5 Spring Health Tips to Support Your Mind and Body
The weather has a bigger impact on mental and physical health than most people realize. So when patients come to see me in clinic, especially during seasonal transitions, we almost always talk about dietary and lifestyle changes to support the body and mind’s ability to adapt.
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t change much throughout the year when it comes to healthy habits.
You might make some tiny tweaks—like eating more soup when it’s cold and —but all in all you’re not putting much thought into how your meals and activities keep you balanced (or throw you off) as the weather changes. But small seasonal changes to your diet and lifestyle can make a huge impact on your wellbeing.
The idea is to balance out the elements.
For example, in most places spring is characterized by cool temperatures and dampness.
Longer days with warmer sun increase movement and thaws the ice, but the excess water from ice melting combined with rainy weather also make the earth muddy and sticky.
You want to counteract spring’s cool damp elements with warmth, light, movement and activity.
On the other hand, spring also possesses a strong quality of invigoration.
Buds are swelling on trees and seedlings have to use all the power within them to push through the mud, past the rocks and twigs and other obstructions that stand in their way, to make themselves known in the world.
Similarly, spring is the time when we humans excel at envisioning our future, making plans, and setting things into motion.
But if you have too much cold still stuck in your system from winter, or you don’t have enough energy to push past the obstructions that will inevitably stand in your way, you’ll feel the impact on both your mental and physical health and your ability to thrive will be impeded.
Here are some signs that your system needs more support in spring:
- Feelings of stuck-ness
- Lack of motivation
- Increased frustration
- Excessive fatigue, lethargy, exhaustion
- Foggy-brain feeling
- Pressure headaches
- Loss of appetite
- Gas, bloating, abdominal discomfort, or irregular bowel movements
- Sinus or chest congestion
- Seasonal allergies
If you notice any of these symptoms cropping up in spring, your body is sending you a message that you need to make some seasonal adjustments.
Here are 5 Spring Health Tips to Support Your Mind and Body:
1. Book monthly acupuncture and bodywork sessions to nip any symptoms of spring-imbalance in the bud before they grow into something bigger.
If you’re already experiencing some of the symptoms listed above, book weekly or bi-weekly visits now to get yourself back on track.
Email us now to book an appointment.
2. Open your pores and sweat.
Keep your body invigorated and support detoxification by doing some moderate exercise every day. The idea is to wake up your muscles, move blood, lymph, and break a sweat.
Spring is also the ideal time to visit a sauna and use a dry brush before bathing.
3. Use a neti pot.
Nasal irrigation in the morning and/or evening can reduce or even prevent allergies and springtime congestion.
If you are prone to having a clogged or runny nose, you might even want to step it up a notch by using nasya oil to keep your sinuses open, (use the code Katerina15 at Banyan Botanicals for 15% off at checkout.)
4. Prioritize a natural sleep rhythm.
Chinese medicine recommends going to bed and waking relatively early in the springtime.
Ideally, you want to fall asleep within 3 hours of sunset, and wake just before sunrise when the birds start to chirp. The more regular your sleep rhythm is, the easier it will be to fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake refreshed and energized in the morning.
Related: 5 Ways to Get Over Insomnia Naturally
5. Eat spring foods.
Food is one of the best ways to help your body adjust as the seasons change, and when your physiology is supported, your mental health benefits too.
To move winter stagnation out, it’s a good idea to favor pungent, bitter, and astringent flavors in springtime.
Whenever possible, local, seasonal vegetables are ideal.
Spring-balancing choices include brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.), radish, nettles, fiddle-heads, spinach, arugula, radicchio, and sprouts. And be sure to add lots of extra herbs and spices to your spring meals, too, including mustard seeds, red chilis, parsley, dill, and coriander.
To keep yourself feeling good in the spring, you also want to avoid foods that are cold, heavy, oily, and cloying.
Consider reducing or eliminating the following from your diet:
- Ultra-processed foods
- Cold food and drink (yes, even smoothies!)
- Dairy products
- Fried foods
- Sticky fruits (like dates, figs, and bananas)
- Wheat
- Most sweeteners (raw honey is fine)
- Fatty meats/red meat
- Roasted nuts
- Salt
This is also one of the best times of year to embark on an elimination diet, and find out if food sensitivities are to blame for some of your chronic symptoms.
Related: Elimination Diets: The Why and How of Figuring Out Food Sensitivities
Still, spring health won’t be the same for everyone.
Different strategies work for different people at different times in their lives. There’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all when it comes to health and happiness.
Natural health can be confusing. It can take some detective work to figure out what will work for you at this point in your life, so people tend to do best when they have informed guidance from a trained professional.
Book an appointment now to get personalized recommendations to support your unique mind and body, given your strengths, vulnerabilities, and current circumstances.
See you soon!
Want to learn more spring health tips? These are some of my favorite resources:
Kate O’Donnell, The Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook (no affiliation)
Ellen Goldsmith, Nutritional Healing with Chinese Medicine (no affiliation)
Elson M. Haas, Staying Healthy with the Seasons (no affiliation)
Banyan Botanicals (affiliated because I trust their sourcing and quality, love their products, and use many mayself. Use Katerina15 for 15% off at checkout.)
