Longer days and sun-filled weekends usher in the Chinese calendar’s most energetic season: summer. It’s associated with the heart, which is in turn linked to our minds, putting creativity and emotional wellbeing at the forefront of these months. 

Sunshine-yellow daffodils and pastel pink cherry blossoms signal the start of spring, the season of hope, creativity and renewal. In the Chinese medicine calendar, spring is associated with the liver, the organ that rids our bodies of toxins. It’s unsurprising that the season is celebrated as a period for personal development, encouraging us to embrace nature’s uplift in energy and tackle any issues holding us back. Just as we use spring as an excuse to sort our over-stuffed wardrobes, or throw out letters and leaflets that have piled up over the year, we can use it to focus on cleaning up our emotional, spiritual and physical lives.

We’re now firmly in the grip of winter, with gales rattling our windows and smatterings of frost covering the pavements. In traditional Chinese medicine, this Yin season is associated with water and defined as a period of introspection and rest, and is predominantly associated with the kidneys. The kidneys are also known as the source of your body’s Chi, making this the most important time of year for rebalancing your energy. Winter naturally drains us, as we fight against colds and live outside of the daylight cycle. This encourages us to focus on nurturing and restoring our wellbeing, building up our Chi to prepare us for the cold days ahead. 

As the leaves begin to fall and the days get shorter, the Chinese medicine calendar moves into autumn. Traditionally, this season is associated with metal, with an emphasis on purification and refinement. It makes this the perfect time of year to work on getting rid of any unnecessary or toxic influences in your life and body. Each season of the Chinese medicine calendar is linked to an organ, which in this case is the lungs. They similarly represent the process of purification, taking in elements of the outside world and eliminating anything that isn’t helpful to our wellbeing. Following the calendar gives you a framework in which to focus on this one process, giving you a much better chance of following through.