3 Tips for a Happy, Healthy, Spring

Spring is a favourite season among many people. Theres a sense of hope as the cold dark days of winter disappear, and signs of new beginnings, vision, growth, and prosperity, shows itself via warm weather and budding plant life. Yet this is a time where people often catch a cold, get frequent headaches or migraines, have a lot of anxiety, insomnia, skin breakouts, or fluctuating emotional issues.

Below are a few tips to make your transition into spring a good one.

1. Resist the urge to underdress

Always wear or bring a scarf and an extra layer with you when you’re out and wear clothing that breaks the wind. Just like autumn, spring is a time of year where a lot of people catch a cold. This is because of rapidly changing weather patterns and people not wearing enough protective clothing. In Chinese Medicine, “wind” is said to carry pathogens and can lodge into joints and muscles causing anything from pain, to skin problems, to cold/flu/viruses. Always make sure to cover your neck when its, cold, damp, or windy outside. Also, be sure to protect any injured areas from the elements as well- if you have low back pain, skip the crop top, if you have wrist or hand issues, keep wearing gloves until its fully warm outside.

2 . Eat more green leafy vegetables

It’s always a good idea to eat with the seasons. This means eating food that’s growing in the region where you live, at that time of year. Of course, in our globalize world, we eat food from all over the world, all year wrong, and that’s great too. But it’s still a good idea to think seasonally. In the winter it’s common to eat heavier, richer, saltier and more preserved or processed foods. We generally exercise a lot less as the cold, dark days are not as appealing to be out and about. The combo of less exercise with more richer, processed foods, leads to a buildup in the system and it’s common for people to feel bogged down. This can show up as poor digestion, low mood or seasonal depression, brain fog, weight gain and so on. This is why it’s common in many cultures around the world, to do a cleanse or fast in the spring. Dark leafy green vegetables are generally the first vegetables that come out of the ground after the long winter. They also support liver function which has a large role in the breakdown of fats, sugars, and toxins in the body. So if you’re feeling like you want to shake off the heaviness of winter, try adding more greens in your diet.

3. Balance Yin and Yang

There’s a tendency to want to do it all at this time of year. Spring cleaning, working, planning, going on trips, exercising more, seeing more friends and family, gardening and staying up later into the night. These are all wonderful things but sometimes this can be a little too much all at once. This can lead to overwhelm, anxiety, insomnia, digestive problems, anger or frustration, migraines or neck pain. Make sure to balance this sudden increase of activity (Yang) with Yin things such as cooling and light foods, staying hydrated, meditation, getting a massage, acupuncture, or other treatments that you like that helps you de-stress. Try to get to bed at a good time as much as possible.

Written by Ashton Shearer, R.TCMP, R.ac

Ashton is available for acupuncture, herbal medicine and cupping treatments, here at Regeneration Station Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays.

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