Fall…we don’t expect the trees to keep their leaves and yet the transition from warm sunny days to cooler days can bring up feelings of longing and melancholy.  For some of us we welcome the cooler weather, but others feel things slipping away as days get shorter. In the fall, it is especially important to play attention to our respiratory health, wear scarfs to keep the neck warm. Autumn is associated with lungs in Chinese Medicine and paying attention to breathing calms our sympathetic nervous system and transports oxygen that is circulated throughout the body, allowing relaxation.

Breathing also increases our awareness of holding patterns: tightness in the shoulder, not collapsing in the diaphragm area keeping us from slumping and allows the upper back to open. The lungs have long been associated with inspiration and spiritual connectedness.   The lungs are our body’s protection, the only organ that opens up directly to the elements.  As we turn on our radiators our nose may become dry or we can develop sore throats and coughs. To prevent this we make changes to our diet that will moisten our body with foods that nourish, warm, and strengthen. 

Introduce more warm cooked food, make a pot of soup to take for lunches. Cooked food is far easier on the digestive system and helps conserve energy and can protect us from illness. In the summer we eat a lot of fresh raw salads and now is the time to transition to more cooked foods soups and stews are especially nourishing. Especially for dinner eating something that is warm and easy to digest is important because your body is about to go into its parasympathetic mode, rest and digest, and you don’t want to give your stomach a lot to do.

Keep walnuts on hand, maybe a bag in the car, don’t run on empty.  According to Chinese medicine, walnuts have many benefits: they strengthen the kidneys, help maintain brain function, aid in digestion, nourish the blood, relieve asthma, and have a sweet and warming property which makes them perfect for fall. So keep little baggies of walnuts and don’t skip breakfast!

Fall is the time to ask, what is no longer serving me?  During the pandemic, I think we’ve all come to ask this question. What is interfering with my ability to find the things that are meaningful and not just giving me a temporary joy that slips away easily? Acupuncture helps the system restore balance by stimulating a person to release emotions that drain us and go towards where things are flowing. Our bodies are reflections of nature, we want to change and evolve, but sometimes the mental states become unbalanced, ruminating or longing.

Come for a seasonal acupuncture tune up and align yourself with the changing fall season!

Simply trust

Don’t the leaves fall down

Just like that                                  -Issa