The Chinese calendar marks September 7, 2024, as the beginning of the Yin Water Rooster Month. The calendar assigns one of the twelve animals, five elements, and the polarity of yin or yang to each year, month, day, and hour. The Yin Water Rooster month extends until October 8, 2024.
The Yin Water Rooster references the 60th hexagram described in the I Ching and used in Feng Shui. Its image is the Water trigram above, and the Lake trigram below. The Yin Water Rooster represents "Limitation". From the I Ching, we find this description of this month's hexagram:
A lake occupies a limited space. When more water comes into it, it overflows. Therefore limits must be set for the water. The image shows the lake below and the water above, with the firmament between them as a limit.
The Chinese word for limitation denotes the joints that divide a bamboo stalk. Concerning ordinary life it means the division that sets fixed limits upon expenditures. To the moral sphere, it means the fixed limits that the superior man sets upon his actions, the limits of loyalty and disinterestedness. During this month, nourishment limitations are to be aligned with the external pathogenic factors of the season. Otherwise, our health will suffer.
The Yin Water Rooster hexagram:
In traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), each of the five elements is associated with a pathogenic influence. Each of the five elements has specific characteristics and effects on the body and environment. The Yin Water Rooster combines two of these: Wind and Dryness. Understanding how Wind-Dryness manifests, its effects, and protective measures can help in maintaining health and balance.
The Yin Water Rooster is a fairly simple hexagram. The root of the hexagram is the Lake/Rooster trigram and is associated with the Yin aspect of the Metal element, the Lungs. Its pathological influence is dryness from deficiency. This trigram also has relationships with the Heart, Pericardium, and Large Intestine meridians, all considered upper body or hand meridians. In this hexagram, the Yin Water trigram, (upper trigram), represents the Kidney meridian. The pathological influence of the Water trigram is Cold or actually, its effect which is Stagnation. The Water trigram also has relationships with the Stomach and Urinary Bladder, all of which are lower body or foot meridians.
When the Water trigram is in the upper position of a hexagram it indicates an external pathological influence. During the current month, this influence is Wind, in the form of Wind-Dryness. Wind is often considered the leading factor in the invasion of external pathogens. It is associated with movement and change and it tends to be a force that can penetrate the body, often entering through the skin, nose, or mouth. Wind can carry other pathogenic factors like Cold, Heat, or Dryness into the body.
Wind dryness is most commonly associated with autumn and late summer. This season is characterized by cooler, dry winds, and a decrease in humidity, which can lead to a drier internal and external environment. As the season transitions from late summer to early autumn, the body may start to feel the effects of dryness, particularly if the summer has been hot and dry, as it has this year, especially here in Texas.
In TCM the promotion cycle of the elements states that Earth promotes Metal, Metal promotes Water, Water promotes Wood, Wood promotes Fire, and Fire promotes Metal. This is the natural order. However, during the Yin Water Rooster month, a Wind Invasion penetrates the Bladder meridian of the Water element. It inhibits the correct functioning of the Metal element promotion cycle, of the Lungs. Typical signs are: chills with low-grade fever, fatigue, aversion to cold, body aches, dry cough or cough with thin watery, or frothy white sputum, itching or tickling in throat, stuffy and or runny nose with clear, water nasal discharge, sneezing, occipital headache, maybe asthma, constipation, possible nosebleed.
Many of the signs and symptoms of the Yin Water Rooster month result from Wind Dryness. Fortunately, acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine have great treatment options for all the above conditions.
One final note regarding the Yin Water Rooster is its effect on the body as a whole. Wind Dryness results in yin-type dryness, typically void of accumulated heat. The Yin Water Rooster signals a change in the seasons. As always, it's recommended that dietary changes should coincide with each season. Integrate foods that are less drying and warming in the diet. General recommendations include root vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and seasonal local fruits. Best to avoid cold raw foods such as salads, overly sweet foods, dairy products, and fried or greasy foods.
To get your diet dialed in schedule a personal consultation to determine the correct foods for your constitution as most diet programs are inappropriate. Michelle offers patients an opportunity to help learn the foods that will boost their immune system and are designed especially for your constitution. Schedule with her here.
Our special this month: 10% Discount on Yin Tonic, our in-house Chinese herbal formula to address the many signs and symptoms associated with dryness from deficiency. We developed this formula to address dryness and Yin deficiency, without excess heat signs. This formula comes in a 200-capsule bottle.
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