Spleen Qi

Late Summer, 2016 by Sally Robinson, L.Ac.

imageimageimageFirst of all, I LOVE that Late Summer is its own season.  We know this to be true as we experience August quite differently than we do June.  Chinese Medicine is rooted in the interplay and continual unfolding of the five seasons and the five elements.

Late Summer is now ….. the time in which we have been made so aware of a change that is soon coming.  We see it in the way the morning light comes in a little differently, the angle, time and quality of it have all shifted.  And yet we are still in the ease, heat, and humidity of long, hot summery days.  It is mostly at the beginning and end of these days that we sense something is different.  The morning light has changed, and there is that cherished freshness that the misty mornings bring.  The evenings bring a new coolness and quiet that cast our minds into what’s coming next…..the invitation of fall.

 

Chinese Medicine associates Late Summer with the Spleen and Stomach, the Earth element, the color yellow, the sweet taste, the emotion of worry/contemplation/compassion, and the direction is that of the center.

 

The center- this is what I’d like to emphasize.  The Spleen energy/Earth element is the still point between activities and seasons.  It is the energy that supports us through transition.  Late Summer is that fulcrum between Summer and Fall.  Within us, that coincides with our sense of center in our body.  Traditionally that is thought to be in the abdomen, the middle, the area between the navel and the chest.  This sense of center is further extrapolated into us as human beings, standing on the Earth reaching up toward the Heavens.  We are the mediary.  This carries a lot of significance in Chinese Medicine, as humanity is much revered for being this go between between Heaven and Earth.  Humanity has long been associated with benevolence. To be aware of an innate sense of goodness and kindness infusing each of us and all of humanity brings us into a peaceful state.

 

I believe that much of what we intentionally do, whether that be prayer, meditation, yoga, or exercise is to get us more in touch with our sense of center within ourselves.  We can visualize a warm, bright, yellow orb lighting up our Stomach area.  This is the place we are connecting to and operating from as we live from an integrated place of center.  Calm and clear, still as we honor the sacred pause.  Essentially is Late Summer not a sacred pause?

 

haiku for Late Summer:

here I am, coming

home. peaceful and still, golden

light beckons my heart.

 

Parting tidbit:

And in closing, our wonderful massage therapist, Tara Nichols, is running a special right now.

10% off new clients’ first massage

Tara can be reached at 828-674-7711 and tarasyogabliss@yahoo.com

 

See you soon.  Enjoy the pause.

 

 

Late Summer 2015 by Sally Robinson, L.Ac.

Here we are in Late Summer, a season unto itself in Chinese Medicine.  This season is associated with the Spleen, the Earth element, the color yellow and contemplation or worry.

imageThe Spleen energetics relate to transition.  The Spleen Qi is what keeps us centered and focused while we transition. We come back to that sense of  center within ourselves, that round Earth energy in our middle area, that of the Spleen and Stomach.  It can be helpful to visualize a yellow orb in the middle part of the body, like a joyous and peaceful Buddha belly.

“The Spleen loathes Dampness” is an adage from the Classics in Chinese Medicine.  Dampness manifests as muddled thinking, poor digestion, and low energy.  Ways we can transform Dampness are eating warm and cooked foods, clarifying the mind by practicing meditation, and burning moxa(Artemisia vulgaris) on acupuncture points to nourish the Spleen.

Haiku for Late Summer:

sitting still, pausing

the gold finch seeks solace in

but a fading bloom