The Spring season according to the Five Element Theory of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) runs from February 5 to April 17. Spring is the season of the Wood element in TCM philosophy. It represents the rise of yang energy that will eventually culminate in the Fire/ Summer season. The Wood organs are liver and gall bladder. We want to focus on encouraging our yang energy which is naturally rising during the Spring. It’s also wise to support the liver for optimum cultivation of health during the season. Our goal is to live in harmony with the vigor and the upward tendency of yang energy that we witness in nature everywhere as buds begin to poke through the weathered soil of Winter.
Get the most out of energetic Spring and support your weight loss goals with the following best practices for the season according to TCM.
Rest and go inward as much as possible. Your time to get up and go in Summer is just around the corner.
Go to bed a little later and get up a little earlier every morning.
The body’s metabolism tends to speed up in Spring. If you'd like to lose weight, take advantage of Spring's natural easing of appetite and increased metabolism. Work with your body's desire to move energy by increasing your physical activity. Try to enjoy some walks in the morning sunlight and focus on gently unfolding and lengthening your body as you do.
Do a simple daily cleanse during the Spring for liver and gall bladder. Such a cleanse can be based on certain teas or juices.
Consume food and drink with generative and raising properties. Highly nutritious green vegetables and fruits are important to strengthen constitution and resist sickness, and fruits in season such as strawberries are beneficial as well.
Include bitter foods in your diet. These are fruits, vegetables, and herbs having a sharp, pungent taste or smell, not sweet.
Nourish your liver daily or as often as possible with hot/warm water and lemon.
Drink beverages with generative and yang energy raising properties. Scented teas, for example, dissipate cold pathogens which have accumulated in the body over Winter. Honey added boosts chi energy.
Apply PHYTO5’s Wood element Phyt’Ether to the liver and gall bladder reflex zones on the face. The liver zone is the area between the eyebrows extending from the bridge of the nose upward approximately one and a half inches. The gall bladder zone runs along the outer side of the eye in the temple area to the hairline. (See illustration, right.) Also apply Wood Yogi Body Gel to the outside of the legs which will support circulation on the gall bladder meridian.
If your skin is oily, has blackheads and/or hyperpigmentation, cleanse well and massage in a drop of PHYTO5’s Wood element on the affected areas and apply Wood element Day Cream. If your skin is well balanced taking your age into account, now is the time of year for you, too, to enjoy Wood Day Cream. Extract of wheat and essential oils of lemon and rosemary activate the natural defenses of the skin to combat the effects of poor diet and/or lack of cellular oxygenation. Essential oils in this cream are antiseptic, toning and stimulating and help provide protection from weather’s high and low pressure and windy and changeable weather associated with Spring.
This article was originally published on April 4, 2016 and has been updated with additional information for greater comprehensiveness.
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Liu, Zhanwen, et al. Health Cultivation in Chinese Medicine. People's Medical Publishing House, 2012.