Most of us move through the year thinking about time in four distinct seasons. But in Traditional Chinese Medicine (and also vegetable farming), there’s actually a fifth season, and it’s happening as we speak. 

Late summer is that fleeting, transitional stretch between the height of summer and the first breath of autumn. It’s easy to miss, but one of the most important seasons for your health according to TCM. This is the time of deep transformation and harvest, when the land yields its greatest abundance, and our bodies mirror that process by digesting (with the help of bitters!), absorbing, and integrating nourishment in all forms. 

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The Earth Element 

In TCM’s five element framework (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), each season corresponds to an element, an organ system, an emotion, and a set of physical patterns. Late summer belongs to the Earth element. The center of it all. It represents foundation, stability, and groundedness. And, in the body, Earth is expressed through two organ systems that TCM considers absolutely foundational:

• The Spleen transforms all food and drink into the Qi (energy) that fuels every system in your body. It’s also responsible for lifting, or keeping energy moving upward, organs in place, and the mind clear.

• The Stomach receives nourishment and starts the digestive process, breaking things down so the Spleen can then work its magic.

Together, they process everything else you’re taking in throughout your day. Not just food, but experiences, emotions, information, and stimulation, too.

The Emotion of Late Summer: Worry

Late summer and the Earth element are associated with overthinking and rumination. You know, that circular, sticky quality of thought that keeps looping without resolution. Just as dampness in nature creates heaviness and stagnation, mental dampness shows up as an inability to sort through thoughts cleanly. If your Earth element is out of balance in late summer, you may notice:

• Overthinking or analysis paralysis 

• Difficulty feeling at ease 

• Fatigue that’s more mental than physical

• Digestive upset tied to stress or emotional heaviness

How to Nourish Your Earth Element

• Lean into well-cooked foods (think: beets, summer squash, potatoes, rice, and legumes) 

• Enjoy naturally sweet foods (corn, figs, yams, stone fruits, dates) in moderation

• Sip warm drinks throughout the day to strengthen your Spleen Qi

• Eat mindfully (no scrolling!) at regular intervals

• Move gently to lift stagnant energy & transform dampness without depleting you (things like yoga, swimming, and walking)

• Activate your digestive fire with bitter herbs before meals so your body can actually transform what you’re eating into the nourishment it needs 

Here’s something to sit with: the strength of your Earth element in late summer directly determines how smoothly you transition into autumn. So if your digestion is sluggish, your energy is depleted, or your mind is scattered heading into fall, the transition tends to be harder. In other words, you might be more susceptible to sickness, struggle with letting go of emotions, and will notice more dryness and/or depletion. Yet when you’ve properly nourished your Earth element (thus Spleen and Stomach), you enter autumn with reserves on deck that can sustain you through the cooler, more inward months ahead. It’s kind of like tending the soil before the next planting season, in that the better you nourish it now, the more you have to draw from later.