With the change of seasons and the clocks changing our body can need extra support. With the damp weather the body can be susiptable to dampness in the body. This can show up in many ways: physical fatigue, mental fatigue, worry, digestive problems, and muscle weakness. Foods, according to chinese medicine, are important to help balance the body.
Warming soups, comforting stews etc are good to consume as we head into winter. Aromatic spices like ginger, fennel, coriander, caraway, and cardamom help to warm things up, resolves dampness, and strengthen the spleen Qi.
Eating warm, cooked vegetables of the season (sweet potatoes, squash, beetroot, broccoli, etc.) will help your body adjust to the change.
- Apples and pears nourish and moisten Lung Yin – a delicious medicine for dry coughs is poached pears with honey.
- Pungent foods (onion, garlic, turnip, ginger, horseradish) all help to build “defensive qi” (immunity) and disperse mucus.
- Drink warm water and tea with your meals and throughout the day to warm your body and nourish the Yin.
If your lungs start to feel “under the weather,” there are plenty of things you can do to support your lungs in fighting any attack.
A classic recipe at the very beginning of a cold (when you’re feeling shivery and sniffly with a headache, but not feverish) is to boil spring onions with brown sugar for 10-15 minutes. Discard the cooked onions and drink the liquid. You could add some fresh ginger root before boiling to make it even more potent.
Feel Your Feelings
The lungs and large intestine each correlate with different emotional states.
- We are more likely to feel grief and sadness at this time. These can come in response to a serious loss or can be the grief associated with a big change in relationships, work, where we live, or our social lives. It can come up in many different ways for different people. The most important piece is to let the feelings come, to name them without judgment, which will let them move out of your body.
- Meditation can help you navigate this time of year. Try out some Healing Room Meditaitons
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