09/08/2025
In Chinese Medicine, there are Five Elements, each associated with a season, and the fifth season is Late Summer. There are changes afoot - sunflowers begin to droop, blackberries are abundant and we can see acorns on the ground. I’m getting ready to make crumble!
Summer is the maximum yang time of year, represented by the Fire Element. Do you love the heat or are you ready for some milder temperatures? Are you ready to rest after all the doing and socialising? As always, it’s important to take care of balance throughout each season, especially those of maximum yin or yang, so that we don’t end up depleted, with upset digestion, and emotional overwhelm.
In yoga and qigong, the season of Late Summer honours the Earth Element, linked to the Stomach and Spleen. It’s a time to nourish, ground and stabilise, to balance the expansion of the Heart energy with grounding Earth energy.
When the seasons change, it’s a great time to have a shiatsu massage, focusing on acupressure points such as Spleen 6 and Stomach 36.
The stomach is the most important of the yang organs and supplies the other organs with qi and nutrition. It is responsible for appetite and the process of transformation, and together with the spleen controls the transportation of nutrients throughout the body. It also controls the descent of qi which controls bloating and belching. Spleen Qi Deficiency is a common pattern in my shiatsu clinic. Shiatsu can help spleen and stomach issues such as grasping breath, healthy me**es and blood flow, fatigue, weak appetite and bloating.
If you’re wondering how shiatsu can help you, just send me a DM and we’ll get chatting…
