East Asian medicine is the original preventive medicine. The core tenants of East Asian medicine revolve around how NOT to get sick.
Modifying your sleeping patterns, eating habits, and activity level to be appropriate for the season you are in are important steps in maintaining your health.
In addition, you can treat problems before they arise by noticing what seasons are most challenging for you. In addition to coming in during the season, you find the most challenging, you also want to come in for treatment during the opposite season.
For instance, say you know that you always get sick in the fall. Your behavior in the spring (the season opposite fall) may be impacting your immune health.
You may want to examine if you’re overdoing it in the spring. It can be easy to get swept up in spring fever and crossing things off your to-do list. Yes, spring is a season of action, movement, and growth in East Asian medicine, and this quality is relative to the slowness of Winter. Before you start sprinting around, make sure that your muscles are warmed up so that you don’t hurt yourself.
(I do see a lot of injuries caused by people jumping back into exercise too quickly in my acupuncture practice during the spring. So you may want to take this advice literally and metaphorically!)
Also, recognize that while your body may not be craving as much sleep as when the sun was setting at 5 PM, you may still want more sleep right now.
While the Western calendar does not consider the first day of spring to be until March 20, the first day of spring according to the lunar calendar started on February 1st this year. Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is a celebration of the arrival of spring in many Asian countries.
If you are someone who struggles with compromised immunity in the fall, consider coming for acupuncture or scheduling a virtual visit for herbal medicine, supplement, and acupressure recommendations.
You can schedule either acupuncture or a virtual visit online.
