Ancient wisdom suggests that embracing a trio of beneficial eating, drinking, and lifestyle habits during spring can greatly enhance one’s well-being. Here’s how to embrace this seasonal shift for a healthier you:
1. Eating Well: Embrace the Green
Spring is the season to embrace green foods, which are believed to boost yang energy. Think of spring foods as nourishment, aligning with the rising power of yang.
As spring represents wood, and wood is associated with the liver, it’s essential to nurture your liver during this season. Incorporate spring onions and chives into your diet to give your liver a boost.
Additionally, eat energy-rich foods to alleviate liver stagnation and combat springtime lethargy. Prepare your body for a healthy spring and set the foundation for a vibrant year ahead.
Eat Radishes
Radishes are not just a winter delicacy for detoxification and nourishment. Spring radishes, especially the small round ones with green tops, known as “Beautiful in Heart,” offer a delightful sensory experience. Their vibrant pink and green hues, coupled with a refreshing aroma, are a wonderful way to uplift your spirits.
Radishes for a Springtime Energy Boost
Embrace Spring Sprouts
The sprouting seeds of spring, such as bean sprouts, soy beans, and various other vegetables, embody the unique “wood” energy of the season. They promote the sprouting and flourishing of liver energy, supporting its growth and expansion.
According to the Ben Cao Gang Mu, bean sprouts are described as “white and beautiful, cleansing the heart and nourishing the body.” They are a wonderful balancing food.
Consume Whole Grains
Whole grains are essential for soothing the liver, nourishing yang, strengthening the spleen, and benefiting qi. They are a staple in Asian cuisine for good reason.
As noted in the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic, “The liver corresponds to wood in the five elements and is associated with wheat in the five grains. To maintain your springtime vitality, increase your consumption of whole grains.”
However, avoid plain white flour. Instead, try making thin pancakes with chives, which nourish the liver, benefit yang, strengthen the spleen, and benefit qi, setting your body up for growth and development.
2. Drinking Well: Hydrate with a Twist
As spring blossoms, each sip of a refreshing broth feels like a stream of vitality flowing through your body, akin to the nourishing waters of a verdant spring.
Drink Sweet Soup
Cleanse the liver, moisten the lungs, and sweeten your temperament.
Sun Simiao, in his treatise Beiji Qianjin Yaofang, advises that during spring, one should “increase sour and sweet flavors to nurture qi.” Thus, drinking sweet soups is particularly beneficial.
Sip Green Porridge
Stimulate stomach qi, ascend yang, and protect the liver.
Porridge is the ultimate comfort food, perfect for awakening the stomach’s qi. Sun Simiao believed that “spring is the season for porridge.” This is especially true for the elderly, the infirm, and children with weak spleen and stomach function. A warm bowl of soft porridge in the morning is the quickest way to supplement the body’s qi and fluids.
If plain porridge isn’t your cup of tea, try adding spinach, pig liver, meat, or a vegetarian option. Simmer it slowly, and you’ll have a delicious green porridge that soothes the stomach, nourishes yang, and protects the liver, leaving you with a warm sense of satisfaction.
Porridge: A Springtime Comfort Food
Savor Green Tea
Spring is a time of joy and rejuvenation. The aroma of green tea is a delight for tea enthusiasts, who eagerly anticipate that first sip each spring. Green tea’s fragrance clears heat, reduces lipids, clears the liver, and disperses stagnant fire, helping our bodies eliminate waste and feel refreshed. However, those with cold constitutions should refrain from drinking it.
3. Lifestyle: Embrace the Season
As a poet once said, “When warm winds blow, carrying troubles or joys, if you awaken, open the window, and see how beautiful this garden of desires is.”
Rise Early
Align with the awakening of spring, embracing the vibrant interplay of yin and yang.
The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic advises that during spring, we should “sleep early and rise early, walk with wide steps, loosen our hair, and walk slowly, thus turning our desires into reality.”
The earth’s spring energy awakens around 5 or 6 a.m. To shake off springtime fatigue, avoid sleeping in, and rise early to let yang energy flourish without stagnation.
Then, engage in gentle exercises like walking, qigong, or tai chi. Loosen your clothing, let your hair down, and move your arms and legs freely.
Burn Incense
If you feel sleepy during the day, burning incense and sitting quietly to appreciate the aroma is an excellent way to stay alert.
Aloeswood incense is ideal for spring. This woody fragrance promotes hair growth, balances liver qi, ensures smooth qi and blood flow, calms the nerves, and alleviates depression. When Sun Simiao was exiled to Lingnan, he “passed through Guangzhou and bought a few kilograms of aloeswood. After settling down, he burned incense and sat quietly with his eyes closed.”
No matter how challenging life may be, the scent of aloeswood will permeate your body and mind, allowing you to relax and find peace.
Aloeswood Incense for Relaxation and Peace
Embrace the Outdoors
Spring is the ideal time to move house, not only to promote the flourishing of yang energy but also to immerse yourself in the vibrant beauty of the season.
Our ancestors understood this better than we do: “When spring arrives, place yourself in a spacious garden to soothe and calm yourself as you breathe.”
Those who embrace spring and cherish themselves will maintain their youthful vitality throughout the seasons and years to come.
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