Nourishing Health through the 4 Seasons Classes with Ellen Goldsmith, Licensed Acupuncturist
In the practice of Chinese medicine, attuning ourselves to and living in harmony with nature through the seasons is fundamental to improving and maintaining good health.
In this seasonal class series Ellen Goldsmith, licensed acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist offers insights into how to integrate the principles of Chinese medicine into our lives to balance the predominant energy of each of the 4 seasons.
Purchase these class recordings to learn practical recommendations to help us maintain, support, and nourish our health and well-being through the seasons.
Upcoming Classes
New! Online Cooking with Ellen: Preparing for spring
I am offering a new class with cooking demonstration as we move into the ever changing spring season. We will learn about how to thrive in this transitional period with food as we move from the hibernation of winter towards emergence in spring.
Let's get ready, stay warm and protected as we prepare for spring.
Once you register you will receive the recipes we will be making so you can cook along, if you like. I will demonstrate cooking a couple of delicious dishes with some therapeutic herbs that enhance and support the immune system, spark the appetite, and deeply nourish our body and mind.
Where: Via Zoom
When: Saturday, March 11th
Time: 11 am – 12:30pm/PT
Fee: $50
All participants receive handouts and recording.
Class Replays
Each season brings challenges and opportunities to support our health and thrive.
Autumn
In autumn, our vital qi, brightened by summer’s skies, now begins its movement inward as we ready ourselves for winter.
How can we adjust our lives to fend off the colds and viruses of this season?
How can we adjust our daily food and activities to thrive and be in harmony with the seasonal shift?
In this class, Ellen Goldsmith, licensed acupuncturist, author, and educator illuminates the distinct energy of the autumn season, its challenges and opportunities, and what we can do to align ourselves and support our health.
Winter
How can we thrive when all is underground and in hibernation? How can we engage with the barren terrain and build our inner vitality and resources? We can: attune ourselves to the cold, short days of winter and just as wildlife and the plants put our attention to the roots of our vitality.
We move our energy inwards to consolidate, to store, deeply rest, contemplate, reflect and restore ourselves. Winter does not last forever. Yet, this unique time allows us to regenerate in order to emerge in spring with a strong vitality; warm and ready to meet the changing winds and energy of growth and renewal.
Join Ellen Goldsmith, L.Ac. once again on Zoom to engage with the unique energy of the winter season and gain some practical tips to align and thrive in winter.
Preparing For Spring
Join Ellen Goldsmith, L.Ac. and learn how to thrive in this transitional period in which we move from the hibernation of winter towards emergence in spring. We want to be ready, warm, protected and able to partake when spring comes, remaining healthy and vital.
Snow and freezing rain can be themes of February, but there is no dispute that the days are getting brighter and longer. The frozen ground in some parts of the country is beginning to thaw. Some winter blooms are beginning to appear. As we pass the Chinese lunar new year, spring is emerging ever so slowly.
How do we navigate the continuing cold while the spring emerges? How do we protect our inner warmth while preparing ourselves to meet the uprising energy of spring just five weeks away?
Spring
“The months of the spring season bring about the revitalization of all things in nature. It is the time of birth.”
-The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine
Spring is that wondrous time of year when the earth reawakens. All that has been buried beneath resting and regenerating bursts forth bringing life out into the open. It is the uprising of the yang energy that propels birth, growth and renewal.
In our Spring class, the energies of Yin and Yang, light and dark are equal. The theme: harmony. We now officially enter the more yang and active time of the year. A time to come out of our hibernation and partake in the gentle and vigorous energy of spring.
But…….as one of the great jazz standards says, “spring can really hang you up……” the weather is very changeable, the winds and rains come and go amidst new spring growth. How do we still stay covered up, protecting our inner yin, while promoting the free flow of qi and yang energy? Allergies, colds, restlessness are all signs that something is not quite in synch in ourselves. Learn the benefits of foods, activities and some Qi Gong in this class.
Join Ellen Goldsmith, L.Ac. to explore the power and beauty of the spring season and what we can do to thrive.
Thriving in Summer: Exuberance & Abundance
Summer is upon us: the most exuberant and yang time of the year. The sun is bright, the air is warm, if not hot, and the abundance of the earth is fully revealed. The season invites our full participation by being outdoors more, rising earlier in the morning or enjoying the night sky.
Summer is the most exuberant is an obvious time to thrive, yet once the summer solstice occurs the transition to shorter days begins. In summer we harvest the energy we stored in winter, circulated in spring and now bring to the surface opening to the energy of the sun and warmth. During the warmest, brightest and most yang time of year, the challenge is to balance, expansion and containment - staying cool while maintaining warmth.
Summer, in Chinese medicine, is also the time of the heart. So, how do we intentionally support our health with joy?
Join Ellen Goldsmith, L.Ac. on Zoom as we explore the beauty of the summer season and how to thrive.
Transitioning to Autumn Class
Earth permits sowing and reaping. Earth is sweet.
-Practical Chinese Medicine
Chinese medicine recognizes the beginning of Autumn at the mark of August 7th. Even though the month of August is hot, the forces of yin and yang are shifting, with the earlier sunsets and changing temperatures. In this wildly unpredictable world, change is the one thing we can count on - whether it be the natural shift of the season or sudden unexpected changes.
The transition from summer, to late summer into autumn represents the waning of light, as we move towards the balance of light and darkness at the Vernal Equinox.
We can build our capacity to adapt to change, while building our resilience, flexibility and vitality.
Join Ellen Goldsmith, L.Ac. for the final class in our series of seasonal classes.
About Ellen Goldsmith:
Ellen Goldsmith is a nationally board certified, licensed acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist who has been practicing, teaching and consulting in the field for the last 30 years. Her integrative body centered and intuitive approach is grounded in decades of study and experience which are key to collaborating and working with people and organizations to support wholeness and health. She is author of the well received book Nutritional Healing with chinese Medicine: + 174 Recipes for Optimal Health which she wrote for her colleagues, students of nutrition and Chinese medicine, her patients and the general public to bring the power of Chinese medicine and nature into our everyday lives.