The Second Month of Spring - Creating your vision

March, the second month of Spring according to Su Wen classics, has started a few days ago but it is not palpable equally in all parts of the northern hemisphere. It is actually snowing whilst I am sitting and writing it in Poland. Even in the sunny Italy we still get night frosts. All that makes us feel as if the Winter is not going away and the Spring is still so far away.

First of all, it is not surprising the cold is holding strong in the year of the Water element, which is associated with Winter. Secondly, the apparent delay of Spring is the extra time given to us to prepare some plans.

Whilst it is true that Spring is the most active and life thrusting season of the year, even the Spring has its Yin aspect, it is planning and strategy making. A good plan precedes a fruitful outcome. All the energy is here to help us make plans for the remaining months of the year and further. We are surrounded by the renewed energy; our eyes are waking up from the Winter sleep; we have a fresh outlook on the world and a better capacity to perceive our way forward.

Indisputably, many of us are living through significant life changes right now. The world-scene changes are impacting more and more people in their daily lives. It may be the jobs we do, places we live in or more subtly the atmosphere and the energy we are surrounded by. Therefore, envisioning and planning our way through it is essential for building the future. There is no better month for it than March.

The act of planning itself is nourishing our hopes; it contextualises and concretises our hopes into physical actions. Even envisaging our future concretises our hopes in images and feelings. Let's take some time off to focus on creating some fundamental aims and objectives we wish to strive for.

If the future seems bleak to you and you do not know where to begin creating your vision, it may be a sign of hopelessness and/or a sign of lacking clarity. Acupuncture treatments are a good help in such cases. Most of the acupuncture points for it are related to the Liver and Gallbladder channel, which are associated with Spring. You can utilise herbs too. One of them is the Sweet Violet, which has Liver and Gallbladder affinity. The essencial oil of the Sweet Violet among other improves dry eyes (in diluition). The easiest kitchen-based support for the health of our eyes are green leave vegetabeles, so abundant in Spring.

---

The First Month of Spring - A Gentle Push to Wake Up

The beginning of February this year has been rather dynamic. Apart from the passage from the element of Water to Wood marking the start of the new season, Spring, there is the concomitance with the start of the Lunar New Year in energetic Water Tiger with the New Moon in dynamic and forward looking Acquarius. Some celebrate Calendora others celebrate Imbolc, where both signify a pivot when the Winter visibly withdraws.

I have just read the last year's update for this month and realised we are having much more of an energetic push than the same time last year. Additionally, at the moment of this passage all of the astrological planets have gone direct. So, not only do we get the push from the Nature ready to sprout but also from the Planets that encourage all movement forward.

Given such combination of energies, I strongly encourage you to make some plans for the next months at least. The energy is moving now, so observe the flows and coincidences and have the courage to follow them. This month is going to be fast, flowing and will bring new events. You may wish to read on the Lunar New Year energy to help you plan the year ahead (https://www.dorotakowal.com/post/lunar-new-year-improving-your-health-with-the-energy-of-water-tiger).

Some of you will welcome it more than others. In either case, it is helpful to feel more light and elastic in our body. Hence, it is time to re-adjust the diet and do a daily dose of stretching and get a daily walk. Diet-wise, we can now include more raw foods, although we still need to balance it with hot meals. An excellent food to eat at this time are sprouts, which correspond energetically to this season. They are raw but not as cooling as salads, for example.

February is an excellent time to start a body detox. Remember that making our bodies strong and healthy is not only dependent on what we consume and supplements we take but equally dependent on what we avoid to eat. This month let's start taking out all alcohol, coffee and processed sugar. My ideal way to do it is gradual withdrawal, one food at the time. This way the body gets time to adjust. If you wish to book an appointment to plan a detox and include detox with acupuncture, contact me.

Contact me to book

All the way, be also aware of not overdoing it as we are still only just coming out of the Winter inertia. If you begin to get headaches, blood-shot eyes, strapped tendons (hopefully not), these may be signs you are overdoing it. Stretch yourself in time; Spring is only just beginning and you have more than just one month to do it all.

---

The Third Month of Winter - Rebirth

Although we have already passed the darkest days of the Winter, namely the Winter Solstice, and the days are getting longer rather than shorter now, we are still in full Winter season. The 6th of January has marked the beginning of the third month of Winter, according to the ancient Su Wen text.

Although it may not be the darkest month, it is named by the classics as the coldest month of the year. Temperature wise, this month has the opposite effect to the month following the Summer Solstice when the temperatures increase after the Sun passes its peak. Now, following the Winter Solstice, Sun's lowest point, the temperatures are getting colder and colder. There is little to none Yang to warm the Earth up. The temperatures plummet down as Yin energy continues to dominate in the environment. Some animals which are hibernating have their heart rates slowed down for this period. We are not the hibernating species but we still feel the need to go slow. It will be felt more so this year from mid January when Mercury will go retrograde. Mercury is associated with Water and Winter element as well. So, in addition to things feeling Winter-slow, we will have a sensation that Winter is never going to end. That will only be an impression that will be fading away by the end of the first week of February.

What this month is good for is to ponder on our inner world. Again, Mercury retrograde will help us do so. Considering we have just entered the new solar year and will be entering the new lunar year (Chinese New Year) on the 1st of February, there is a lot to reflect upon. In addition, the new lunar year we are about to enter is going to be the year of Water Tiger. Reflection is a Water element quality when we think about looking at ourselves like in a mirror.

The Water qualities I highlighted in my previous month's update, we can continue to cultivate this month. By that I mean behaving like Water, implementing its energetic qualities in our daily life. We might have done quite a lot of gathering, outpouring and diffusing in the past month whilst celebrating the festive season with our nearest and dearest. Now it may be time to concentrate on other Water qualities such as flowing, being present, compressing the energy and going into the most hidden parts of ourselves.

So, when we examine our reflection and face the most hidden parts of ourselves, we may find both the gems we forgot we had and/or old dusty cobwebbed stuff we forgot we still hide inside. This month is the time to uncover just that what will serve us to achieve our 2022 plans and goals. In addition, us being present will be necessary to feel and assess best the situation we are currently in. Finally, compressing the energy during this month will be essential for starting up full steam when the time is ripe and being able to keep the ambition going all the way until our plans and goals are achieved.

In summary, January is the month of great preparedness of ourselves, our position and our strength in order to wake into a new cycle of life which is about to be birthed.

---