How to Preserve Internal Yin Energy in Autumn
Autumn spans from Start of Autumn to Start of Winter, passing through six solar terms: Limit of Heat, White Dew, Autumn Equinox, Cold Dew, and Frost's Descent. Mid-Autumn (15th day of the 8th lunar month) marks the climatic turning point.
The Guanzi states: “In autumn, yin energy begins to descend, hence all things gather.” Here, “yin energy descending” refers to the gradual rise of yin as yang declines; “gathering” signifies maturity and harvest. From the climatic characteristics of autumn, we see a transition from heat to cold—the phase of “yang declining, yin rising.” Human physiology accordingly shifts from “summer growth” to “autumn harvest.” Thus, autumn health preservation must adhere to the principle of “receiving and nurturing.” Specifically, preserving internal yin energy should be the top priority. As the Huangdi Neijing says: “Nourish yin in autumn and winter.” This means cultivating the gathering and storing energy in autumn and winter to align with nature’s increasing yin, thus laying the foundation for next year’s yang energy generation—avoiding depletion of essence and damage to yin.
How to preserve internal yin energy in autumn? The key is preventing dryness and protecting yin. Traditional Chinese medicine identifies dryness as the dominant seasonal pathogen in autumn, known as “autumn dryness.” Its nature is clear and dry. During prolonged sunny, dry periods, dryness pathogen easily invades. Since the lungs govern respiration and connect with the skin and hair, and since the lungs and large intestine are interrelated, when air humidity drops, the lungs, large intestine, and skin are most vulnerable—this is the pathological feature of dryness-induced illness.
Dryness harms the body by depleting body fluids—“dryness overcomes moisture.” Once fluids are depleted, typical “dry signs” appear: dry mouth, dry lips, dry nose, dry throat, dry tongue with little saliva, hard stools, and dry or cracked skin. The lungs are delicate organs that favor moisture and abhor dryness. Dryness invading the lungs most easily damages their yin fluids. Impaired lung moisture leads to impaired function—resulting in dry cough with little phlegm, sticky phlegm difficult to expel; severe cases may injure lung networks, causing hemoptysis (blood in sputum). Depletion of lung fluids reduces downward moisture supply to the large intestine, resulting in constipation.
Autumn dryness has both warm and cool types. Early autumn, with higher temperatures, is considered warm dryness; late autumn, with dropping temperatures, is cool dryness. Both share skin dryness and fluid deficiency as features. However, clinically they differ: Warm dryness causes mild chills or no chills, obvious fever, fine and rapid pulse; cool dryness causes no fever or slight fever, prominent chills, and usually non-rapid pulse.
From above, autumn health preservation primarily focuses on preventing dryness-related harm to maintain internal yin. This is the general principle. But how should this be applied specifically in daily life—spiritual state, daily routines, diet, exercise, medication?