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

"The End of Heat" is the second small season of autumn and marks the turning point of the year's temperatures. This is when the sun reaches a celestial longitude of 150°. It is also the main harvest season—not only for farmers. If you have been taking good care of yourself over the past half year, this can be your season to "harvest" as well.

Although it is called the "End of Heat," on bright sunny days the daytime temperature can still be as high as it is in summer. In China, this period is also known as the "Autumn Tiger," because the lingering heat can still "bite" like a tiger. However, during the late night and early morning, we can truly feel the end of the summer heat. The difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures becomes greater and greater.

Just as farmers hope this season will not be too rainy, our bodies also benefit from drier weather. As the summer heat gradually leaves, humidity often remains. Therefore, we should help the body eliminate excessive Dampness so that it does not trouble us during the coming winter. This may sound contradictory, but this is also the season of Dryness, meaning that we may experience health problems caused by insufficient body moisture.

How does that make sense? One simple example I often use is this question: "Can a sailor die of thirst in the middle of the ocean?" The answer is yes. Although the sailor is surrounded by water (salt water), he or she can still die from a lack of drinkable fresh water. The "water" we are referring to is different in each case. Likewise, the body can suffer from both excess Dampness and internal Dryness at the same time.

So, the main characteristics of this small autumn season are:

• Greater temperature differences and unstable weather.

• Excess Dampness remaining from the previous season, together with the harmful Dryness of the new season.

We have already discussed that autumn corresponds to the Lungs in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Healthy Lung Qi (together with the Large Intestine) forms one of the foundations of a healthy body. Therefore, the basic principle during this season is still to protect and nourish Lung Qi. Here are some simple things we can do to achieve that goal:

• Do not add too many layers of clothing too quickly. The goal is to allow your body to adapt to slightly cooler temperatures without becoming cold. (Of course, this does not mean catching a cold.) This gradual adjustment prepares your body for the colder months ahead while also helping to preserve and withdraw Yang Qi. If the body becomes too warm, excess heat (Yang Qi) will naturally disperse outward. Whenever heat leaves the body, cold has an opportunity to enter. However, as mentioned earlier, during the late night, early morning, or whenever the temperature drops significantly, do add extra clothing to protect yourself. As always, maintain balance.

• Protect your abdomen. Keep your abdomen well covered while sleeping, even if the night feels warm. Cold can easily injure the Stomach and Spleen Qi if they are left exposed. Many people have experienced the discomfort caused by a cold stomach. It is common knowledge in many cultures, but it is always worth the reminder.

• It is time to turn off the air conditioner, especially in your bedroom. Do not let using the air conditioner become a habit. Turning it off at night is especially important. During the daytime, whenever possible, open the windows instead. You will not only enjoy naturally cool air but also allow the fresh autumn Qi to circulate through your home, helping remove the remaining Dampness and residual summer heat indoors.

As you can see, everything we are trying to do is to help the body remain in balance. In modern terms, we often recognize this as maintaining a strong immune system. Another essential factor that can never be replaced is good sleep. During this transitional season, sleeping around midnight and taking a short nap around midday, if possible, become especially beneficial because both noon and midnight represent important Yin-Yang transition points within the daily cycle. Some people may not be able to fall asleep before midnight. If that is the case, I recommend at least going to bed and resting quietly with your eyes closed. Even if you are not asleep, you are still allowing your body to conserve rather than consume its precious transitional Qi.

I have previously listed many foods that are suitable for autumn, so please refer to my earlier posts for more details. Here I would simply like to repeat the general principle: eat less spicy and warming foods, and choose more sour and moistening foods.

During this small seasonal period, many Chinese people—especially those originally from Beijing, like myself—have the tradition of eating duck on the "End of Heat" day (August 23 this year). I know duck is not a common food for everyone, but because it is highly nourishing, I still recommend it. This is an excellent season to enjoy duck because it nourishes Yin well, and autumn and winter are the seasons for nourishing Yin. (By contrast, spring and summer are the seasons for nourishing Yang.)

Strong Yin provides what the body needs to balance seasonal Dryness. It not only moistens the body and supports the smooth flow of Qi, but also helps calm the mind. When your entire system is balanced and resilient against harmful seasonal influences, feelings such as frustration and sadness are less likely to arise. If you do not enjoy duck meat, duck soup is a good alternative, if it is available.

So, during this dry and changeable small autumn season, maintain a calm and stable state of mind. Enjoy the peaceful moments as the lively summer season comes to an end. It is now time to draw your Qi inward and take good care of it, so that you will have even more energy to enjoy life again 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.