It’s that time of year. You wake up congested, coughing, blowing your nose. Sound familiar? Do you suffer from colds and flu in the fall? Does the change in season give you that awful, stuffy, congested sinus feeling? Has the smoke and ash in the air from the Eagle Creek fire been clogging up your lungs, making it tough to just breathe?
Our lungs and immune systems need additional protection as the weather cools down and the days get darker. For many of us, fall is the beginning of cold and flu season – which can last all the way through to spring!
In this article, I am going to give you some information on why so many people get ill around fall – along with 3 holistic and preventative measures you can take to stay healthy and happy, all season long.
Why Do I Get a Cold Every Fall?
That dry cough and those seasonal allergies can make holiday and other end-of-year tasks difficult to accomplish. We are entering Lung season, and the shifts in temperature that happen here in the Pacific Northwest during this time of year make it vital to both tune up your health – and to protect it all season long.
One of the places affected by the cooling temperatures this season is your wind gate acupuncture point – located between the C7 and T1 vertebrae. This is one of my favorite acupoints to talk about as it is connected to every channel of the body! The best way to protect this sensitive area and keep any stagnating cold out is to wear your favorite scarf. In fact, the “wind gate” or “Governing Vessel 14” is why the scarf was invented! Even if it’s t-shirt weather (i.e., not raining), go ahead and protect yourself from cold getting in and spreading throughout the channels, causing cold symptoms.
We usually get fluctuating temperatures at the beginning of the fall equinox all the way until the end of October & it’s difficult to keep the cold out of your body. Cold affects your Qi, making it more challenging for this vital life energy to flow throughout your body. , It becomes congealed and our immune system has a tougher time protecting you against seasonal illnesses, germs, allergies, and more. When the energy channels are blocked, your body cannot heal itself.
What Holistic Measures Can I Take Against Seasonal Cold and Flu?
At Attunement Acupuncture, we’re here to help you with the energetic shift caused by the changing seasons. Sinus difficulties, cold, flu, allergies, and more can often be prevented using alternative medicine. In fact, in China, many people line up during the fall to get their body into attunement with the season.
Here are 3 solutions you can use to help battle usual seasonal health troubles:
- Moxa
Moxibustion uses the herb mugwort to help warm up your body, releasing Qi. This technique is practiced in China every fall to help people battle cold and damp weather and allowing them to remain in the peak of health during the fall “flu” season.
- Cupping
We use cupping to draw out the cold pathogen. This warms the qi, helping anyone who commonly has respiratory issues during this time of year. It’s also helpful in detox – so if you’ve been suffering from the smoky air around Portland, cupping may help you clear your lungs and breathe easily. Do you get bronchitis? Sinus infections? Cupping is a great addition to your treatment to help resolve these ailments.
- Essential oils
At Attunement Wellness, we use only doTERRA certified pure therapeutic grade essential oils as a natural solution assisting in treatments. Most recently, I’ve been using the BREATHE™ essential oil to help those affected by the fires. I offered a drop of the oil to my dear friend Felicity, also an Acupuncturist. Her lungs were congested due to all the smoke and ash in the air. Inhaling 1 drop of the oil, she felt her lungs open up and could breathe freely again.
Essential oils like BREATHE™ can help you as you work to improve lung health this autumn. The main ingredient in this oil is Eucalyptus, which helps open the bronchi in your lungs, allowing for greater expansion and an easier time breathing.
There are many answers to chronic or seasonal cold, flu, allergies, and sinus problems. I would love share more with you in person. Make an appointment today and let’s work together to get your body into attunement with the season.
