How Can Traditional Chinese Medicine Improve Your Health?

I often write about how important it is to sync with the rhythms of nature to maximize our health. As I write this, we’re moving into the season of Late Summer, which is a transition period between Summer and Autumn in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Understanding what’s happening with nature and your own body during this time enables you to take advantage of simple, free ways to support your health.

Disconnected from Nature

Life in the modern world tends to disconnect us from nature, and our natural instincts become dulled.

Last weekend I took a trip to Ellijay and visited one of my favorite family farms, Mountain Valley Farm. I was struck by the peace I experienced there! It impressed upon me just how much the world has changed during my life.

When I was a little girl and even through high school, I lived in western Cobb County in a subdivision just past the County Farm Road, and the back of our yard butted up against the County Farm property. At that time, it was a big field where cows or horses were kept.

We would go to the fence to watch the cows or feed carrots or sugar cubes to the horses. In the ‘60’s and early 70’s when I lived there, my neighborhood was outside the city limits of Marietta, so I was bussed to McEachern. McEachern was K-12 and I rode that bus from grades 4-12.

The whole trip was through rural areas and we passed multiple fields with a few cows in them. What is it about cows? (Just the sight of them can be relaxing!) At the time, I took it all for granted, but I can say now that the ride was peaceful.

Of course, now it’s a different story. We don’t have so many cows around, although some areas still have horse farms. I say all this to illustrate that “city” modern life can infiltrate and cause “country” areas to disappear so slowly that we don’t always realize the disconnection from nature is happening.

But if we decide to pay attention to what is still there in our environment, we can rediscover some of that peace.

Late Summer in Traditional Chinese Medicine

This brings me to the subject of Late Summer. One thing we can pay attention to is the rhythm of the seasons, and no philosophy brings us richer practices for each season than Traditional Chinese Medicine. There are five seasons in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and each one is associated with one of the Five Elements that exist in each of us and in nature.

Each Element has 2 organs associated with it:

• Autumn – the Metal Element (lungs & large intestine)
• Winter – the Water Element (kidneys & bladder)
• Spring – the Wood Element (liver & gallbladder)
• Summer – the Fire Element (heart & small intestine)
• Late Summer – the Earth Element (spleen & stomach)

In each season, there are foods and actions associated with supporting you. Being aware of this and incorporating any of these actions you can will support your best health.

How to Support Your Health in Late Summer

Here are some things you can do during this Earth season:

1. Ground Yourself – Literally, like walking barefoot on the ground or digging in the garden. Figuratively, like reflecting on where you are in life and planning for what you want in the next year as this year winds down.
2. Appreciate the Harvest – During this Earth season, we celebrate the riches of the harvest. I’ve found that I’m more aware of this when I buy food from a small farm or roadside stand rather than the grocery store.

Focus on Digestion

The physical focus during this Earth season is digestion (Spleen and Stomach).

It’s a great time to pay attention to your food as you eat and not eat mindlessly while doing something else. Foods that support the Earth element are slightly sweet, orange in color, and earthy, think carrots, sweet potatoes, and even apples.

Root vegetables in general, nuts, and even some grains are nourishing to the spleen and stomach. This is the time to start moving away from too many raw foods.

Be aware that refined sugars and flours overburden the spleen and can throw it out of balance, causing weight gain and sex hormone disruption.

Tip: Go to the mirror, stick your tongue way out, and take a look. If it’s swollen and you can see indentations where your teeth are resting against your tongue, that’s your sign you’ve overburdened the spleen and stomach with too many carbs & sugar.

Social Connection

Earth element is also about family and friends, or the social aspect of life. Take the time to get together with others during this season.

Because Late Summer feeds the next season – Fall (lungs & large intestine). These actions help our lungs to withstand the colds & flu that sometimes hit as the weather changes.

Further Reading

I hope you’ve found this interesting! I’ve only scratched the surface, and if you want to know more, I highly recommend these two books:

• Between Heaven and Earth by Harriet Beinfield and Efrem Korngold
• The Web That Has No Weaver by Ted Kaptchuk

Happy Late Summer… be encouraged! The end of 90+ degree weather is in sight.