Flowing with The Seasons: A Naturopathic and Traditional Chinese Medicine Approach to Spring

acupuncture Mar 20, 2021

Happy Spring Equinox! We like to use March to reset, detoxify, and encourage gentle healing during this season of transformation.

With spring comes growth and change. From darker days to longer hours of sunlight, from cold to warmth, and grey to bursts of colour. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, spring represents a time of releasing stagnant emotions and energies; an emotional and physical detoxification to embrace regrowth and renewal!

There is optimism that shines through as the days get longer and we spend more time outside! The pandemic has taught us a lot about the effects of consistent and unpredictable stay at home orders, and has brought on many emotions. Since we are less able to express ourselves as we would normally, many of us are feeling imbalanced from emotions that are unable to fully express themselves, becoming stagnant and slowing our flow of energy. This can look like anger, irritability, mood swings, pain and tension, digestive concerns,  hormonal imbalances, and creative stagnancy!

T C M  S P R I N G: In Traditional Chinese Medicine, seasons are associated with elements (among other things) and the element associated with spring is wood! The wood energy of spring wants to rise up, push through, and get things done - think about rejuvenating sun bringing plants out of the ground and supporting growth. It’s active, energetic, and supports creativity and leadership to take charge of the things we want to do. Given this shift, we look at ways to support bringing forth this energy since the themes of spring are growth, rebirth, and renewal.

W H A T  I S  W O O D? Wood is the element of spring, and its related organs are the Liver and Gall Bladder. Together, these organs are responsible for the smooth flow of energy (Qi) and blood in the body and regulates emotions. They are our primary channels to the stresses in our lives. The wood element teaches us about flexibility and adaptability, but if the liver is overburdened with emotional stressors and processing its function can become stagnant and that is when we see symptoms arising. Similarly, the gall bladder governs our creativity, inspiration, dreams and goals, and when the gall bladders energy is depleted it can manifest as resentment, lethargy, procrastination, and the list goes on.

I N  P R A C T I C E: We look for ways in which these organs may be stagnant, deficient, or excessive and how that is manifesting for you physically and emotionally. Spring cleaning is a thing for a reason, and truly does start from within! The liver is a major detoxification organ, and the emotion associated with it is anger that can manifest as irritability, frustration and so on, so supporting the liver energetically through acupuncture and by supporting gentle detoxification through nutrition and supplementation is very beneficial during this season of change and growth. With the liver being such a detoxification powerhouse, we see hormonal imbalance occurring as excess estrogen and other hormones can build up, causing more detoxification stress on our livers and again we see symptoms arising - PMS is a common one!

All of this being said, we are so passionate about looking at health from multiple view points and this is a perfect example of how we do so in practice - examining the emotional/mental and physical aspects of health and how they intertwine and affect each other, and how we can affect change through various treatments.

We love working together as a team through naturopathic treatment plans, counselling services, acupuncture, and nutrition consultations to really hone in on how to help you feel your best. Our team created a Guide to Spring that explores ways to re-connect to yourself during this season of growth - both through activities as well as nourishing seasonal foods!

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