Photo by Rodolfo Mari on Unsplash
Greetings to all my precious people!!
We are in the “dog days” of summer — that long, sultry stretch the ancient Romans named diēs caniculārēs for the rising of Sirius, the Dog Star, alongside the Sun. But even as the heat peaks, the wheel is already turning. Chinese Medicine recognizes a fifth season the West often misses: Late Summer — the transitional time when summer’s extreme Yang, all brightness and heat, begins to yield and soften into the cooler Yin of autumn.
Our ancestors marked this turning. The Celtic people celebrated the first harvest on August 1 with Lughnasa, “the feast of the first fruits” — both a joyful celebration of plenty and a solemn acknowledgment that the sun’s potency was beginning to wane. Lughnasa is, above all, a festival of transition: a moment to pause and consider how our own lives have changed in the recent past. As we honor the cyclical nature of existence — the sowing and the reaping both — we’re reminded that each phase of life is worthy of celebration. (Our people always knew this. They lived close enough to the land to feel it in their bodies.)
In Chinese Medicine, Late Summer belongs to the Earth element, and to the Spleen and Stomach — the organ systems at the very center of our health. Back in 1180 CE, the physician Li Dong Yuan founded the “Earth School” on the belief that most disease begins with injury to the digestive system — a teaching that looks remarkably prescient now, in light of everything modern research is uncovering about gut health and immunity.
The Spleen has a beautiful job: it transforms the food we eat into Qi and Blood, and transports that nourishing energy throughout the body. In Chinese Medicine, every organ also “houses” a spirit — and the Spleen houses the Yi, our intellect and capacity for thought. But the Yi is prone to worry: when we overthink, ruminate, and spin, we deplete the very Qi that keeps us grounded and well. Which is why calming the mind isn’t a luxury in this season — it’s medicine for the body.
How to nourish your Earth element as the seasons turn:
Warm the center. This is the time to phase out cold, raw foods — the smoothies, iced drinks, and big salads of high summer. Cold and raw create “dampness” in the Spleen, which shows up as fatigue, heaviness, and digestive trouble. Favor warm, cooked foods: lightly steamed or sautéed vegetables, soups, stews.
Reach for warming spices — ginger, fennel, coriander, cardamom — to resolve dampness and strengthen Spleen Qi.
Eat the colors of the Earth. The Su Wen tells us “yellow corresponds to the Spleen.” Yellow and orange foods are especially supportive: squash, sweet potato, yams, corn, carrots. Enjoy the sweet fruits and vegetables of the late-summer harvest. A bowl of congee is a classic, deeply nourishing way to start the day.
Mind what you mentally ingest. As we tend the Yi — the mind — this is a perfect season to examine our relationship with the news and social media, and to set gentle boundaries around screen time. We are nourished (or depleted) not only by what we eat, but by what we let into our attention.
Begin to gather in. Autumn, the season of letting go, is just around the corner. Late Summer is the threshold — a good time to start clearing, simplifying, and releasing what no longer serves you.
Here’s the through-line beneath all of it: health truly is the wealth we treasure, and it isn’t something done to you. The acupuncture and herbs I offer are tools — but the healing they prompt always comes from within. My role is to walk beside you, soul-friend fashion, while you learn to read your own body’s seasons and tend them. That’s a skill you get to keep for life — the beginning of becoming your own steady companion through every turning of the wheel.
If you’d like a companion as the seasons turn — I support women one-on-one and in small circles as we align with the body’s natural rhythms. Reply here or book a discovery call and let’s get a plan in place to support your seasonal shift and change.
