My weekend has been pretty quiet, I’ve been feeling very tired this last week, a cocktail of PMT, staying up too late watching the night sky (eclipse and meteor shower gazing) and taking star lit beach strolls, when I should be in bed! I’m also nearing what feels like the end of my teaching year. My summer holidays are imminant and I can’t wait for a two week break. Just a few classes left and then ahhhhhh! If you fancy joining me in classes in Tralee, Co. Kerry this week, you can visit my website to see my schedule and book a class HERE
As yet I have nothing planned, I kinda like to go with the flow and see what the weather is up to before deciding. Mostly I just love the break from running around between yoga and pilates classes, always on the clock. Time is an elastic concept for me, I seem to always feel like I’m chasing it!!! It’ll do my heart and soul good to slow down. August invites that really, doesn’t it?
The heady energy of summer is softening. And though I hate to admit it, the evenings are slowly drawing in and it’s getting dark a half hour earlier now, the hedgerows are heavy with blackberries (bumper yield this year!), and there’s a sense of things keeling over in the garden, tired and fulfilled.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), this little pause between summer and autumn has its own season: Late Summer.
And as I’m currently studying acupuncture and TCM, I’m finding myself noticing these seasonal shifts even more deeply and weaving more and more of what I’m learning into my own life and into our classes.
Late Summer & the Earth Element
Late Summer is associated with the Earth element, and the organs connected with Earth are the Spleen and Stomach.
In TCM, when we talk about organs we’re not quite talking about them in the same way as Western medicine. The Spleen and Stomach are part of a much broader energetic system associated with digestion, nourishment, energy, thought and our ability to feel grounded and supported. The Stomach receives our food and begins the process of breaking it down, while the Spleen is traditionally said to transform what we eat and drink into Qi and Blood - the nourishment and energy our body needs.
Digesting Life
TCM takes the idea of digestion further than food - we also have to digest our lives - our experiences, conversations, decisions, information and of course, emotions. And the emotion most strongly associated with the Spleen is worry and overthinking. Rumination is the ruination of our daily life force energy!
That endless mental chewing things over - replaying conversations, trying to solve tomorrow’s problems today, going around and around the same thought, is considered particularly draining to Spleen Qi.
Which I think is a lovely way of looking at worry: sometimes there simply isn’t anything more to be gained from continuing to mentally digest something. Often, like the waste products from the food we have digested, it’s best to just let it go.
Nourishing your Energy
I’ve been mildly obsessed with blackberry picking this week and enjoying some slower pursuits like swimming, surfing baby waves on my longboard (that’s me below), slower yoga and cooking some good food (particularly orange and yellow coloured foods for the spleen). I’ve been taking some day time naps, spending time outdoors and this weekend, I took a full day at home to chill and be idle :)
photo credit: ElizeB
And if you’ve been in class with me this week, you’ll probably have noticed lots of twists, folds, abdominal work and poses to support digestion creeping into our practices. I’ve also been sharing a little of what I’m learning about acupressure and showing students a few points they can work with themselves at home.
Three we’ve explored are:
ST36 – Zusanli
One of the great nourishing points in TCM. It’s traditionally used to support Stomach and Spleen Qi, digestion, energy and overall vitality.
SP6 – Sanyinjiao
A beautiful point where the Spleen, Liver and Kidney channels meet. Traditionally used for digestion as well as supporting the body’s Yin and women’s health and helpful for hormone balance. (SP6 is generally avoided during pregnancy unless you’ve been specifically advised to use it by a suitably qualified practitioner).
REN4 – Guanyuan
I used REN4 as more of a settling and grounding point. Located on the lower abdomen, it’s traditionally a deeply nourishing point in TCM, used to strengthen and replenish the body. I like it here as an invitation to bring our attention down out of our busy heads and back into the body, particularly lovely when we’re feeling scattered, tired or caught up in worry.
Whatsapp Tutorials
If you’d like to join my Whatsapp, where I share class updates, early booking options, discounts and weekly tutorial videos relating to Ebb & Flow Yoga, Pilates and others wellness tips. Click HERE to join us! I’ll be sharing a video this week on how to locate these points for yourself.
Essential Oil Digestive Blend
And another unexpected star of this week’s classes was DigestZen essential oil from doTERRA, packed with ginger, fennel, coriander, peppermint and more herbal goodness. I brought it in for customers to smell and try diluted with fractionated coconut oil, on their own pressure points and it was a BIG hit! It has a lovely fresh, aromatic, minty scent! Here’s a recipe to create your own at home from a book called the Modern Essentials Handbook
Tummy & Spleen Support
TCM generally advises regularity and simplicity when it comes to supporting the Spleen and Stomach.
This isn’t really the season for extremes. Think warm, nourishing, easily digested food rather than constantly eating on the run (note to self!). Soups, stews, broths, porridge, rice, oats and gently cooked vegetables all fit beautifully. Late summer also gives us wonderful naturally sweet foods which our spleen loves - not Haribo sweet 😂, but the natural sweetness of foods such as carrots, squash, dates, sweet potato and other root vegetables. Go easy on the raw, cold foods (a few less smoothie bowls and 99s my friends please!).
To learn more about what kinds of food to eat to nourish your spleen, check out my favourite TCM podcast with Clara Cohen HERE
Image credit: Acupro Academy
Ways to Support your Earth Element:
Eat reasonably regular meals and give yourself time to actually sit down and enjoy them.
Chew your food and try not to eat every meal while scrolling, driving or working.
Choose more cooked and nourishing foods if your digestion feels tired, bloated or sluggish.
Move gently
Try yoga poses involving gentle twists, side bends and abdominal breathing.
Prioritise sleep and rest if you’ve been running on summer energy for months.
Spend time outside. Earth quite literally likes earth, go out walking, gardening, pick blackberries, be in nature and slow down.
And perhaps most importantly: notice how much energy you’re giving to worrying and overthinking.
Journaling Prompt:
If your brain likes to open 47 tabs simultaneously, try this!
Take five quiet minutes with a notebook and divide your page into two sections:
What is actually within my control?
What am I carrying that I cannot control today?
Write everything down, no sensoring yourself.
Then choose one small action from the first section
For everything in the second, see if you can practise putting it down - even temporarily
Ask yourself:
Does this need my attention right now, or am I simply chewing on it again?
Late Summer is a lovely reminder that before we move into the more inward energy of autumn, there’s an opportunity to pause.
To digest the summer we’ve had, eat well, slow down, rest, swim and put our feet on the earth
Until next time,
Maeve x