Fall: The Receding Season
Fall started last week in the Chinese calendar, and we can see it in nature already. Take a look at the trees: the green leaves are less vibrant and more dry despite all the rain. Some trees are already showing the first yellow leaves. This is not a sign Fall is coming early, it happens every year at this time, and reminds us that Qi is changing for the plants, which means it is changing for us as well.
Fall marks the start of the ‘receding season’, Qi settling back into the ground into November. In the ‘rising season’ of Spring and Summer, the Qi is being pushed upward, pulling nutrients up the tree trunks and through the branches to the leaves and flowers. But in fall, there is now a receding in the qi. The nutrients head to the earth; the yang is descending.
The analogy of the tides is the perfect analogy for the changing Qis of the seasons. Qi moves everywhere, but does have a predominant flow that shifts seasonally like high and low tide. Even though the tides are more forceful toward the shore at high tide, the waves crash and then actually flow back away from shore. Likewise, the tide is predominantly moving away from the shore at low tide, yet the waves still move toward the beach. Within both directions of inward and outward water flow happening at all times, there is a dominant force that reaches its extreme at high and low tide, either growing or receding.
In fall, we have just changed tide. Despite hot days and fast growing grass, the Qi is predominantly receding. This means overall less Qi. Without spring’s umph that causes Qi to expand, the Qi is actually deflating. We lose our energy, we are prone to exhaustion, overheating, circulation issues, more frequent headaches, worsened neuropathy, or even fungal or yeast infections. With less umph pushing the Qi to our heads, our feet, or even our skin, the receding energy means not enough Qi is reaching our extremities to clear away the bacterias and fungal growths in places of poor flow.
When humans are in the Rising Qi cycle of our lives, which we call youth, we don’t notice the seasonal changes, as our robust Qi is less influenced. But as we enter the receding seasons of our life (advanced age) or chronic illnesses which cause our Qi to weaken and recede, we are more and more susceptible to seasonal shifts.
If we don’t recognize this, we wonder what is wrong with us, why our illness is getting worse when it had been better a month ago, why our blood pressure is more erratic or headaches more common, and we end up taking new supplements or medications or suffering from depression about things we feel we can’t control. But if we do understand and recognize it, we can accept it gracefully as well as make choices to balance the season change.
Attitude and action all make a difference. Lifestyle, diet, exercise and treatments are crucial. And if our age, illnesses or conditions merit it, taking herbs as each season transitions so we do it with the least strain on our minds and bodies is advisable.
The ancient Chinese belief is to be aware how the changes of nature affect the ten thousand things. And, to prepare for as many of the Qi influences as possible so we are the least surprised when they happen to us. The challenge is so many of these influences are so prevalent, we no longer recognize or see them. Introspection does not mean turning within and ignoring without, but rather, turning in to see how the outside affects the inside.