Qi Node 1: 立春 Lìchūn (Spring Begins)

Yang Qi Reemerges, A New Year Begins

It might seem strange to have a picture of an icy twig for the Qi node named “Spring Begins,” especially since the name in English comes with lots of expectations of flowers and growing plants and abundance that will come later in the year. But each season in the Chinese calendar begins when the environmental aspects of the previous season recede enough to show the next emerging layer. In this case, the might of Yin Qi reached its zenith in December during Winter Solstice, and though Winter has often felt colder and heavier since then, the truth is that Yin’s expansion after Solstice is driven by the momentum of her growth and not by the potency of her qi. By the time we reach this Qi node, that momentum has been exhausted and Yin qi begins to recede back toward is dark, moist, and nourishing core. As it does so, the retreat exposes the tiniest aspect of Yang qi that has been hibernating deep within the enveloping Yin. This exposure causes Yang to stir and marks the change in the season and setting the stage for Yang’s growth and eventual dominion over Summer.

A NOTE ON THE WEATHER:
Most people associate the seasons with the weather. It’s a totally natural thing to do and often the weather corresponds nicely to certain qualities of the season. But weather is only an aspect of cosmological qi. It is a tangible manifestation of seasonal qi but is not the qi itself. If you live in a cooler climate and you use weather as your primary guide to seasonal shift, then it would be impossible to imagine that Spring begins in February when everything is still covered in feet of snow. Similarly, it was hard for folks in warmer climates to internalize the retreat and cold of Winter solstice when, in many places, they were wearing shorts and flipflops at Christmas. Weather is only an aspect of the qi, not the qi itself. With an increased awareness of this cycle, you will be able to feel the changes in the season irrespective of the temperature or humidity outside and the attitudes and conduct that embody that season will feel increasingly natural even if its 75 degrees outside in December.

Conduct During this Node

Don’t get too excited: While Yang qi has reemerged, it is an infant — weak and dependent on the nourishing presence of Yin. Even though there is a bit more light in the evenings and even though you might feel the slightest lift in your step, it is not the time to start training for your marathon. You can begin to plan your Spring garden, buying your seeds for sowing. You can start to organize your fitness goals for summer and imagine what the training regimen might look like. You can watch some videos about that new hobby you though about over the Winter. But at its core, Spring Begins is just a marker along the annual cycle. One that tells us that change is coming but is certainly not here yet. Going to be early, slow starts to the morning, easy activity, avoiding sweating, and all the usual Winter conduct remains but you can start to get up in the morning ever so earlier.

Renew social connections: much of winter is about retreat and restoration which is often done in small family groups or alone. It was seasonal to minimize social interaction and to not over-extend and so your social interactions are at their most infrequent at the end of Winter. Now it is time to slowly reinvigorate those connections. Have a few friends over for a simple dinner together. Go to a play or a music event with a few people. Start to rekindle the interconnectivity that will help encourage the growth of Yang over the coming. Remember to take it easy though. Baby steps.

Environmental qi is now best around 3am (which emphasizes the continued importance of sleep) and physical activities should remain indoors where it is warm and free of drafts.

What to Do:

• Continue with easy, non-exertive exercise

• Plan your Spring garden. Buy some seeds.

• Crack into your stored pickles from the Fall to access some of that delicious Summer vitality.

• Call your friends for a casual dinner hang

• Check in with your body and feel the very earliest shift toward lightness

• Feel the excitement of the coming Yang but resist the urge to run out into the cold and do too much.

Qi Node 17: 寒露 Hánlù (Cold Dew)

Yang Is in Its Final Retreat

Cold Dew marks the point at which Autumn shifts toward Winter. Temperatures are becoming cooler, especially in the mornings when there is an almost icy dew that covers the plants. This qi node marks the finally retreat of Yang as it drains downward and inward toward the vastness of the growing Yin. The quiet that has been the theme of Autumn now moves toward silence.

Historically, outward activity appears to cease. Animals are burrowing in for the coming Winter. Plants are shedding leaves and drawing fluids back toward their centers. Healthy human bodies that had their Yin fluids near the surface of the skin during the Summer to protect against the heat, evaporating as sweat and cooling the system, can now feel that moisture thicken and concentrate, pulling inward, encouraging a kind of conservation of resources that will become the theme of Winter. This transition of fluids has been ongoing throughout Autumn and often contributes to seasonal allergy and congestion in people who have some imbalances at play. Now that process is nearly complete and embodies a kind of slowing and simplifying that are key to a successful Winter.

Conduct During this Node

The key to this qi node is to recognize its call to slow down. Make your morning and evening processes more ritualistic, creating routines to carry you through the coming cold and dark. It is no longer a time for impromptu adventures or unplanned events. Retreat, relax, restore. This is the mantra for the Winter that is about to bloom.

Environmental qi is now best around 7pm and physical activities should be moved indoors where it is warm and free of drafts. Sweating should now be avoided however so that those nourishing fluids can remain internal to support your organs and body systems instead of being drawn to the surface.

What to Do:

• Take in your final harvest from the garden

• Preserve and can the fruits of your labors. Make jams and pickles!

• Restart your sourdough mother for all your Winter baking needs

• Retire vigorous cardio exercise in favor of indoor calisthenics and deep stretching

• Get back into your favourite book or podcast series

• Make a cup of coffee or tea and start letting your mind wander in the early morning

Qi Node 15: 白露 Báilù (White Dew)

Yin Descends to Take Charge

Yang has continued to collapse as part of its regular cycle and is no longer violent and pernicious. The dew begins to appear in the early morning as a whisper of the coming cooler season and its eventual snow. Days tend to still be warm but evenings are increasingly cool as Yang ebbs, and Yin begins to coalesce and strengthen. These cool early mornings are a time for clarifying the edits demanded of the fall season and to appreciate a kind of graspable stillness only available during nodes of nascent Yin qi.

At this point in the year, Yin is like a young girl taking her grandfather Yang by the hand and showing him around his house. He may not remember where he left the paper or the remote or that he needs to cook lunch for himself, but she is his helper. He may not be as invigorated as he was in years past, but she reminds him of his youth and her presence forces him to remember things he thought were lost to time. She, meanwhile, listens to his stories and encourages his reminiscence because there is wisdom she can absorb and integrate into herself as she grows and takes a larger and larger role in daily life.

Activity Moves More Indoors

Outdoor exercise should be minimized and activities that induce a lot of sweating should be edited down. Preserving your body’s fluids during this time of the year is essential, as the fall season is dominated by dryness and a cooling wind that can exacerbate yin deficiencies if we aren’t mindful of our activity. Eating in the evening should grow increasingly light, with meals becoming more vegetable and broth based to supply essential moisture during the dry time. Avoiding eating after 7pm is increasingly advised to avoid overtaxing the waning yang qi who is weakest in the evening phase of the day.

Classical Prescriptions

Enjoy foods from this time of the year. Squashes and final tomatoes. Corn and wheat being harvested. Potatoes before they are prepared for storage. Fill your diet with moist foods and focus your eating to the daylight hours.

If you carry latent heat conditions, especially damp-heat conditions, start your morning with a barefoot walk in the dew. Dress warmly and then go out and take a five minute stroll through the wet grass. Feel the wet and cool entering your body. Then return inside and dry your feet, rub them to get warm, and immediately put on socks.

Continue the cognitive editing you began with the first moon in autumn and begin to organize it into your “intellectual harvest” of habits and activities that will serve you well in the internal and reserved season to come.