9 Spring Prescriptions
from a TCM physician (and one from my father)
Oh the restlessness - waking earlier without meaning to, allergies that irritate, a shorter fuse, random wake-ups, the urge to clean out a closet or quit something or finally start the thing you’ve been circling… and now you see it poking through. I hear you. It’s time.
The days stretch longer with each passing week, and fill faster than we can contain. I sometimes wonder how I managed with fewer daylight hours in winter, and yet here we are with more light and somehow less margin.
I’m reminded again and again that each season carries its own medicine ~ if you meet it. I choose that.
So. Spring.
Echoing the Huangdi Neijing Suwen (Ch. 2):
In spring, all things come to life. It’s the season of birth and new beginnings. One should rise early in the morning, at the crowing of the rooster, and take a deep breath of fresh air. Then one should do gentle exercises to loosen the body and promote the flow of qi. This is the way to maintain health in accordance with the changing of the seasons.
In the spirit of this ancient text, spring is a time of “effusion and spreading,” when “the myriad beings flourish.” It prescribes going to rest later than you did in the winter and rising early, moving your body, which makes sense from a circadian lens, and allowing your mind to align with the energy of spring ~ thereby nourishing life and protecting the Liver.
Last week, we looked at what spring is doing to your body ~ the Liver/Wood system running the show, how anger and allergies and 1-3am wake-ups are all connected, and why the season mobilizes what was still through winter. If you missed it, start there. It’s the foundation for what follows.
Today, I want to go w i d e r. 9+1 prescriptions for the season ~ some you can start today + some are practices to weave in over the coming weeks. These are grounded in classical East Asian medicine, modern circadian science, and coming up on two decades of clinical observation.
Wood energy rises.
Let’s get into it.
I. Rise earlier
In spring, go to bed a little later and rise earlier just as we experience the sun’s rays into the warmer (yang) months ahead. This aligns with what we understand about circadian biology: as daylight hours increase, your cortisol awakening response shifts. Getting up closer to sunrise and exposing your eyes to morning light within the first 30 minutes of waking helps recalibrate your entire hormonal cascade for the day and season. You’re essentially telling your hypothalamus that the season has changed. Your body adjusts melatonin production, cortisol rhythm, and even appetite accordingly. There are peripheral clocks too, the liver among them.
If you spent the winter going to bed early and sleeping in (as we should have ~ that is Water element medicine), spring asks you to go right ahead and shift that rhythm forward. Even a few minutes earlier over the course of a week makes a difference. I like using the Sleep Cycle app, especially when I’ve fallen off track/while my body adjusts to the transition, for gentle rising within a window before sunrise for prayer, hydration, and getting outside with the sun.
Now, some of you might be reading "go to bed a little later" and thinking yesss, scroll at 11pm! Ha, no. The ancients were speaking to a time without artificial light and supremely unaligned schedules :) As we covered in the last essay, 11pm-1am is Gallbladder time on the organ clock and critical for repair. Do not skimp on this window. Still bring the lights down around sunset, keep them below shoulder level and red-hued as much as possible. If you missed it, this essay on how your bedroom might be inflaming your arteries may shift how you think about your evening light environment.
II. Tend to your eyes
We talked about Liver 3 (Tai Chong) last week as the go-to acupressure point for moving Liver Qi. Today I want to go deeper into why your eyes deserve extra attention this season.
In TCM, “the Liver opens to the eyes.” When I first learned about the ancient framing, I immediately thought of jaundice/yellow eyes, but there’s so much more. Eye strain, dry eyes, blurry vision, floaters, and light sensitivity can all increase in spring as Liver energy rises. If you spend long hours on screens (and most of us do ~ I see you reading this on your phone right now + my hand is raised!), spring is the season to be especially intentional about giving your eyes rest.
The 20-20-20 practice: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Spend time gazing at green ~ in Five Element theory, green is the color associated with Wood and the Liver. Walk outside and let your eyes soften on trees, grass, anything verdant. This is Liver medicine through the eyes.
An important note for my ladies, especially those with anemia: the Liver stores Blood and opens to the eyes. Excessive screen time and blue light exposure strain the eyes, which draws on Liver Blood. If you are already dealing with Blood deficiency (Xue Xu) (think: from heavy menstruation, postpartum depletion, gum disease, or poor nutrition) your eyes are more vulnerable. You might experience: Dry eyes, blurry vision, floaters, dizziness, and light sensitivity. The screen use compounds what is already depleted. This is one of the most common patterns I see in women, and spring is when it tends to flare because the Liver is being asked to do more with less. Nourishing Liver Blood through diet (dark leafy greens, bone broth, black sesame, goji berries, organ meats, etc) and reducing eye strain become even more essential this season.
