Tips for Staying Well This Season
We are undeniably in fall at this point. As I sit here writing this I’m noticing that a few of the trees out my window are nearly bare. It’s colder, and it’s been windy and rainy. All of those climatic factors influence the body and can lead to greater susceptibility to colds and flus. So, I wanted to send a reminder of the things we can do to bolster our resilience for the colder months ahead of us.
In Chinese medicine the body is seen as a microcosm of the universe, reflecting the shifts of yin and yang, with specific organ energetics activating more depending on the season. Furthermore, the conditions of the body are talked about in the same way we talk about weather: damp, cold, hot, wind, etc.
If the body is manifesting a particular climate, it will be more susceptible to influence from the outside climatic factors. It’s a nuanced system with plenty of individualized intricacies, but for prevention of colds and flus I’m going to focus on the the two factors that have the most influence on our immune system and that happen to be very prevalent in our culture: dampness and cold
Dampness and cold are two factors I encounter a lot in clinic and there is no doubt that a lot of it stems from diet. The main culprits causing dampness are gluten, dairy, and sugar. Those things sit in the body in a heavier way, clogging up pathways and often leading to a feeling of lethargy. And cold in the body is pretty straightforward— eating cold, raw, or uncooked things puts cold into our bodies. When we ingest cold the body has to do a lot of work to warm it up (essentially cook the food) so that it can be broken down and absorbed. This extra work depletes qi, and digestion becomes compromised.
This might have you thinking about the gut microbiome as it relates to immunity and that’s right on point. Late summer is the season of the stomach and spleen, and that leads into fall, the season of the lung and large intestine. The lung governs the upper respiratory system, and is strengthened by taking care of the spleen and stomach.
So, following are some tried and true recommendations for strengthening your immunity during this season:
Do steam tents with plants or essential oils. 5 to 10 minutes of steaming your face with things like eucalyptus, lavender, and tea tree, plants with antiviral and antibacterial properties, will help clean up your respiratory system. Not to mention that it just feels great. For prevention do this 3x/week. For an active infection, you can do it up to twice a day.
Eat warm cooked foods. For all the reasons mentioned above. But this also means slowing down to prepare foods and eating mindfully as opposed to the grab and go pattern of eating cold things.
Use mushrooms. I’m not a big fan of supplements, I think we mostly don’t absorb them, so I turn to teas and tinctures made from things like chaga and reishi mushrooms if I feel like I want an extra immune boost. These have been used for centuries in traditional medicine practices and they breathe like humans, exchanging gases directly with the atmosphere so there is a natural resonance with our lungs.
Get acupuncture treatments. My initial intro to getting acupuncture was to help my immune system and it worked! Sometimes we need a refined tune-up to make sure our bodies are harmonized and free of blockages.
Take care of yourselves and others, people! XO