Melbourne’s autumn and winter swing between warm days and cold nights, and many people notice cold hands and feet, more colds, aching joints or lighter sleep. Chinese medicine sees the body as moving with the seasons, and adjusts care to match.
Why the change of season unsettles us
Autumn is the season of dryness, which taxes the lungs — a dry mouth and throat, a dry cough. As winter cold builds, people short on yang feel the cold more and are prone to loose stools and cold period pain.
What helps
- Go to bed earlier; avoid late nights
- Warm, moistening food — yam, lily bulb, white fungus, pears — and fewer cold, raw foods
- Keep the neck, back and belly warm; ease into exercise in the morning
- If you feel the cold, moxibustion under a practitioner’s guidance warms the meridians
If colds keep coming back, a cough lingers, or you are always cold and tired, start with a constitution assessment at the clinic: the practitioner will suggest acupuncture, moxibustion or herbs to suit you.
