Autumn acts upon the lung. The lung takes charge of qi, governs respiration, and emotionally relates to grief and grief easily impairs the lung. The autumnal climate turns cooler and cooler. The grass withers; the leaves fall; the flowers and trees are withered, fallen and scattered about. At this time, the sight easily strikes a chord in people's hearts. Some of them have the feeling of being desolate, dreary, unfrequented, old and feeble. As a result, the emotional changes occur such as depression and restlessness of the mind. Accordingly, in autumnal health preservation, people should first develop optimism, think of the joy of the fruitful harvest to be psychologically relieved. They should tranquilize the mind and stabilize the emotions so as to withhold the essence and vitality and avoid the influences of the autumnal weather and sight on the human body. This can conform to the autumnal bleakness and create the good conditions to hide yangqi in winter. Failing to keep the motions stable and excessive melancholy and anxiety may impair the lungqi. This can not only cause the pathological changes of the lung, but also make the adaptive capacity of the human body for hiding in winter lower and people liable to diarrhea with undigested food.
