simple example I often use is the question of "can a sailor thirst to death in the ocean?" Apparently the answer is "yes". Although being surrounded by water (salty), the sailor can still die by not having water (fresh). Got the idea? The "water" we mention here is different from one to another. 


      So the main points of this small autumn season are:

1. Greater temperature difference and unstable weather.
2. Excessive fluid from the past season in the body and harmful dryness from the new season.

      We have talked about the Autumn being the season that connects to our lungs energy, the foundation of a healthy body is the strong and healthy lungs (and large intestine) energy. So the basic principle is still making sure to protect the lungs energy. Here are some simple things we can do to reach that goal:

• Do NOT add too much clothes to fast. The purpose is to maintain a lower body temperature (not catching a cold, please) in this season.This will not only prepare you for the colder season that is coming, also help you with preserving and withdrawing the Yang energy. If the body is too hot, the heat (Yang energy) will have to exit, when there is heat exiting, there must be cold to replace it. However, as we mentioned, during late night and early morning or when the temperature drops, DO add clothes to protect yourself. Always, stay balanced.
• Protect the belly. Cover your belly well during sleep, even if the night happens to be warm. Cold air harms the stomach and spleen energy easy if you let them. I'm sure you have heard or experienced the consequences of stomach cold. Well known common sense, just a friendly reminder.
• Time to shut off the air conditioner, at least in your own room. Don't let "turn on the AC" becomes a habit. Turn is off at night is a must. During day time try not to use it, just open the windows and you will not only have the natural cool air, but also will have the fresh autumn energy to "air-cleanse" and remove the leftover harmful humidity and heat in your room from the past season.

      You can see all we trying to do is to make the body remain balanced. We also usually know this point as strong immune system. And another thing that can never be replaced is good sleep. Especially during this transitional season, mid-night sleep, and noon-nap if possible, becomes especially important as noon and midnight is the transitional time of the day. Some of us may not be able to fall asleep by midnight, I recommend you at least just go to bed and close your eyes. This way even though you are not asleep, you are not wasting or hurting your precious transitional energy either. 


      I have listed many kinds of food to take in autumn, please check my older posts for detail. Here I just want to repeat the main rule is, less spice and hot, more sour and smooth. During this small season some Chinese (especially for original Beijing resident, like myself) has the tradition of eating duck dish on the "End of the Heat" day (August 23rd for this year). I know duck is not a common dish for many people, but being a very nourishing kind of food I still recommended it. Right now is the good season to eat it as duck nourishes Yin energy well and the season of autumn and winter is the season to nourish the Yin energy (on the other hand, spring and summer is time to nourish the Yang). With strong Yin energy you will have what it takes to balance the dryness, it will not only smooth your body and energy, also your mind, there will be less frustration or sadness if your whole system is balanced and strong against the harmful energy. If you really have problem with the duck meat itself, duck soup is the alternative, of course if you can find them. 


      So, during this dry and unstable small fall season, maintain a stable mood, enjoy your moment of peace as the summer party is ending. So bring the energy back in to take care of it, so you can have more fun next year!

August 8th, 2011. "Beginning of Autumn", the 1st small Autumn season arrives

      From August 8th on, we have entered the season of Fall 2011. This is the first small fall season and the second rain season of the year. Fall is the season of harvest and withdrawing, in body organ it is connected with the lungs. The main character of the season is dryness.


      Being in between of summer and winter, fall contains energy patterns from both seasons and its own as well. In general it can be divided into 3 parts: early fall, mid fall and late fall.

• Early Fall: Also being called "prolonged summer", it carries the heat from the summer, mix with the humidity. During this time period the temperature is still high, lots rains, so we still need to make sure to avoid the harmful heat, make sure to hydrate the body, meanwhile be careful of the high humidity.
• Mid Fall: Less rain and dryer. Hot during the day but cold at night. The main harmful energy is dryness. Dryness hurts the lungs easy, therefore the important thing to do is to nourish the Yin energy, to moisturize the lung and strengthen the stomach. This is the time we will have dry skin, dry mouth, dry cough, hair fall or constipation. Make sure to maintain good humidity level indoor, drink enough water, avoid strenuous actives or over-working.
• Late Fall: Cold air arrives, combines with the harmful dryness. There may be cold wave to drop the temperature suddenly. It is a high season for many health issues such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema, arthritis, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Make sure to add clothes, especially for seniors and chronic patients. Also need to keep a positive mind and mood to avoid depression.

      Fall and winter are the seasons to nourish and preserve the Yin energy. In a sense, Yin energy can also be understood as all types of body fluid. Therefore in this dry season the first step to protect the Yin energy is to maintain a good body fluid level. We can reach that goal by drinking enough water. Also, fall is the time when mother earth offers us all the fruits, so this is the best time to eat some fruit to help the body as well. Many foods also helps with that goal, we will talk about that later on. Another simple way to acquire Yin energy is taking deep breath facing north, as the ancient Chinese believe South is Yang and North is Yin, so energy from north is also Yin.


