Understanding The 5 Seasons in TCM
If you grew up in Western society, you most likely learned about the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Interestingly, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) introduces a fifth season—Late Summer.
In TCM, the changing seasons are essential for maintaining health and wellness, guiding us to make mindful food choices. Each season comes with its own set of rules, goals, and characteristics, and is linked to a specific element, body organ, sense, emotion, color, and taste. This holistic approach identifies five unique seasons, each with its own energy and rhythm, helping us to better understand and support our body’s needs.
By embracing the principles of the current season, you can truly become the healthiest version of yourself. Each season offers unique guidance that aligns with your body’s natural rhythms, helping you thrive and feel your best.
Spring
Element: wood
Organ: liver
Sense: sight
Emotion: anger
Colors: blue and green
Taste: sour
As the world outside bursts into vibrant bloom, we too find ourselves growing, reaching, and hoping. Spring, guided by the Wood element, is a season of growth, rebirth, and new beginnings. Embrace this time to channel your focus and creativity, envisioning a future where you flourish. Discover that serene yet powerful state of energized calm. It’s the perfect time to detox your body from those heavy winter foods, a function managed by your liver.
Summer
Element: fire
Organ: heart
Sense: speach
Emotion: joy
Color: red
Taste: bitter
Summer is associated with warmth, long days and energized movement. Yang energy it’s at its peak during this time. Some people might feel more agitated and exhausted if unbalanced. This is the time of the year to practice most demanding sports (if you have energy for it) and to eat more vegetables and add more water-based food methods. During the summer months there are a lot of celebrations where alcohol, meat and finger food play a critical role; and those are precisely the opposite of what we should be eating during this season, where the focus should be on light and plant-based foods. So if you feel exhausted during this seasons after the gathering you know what to do; switch to cooling and bitter foods to balance the heat of the season.
Late Summer
Element: earth
Organ: spleen
Sense: taste
Emotion: worry
Color: yellow
Taste: sweet
Late Summer is considered the fifth season in TCM and most people haven’t heard of it. It’s the perfect season to regulate and strengthen your digestive system to boost immunity for the next two seasons. The Late Summer season normally lasts one month (being the shortest season) and occurs during the month of August until the beginning of Fall. It is characterized by Heat and Dampness, leading to digestive issues, bloating and inflammation. To support your spleen eat natural sweet foods. Late Summer is deeply connected to the Earth element, meaning it’s the season to start the intention of grounding, nurturing, and reflection.
Fall
Element: metal
Organ: lungs
Sense: smell
Emotion: grief
Color: white
Taste: spicy/pungent
Fall is the season of harvesting and the beginning of short days. It’s time to continue the work done during the Late Summer season and prepare your body for Winter. During early autumn, mostly during the day, the weather still remind us of summer and late summer, but you will feel the temperature and humidity drop quickly, specially at dawn, end of the day and night. If imbalanced or if still wearing a lot of summer clothes, it will cause you respiratory symptoms, since it’s the season associated with the Lungs. Welcome flu season! In TCM all the transitions should be done slowly, so your body has time to adjust. Start to nourish and balance the Lungs and Large Intestine by introducing cooling and dampness-reducing summer foods and as the weather gets colder and drier add warming spices. Who doesn’t love a warm Chai Latte or a Pumpkin Latte? Adding some sour ingredients to your diet will be a great choice to support you during these months.
Winter
Element: water
Organ: kidneys
Sense: hearing
Emotion: fear
Color: blue and black
Taste: salty
Some people love winter others just can’t wait this season to end. Nature slows down, and we should too. This is the season to not do much and store energy. This is for sure not the time to start new projects or overwork. If you replenish your body during this season, you will have the battery full when Spring starts - and that is what you want. The foods should be warm so you can tonify the qi and the blood. During this season eat foods that are bitter and salty to energy and protect your kidneys (responsible for your root energy). During this season don’t be afraid to rest, rest and rest.
↳ Explore these recipes for each season. 🌱
I hope this helped to clarify what is the best to do in each season. Let me know any thoughts and question, down bellow in the comments section.
✨ Have a great day. ✨