As the weather turns cooler, many people find themselves experiencing morning grogginess; skipping a midday nap often leads to afternoon exhaustion. The intense heat of summer depletes the body's energy reserves, and as autumn arrives, the body enters a natural restorative phase. This period brings an inexplicable sense of fatigue—a natural physiological response to seasonal change. There are steps we can take to alleviate autumn fatigue.
Post-White Dew: Dealing with Autumn Fatigue
Daily Routine Adjustments: With crisp autumn air, adopt "early to bed, early to rise, rising with the rooster." Retiring early aligns with the body's natural contraction of yang energy, while rising early allows the lungs to expand and prevents excessive contraction.Though cool breezes arrive around Mid-Autumn Festival, weather remains unpredictable—even within the same region, "four seasons in one day, different skies every ten miles" can occur. Thus, avoid overdressing, as this impairs the body's adaptation to cooling temperatures and increases susceptibility to colds during weather shifts.
Mental Cultivation: Maintain inner tranquility, calmness of mind, and a cheerful disposition. Avoid sadness and melancholy; even when encountering sorrowful events, actively seek resolution to ward off the autumnal energy of decay. Simultaneously, gather your spirit to align with autumn's serene and balanced energy.
Dietary Adjustment: Autumn favors consolidation over dispersion. Therefore, minimize pungent foods like scallions and ginger, and moderately increase sour fruits and vegetables. Autumn's dryness can deplete bodily fluids, so meals should focus on nourishing yin and moistening the lungs. As The Essentials of Dietary Therapy states: "Autumn's dryness calls for sesame seeds to counteract it; cold drinks are prohibited."Some advocate porridge as an ideal autumn staple. Ingredients like rice and glutinous rice strengthen the spleen and stomach, replenish vital energy, and counteract autumn dryness. Soups such as lotus seed and lily bulb stew, white fungus, goji berry, lotus seed, and jujube soup, or coix seed and water chestnut porridge are all excellent choices for nourishing yin and moisturizing dryness.In summary, during autumn, it is advisable to moderately consume moisturizing foods like sesame seeds, glutinous rice, japonica rice, honey, loquats, pineapples, and dairy products to benefit the stomach and generate fluids. From a health preservation perspective, it is beneficial to increase intake of yin-nourishing and lung-moistening foods such as pears, longans, lilies, sugarcane, taro, jicama, radishes, white fungus, and honey dates.Additionally, porridge is a suitable beverage during the White Dew season. As temperatures cool, watermelon and cold beverages should be consumed with restraint. Individuals with asthma history should minimize or avoid seafood like fish and shrimp. Exercise and Conditioning: Autumn presents an ideal opportunity for various physical activities. Each person may select exercises suited to their specific circumstances. Given the significant climate fluctuations in autumn, attention should be paid to staying warm and protected from the cold.The saying "bundle up in spring, stay cool in autumn" holds scientific merit. Young professionals accustomed to air-conditioned office environments should now reduce AC use, increase physical activity, and stretch bodies stiffened by summer inactivity.
Massage These 4 Points to Beat Sleepiness
1. Erjian Point
Location: Make a loose fist. The point is located in the radial depression just before the second knuckle of the index finger. Apply pressure with the fingertips of both hands to this wellness point.Key health benefits of massaging Erjian: - Combats drowsiness: Pairing Erjian with Sānjiān (LI3) boosts alertness and relieves fatigue. - Treats eye opacities: Combining Erjian with Hegu (LI4) disperses eye cloudiness.Regularly massaging this point provides significant health benefits for palpitations, heart palpitations, and insomnia. Apply moderate pressure without seeking a sensation of soreness or distension. 3. Neiguan Point Neiguan is located on the palmar side of the forearm, on the line connecting Quze and Daling points, 2 cun above the wrist crease, between the palmaris longus tendon and the radial wrist flexor tendon.Massaging Neiguan is straightforward: grasp the wrist of the hand to be massaged with one hand, positioning the thumb of that hand vertically over the point. Apply rhythmic pressure with the fingertip until a sensation of soreness, numbness, or fullness develops.
4. Sishencong Points
Regular massage of these points promotes blood circulation in the head, increases cerebral blood supply, and offers health benefits such as mental alertness, cognitive enhancement, improved sleep, fatigue reduction, and strengthened vitality. It also alleviates scalp itching, promotes hair growth, and reduces dandruff.Massage method: Rhythmically tap or individually knead and press the left and right Shen Cong points, followed by the front and rear Shen Cong points, for a total of 3 minutes.