Late Summer, Grounding & The Spleen-Stomach Partnership in TCM
“There is a time to grow, and a time to gather what has grown.”
Late Summer has a very different feeling from the bright, expansive energy of June and July. The days are still warm, but the light is changing. Vacations end. Schedules return. We begin moving from the outward energy of summer toward the quieter, more inward seasons ahead.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), this transitional period is considered a season of its own: Late Summer.
Late Summer belongs to the Earth element and is associated with the Spleen and Stomach—the organ systems responsible, in TCM theory, for receiving nourishment and transforming it into the energy we need to function. Earth represents our center: nourishment, stability, grounding, and our ability to feel supported while everything around us is changing.
This makes Late Summer an important time to ask:
What am I taking in—and is it actually nourishing me?
The Spleen-Stomach Partnership & Your Center
In Chinese Medicine, the Stomach receives while the Spleen transforms.
Together, they represent much more than digestion. They are connected with how well we take in food, information, experiences, and even emotional nourishment—and what we are able to make of all of it.
When Earth feels strong, we tend to feel more centered, steady, clear, and nourished.
When this system becomes overwhelmed, TCM patterns associated with the Spleen and
Stomach may include:
Bloating or digestive discomfort
Feeling heavy or sluggish after eating
Loose stools or irregular digestion
Fatigue, especially after meals
Brain fog or difficulty concentrating
Cravings for sweets
A sense of heaviness in the body
Feeling ungrounded or scattered
Excessive worrying, rumination, or overthinking
The connection between stress and digestion is also increasingly understood through modern research on the brain-gut axis, which looks at the constant communication between the gastrointestinal system, nervous system, immune system, and brain. Acupuncture research has explored effects on gastrointestinal motility, visceral sensitivity, and brain-gut signaling, although evidence varies depending on the specific condition being treated.
Late Summer Is About Preparing
One of my favorite ideas in Chinese Medicine is that we don't have to wait until a season is difficult to start taking care of ourselves.
We prepare for what is coming.
Summer encourages expansion, activity, travel, late nights, socializing, and outward movement.
Winter asks almost the opposite of us.
Rest.
Warmth.
Conservation.
Stillness.
Late Summer gives us a place in between.
It is a chance to come back to center, strengthen what has become depleted, and begin creating the reserves we will need as the days get shorter and colder.
This doesn't mean one acupuncture treatment in September will somehow prevent you from getting sick all winter. I think of seasonal care much more practically: the less depleted you enter winter, the more resources your body has to work with.
Ways to Support the Spleen & Stomach in Late Summer
Eat More Warm, Cooked Foods
As the weather begins to shift, this can be a good time to gradually move away from an abundance of iced drinks and raw summer foods and bring in more soups, cooked vegetables, grains, and warming meals.
Foods traditionally associated with supporting the Earth element include squash, sweet potato, carrots, pumpkin, millet, rice, oats, and other naturally sweet, grounding foods. In Chinese Medicine, the “sweet flavor” refers to the gentle natural sweetness found in foods—not necessarily refined sugar.
Create More Rhythm
The Earth element loves steadiness.
Regular meals. More consistent sleep. A morning routine. A few minutes between activities instead of moving directly from one thing into the next.
These small rhythms can be especially useful after the freedom and irregularity of summer.
Notice What You Are Digesting Besides Food
Late Summer is also a good time to notice mental overload.
How much information are you taking in?
How often are you scrolling?
How many things are you trying to solve at once?
In TCM, worry and overthinking are traditionally associated with the Earth element. Sometimes nourishment means giving the mind less to digest too.
Qigong for Grounding
Choose slower movements that bring your attention downward and back into your body. Feel your feet. Breathe into your abdomen. Move without rushing.
You don't always need more stimulation.
Sometimes your system needs somewhere to land.
Acupuncture & Moxibustion Before the Cold Arrives
Late Summer and early fall are some of my favorite times to begin preparing for winter with acupuncture and, when appropriate, moxibustion.
Rather than waiting until you're already exhausted, cold, achy, or run down, treatment can focus on the patterns you know tend to appear every winter.
Moxibustion has traditionally been used to warm and strengthen particular acupuncture points, and modern research continues to investigate acupuncture and moxa in relation to gastrointestinal, inflammatory, and immune pathways. That research is still evolving and does not mean these treatments can guarantee prevention of winter illness.
Acupressure for Late Summer
Stomach 36 — Zu San Li (“Leg Three Miles”)Located below the knee, ST36 is one of the most widely used points in Chinese Medicine. Traditionally, it is used to support digestion, energy, and overall vitality. It has also received considerable attention in modern acupuncture research involving gastrointestinal and inflammatory pathways.
Try gently massaging the area for a minute or two while taking slow breaths.
Rather than thinking, What else do I need to accomplish today?, try asking:
What would actually nourish me right now?
A Simple Late Summer Grounding Practice
Take five quiet minutes at the end of the day.
Place one hand over your abdomen and one over your chest.
Take a few slow breaths and notice where your attention has been all day.
Work?
Your phone?
Another person?
A problem you have been trying to solve?
Bring your attention back into your body.
Feel your feet against the floor.
Feel the weight of yourself being supported.
Then ask:
What do I want to carry into the next season—and what am I ready to stop carrying?
Late Summer is not necessarily asking us to do more.
It may be asking us to digest what has already happened.
Late Summer: A Season to Come Back to Center
Spring asks us to grow.
Summer asks us to expand.
Late Summer asks us to gather ourselves again.
Before autumn begins drawing everything inward and winter asks us to conserve, there is this small window to nourish, stabilize, and strengthen our center.
Pay attention to your digestion.
Eat food that actually sustains you.
Create a little more rhythm.
Give yourself fewer things to process at once.
And start preparing for winter before your body is already asking for help.
If you tend to struggle with fatigue, digestion, feeling cold, chronic stress, or getting depleted as the weather changes, this is a beautiful time for seasonal treatment.
Schedule a Late Summer acupuncture or custom moxa session, and we can look at what your particular system needs as we move into the colder months.
