Gentle, effective health care for your body, mind, and spirit
It’s hard to believe it’s already the end of September! If you aren’t quite ready for it to be fall, have no fear: there’s a fifth season in Chinese medicine, late summer, that gives us a little buffer zone.
“Late summer” roughly corresponds to harvest season: it’s the time of year when things are cooling off at night, but it’s warm during the day, the leaves are mostly still green, and the crop fields are producing like mad.… Continue reading
Happy Spring, and Happy Daylight Savings Time! Turning the clocks ahead is one of the best events of the year, in my book — I just love the longer, lighter evenings and the promise that spring really is coming.
In that erratic, New England way, but it’s coming. As I write this, it’s April 1, the front yards in my neighborhood are practically carpeted with crocuses, and it’s snowing. Need I say more?
I’ve been feeling a bit erratic myself… Continue reading
Anyone who has seasonal allergies knows: if spring is coming, so is pollen season.
If you’re looking for an alternative this year to the usual round of antihistamines, inhalers, and other drug therapies, Chinese medicine is a very effective way to get allergy relief. And right now — before allergy season really kicks in — is the best time to get started.
Chinese medicine, like Western medicine, sees allergies as an imbalance in the immune system. Western medicine describes… Continue reading
When I was in college, I did a 6-month off-campus study program in India. Being so far south, the hot season was can’t-move hot, and during the “cold” season you might need a light sweater in the evening.
Living near the equator also meant that the length of the days didn’t change much at all from season to season. The sun rose at 6:30 AM and set at 6:30 PM, year-round. Of course, it took several months for me to… Continue reading
Here we are, smack in the middle of the holiday season. It’s still hard for me to register 50 degrees as a December day, but as I’m writing this it’s 4:15 and the sun has already gone down, so it must be true. In just a week the days start getting longer again, and we’re about to step into the year 2011.
This month-plus of holidays — Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Christmas, New Year’s — is a tricky time. It can… Continue reading
Summer heat can feel great; or, sometimes it can be a bit much. If you’re feeling cranky, exhausted, lethargic, yucky-all-over, or just plain too hot these days, you’re not the only one! Try these suggestions for keeping you happy, healthy, and cool when it’s hot and muggy outside:
1. Check out the list of cooling foods below, and incorporate them into your diet (watermelon is actually listed in ancient texts as a medicinal substance for a condition called “summer heat,”… Continue reading
Irritable lately? Or a little depressed, lethargic, or restless? That’s a sign of spring on its way.
Winter is ruled by the water element: deep, cool, and still. Spring is ruled by the wood element, which represents growth, change, and movement. As we begin to shift from winter to spring, that dynamic energy starts to stir. But because it’s really still winter, it’s hard for that energy to flow well, and we may feel pent-up, frustrated, or inexplicably tired.
To… Continue reading
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