The essence of autumn lies in its "coolness," commonly known as "autumn chill." This gradual drop in temperature often triggers various ailments, such as asthma, angina, indigestion, biliary colic, embolism, and stroke. Autumn's cool climate frequently causes fluctuations in mood and energy levels, manifesting as fatigue, irritability, insomnia, dizziness, and heightened emotional sensitivity.
Impact of Autumn Climate on the Human Body
1. As autumn temperatures drop and atmospheric pressure rises, perspiration decreases and blood flow to the body's surface becomes less vigorous than in summer. However, blood vessels retain residual dilation, resulting in a normal autumn pulse that is light, hollow, slightly floating, and feather-like.
2. Dry autumn air reduces elasticity in the respiratory tract—trachea, larynx, and lungs—promoting micro-fissures. Ciliary activity diminishes, impairing foreign-body clearance. Reduced blood flow to the airways further weakens inhalation function.
3. Common autumn ailments include acute pancreatitis, rheumatic fever, asthma, chronic nephritis, and colds.
4.The increased activity of cold air in autumn can trigger episodes of embolism, stroke, bronchial asthma, angina pectoris, indigestion, hemophilia, and biliary colic.
5. Autumn weather can induce fluctuations in mental and emotional states, manifesting as fatigue, irritability, lack of motivation, insomnia, headaches, and heightened emotional reactivity. These symptoms are particularly likely to occur several hours before weather changes.
Principles of Autumn Wellness
1. Maintain a balanced diet focused on preventing dryness, protecting yin, nourishing yang, and moisturizing the lungs.
Autumn's clear skies and dry air make the lungs vulnerable to autumn dryness. Therefore, autumn meals should be light and fresh, minimizing fried or stir-fried foods. Prioritize fresh vegetables and fruits, selecting options like Chinese cabbage, spinach, winter melon, cucumber, and white fungus.Meat options include rabbit, duck, and grass carp. Increase intake of sour foods like pomelos and hawthorn berries. Drink adequate water and consume lung-moistening, yin-nourishing foods such as radishes, lotus roots, bananas, pears, and honey. Minimize or avoid pungent, heating ingredients like scallions, ginger, garlic, chili peppers, and strong spirits, as well as fried and greasy foods.Elderly individuals with weak constitutions or spleen-stomach deficiency, as well as those with chronic illnesses, may opt for porridge-based breakfasts such as lily bulb and lotus seed porridge, snow fungus and borneol porridge, or black sesame porridge. Increase intake of red dates, lotus seeds, lily bulbs,goji berries, and other mildly nourishing ingredients to promote health, ward off illness, and prolong longevity. However, avoid excessive consumption of rich meats or fruits to prevent gastrointestinal distress. Additionally, pay special attention to food hygiene to protect the spleen and stomach. Opt for warm meals and limit cold foods and beverages to prevent conditions like enteritis or dysentery.
2. Actively Participate in Physical Exercise to Strengthen the Body
Autumn's clear skies and crisp air make it the golden season for outdoor activities. For seniors, intensifying physical exercise during this season is the most proactive approach to autumn health maintenance. Rise early and engage in morning activities like hill climbing, jogging, brisk walking, or cold water bathing.
Methods for Autumn Wellness
The fundamental principle of autumn wellness is to guard against chill and dryness. This can be approached through the concept of the "lungs" in traditional Chinese medicine. As "the three months of autumn see the lungs' energy flourish," the lungs are not only vigorous but also the organs most susceptible to invasion. Keeping lung energy robust while shielding it from external pathogens is the core non-pharmaceutical approach to autumn wellness.
1. Chewing and Tongue-Rubbing: Each morning upon waking and before bedtime, perform 100 repetitions of jaw-opening movements (as if chewing gum). Then close your mouth, press your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and swish it around 100 times. Allow saliva to fill your mouth, then swallow it slowly.Repeat this sequence 36 times. During chewing, the jaw muscles draw blood stagnating in the left head downward toward the heart, promoting circulation and resisting autumn chill. 2. Pressing Chengjiang Point: Located in the hollow beneath the lower lip, firmly press this point with your index finger until you feel secretions welling in your mouth.For diabetics experiencing thirst, vigorously pressing and kneading this point over ten times can eliminate thirst without repeated water intake. This secretion not only prevents autumn dryness but also contains parotid hormone, which slows aging and promotes a rosy complexion in the elderly. This simple, practical method can be used anytime, anywhere for long-term health maintenance.
3. Autumn Tapping Method: The lungs and large intestine are paired organs. Autumn dryness often slows intestinal peristalsis, leading to seasonal constipation. Experts recommend a tapping technique. The area directly below the eyes, known as the cheekbone region, is where the large intestine meridian passes. Regularly stimulating the area just below the eye sockets or around the cheekbones can restore normal bowel function.Method: Bring together the index, middle, and ring fingers, then rhythmically tap lightly with the fingertips. The period 10–15 minutes after breakfast is when the large intestine is most active. Performing this autumn tapping technique for a few minutes at this time can immediately induce the urge to defecate. When bowel movements are smooth, the lungs also strengthen, and overall mental state improves noticeably.
4. "Xi" Sound Exercise: An ancient breathing technique for exhalation, it functions to "dispel all stagnant air from the lungs" and "expel impure lung qi." Method: Stand briefly in fresh air, inhale deeply, pause momentarily, then gradually exhale impure air while emitting the "xi" sound. Repeat 36 times.The "Xi" sound cleanses the lungs. It offers preventive and therapeutic benefits for external infections causing fever and cough, phlegm accumulation, and chronic bronchitis in the elderly.