Examples of TCM Life Cultivation in Accordance with Seasonal Conditions

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• Life cultivation in spring (1)
• Life cultivation in summer (3)
• Life cultivation in autumn (5)
• Life cultivation in winter (7)

Regulating emotions

Autumn acts upon the lung. The lung takes charge of Qi, governs respiration, and emotionally relates to grief and grief easily impairs the lung. The autumnal climate turns cooler and cooler. The grass withers; the leaves fall; the flowers and trees are withered, fallen and scattered about. At this time, the sight easily strikes a chord in people's hearts. Some of them have the feeling of being desolate, dreary, unfrequented, old and feeble. As a result, the emotional changes occur such as depression and restlessness of the mind. Accordingly, in autumnal health preservation, people should first develop optimism, think of the joy of the fruitful harvest to be psychologically relieved. They should tranquilize the mind and stabilize the emotions so as to withhold the essence and vitality and avoid the influences of the autumnal weather and sight on the human body. This can conform to the autumnal bleakness and create the good conditions to hide Yang Qi in winter. Failing to keep the motions stable and excessive melancholy and anxiety may impair the lung qi. This can not only cause the pathological changes of the Lung, but also make the adaptive capacity of the human body for hiding in winter lower and people liable to diarrhea with undigested food.

Regulating the diet

The autumnal climate is always marked by dryness, hence the term “autumn dryness”. The lung governs respiration, associates with the skin and hair and exterior-interiorly relates to the large intestine. Therefore, when the humidity in the air drops, the lung, large intestine, skin and hair are the first target to be affected. Pathogenic dryness injures people, consumes the human Yin and body fluids easily, giving rise to the phenomenon of dryness in everything. This is the so-called “excessive dryness causing xerosis”. For example, the skin and mucosa become tight, even desquamation, rhagadia, withered and lusterless hair, increase of dandruff, dry or cracked lips, excessively dry throat, constipation, etc. may occur. Autumnal xerosis is divided into heat xerosis and cool xeroisis according to he differences of clinical manifestations. The main symptoms of the pulmonary injury due to heat xerosis include cough with scanty sputum, dry throat and nose, thirst, headache, anhidrotic fever, etc; the clinical manifestations of cool xerosis includes cough with thin sputum, dry throat and lips, nasal obstruction, anhidrosis, aversion to cold, headache, slight fever, etc. The recuperation with the diet and drugs involves the following aspects. Firstly, drink more liquid thing such as boiled water, weak tea, fruit juice beverage, soya bean milk and milk to nourish Yin, moisten dryness and remedy the consumed Yin and body fluids. Secondly, eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, especially the ones moistening the lung and promoting the production of body fluids. For instance, pears can be eaten uncooked or cooked. Eating the ones uncooked clears away heat and promotes the production of body fluids while eating the steamed ones nourishes Yin. If the conditions permit, eat some Yin nourishing and lung-moistening products like autumnal pear paste, paste of nourishing Yin and clearing away heat form the lung and pear candy. These things are all beneficial to the prevention of autumnal xerosis. Thirdly, eat gruel regularly. Rice gruel can strengthen the stomach and spleen, nourish the lung and moisten the pulmonary dryness. The rice gruel is more effective for strengthening the lung and moistening dryness if mixed with the lung-moistening drugs and food like pear, carrot, sesame and lily. Fourthly, recuperate with the medicinal diet. For instance, the medicinal diet with the traditional Chinese drugs such as Maimendong (Radix Ophiopogonis), Tianmendong (Radix Asparagi) and Shanshen (Radix Glehniae) has the actions of nourishing Yin, moistening dryness, promoting the production of body fluids to supplement body fluids and prevent dry cough. Besides, Yiner Lianzi Soup (Soup of Tremella and Semen Nelumbinis), etc. are the commonly-used health foods to moisten the lung and promote the production of body fluids.

Physical training

In autumn, the wind blows gently and the weather is delightful. It is the best period to have physical training during a year. At this time, people should have the cold tolerance training or cold acclimatization training as early as possible to enhance the body resistance against cold and improve the comprehensive quality of the body. This can help them defeat cold and protect themselves. The cold tolerance training includes various ways like morning exercises, running in the early morning, Tai Chi Chuan (Taiji quan), mountaineering, swimming and cold water bath. People may choose the training forms suitable for themselves according to personal conditions. Of the above events, mountaineering has been very popular since the ancient times in China. Old people are organized to climb the mountain on lunar September 9 every year. This event can not only exercise the body, but also make people cheerful. Therefore, the event has lasted so far and has already become the popular folk custom and mass sports activity.