III. Stretch your sinews
I’m going to stretch you even further into the world of ancient medicine… The Liver governs the sinews ~ tendons, ligaments, and the connective tissue that holds your joints together. Spring is the season when tendon injuries, muscle tightness, and joint stiffness spike. The Wood element wants to move, and when the tissue that facilitates movement is brittle or stiff, something gives.
The Liver channel travels along the medial leg and through the hypochondriac region (the area under your ribs). Lateral stretches, hip openers, twisting movements, and anything that opens the inner leg line directly supports the smooth flow of qi along this pathway.
What this looks like in practice: gentle morning stretching with attention to the hips, inner thighs, and side body. Slow, sustained holds in stretching works wonders. If you’re someone who jumps straight into intense exercise without warming up, spring is the season your body will let you know that wasn’t wise.
Nourishing the sinews also means nourishing Liver Blood (see Tip II and let me know if you want more in the comments). Tendons and ligaments need blood supply to stay supple. Women with Liver Blood deficiency are more prone to tendon injuries, cramps, and stiffness ~ especially in spring. Adding a spring to your step means stretching, too.
IV. Dress for Wind
In TCM, Wind is the pathogenic factor of spring the way Cold is winter’s, Heat is summer’s, and Dryness is fall’s. We talked about this last week in the context of allergies with Wind lodging when Liver qi can’t disperse it.
But Wind also enters the body through the back of the neck. The point Gallbladder 20 (Feng Chi) literally translated as “Wind Pool” sits at the base of the skull where the neck muscles attach. When Wind invades here, you get the stiff neck, occipital headaches, sudden chills, and that “I’m coming down with something” feeling that seems to arrive out of nowhere in spring.
The practical prescription: protect the back of your neck. Wear a scarf or high collar on windy days, especially in the morning and evening when Wind tends to be strongest. Press GB20 daily ~ fingertips in the hollows below the skull, firm pressure, 30-60 seconds each side. You’ll feel the tension release down through your shoulders. Before your shrug this off as superstition, it’s 2,000 years of clinical observation about how the body’s exterior defense (Wei Qi) interacts with environmental factors. Your grandmother probably told you something similar. She was right ;)
Layer intentionally this season. Spring weather is volatile ~ warm sun, then cold wind, then warm again. Dress in layers you can adjust rather than committing to one temperature. Your Wei Qi is recalibrating from winter’s deep interior to spring’s surface activation. Support the transition.
V. Support your Liver with bitter and sour
Last week’s essay covered the foundational spring foods ~ bitter greens, sour flavors, and pungent foods that move energy. This tip goes deeper into the daily practice of Liver support beyond meals.
A simple morning ritual for spring: warm water with lemon or apple cider vinegar on an empty stomach. This stimulates bile flow and gently activates digestion, introducing the sour flavor that supports the Liver. If you struggle with digesting fats, consider a supporting supplement like TUDCA.
Throughout the day, incorporate bitter teas like dandelion root, burdock root, and chrysanthemum. Fresh ginger also works, but you can cool it down with a bitter mint like peppermint. These are well-established Liver-supporting herbs in TCM, widely available and gentle enough for daily use. Chrysanthemum tea is a traditional remedy for Liver heat that manifests in the eyes.
One I especially love for spring: chrysanthemum with goji berries steeped together. The chrysanthemum clears Liver heat that shows up as floaters, red eyes, and that wired-behind-the-eyes feeling while the goji berries nourish Liver Blood. Together they address both sides of the spring equation: clearing what’s excess and building what’s depleted. If you read Tip II and thought that’s me, this tea is your daily ally. Here’s an ancient blog post I wrote on this combo.
This essay in part of the Doctrine of Seasons series, and we’re just getting started. The Spring SPIRAL Check-In Workbook is waiting for upgraded subscribers ~ a beautifully designed companion for the season with prompts, protocols, and the quarterly reset. Root into spring 💚 + grab your welcomes offer here. 🌀
VI. Breathe through your ribcage
Sighing is the sound of the Wood element. If you’ve been sighing more than usual this season, that’s your Liver trying to decompress. Let it out.
The Liver channel runs through the hypochondriac region ~ the area under and between your ribs. When Liver Qi stagnates, this area tightens. You might feel it as a band of tension across the ribcage, difficulty taking a full breath, or a sensation of something stuck in your chest that isn’t quite physical.
Diaphragmatic breathing is Liver medicine. Place your hands on the sides of your ribcage. Breathe into your hands ~ feel the ribs expand laterally, not only the belly pushing forward. Exhale slowly and let the ribs soften. Do this for 2-3 minutes. You may notice emotions surfacing. Let them.
The physiological sighs I mentioned in the first essay ~ a double inhale through the nose followed by an extended exhale through the mouth ~ are especially effective for releasing Liver Qi stagnation. Try 3-5 of these during your walks or whenever the ribcage feels tight.
