Why spring feels harder than it looks
There’s a story we tell about spring. It’s supposed to feel like relief — warmth returning, things opening up, the long winter finally releasing its grip. And sometimes it does feel that way. But just as often, spring arrives and we feel... wound up. Irritable. Stuck between wanting to move and not knowing where to go. Emotionally raw in a way that’s hard to explain.
In Chinese Medicine, this makes perfect sense. Spring belongs to the Wood element — and Wood’s organ system is the Liver and Gallbladder. The Liver is responsible for the smooth flow of qi throughout the body. When it’s balanced, energy moves freely, emotions rise and fall naturally, and we feel clear-headed and purposeful. When it’s stagnant — which tends to happen in winter, when we contract and go inward — that energy needs somewhere to go when spring arrives.
“Think of it this way: if a river has been frozen all winter and suddenly the ice breaks, the water doesn’t flow gently at first. It surges.”
That surge can show up as irritability, headaches, tight shoulders, disrupted sleep, or a low-grade emotional intensity that doesn’t quite have a name. It can feel like PMS, or like anxiety, or just like being inexplicably harder to live with. It can also feel like a sudden restlessness — a drive to change everything at once, without knowing where to start.
None of this is a malfunction. It’s your body doing exactly what spring asks of it — rising, expanding, looking for direction. The question is how to work with that energy rather than against it.
A few things that help in spring: Move your body — the Liver loves movement, especially anything that gets your sides and ribcage opening (think twists, side stretches, walks). Eat sour foods, which gently support Liver function — lemon, apple cider vinegar, leafy greens. Go to sleep before 11pm, when Liver Qi does its deepest work. And most importantly: notice what you’re holding onto.
Spring is the season of vision and beginning — but you can’t plant new seeds in soil that hasn’t been cleared. If you’ve been feeling the weight of this transition more than usual, acupuncture can help move what’s stuck and give your nervous system the signal that it’s safe to expand. This is one of my favourite seasons to work with patients — the body responds quickly when the season is already asking for change.
Wishing you a budding, blooming spring within.
