Each season in the Chinese Medicine System is correlated to an element.
Winter's element is WATER.
Feeling stagnant, stuck, anxious?
When the water element is out of balance there is a fear or anxiety that can arise creating the feeling of being stuck. The organ systems associated with water are the kidneys and urinary bladder, which rule water metabolism and maintain homeostasis, a dynamic continual rebalancing, most prevalent in the winter. Many times we may find fear in the form of a mental obstacle, which we break through with various practices: Yoga, Qi Gong, Meditation, Nutrition, Prayer.
REPLENISH:
With effective seasonal eating, winter-wise self-care and awareness practices, winter can be the most effective time for restoration, rejuvenation and consolidation of our QI or Prana (life force). Winter can strengthen our YIN and keep the water element flowing so we can feel at ease, flexible and harmonious. Winter eating often entails preparing seasonal whole foods that can be stored, canned, or kept for the colder days of winter.
Winter is known as the best time to ROOT DOWN and get grounded in our lives and health practices.
Foods such as root vegetables and hearty greens are best at this time of year. Canadian scientists recently compared the nutrient density of 33 vegetables and found that the most powerful winter veggies are brussel sprouts, leeks, beets, and kale. These are important foods to land on your plate this season for optimal strength and nutrient density. Avoid eating too many raw foods during the winter, as they tend to cool the body (digestion) too much. Emphasize warming foods that stimulate digestion, circulation, and immunity:
- Soups and stews
- Root vegetables
- Beans (especially adzuki and mung beans)
- Miso broth and seaweed
- Garlic and ginger
- Cayenne and Tumeric are warming
- Coriander is a Kidney and Urinary Bladder cleanser
REFLECT:
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, winter is time to find a sense of inner peace and solace. The sound of winter is silence. The silence of the snow falling and the silence of our own journey inward. It’s a great time to visit our intentions for a new year, meditate by candlelight, and become crystal clear on what we are calling forth upon new light returning.
Allow yourself to practice the art listening to your body, how it wants to be fed and how it wants to move in its wisdom and inner knowing.
REVERE:
Create a mindfulness practice around mealtime. Because the body is moving slower in the wintertime, we are more sensitive to rushing through meals and higher levels of stress.
To listen to what our bodies really want, we need to SLOW down. Plan to sit down at mealtime in a calm environment for each nourishing meal. Eat slowly and soulfully so that you can focus on chewing your food, listening to when your body is full, and absorbing and digesting optimally.
Eating can become a practice or a ritual just like anything else we do. When we bring mindfulness and magic to our eating it raises the SHAKTI in our eating experience bringing to life and brilliance.
We can bring intention, love, consciousness and awareness to our food practices just as if they were a divine body prayer, a deep connection to your beloved self or another platform in which to practice consciousness in our lives.
As you explore your deepest self this winter, find celebration in the marriage of your body and mind.
"The body and mind ALWAYS reflect each other."
Open to more light from within, so that you can share your light with more gusto and brilliance than ever before.