Weather and TCM

We’ve already had a brief look at emotions and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to see how we’re feeling can affect our health. Today we’ll take a peek at weather and TCM. Yes, the weather can affect our health too. Our grandparents knew a thing or two when they told us to wrap up against the elements.

Usually our bodies can withstand the weather on a day to day basis. As always though, it’s a matter of balance. If the weather is excessive or unseasonal, or if we’re a little weak and rundown to start with, then there can be consequences on our health.

Think back to a time when you’ve been caught in a downpour. It wasn’t just rain, it was torrential rain, seeping through all layers. That’s excessive weather. Or consider when we have a sudden cold snap after a spell of hot weather, we think of it as unseasonal. These are the times when we may be vulnerable to changing weather patterns.

In TCM we consider six main weather conditions and how they relate to the seasons:

• Wind (Spring)
• Cold (Winter)
• Summer heat (Summer)
• Dampness (late Summer)
• Dryness (Autumn)
• Fire (Summer)

Although we link them to the seasons, each condition can usually occur at any time of year (though then it may be unseasonal). Summer heat is only in the summer though and the last one, Fire, is a special case that can be independent of the seasons.

Each weather condition is also related to a TCM organ:

• Wind (Liver)
• Cold (Kidneys)
• Summer heat (Heart)
• Dampness (Spleen)
• Dryness (Lungs)
• Fire (Heart)

These links show TCM practitioners how weather conditions can affect someone’s health and what symptoms they may show as a result. For example, many people that suffer with joint pain, will find that it gets worse when the weather is cold and damp. Cold and damp interior conditions are being made worse by the cold and damp that are outside. We can then work on dispersing damp and expelling cold internally, through point prescriptions, dietary changes or both.

If you’d like to know how to improve your resilience to the changes in weather, then please book your free “can telehealth help me” session today.

Stay safe, stay well, stay home (if you can).