Question: What can I do to build my health in spring?
Answer: Every year, spring is the most important season of the whole year. Take this special opportunity. Practice hard to change your level in spring. Look at nature—everything is growing and flowing in spring. If you plant a seed too late, the plant won’t grow; if you plant it too early, it won’t grow—it will wither. Nature is not unbalanced. If you haven’t cleaned up all your garbage from the last year by spring, the coming year will be difficult.
Eat well. Eat more good food. Use the essence of food to help you. If you eat well, you won’t have to take herbs. This way is best because food is more basic. Try and eat something that will help you in terms of your diet. There are many foods that benefit the Liver, the organ associated with spring. Scallions, bitter greens like dandelions and broccoli rabe, bamboo shoots, fennel, garlic, ginger, and lemon have an energy essence that helps heal the Liver.
If you practice really well in spring you shouldn’t get sick during the other seasons. In my experience, when a person has a health problem, if you trace it back you can find that something happened back in the spring—be it physical, emotional or spiritual. Go with the flow to stay in harmony with the season.
