Late Summer - when transition is transformation

Have you noticed that the end of Summer brings on a particular kind of heaviness? Some attribute it to the conclusion of the holidays and the return to routine and the monotony of daily life. However, it’s all about the energy around us. Since early February, the energy has been building, but it began to diminish around mid-August. By early September, we find ourselves in the midst of a transition period leading us into the more Yin phase of the year. Yin is characterized by being more hidden, darker, slower, and less vibrant, balancing out the high vibe months we've just experienced.

Each seasonal change involves a transition period between the conclusion of one season and the start of the next. However, the transition at the end of Summer is unique. It is more than just a transition; it is a period of transformation. Transformation refers to altering form, nature, or appearance. Alternatively, it can be described as a metamorphosis, conversion, or transmutation.

Let's observe Nature; it's the last chance to transform flowers into fruits. This is the peak time for Nature to ripen its fruits before energy diminishes. Plants that have already borne fruit start to wither, undergoing their further transformation. It is truly the time of abundance, both of quantity and variety. This sense of satiety is one of the reasons for the heaviness left in Late Summer.

A close-up of the zucchini flower's vibrant center highlights its detailed textures and golden tones.

Just as changes occur in nature, similar shifts happen within human beings; we can also sense these transitions affecting our bodies. After following a quick "on-the-go" Summer diet, our bodies might signal a need for proper nutrition. The signs your body may exhibit in Late Summer can include digestive issues, slower digestion, fatigue, bloating, swollen legs and general swelling, headaches, difficulty falling asleep, exacerbation of some chronic conditions, and the return of candida and other fungal issues. These examples indicate that your body is struggling to transform food into nourishing blood. The organs involved are the Stomach and Spleen, and the symptoms appear when their energies are weak and in need of strengthening.

To enhance Stomach and Spleen health during this time, modify your diet to include more cooked foods (such as porridge for breakfast instead of cold yogurt), eliminate ice cream, and incorporate honey and warm water to support your Stomach and Spleen. Begin your day with a glass of warm water. If you experience digestive issues, consume some ginger after meals. Go to bed an hour or half an hour earlier than during holidays to adjust to gradually shorter days and ensure sufficient rest. If you are struggling with symptoms and a feeling of heaviness, eliminate gluten, dairy, and processed sugars from your diet until you feel better.

The Spleen and Stomach are two organs that will assist you in adapting to the approaching Autumn and also play a role in your current mental and psychological transformation.

We are experiencing a truly transformative period in September. It's an ideal time to mentally organize your life and transform the burden of new post-holiday responsibilities into a fresh routine. With the start of a new academic year, our daily habits can be reshaped. It's not about cramming your schedule, but rather creating a sustainable and nourishing rhythm. Let your days unfold like a dance routine—smooth, creative, expressive, and fulfilling. Analyze how you spend your time during the day: how much is dedicated to self-care versus house-care, how much time is spent working and commuting compared to being in nature, and how much time do you spend in front of a screen versus nurturing a hobby or relationship?

What thoughts fill your mind throughout the day? Engaging in conscious reflection, particularly during meditation, can help identify which thoughts should be transformed from repetitive or negative into more productive and positive ones. This practice of mental hygiene can release a significant amount of energy that might otherwise remain trapped.

This period offers your soul a chance to return to its origins after the erratic, vibrant, and social energy of summer. It's an ideal moment to reflect, find your center, and ground yourself to process everything that has occurred. Don't feel guilty if you're not up for hosting another dinner party! This feeling aligns with the present energy. Focus on your needs and nurture yourself with rest and beauty; for instance, enjoy a massage or another pampering experience. Receiving is crucial for transformation of the soul's nourishment.

In certain respects, it's another journey around the Sun since you last had the chance to re-center. What transformation have you already undergone and what aspects within you have matured for metamorphosis? Maybe you're prepared to take on new responsibilities that bring fulfillment and let go of those that are merely burdensome. Perhaps that is part of the heaviness you are feeling this month.

If you find yourself needing help during the transition period of September, schedule a seasonal treatment to support the transformation of food, thoughts, and experiences into nourishment for your body, mind, and soul.

Call to book an appointment

"Honourable Harvest" - Earth Element's higher octave of consciousness

What does the book “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer and the Five Elements, especially the Earth Element, have got in common? Having read the book this summer I have found out that actually the two speak of each other.

This marvellous book is written in prose but reading it is like poetry. To me it was totally music to my ears and probably not only to me, as Elizabeth Gilbert describes the book as “a hymn of love to the world”.

There would be so much to share about this book, so I only would like to concentrate on the main three reflections and insights I have had, that infuse Robin's tradition with what I know and practice in Chinese Medicine. All quotations below come from Robin's book.

The first reflection made me realise that all ancient and indigenous people, whether they are from the East or the West, had one thing in common: their relationship with the Nature. They observed the Nature attentively, its processes, cycles, in order to understand self and to understand the place which a man occupies in relationship with what is around him/her. In those times, human beings felt an integral part of an eco-system they lived in. Everything that surrounded them had a meaning and they took note of the cyclical nature of all process of the Earth. So, be it indigenous Americans, or Australians or ancient Chinese, they all lived with the same reverence in the relationship to the Nature. That means that some of the bases of the Classical Chinese Medicine (especially Taoism) are common to all other ancient and indigenous cultures.

