Ask Grand Master Lu: What Causes Seasonal Allergies?

As Nature wakes up from its Winter rest, the landscape comes alive with colorful blooms, green grasses, buzzing insects…and pollen! While many people enjoy the beauty this season brings, others prepare for weeks of misery by stocking their cabinets with antihistamines and tissues. If you suffer from seasonal allergies, you know how difficult Spring and Fall can be.

TCM understands allergies from an energy perspective. When one or more organs is deficient in Qi, the body will manifest symptoms to communicate with you. For example, a person with healthy Liver Qi always has healthy eyes. If your allergy condition affects mostly your eyes, resulting in itchy, red, or watery symptoms, it may be a sign that your Liver is not functioning at its energetic potential. A runny or stuffy nose, frequent cough, or tightness in the chest may be related to a Lung function disorder.

In our bodies, we have bones, skin, veins, and blood. Earth has trees, mountain, and rivers. Each one has its own spirit. If we are living on this Earth, all of our bodily “stuff” has to connect to the same energy frequency as Earth’s. If you can’t connect to Earth’s energy, symptoms appear.

For example, hayfever comes at the same time every year. When you break the cycle and allow your relationship with Earth to change, the symptoms change. If you can connect to Earth’s energy, you can transition from one season to the next smoothly. As hay fever occurs mostly in Spring, its connection to Winter is often overlooked. However, if you exhaust most of your Qi during Winter, your body doesn’t have enough energy left to go through the yearly cyclical energy change when Winter turns to Spring. When Spring arrives, the weakest organ will manifest the most prominent physical symptoms.

From this perspective, the Five Element Consciousness Framework becomes a great model to understand the essence of each element and your relationship with Nature.

Listen to Grand Master Nan Lu’s explanation below!

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