It is said that South Australia is the driest state in the driest continent. This year it is living up to the cliché as we shrivel through the driest drought conditions in 33 years. We are parched, withered, desiccated. Water tanks and dams are empty. Walking on my lawn sounds like someone is eating potato chips. Shrubs are dying. Gum trees drop crushing limbs. Throats are dry, coughs abound. My voice sounds to myself hollow and rasping.
As with the other climatic factors we have studied (cold, wind, heat and damp), dryness has a greater impact on those who are already dry within: those of a Metal constitution; those with existing imbalance in the organs of Metal, Lung and Large Intestine; and those in the Metal phase of life, the elderly.
The Chinese character for dryness is zao, comprising the radicals huo, meaning fire, and tsao, representing three birds singing in a tree. It seems to me they’re not singing, but rather panting with thirst, beaks open on a hot, dry day.
In northern China where the Five Element model was conceived, autumn is a dry season, as it is where I live. But that is not true of all locations. Just ask the folk in SE Queensland and northern New South Wales who have just suffered through a once in a generation cyclone. They received more rain in three days than we’ve had in 12 months. Nonetheless, most places experience dryness at some time of the year, and the pathogenic factor can also be experienced in overheated houses and workplaces, such as often occurs in Britain. The use of combustion stoves for heating also dries the air significantly. The resulting ills are the same as for nature’s dry.
The main symptoms of dryness are dry nose, throat and skin, all structures that are resonances of the Metal Element. These can appear as sinusitis, psoriasis, eczema, hoarse voice, thirst and a dry mouth. Respiratory illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis, fever and aversion to cold can also present. There is a corresponding deficiency of body fluids.
Coping with the effects of external dryness revolves around reversing the dry condition. Drink more water, of course, but do so in frequent, small sips. Bring more moisture into the air via a swamp cooler (evaporative) rather than an air conditioner, or a pan of water on a low stove. Dietarily, pears are good for moistening the lungs and happily are plentiful in autumn. Also good are apples, Asian pears, grapes and honey. A delicious, lung-moistening dessert is stewed pear and apple with honey. Soups are good for hydration. Walnuts, chestnuts, almonds and pine nuts in small quantities moisten the lungs. Stews of root vegetables such as sweet potato, parsnip, turnip, carrot are also beneficial.
Foods to avoid are those which are warming: coffee, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, alcohol and anything that is diuretic.
Acupressure Points to treat dryness of the lungs
Lung 9. The source point of Lung directly treats the organ and any lung condition. Located on the front of the wrist crease in a hollow below the thumb.
Lung 6. The xi-cleft point of Lung clears heat and moistens the lungs. Located on the forearm 7/12 of the distance between Lung 9 and the elbow crease.
Bladder 13. The shu point of Lung also harmonises the lungs. It is located in the upper back, two fingers width to the side of the spine at the level of the junction of 3rd & 4th thoracic vertebrae.
Large Intestine 11. Large Intestine is partner to Lung and this Earth point of the channel is famous for clearing heat from the body. Located in the large hollow at the outer end of the elbow crease.
I wish you well in the remaining weeks of autumn and as we drop down into the winter season.
This completes the cycle of articles on the climatic factors, and the 11th year of articles of this blog. In the winter I will begin another series about food, cooking and the Five Elements. Catch you then.
