Autumn! The Time of Metal!

One of my favorite times of the year is finally showing up! No more melting heat and humidity! Technically we are skipping the Earth element in the 5 Elements/Phases order but that is due to Earth interacting with all times of the year and having some extra special qualities!

So what is the Fall to Eastern Medicine? It is the time where we start to get ready for the colder weather ahead by storing up our resources and transition in to Winter. Sounds simple but unfortunately lots of people have a hard time with this time of transition (looking at you allergy sufferers!).

Here are tips and information I find myself giving out and teaching patients this time of the year:

Your diet should be changing over from Summer foods to Autumn foods

Since we are out of the Summer doldrums and entering a cooler temperature period, it only makes sense to stop eating the Cold summer foods like Melons during colder weather and eating the relatively warmer and slightly spicy foods of the Fall like Radish and Pumpkin. The easiest way to know what foods are part of the season is to check out the nearby farms and see what crops are being sold! I personally made a food calendar and am happy to share!

Dress for the season

I cannot and will not emphasize this enough. Too many times patients come in with Cold type illnesses (such as chills, runny nose, dull aching pain, etc.) because they are still wearing thin Summer clothes instead of taking the time out to get those Fall clothes to put on! It shouldn’t matter how cute the clothes look from Summer, you had 3 months to wear them and now it’s time to start putting them away! Climate control should start becoming more neutral as well with the air conditioner winding down.

Modify your activity levels

Summer is the time where we are the most active overall whereas Autumn is the time where we start to gradually slow down just like nature. This does not give you permission to become lazy! With the days beginning to grow shorter, our daily chores and activities should follow suit (waking earlier and going to bed earlier). When that sun goes down we shouldn’t still be cranking up. Of course, this is ideally speaking and we have to pick our battles especially with work, kids, school, and Fall sports. Speaking of sports…

Athletes Fall habits

Well now that you made it through the blistering heat, this cooler weather marks the start of weather that will make you cramp and pull muscles easier. You should start slowly layering up according to the weather and do an extra bit of stretching since the bite of the cold will make any warm muscle go stiff. Just because you are running and sweating in shorts and a T-shirt, doesn’t mean that your body is not susceptible to the Colder weather. In fact, since your skin pores are wide open from activity this lets that colder weather right in! Dry your sweat off as best you can and stay out of drafts. If you play in the rain get out of those wet clothes ASAP. Always drink room temperature water and if you get chills have some ginger or cinnamon. Use those hot packs if you feel a cramp trying to creep up on you.

Enjoy watching the leaves change and the animal migrations!