Dear ,
Ever notice how the light changes in early September, before anything else does? It is softer than the light of true summer, and angled differently. Mornings are misty. Days are warm but evenings get cool earlier. Your body already knows the seasons are turning...
But it's not just you - TCM actually has a whole season for this in-between stretch. It's called Late Summer season (or Earth Season), and it sits between summer and fall.
Late Summer is tied to the Spleen and Stomach organ systems - basically, how well you're digesting and processing everything you take in, food and emotions included. When it's out of balance, the signs can be subtle: low energy, a foggy or scattered head, feeling heavy after meals.
A simple fix as the season shifts? Ease off the raw and cold foods that felt great in summer heat, and lean into warm, cooked, nourishing meals - root veggies, squash, warming grains and spices.
After this comes TCM's Metal season - actual autumn. This one's about contraction and letting go, and the emotion tied to it in TCM is grief. Not always big dramatic grief, just... feeling that quiet reluctance of letting summer go. A little resistance to what's ending, or to the changes ahead.
If you've been feeling that, you're not imagining it. It's a real, common response to seasonal change.
A few gentle ways to ease into it:
Shift bedtime a little earlier as days shorten
Choose warm, cooked meals over cold ones
Let yourself sit with this reflective mood and appreciate the season that was
Fall comes around every year, but our body doesn't switch seasons overnight. If this transition has felt heavier than usual, acupuncture can help you find your footing - it's kind of what this medicine is built for.
On a completely different note - AcuNiagara has been nominated for Best Acupuncture in the Niagara Falls Review Readers' Choice Awards for the fourth year running. Thank you! It genuinely means a lot to be nominated alongside such wonderful practitioners, and it wouldn't happen without patients like you.
Voting is on until 25 September. If you have a moment, I'd be so grateful for your vote. 💛
To your good health,
0 comments