Spring Equinox & Its Implications on Your Health

Swallows fly north in this solar term. Copyright of images in this post belong to the original creator/publisher.

Watch the video here:

24 Solar Terms: Spring Equinox & A Story of Chinese Herbal Medicine

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), when “Equinox” and “Solstice” appear in the solar terms, the Qi energy between Heaven and Earth will have obvious changes, and thus make critical time for human health. So, what are the key implications of Spring Equinox on your health? What to do to make good use of this opportunity?

The key for “spring equinox” is “equi-”, when days and nights are equal, and the first day of “spring equinox” divides the spring season into two halves, 45 days before and 45 days afterwards. For the difference in defining time points of seasons between East and West, check out my previous video “View of Time” here.

Day (belongs to Yang) and Night (belongs to Yin) becomes equal on Spring Equinox.

As the spring equinox results in an equal length of day and night, TCM practitioners believe that it is an important time window to help balance yin and yang in the human body.

Image Source: “Yin and Yang Surfaces”.

In TCM, human bodies are categorized as Yin and Yang too: The abdominal side is Yin, the back side is Yang.

In winter, when Yin is prosperous and Yang is declining, the temperature of the back of the human body is low, and the temperature of the abdomen is cold; and when spring comes, the back of the person gradually begins to become warmer, and at this time, the Yang energy will be directed to the abdomen and spread to the Yin side.

Gallbladder Meridian

On the day of the Spring Equinox, it happens that yin and yang are divided into two equal parts. When we touch a person’s body with our hands, it is at the dividing line, on both sides of the body, where the gallbladder meridian runs. Warm (or relatively hot) in the back and cool (or relatively cold) in the abdomen, this implies a healthy person.

Sample infrared image of a healthy person (upper body, back and front).

Sample infrared image of a healthy person (lower body, back and front).

To simplify, an unhealthy person could fall into one of the two situations. One is that when spring arrives, his/her body is still cold, and it is still cold to the touch on his/her back. This is the rise of Yin and the decline of Yang.

Sample infrared image of an unhealthy person with Yang-Deficiency (full body, back and front). This particular case is categorized as “Upper Hot Lower Cold of Jueyin Conformation” in TCM Diagnosis. For another case, check out the image in “Daily rhythm of skin temperature of women evaluated by infrared thermal imaging”

The other category has the opposite problem: One’s body has excessive Yang, and there is no relative low temperature zone in the abdomen, and the whole body appears dry and hot, even the extremities can be hot.

Sample infrared image of an unhealthy person with Yin-Deficiency (upper body, back and front).

When encountering any kind of anti-seasonal imbalance between Yin and Yang, TCM believes that it is a problem with the meridian circulation at their intersections and nodes.

“The meridians — the transmission system of our energy”. Retrieved from google image search result here.

In the weeks leading up to the Spring Equinox, some people might begin to feel either more irritable or sad and moody. This is because according to TCM, the change of the seasons are quite significant, and they change how we feel and also how we take care of ourselves.

Enjoy your Spring Equinox!

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