      The autumn organ is the lung. Lung is like the autumn, which has the metal energy character. According to TCM theory, besides breathing, lungs' main function is controlling dispersing inward and outward, AKA "to rise" and "to drop". "To rise" is shown as sweating, coughing, tearing etc.; and "to drop" refers to the energetic function of lungs to help with urinating and defecating. The energy behind lungs' function comes from the "middle-Qi" or "central energy", which include the lungs and spleen energy.We acquire them through eating and breathing. Therefore to nourish and improve the lung energy becomes obvious and essential.

• Laughing and singing helps lungs to "rise": The emotion of sadness hurts the lungs. Therefore, try to maintain a happy mood, to laugh and sing can "open" the lungs and make the breathing system stronger and healthier.
• Cold training strengthens the lungs: This is strictly depends on the individual's health condition. Stronger people can do exercise in the cold weather, such as run and hike, to training the lungs and make it more durable. But this does not apply to anyone who is vulnerable to cold.
• Shower helps moisturizing the skin and lung: Since lung is connected with skin. To shower right will help to promote blood circulation and communication between lung and skin. The water temperature should be around 25 Celsius, and do not scratch or rub the skin too much.

      There is an old saying that "Cool wind arrives on the day of the beginning of Autumn". Although it is still going to take about another month for the heat to leave, we can start to sense the change of the nature. During this small season, the weather is unstable, one day can be hot and the next is cold. Even during the same day, there may be some cold and hot hours. Therefore make sure to be prepared. The wind is indeed cooler, and there will also be mist in the morning. We should start to adjust our daily schedule by going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. Going to bed earlier will help Yang energy to withdraw better and getting up earlier will help the lungs energy to rise. 


      As the weather being unstable, so will be human emotions. This is the beginning of "gloomy season" to some people. Human is part of the universe, so universe changes will affect human regardless. In autumn, human immune system will be weaker, plus the weather change, it makes us to get sick easier. Emotionally, when seeing the falling leaves and fading flowers, feeling the cold wind and rain, we simply become sad. No one wants to feel sick and sad at the same time, but if we don't do the right things this may happen. This is the risky time for depressed people. Therefore besides stay healthy and strong physically, to do activities that bring good mood is also the important part of autumn health preservation.


      Food wise, to fit into the withdrawing energy pattern, we want to eat food that helps the body to "close" and withdraw, instead of "open" and release. Sour taste is the taste to go after, many fruits offer that. Hot and spicy foods open and dry the body; they are the food to avoid. Also eat foods that nourish the Yin energy to fight the dryness.

• To Eat: Warm water, juice, light tea, soy milk, pear, orange, grape fruit, cucumber, tomato, radish, lotus root and seed, tofu, honey, sesame, sticky rice.
• To Avoid: Hot and spicy, bitter taste, garlic, scallion, onion, greasy food, hard liquor, deep fired food, puffed food. Also eat less melons, like water melon or honeydews, because melons in autumn are too cold for the stomach, overeating can cause gastro-intestinal issues like diarrhea and stomach cold.

      

Tea and the Body

              In the past several months I have been exposed and involved in Chinese tea ceremony. Although grew up drinking tea, not until recent did I really start to feel the spirit of it.

              But as a new Tea Drinker I do not have enough credit to talk about the ceremony itself. Here what I really want to share is the health benefit that I have experienced and concluded according to the 5-element system, and how it connects and affects human body.

             

In general, regular Chinese tea is divided into 6 types.

1.    Green Tea: Fresh, not fermented

2.    White Tea: Very slightly fermented

3.    Yellow Tea: More fermented than white but still very slight

4.    U-Long: About half-fermented

5.    Red Tea: Fully fermented

6.    Black Tea: Fully fermented and aged

The chart below is self explanatory:

Element	Color	Tea	Season	Organ (Meridian)	Nature
Wood	Green	Green Tea	Spring	Liver/Gall Bladder	Cool
Fire	Red	Red Tea	Summer	Heart/Small Intestine	Warm
Earth	Yellow	Yellow Tea, U-Long	Last 18 days of every season/all year	Stomach/Spleen; Triple Energizer/Pericardium	Neutral
Metal	White	White Tea	Autumn	Lungs/Large Intestine	Cool
Water	Black	Black Tea	Winter	Bladder/Kidneys	Warm

              My point here is that if we know our health type or condition, we may be able to help ourselves by using the right type of tea as a beverage remedy. Sometimes TCM is like art, there are basic principles but no rigid rules. So when comes to how to choose the right tea we still need to be flexible or even creative.

              There are many aspects in tea drinking but here I only want to point out the basic principle, which is to balance the body using the nature of the tea. In general, people who were born and live long enough in northern area tend to have more cold inside the body system. So choose warm tea like red tea or black will help to balance the energy. Obviously, people from the south can drink more cooler tea like fresh green tea and white tea to reduce the excessive heat inside. But these days people travel and move often. In that case we need to learn and feel more about ourselves, so we can figure out what type of body energy we have, and then take advantage of the gift that the Mother Nature offers us. Many modern research has shown how benefit tea is scientifically, but that is only 50% of the picture, only if we choose the right tea for the body can us really benefit from it.

              For WNY local friends, I have started to run small tea ceremony session at my little classroom to experiences the healing effects of tea for our body. Due to the size limitation we can only hold small group of people. If you are interested feel free to call me or email about details.