Questions for Dr. Duckworth: Seasonal Changes

In reading your site and looking at some of the videos here, I've seen you reference the changing of seasons and what this can mean for physical and emotional health. Is this based along the lines of our common calendar? Or in the actual temperatures that we feel on a yearly basis? When would you suggest that we're in for our next seasonal adjustment? And what would you suggest as good health policies as we transition from winter into spring? Quite a few questions there....

Thanks,
M. Graham

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Dear (Mrs, Ms, Mr, Miss) M. Graham, your questions concerning the seasons are great...and challenging. The language and references we use is less about the calender and more about the weather itself. Granted, the 17th of December is the winter but....let me start over. In Oriental Medicine, there are five seasons of the year. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Do-Yo Do-Yo is the time of change between the seasons. For example, in late February/early March, the day time temperature may be quite spring-like but the nights are still wintry or in late Spring when the day is like summer but you need a sweater at night, these times are the fifth season. It is not just the temperature, it's the environment.The practitioner must factor this when treating or making dietary recommendations. The acupuncturist should plant the needles accordingly. In the summer, needles are planted more shallow, winter, deeper. However, if a resident of Hawaii is visiting St. Louis at Christmas and comes in for a treatment while it is snowing outside, I will treatment him as if it be summer because that is the environment that he is still synchronized with. Just as there are five seasons, that are five tastes (and, by no accident, five vowel sounds). Each taste has an association or relationship with a season. The taste of Spring is sour/tart, summer is bitter, Autumn is hot/pungent, winter is Salt and the Do-Yo season's flavor or taste is sweet. An excess or definciency of a taste will influence how well you cope with each season and how well you handle this season will influence how well you handle the next season.

When are we due our next seasonal adjustment?? Right before the spring winds begin to blow. Probably late February/early March - maybe later...and as we transition, we need to start moving away from heavy, dense foods - eat less red meat, eat less potatoes, squashes, gravies, rich foods. Spring is the beginning of the year, the beginning of new life. This is when seeds sprout and animals give birth. We neeed to eat sprouts, lighter foods. Springtime is a good time to 'fast' and do 'cleansings', it's time for walking and being in the sunshine. I suggest you grow sprouts to eat - radish, pumpkin, mung bean, soy, alfalfa - so many seeds to sprout - so many salads to make!

Keep the questions comin' !