3 easy ways to give yourself a Spring boost

Chinese medicine is big on living in sync with the natural rhythms of life. This includes enjoying a bit more duvet time in winter, storing up energy for the triumphant eruption that is Spring. How can you ride the energetic tide of the fresh season to give yourself a boost?

1. Move and stretch

During the relatively sedentary cold season, our fascia and tendons tighten, and our muscles tend to set. Spring is the time to restore their elasticity and suppleness with gentle stretching. Alternately building and releasing tension in the muscles also gets the blood flowing again. There are all sorts of ways to do this, like having a good old stretch before you get out of bed and doing a few shallow lunges while the kettle boils. In its wonderfully elegant way, seasonal Tai Chi Qigong replaces the heavy, ponderous movements of Winter with lighter Spring movements that alternately extend and retreat.

2. Let things change

Spring utterly transforms the landscape. It is a time of rapid, dynamic change. If nature supressed change – if the seed refused to split open and the ewe refused to lamb – life itself would cease. So this Spring, let change unfold inside you, let your courage and optimism grow, and let your life change in consequence. Draw courage from the seedling, turn your face to the light and aim for the sky.

3. If its fresh and green, eat it

When we were evolving and not yet farmers, our diet would change radically in the Spring. The sudden abundance of fresh shoots and green leaves would support the energy surge we felt as daylight hours lengthened and melatonin levels fell. The relationship between Spring light and green shoots was coded into our DNA. So, the next time you’re in the supermarket, linger a while in the veg section and pick whatever looks green, fresh and tasty.