Staying Healthy in the Winter (According to Chinese Medicine)

Winter in New England is a long and, for many people, trying time of year. All the more reason, then, to step back and consider its importance in the scheme of things. Just as summer is peak yang in Chinese philosophy (peak heat, peak light, peak activity), winter is peak yin. This means that the qualities we most associate with the yin aspect of nature–cold, moisture, darkness, and peace among them–are in abundance as the snow flies.

Deep Listening

In terms of daily life, it's a time for rest, for the storing up of resources. Just as animals hibernate and plants gather their nutrients underground, ready to emerge in the spring, Chinese medicine encourages us to do something similar. If we sleep a bit more, if we do a bit less…that’s natural. 

On the psychological level, winter can be thought of as a season of deep listening. Keeping our lives in order requires so much time and effort; sometimes that alone prevents us from making space for reflection. But if we allow ourselves to slow down in the winter, we can attend to our inner lives in a special sort of way. 

As for lifestyle…. In the winter we want to nourish and store the yin within us. The foundational text Huangdi Neijing puts it like this: 

“During the Winter months, all things in nature wither, hide, return home, and enter a resting period…. This is a time when yin dominates yang. Therefore one should refrain from overusing the yang energy. Retire early and get up with the sunrise, which is later in Winter. Desires and mental activity should be kept quiet and subdued as if keeping a happy secret. Stay warm, avoid the cold, and keep the skin covered. Avoid sweating. The theory of the Winter season is one of conservation and storage. Without such practice, the result will be an injury to the Kidney energy. This will cause weakness, shrinking of muscles, and coldness; then the body loses its ability to open and move about in the Spring.” 

Seasonal Food For Health

These are wise words. One can also say, however, that because winter is a time in which cold and damp predominate, engaging the yang is sometimes appropriate. For instance, keeping our digestive systems warm by not overindulging in raw and cold-natured foods such as salads and tropical fruit, opting instead for seasonally appropriate staples–root veggies, soups, stews, and roasts–makes sense. The appropriate use of pungent herbs such as garlic and ginger maintains warmth and engages the immune system as needed. Nourishing the Kidney yin by resting, gently stoking the yang as needed - a winning winter strategy! 

For more information, or to schedule a tune-up for the season you find yourself in, feel free to get in touch.