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SPRING: The Wood-Season of Awakening, Movement and fresh starts.
- Chiara Favaretti
- Mar 20
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 24
Spring arrives with a gentle but unmistakable shift. Light lingers a little longer, the air feels softer, and beneath the surface something begins to stir. After the inward quiet of Winter, this season carries the energy of awakening, of movement, vision, and fresh starts.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Spring belongs to the Wood element. It is the season of growth, expansion, and renewal, when energy naturally wants to rise and flow. Just as buds push through the soil, we too are invited to stretch toward what’s new, reconnect with our creativity, and gently re-enter movement after the stillness of Winter.
Here are a few elements you might like to keep in mind…as well as some tips to help you navigate this season!
Wood: Growth, Vision, New Beginnings
The Wood element represents movement, flexibility, and the courage to begin again. It is associated with direction and purpose—our ability to imagine a future and move towards it with clarity.
In Spring, Wood energy encourages us to open up, both physically and emotionally. This might look like reorganising your home, starting a new project, or simply spending more time outdoors. When Wood is balanced, we feel motivated, inspired, and adaptable. When it’s constrained, we may feel stuck, frustrated, or overwhelmed.
Spring reminds us that growth doesn’t have to be forced—it unfolds naturally when there is space and support.
Organs: Liver and Gallbladder
The Liver and Gallbladder are the organs linked to Spring. In TCM, the Liver is responsible for the smooth flow of Qi (energy) throughout the body. It affects our muscles, tendons, eyes, digestion, and emotional wellbeing.
When Liver energy flows freely, we feel relaxed yet focused, energised, and emotionally balanced. When it becomes stagnant, we might experience tension in the neck and shoulders, headaches, digestive discomfort, PMS, or irritability.
Supporting the Liver in Spring is essential for feeling light, flexible, and aligned with the season’s natural momentum.
Emotions: Anger and Compassion
Spring is associated with anger—not as something negative, but as an emotion connected to boundaries, truth, and change. Anger often arises when energy feels blocked or when our needs aren’t being met.
When acknowledged and softened, anger transforms into compassion, assertiveness, and clear decision-making. Spring offers a beautiful opportunity to notice where we may be holding tension or resentment and to gently create movement—internally and externally—so energy can flow again.
Weather: Windy
Wind is the climatic influence of Spring. It is changeable, dynamic, and often unpredictable—just like this season itself. In TCM, wind can affect the upper body, showing up as headaches, stiffness, allergies, or colds.
Protecting the neck and shoulders, supporting immunity, and keeping the body gently moving can help us adapt to Spring’s shifting conditions. Light layers, regular stretching, and mindful rest are simple yet powerful allies.
Colour: Green
Green is the colour of Spring and the Wood element. It symbolises renewal, freshness, and vitality, from new leaves to tender shoots pushing through the earth.
Bringing green into your life: through food, clothing, time in nature, or even your Pilates mat...it can subtly support balance, optimism, and growth.
Tissue: Tendons and Muscles
The Liver nourishes the tendons and muscles, making Spring an ideal time to restore elasticity and mobility in the body. Gentle strengthening, stretching, and fluid movement help release Winter stiffness and support healthy posture and ease of motion.
This is not about pushing or overdoing, it’s about reconnecting with your body’s natural rhythm and range.
Taste: Sour
The flavour of Spring is sour. In TCM, sour foods gently stimulate the Liver and support digestion and detoxification when used in moderation. Think lemon, lime, apple cider vinegar, fermented foods, and lightly pickled vegetables.
Paired with fresh, lightly cooked seasonal produce, these tastes help awaken the system and support smooth energy flow.
Shiatsu Treatments:
Liver & Gallbladder
Do you feel tense, irritable, or stuck as Spring begins?
Although every Shiatsu treatment is unique and always addressing the body as a whole, at this time of year we often focus on the Liver and Gallbladder meridians — supporting circulation, emotional balance, and physical flexibility. Through acupressure, gentle stretches, and grounding touch, Shiatsu can help release stagnation and encourage a sense of ease and direction.
Spring Shiatsu sessions are especially supportive for stress, hormonal balance, headaches, and muscular tension, helping you move into the season feeling lighter and more open.
If this resonates, I invite you to seek out a practitioner near you and experience how Shiatsu can support your transition into Spring.
If you feel called to rebalance your energy this season, I warmly encourage you to seek out a practitioner near you. Shiatsu can be a powerful companion in supporting rest, resilience, and renewal.
Pilates Offerings:
Flow, Mobility and Fresh Energy for Spring
In my Pilates classes this season, I focus on fluid, flowing sequences that support spinal mobility, hip freedom, and gentle core strength. Movements that twist, spiral, and lengthen the body help stimulate Liver energy and encourage a sense of lightness and possibility.
I also weave in stretches from the Yoga of Meridians sequence (taught to me by Sensei Tzvika Calisar). These focus on the Bladder and Kidney meridians, enhancing fluidity, flexibility, and the sense of dropping into the body’s deeper layers.
Illustrates below are the meridians’ stretches for this season’s organs: Liver & Gallbladder.
A longer and more detailed video, with step by step instructions on how to perform these exercises effectively and safely, can be found in the Virtual Studio > Short Sessions > Meridians
Spring whispers:
Stretch gently. Move freely. Trust new beginnings.
Whether through Pilates, Shiatsu, or mindful daily rituals, may this season support you in reconnecting with your energy, your vision, and your body’s natural desire to grow.
If you’d like guidance, structure, and nourishment for your movement practice, I would love to welcome you into my Virtual Studio — where you can move with me in rhythm with the seasons, at your own pace, in your own time.
With love & gratitude,
Chiara
Keen in supporting your body this season?
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