If you lived in China 2000 years ago and were concerned about your health, you would have known about Yin and Yang’s concepts. They didn’t have Dr. Oz or Oprah back then on TV, but they did have a huge bestseller, The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine. In today’s blog post, Autumn Health Part Three, we will discuss some of the wisdom found in this classic book that is still relevant today.
Autumn Is About Introspection
It’s October, and the days are getting colder and shorter. We, in turn, are a bit less carefree than we were in summer. The kids are back in school (in a manner of speaking), work is in full gear, and the holidays are looming. Yes, that’s right, Halloween is in sight, and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Any way you look at it, Fall has arrived!
Yin Cycle of Calendar
In Chinese medicine, autumn starts the calendar’s Yin cycle, when daylight lasts less than twelve hours. It’s the time of the harvest moon, crisp fall apples, and bright orange pumpkins. In Autumn Health Part Three, we focus on the time of year when farmers bring in the root crops like potatoes, carrots, cabbage, squash, and onions, vegetables that have been slowly growing all summer long. These crops have been slowly and methodically absorbing the sun’s energy for thousands of hours and storing them away for us to consume later as food.
In the old times, we would have been collecting and cutting wood for fuel. And even in North Carolina, we still need to dig out some warm clothes for the coming winter months. It’s a time of transition from the carefree times of summer to winter’s more thoughtful times. And while the pandemic has cast a shadow over all of our lives in 2020, we still know that Fall brings extra cares. Most of us have put “getting a flu shot” on our “to do” list in recent weeks.
Autumn Represents Strength
Chinese medicine associates Fall with Metal, which represents strength, order, setting boundaries, organization, effective communication, and mental clarity. In Autumn Health Part Three, we encourage you to complete projects that you began in the spring and summer, bringing to completion the fruits of your labor.
Taking Stock
Take stock this week of all that you have worked hard to accumulate over the last six months. Collect all of your acorns, so you have plenty of resources for the long winter ahead. Then let us all remember to be grateful for the abundance around us. It is easy to focus on our problems. Lord knows we have troubles, more than we can count. But if we look closer, there is plenty to appreciate. Some may be small. Other things are probably big, standing right in front of our face, that we often don’t even see.
Next Steps
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Autumn Health Part Three discusses the importance of harvesting what we’ve grown, preparing for winter, and appreciating the abundance in our lives. Fall is a time of reflection in preparation for hunkering down for winter. So settle back, take inventory, take a deep breath for that matter. Sit back and enjoy a nice cup of hot cider!