This practice also directly supports the vagus nerve ~ another thread worth pulling on its own. 𓍯𓂃𓏧
VII. Declutter something
The Liver governs the smooth flow of energy, and when your environment is stagnant, it can reflect and reinforce internal stagnation. The urge you feel in spring to clean, reorganize, or purge old things is Wood energy expressing itself. Follow it.
You don’t need to overhaul your entire home. Choose one drawer, closet drawer, or shelf. Let go of what no longer serves the direction you are moving in.
The emotional version of this applies too. Commitments, relationships, habits, and stories about yourself that have outlived their usefulness... spring asks you to decide what you are carrying forward and what gets composted.
^This is similar to the fall season, but you’ll pulling from the roots more than sloughing off. Tap into what that means to you.
And if you’re not sure what needs to go, write, write! Pen to paper, not screen, please. Trust me. You can use the screen to organize later. I’m a Notion girl so I get it. Morning Pages are a wonderful tool worth the hype nowaways, free-writing, a messy brain dump of whatever is circling ~ this is Liver medicine in another form. If you have long hair, put your hair up in a top bun or wear a loose scarf. It makes a difference :)
The Liver governs vision and planning. When frustration or indecision clogs the channel, writing externalizes what’s stuck ~ the way movement externalizes anger. I’ve been journaling almost daily this season and the clarity that comes from letting the ink move faster than the editor in my head is its own kind of spring cleaning. Try it. Even five minutes. Let whatever rises, rise.
VIII. Plan boldly
Wood rules vision. The Liver governs planning and foresight; the Gallbladder governs the capacity and courage to choose and act on those plans. When Wood energy is flowing, you see clearly and move decisively. When it stagnates, you get stuck in indecision ~ scrolling through options, second-guessing, deferring.
Spring stagnation often looks like indecision dressed up as “keeping options open.”
The practice: journal three things you want to bring into form this season. Get specific, directional, and bold. The Nei Jing instructs to “focus the will on life” in spring ~ to allow the mind’s eye to see forward and move toward it. The Gallbladder is the organ of decisiveness. Give it something to work with. This is what I created the SPIRAL framework for and the Spring Workbook makes it easier to work through. Upgrade and get every pretty + practical guide I release. ˚ ༘♡ 📗⋆｡˚ ❀
IX. Do something kind
This one is classical and I love it. The Nei Jing instructs that in spring we should “reward and do not punish, give and do not take away, encourage good in others.” The virtue of the Wood element is benevolence (Ren) ~ the outward expression of growth.
When Wood energy stays internal, it festers, but when it moves outward through generosity, forgiveness, and service, it grows the way it’s designed to: upward, expansive, vibrant and alive.
Volunteer this season. Forgive someone you’ve been holding at a distance. Compliment a stranger. Send the text you’ve been drafting in your head. Let the Wood energy extend beyond you. This is the part of spring medicine that has nothing to do with supplements and all to do with how you move through the world. 💚
BONUS: Let the air out
This one comes from my beloved father, the original Dr. Sebaa who gave me the foundation for much of what I do.
He was a martial artist who became quadriplegic overnight and spent over twenty years communicating through his eyes, one letter at a time. We called him our Lion. (Sebaa means lion.)
When I was barely eighteen, sitting at his bedside, I asked him how to feel joy when life felt so impossibly heavy.
He spelled this out:
“My daughter, you will feel pain but you have to make room for joy. It’s how we breathe. You have to let out the air. If you just fill it in, the balloon will rupture...”
I return to this constantly. Especially now, when the world carries grief that has no season and spring insists on arriving anyway. The guilt of feeling anything light while others suffer is real and familiar. And still, the Liver needs to move. Stagnation in the body mirrors stagnation in the spirit. The permission to feel joy, to laugh, and celebrate something small while holding sorrow in the other hand… is also medicine.
You have to let out the air.
I wrote about this more fully in an older newsletter Sprouts of Joy Through the Rainclouds. If you are carrying something heavy into this season, it might be worth sitting with. ⛅
“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.” ~ Kahlil Gibran
If you’re resonating with this work, the Spring SPIRAL Check-In is the companion piece. A 90-minute recalibration for the next 90 days, with prompts that meet you where you are in the season. The workbook is waiting for you in spring green. 💚📗
Root into spring. Upgrade for the full Spring SPIRAL Reset (along with every essay in full, The Reset Room group chat, other gifts like this, and more to come + a HUGE thank you for supporting my work here).
Stay close.
with care,
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⧽ tap the ❤️ below (it matters more than you think)
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Take good care of yourself. xx
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I loved reading this and unlocking the connection between what I’m sensing and what ACTUALLY happening, biologically and seasonally. I can’t wait to ~intentionally~ incorporate these tips. Thank you as always! 🧡
Loved this mashaAllah! Great info! And more on replenishing liver blood would be great!