The second insight I have had relates to Robin's call for going beyond gratitude and infusing more reciprocity in all our relationships. Reciprocity in Chinese Medicine is related to the Earth Element energetic quality. Robin explains reciprocity so well. It isn't only about "if I give you, then you will give me back" but rather "when I give you I create a relationship with you". The lack of attention to reciprocity in our-day-world has created anonymity and indifference in which reciprocal relationships are often considered more a burden than richness. So, "we are called to go beyond cultures of gratitude to once again become cultures of reciprocity". In the Chinese Classics that is the Earth Element energetics within us. Losing that sense of reciprocity we lose touch with our Earth Element, which we need for grounding and bonding with the place we live in.

My third insight into timeless and ancient wisdom is about "honourable harvest". Harvest is again related to the energy of Earth Element in Chinese medicine and philosophy. "Honourable Harvest" is an "exchange of life for life"... yes, their sensitivity whether to animals or plants, was the same. People living in true communion with the Nature knew that all harvest is taking away some form of life. Therefore, they were propenced to actions that gave that life back or to "take only what you are given and not what you need".

I know that ancient Chinese practitioners collected their herbs in the same "honourable" way as Robin describes indigenous Americans did, in order for the herbs to have that pure energy and be granted the Nature's healing potency. We practice honourable harvest every day by making choices in our daily consumptions. Whenever we buy something new, think about the life that's been taken away. In return, try to give that life back somehow.

The ancients' way of living was treading so lightly as if "longing to hear the land give thanks for the people in return". Wow! Do we ever ask ourselves that question? Is the Earth actually happy with me living on Her surface? Do we realise that for each gift we were born with, we also hold our responsibilities to utlise it well? It is the Earth that makes the "paste" of our bodies, the Earth creates our gifts and we have the responsibility to use them to create hers. The plants "can't meet their responsibilities unless we meet ours". Once we realise that we live in such interdependence with the Nature, we start wondering why we moved so far away from Her.

It is that consciousness that we need to truly understand our power. As if describing the Yin and Yang of Chinese Medicine, Robin quotes: "all powers have two sides, the power to create and the power to destroy. We must recognise them both, but invest our gifts on the side of creation".

These and other insights I have had thanks to Robin Wall Kimmerer's book, confirm to me that much of the bases of the Classical Chinese Medicine do not pertain to Chinese or Oriental cultures only, they have been lived and followed by most, if not all, of the indigenous populations worldwide. The Nature's language is truly global!

---

Braiding Sweetgrass - "Honourable Harvest"

Late Summer - Energy of completion

There are a few times in a year when we can start anew: the beginning of the calendar year, the beginning of Spring (end of February), for some it is also at the Spring Equinox, for others it is the Summer Solstice. Yet another time to start anew is also right now! We have got over the maximum heat and active energy of Yang during the Summer months, and now we start going back to self, back to our center.

Summer is getting out and about, meeting people, traveling, getting involved in activities that are out of ordinary, sleeping less and playing more. From the mid August, however, there is an energy of gathering back all that external energy. This gathering of the energy from the surrounding activities, situations, relationships and making best use of it for completing self, is the new year for constructing your new You.

Spirit Focus: making myself whole again

It is the time to look at the past Spring and Summer months and ask yourself:

how do I assimilate best the experiences and people I've met, into my reality? Summer months was the time to be open to, to choose and make a range of new experiences. Now, the Late Summer is here to transform them into concrete, solid and clear ideas, statements, projects, plans or relationships.

For example, from all the new persons we have met over the Summer, who do we really want to keep in touch with going ahead?

Or, thinking of this summer seaside vacation, what new has it brought to me as a person? What feelings, experiences, activities I would like to continue to repeat regularly as a result? Perhaps you have marvelled yourself at how great you felt about replacing a car with a bicycle and you wished you could use it more throughout the year. So, right now would be the perfect time to do it, to start using your bike more in place of your car. In consequence you follow your inner integrity, in body, mind and soul, and the Element of Later Summer helps you to solidify that internally into who you are becoming.

Mind Focus: ability to have a broad perspective

The Late Summer's Element, the Earth, is energetically stable, it is concrete, it supports the completion of a cycle, of an idea. It opens us up to more perspectives from which we can see how to implement pieces and make it into a whole. So, it is the time well spent on a review and reflection of recent, external events. It is also about some reality checks. Often times Fire Element of Summer feeds our enthusiasm out of proportion. Perhaps you saw a villa on your holidays and desired to acquire it. Now, it would be the time to review that idea as the Element of Earth makes us more practical about some dreamy ideas we might have had over the holidays. It is not to say we should not have dreamy ideas. Or better still, we should avoid rejecting our summer dreams as too lofty, but we should allow time and this change in season to review if it is still something that in all our integrity we want and need. Perhaps it has been an inspiration to unravel a part of you that with time you can plan to realise.

Body Focus: "I nourish myself"

The energy of Late Summer permits us to have a broad view of our body as well. We may feel it more physically, be more present in our muscles especially, which means we may notice certain muscular tensions we have not spotted until now. The Earth Element relates to Stomach, digestion and absorption of nutrients. It is NOT the time to do detox as we are now at peak of transforming food into nutrients and doing detox could give our bodies a message of lacking the substances. More than other times, we should have a varied and rich diet (in wide specturm of nutrients). The Nature provides for us too as it is the harvest season. On the other hand, we can and should reduce the excesses we could have got away with in Summer months but we won't now: that ice-cream a day, a couple of beers a day, pizza every other evening, etc. may now not go down that well and give us health issues.

Remember any symptoms arising during the change of season is linked to that change in the energy and it can be easily adjusted by having an acupuncture treatment. To book yourself for an appointment, click below:

Book an appointment

---

Harvest time - Earth Element