Fall Began August 8!

Fall Has Started & Your Qi is Changing!

Don’t be fooled by the western calendar that infers summer continues for another many weeks!  For the nature-focused ancient Chinese, the equinox and solstice marks the middle of a season, rather than its beginning! This means Fall actually starts 6 weeks before September 21st.  August 8 marked 立秋 liqiu in the Chinese calendar, indicating the palpable beginning of fall.

How do we know the Chinese were accurate in labeling the seasons?  Just look at the wild cherry tree across from the clinic which is already showing the first colors of yellow!

Why do leaves turn color, wither and fall off the trees? We may believe it is due to cold weather or frost, but actually – it is because the declining yang of fall means the tree loses its ‘umph’ .

Rising Yang of spring and summer pushes Yin into the tree, keeping the leaves green, luxuriant, and growing. As the Qi shifts in fall, Yang’s movement is no longer upward and outward. Less moisture is pushed toward the leaf tips. They shrink in size, begin to dry, and change color to yellows, reds and oranges.

As Fall progresses, less and less energy reaches the leaves. They weaken due to less nutrition, the winds which could not budge them in summer now easily blow them off their stems.

For those of us approaching 60,  this analogy applies to the changes in our skin and the hair on our heads as well! As we age, our tiring Yang has trouble carrying the nourishing Yin up to our hair and extremities. And so, like the leaves, tissue dries out, looses vitality, and changes in color as well–sadly not a bright red or yellow like the maples or birches!

But even young people cannot escape the influence of the seasons:  we may find our skin more dry than just a few weeks ago, our eyes more easily irritated and tired, skin rashes more likely to happen, our hands and feet more cold in the early hours of the morning despite the temperatures not so dissimilar from the temps of July.  We may be more thirsty, our tendons seem less supple.  Our spirits a bit more agitated.

The directional change in Qi at this time of year affects all of us, and for those of us with health conditions, our symptoms may flare.  While it may seem unexpected, conditions that flare during season changes are explained by what the Chinese call the Influence of Heaven Upon the Human.