How to thrive...in harvest time

I love this time of year. I can’t get enough of freshly baked crumble made using blackberries foraged from a wood where the leaves are taking on a tinge of gold. It’s no longer summer and it is not yet autumn, it is glorious harvest time.

Our ancestors knew this was an important time of the year, one of celebration and giving thanks for an abundant harvest. It is the season of ripening, abundance and contentment.

In Chinese medicine we call the energy of harvest time earth energy and it is concentrated in our stomach and spleen meridians (the channels of energy that create and sustain our bodies). The energy of the stomach meridian allows us to take in and hold food on a physical level, ideas on a mental level and care on an emotional level. The spleen meridian gives us the ability to process and transport the goodness from our food around our body, as well as process the relentless stream of information we take in throughout the day. If our spleen energy is depleted we might lose the ability to process our thoughts and we get stuck in a cycle of worry. This can be most noticeable at bedtime, when these meridians are at their lowest ebb and we find ourselves unable to fall asleep as the same thoughts circle around in our mind.

So how can we live in harmony with the natural energy that surrounds us ensuring that we are healthy and feel at our best?

• Contemplate whether you are happy with your home. Does your living space comfort and sustain you? If not, make changes to create a secure and cosy home.
• Support your digestive system by choosing seasonal foods grown locally. In Pembrokeshire we will have an abundance of apples, pears, plums as well as cabbage, beetroot and pumpkin.
• Consider whether you are able to give to others or is your emotional cupboard bare? Do you give too much to others and then find yourself unable to meet your own needs? Rebalance your relationships so that you can both give and receive support and care.
• Pay attention to that wise old adage ‘breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper’. This will make the most of the time when your stomach and spleen meridians are at their strongest, between 07:00am and 11:00am.
• Try five element acupuncture as it can help you strengthen your earth energy, increasing your capacity to care for yourself and others, breaking the cycle of worry and settling digestive problems.