Healing With the Seasons: Stay Ahead of Nature’s Challenges

Holy humidity! The months of August to October tend to bring an abundance of hot, sticky weather. Thunderstorms, dragon’s breath wind and sweltering sun can make you and your loved ones a cranky bunch. This can reflect in your social interactions as well resulting in irritated interactions at the market and increased road rage. The humidity tends to have an undesirable effect on the brain which can cause confusion, miscommunication, sluggishness and silly mistakes.

Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM) refers to this season as “Late Summer.” There are actually five seasons in TEAM: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer and Late Summer. Weird, right? Although you are probably familiar with the term, “Indian Summer” so this will help you connect the concept more easily. Also understanding the distinct difference between a “dry heat” from a “wet heat” will help you to know which season we are operating in.

Signs and Symptoms

Late summer is characterized as hot and humid weather. It’s effects on our bodies are numerous. Besides feeling sticky and uncomfortable, the most common symptoms are a feeling of heaviness and fatigue, especially in the limbs. You can experience aching muscles, joint pains-especially in the lower body such as the low back, hips, knees and feet. It can also cause more acute symptoms like skin problems, urinary tract infections, diarrhea, water retention, thirst for icy beverages, and loss of appetite. Each season is paired up with a corresponding organ. Late Summer coincides with the Spleen and Stomach in TEAM, which is a tricky match because the Spleen loathes dampness. The Spleen’s job is in charge of keeping everything lifted and in place, keeping blood in their vessels, promoting regular bowel movements and good digestion, making blood, and housing the intellect. Signs of Spleen Deficiency can appear as organ prolapses, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, easily bruising, diarrhea, poor appetite, bloating, pale lips, anemia, poor memory, concentration and worry.

Finding Balance

What to do? What to do? Well, for one, remain calm and centered. Develop mindfulness practices such as yoga, meditation or any practice that brings your attention to the present moment. This helps negate the emotion of overthinking and worry that can tax the Spleen and lead to the depletion of its energy.

Integrating a Chinese herbal formula into your health regimen can help to drain excess heat and dampness from your body, as well as strengthen these central organs of the body to enhance your quality of life. Chinese herbal formulas can be custom-tailored to both suit your constitution and your symptoms.

Limit over exposure to the elements as best as possible.

Exercise earlier in the day to prevent heat exhaustion, promote metabolism and to harness the yang energy of the season to build muscle strength and energy.

Stay hydrated with room temperature water throughout the day – cold foods and beverages slow the metabolism and are actually hard on the internal organs which will weaken them over time.

It may take some adjustment switching to room temperature water but the pay off is well worth it. Add lemon or sprigs of mint if you like.

Avoid highly processed foods, sugar, white flour, spicy foods, dairy and alcohol consumption as these will cause more heat and dampness to build in the body. Eat Spleen nourishing foods such as sweet potatoes, legumes, squash, beans, green leafy vegetables, and rice. Watermelon and other melons are also a very cooling foods to eat during the summer, just be cautious of overeating these fruits as they can cause diarrhea and more dampness to accumulate in the body.

Food as Medicine

Mung beans are an ideal food to eat during Late Summer, as they have a cooling property and they have the capability of leeching out dampness. They are also help to strengthen the health of your wallet!

I found a tasty recipe online that you can check out here. I especially like this recipe because it includes turmeric which has a powerhouse of healing properties on its own.

Turmeric is wonderful for any type of pain in the body, it benefits the joints, has anti-cancer properties and immune strengthening capabilities. As an FYI, you must use black pepper when cooking with this turmeric for your body to properly absorb the nutrients.

I hope you will gain some benefit from this brief explanation of how Traditional East Asian Medicine views this season and my suggestions on ways of making it a more pleasant experience. What suggestions will you use to incorporate to your wellness routine?