2025 Lunar New Year - harnessing your power in the year of the Green Snake

On January 29, 2025, we begin the New Lunar Year of the Wood Snake. What implications does this have for our energy? In what ways will 2025 differ from the departing 2024 Lunar Year?

First, let's examine the characteristics of traditional snake symbolism, followed by an exploration of the energetics of the Wood Element. Finally, by revisiting key aspects of the retiring Wood Dragon, from my last year's blog, we can understand how the energy is set to change.

Snake Symbolism in the East and the West

Our initial instinct when seeing a snake is to back away. It provokes apprehension or even fear. Only by viewing this creature from its own perspective, free from the widespread fear ingrained in collective consciousness, can we truly appreciate its attributes. It is likely that the first lesson this year will teach us how to overcome our apprehensions.

Perhaps its poor reputation is due to its low visibility. As a crawling creature, it must stay hidden from many of its predators and operate away from the spotlight. Hence, the second theme for 2025 is that what is currently in the spotlight might have to hide and what is hidden will come to light.

The snake embodies more Yin than Yang traits, yet it is far from slow! Its renowned agility bestows upon this creature exceptional intelligence, enabling it to have the capacity to live a long live. Indeed, be it its lifespan or its impressive body length, make the snake a symbol of longevity. In the Far East, it is frequently represented as a circle of life or a symbol of 8 for eternity. Therefore, in 2025, we are likely to uncover more life sustaining secrets.

The snake of Asclepius, or the pair of snakes of the Caduceus, have long been symbols representing medical doctors and the pharmaceutical industry in the Western world. And just consider that it was Eve, Adam's other half, who's got all the blame for following the serpent, whilst we are doing it every day.

In Chinese Medicine, the snake is linked to both the Water Element, and thus the Kidneys, and the Earth Element, and thus the Spleen, as snakes can inhabit water or earth. This year, these two organs will receive a celestial boost but will also demand more of our focus. The blend of the two is beneficial for fertility, digestion, blood and liquids in the body and all transformative processes, including deep healing, within our bodies. This is an ideal year to address and heal deep-rooted traumas and chronic illnesses.

In fact, the association of snakes with longevity is referred to the physical body more so than to the spiritual aspects of our being. It is also founded on the distinctive phenomenon of skin shedding in snakes. As a result, in 2025, anticipate that people, including yourself, will change their image and the way they present themselves to the world. This transformative ability is more inherently feminine, making it more prevalent among women. It already occurs at various stages in a woman's life, when she becomes a mother, a grandmother, or matures into womanhood. And this year, anyone can have their Cinderella experience!

As a side note, the symbolism of a snake is commonly associated with a woman in both Eastern and Western cultures. Consider Eve again, who accepted the message of the serpent and gave life to first human successors. Similarly, in ancient Chinese mythology, the deity Nü Gua, known as the ancestor of humankind, is portrayed as being half woman and half serpent. In Eastern Europe, the tale of Eglé and the snake highlights the remarkable transformative power of femininity (pictured below).

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"Eglė, Queen of Serpents" by A. Algminas(40 x 30 in. oil on canvas)

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Green is the Wood Element

What about the governing Element in 2025? It will remain the same, as both 2024 and 2025 are governed by the Wood energy. Wood Element is linked with green colour, Spring, with growth, childhood, creativity, overstepping the boundaries in order to find new experiences to learn from. Wood element is associated with Liver and Gallbladder, so these two organs will continue receiving an extra energetic boost in 2025. Utilize this energy to detox, particularly during the spring season. For inspiration, take a look at my Loving-3-phase-detox for ideas of a gentle detox.

The Wood Element will add Yang energy to the Snake in 2025, it will keep the snake out of its den most of the time. The qualities of agility, reactivity and creativity will get an extra boost this year. Therefore, dedicate yourself to creative projects, move quickly by avoiding obstacles, keeping in sight your goal. Have faith in the process!

With the addition of Wood energy to deep healing of the snake, it can be inferred that the healing processes in 2025 will be rapid. The healing will be both profound and swift. The rapid pace of healing will bring a certain ease to otherwise pain-staking processes. So, make the most of this by using the ageless method of acupuncture as the healing medium for your body, mind and soul in the coming year. The upcoming year presents the perfect opportunity to release old patterns and traumas that have become embedded in you but do not align with your future fulfillment nor destiny.

The balanced Wood Element, and therefore a healthy Liver, will offset the Snake's excessive energy of the Water and Earth Elements. Water is linked with the emotion of fear and Earth with the emotion of worry. If the Liver is weak, the fearful energy of the snake is likely to freeze the growth and a successful completion of a project or a healing process. Analogically, if Liver is weak it will not be able to push through the worry. Keep this in mind when you wonder why progress, particularly in regaining your health, is lacking.

In summary, unlike the highly Yang, dynamic, fierce, and daring Wood Dragon of 2024, the upcoming year will concentrate its energy on internal realms, which are less visible and profoundly transformative. Although, it will remain rapid, expansive, and action-packed nonetheless. Therefore, in 2025 harness the power of shedding your skin, moving between your life roles, embracing a new image, navigating obstacles in an almost shape-shifting manner. In Chinese culture the Green Snake is a symbol of hope, fortune, longevity and prosperity among other, which is what I sincerely wish for all of you in the coming new year 2025!

Click the button below to request a New Lunar Year gift from DoroTao. Enter: "NEW LUNAR YEAR 2025" in the email to get a 25% discount on your next treatment. Conditions below apply.

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Winter and the Water Element - the Inner Explorations

How to Stay Healthy and Balanced During the Winter Season with the Five Element Energies?

Have you noticed the clouds in the sky have become dark blue? Have you noticed the cold humid air penetrating your skin and getting deep into your bones? The energy is that of inward direction and of inner explorations, both for us and for all the Nature around. Even the energy pulses I sense on my patients have now been withdrawing and going deeper than in summer months. All this inner activity requires us to slow down and reflect more.

Connecting with the Water Element in Winter

Spirit focus

The penetrating energy of Winter is allowing us to dive deep into our Soul and see the bare bones of our essence, that is of who we really are. Winter is a perfect time for reflection on our identity, on the incarnation of our Spirit in this life. Knowing yourself is knowing your path in life, the Tao. The illness comes when we stray away from our path, from our essence and moving further away from the completion of that for which we were born. Hence, self-reflection is the time well spent for our health and wellbeing.

Apart from the downtime spent in self-reflection, it is useful to reconnect with your tribe too, the people who root your Soul into the society. So, family and long-time friends can be a mirror of your current existance; realising that you and them are one as the drops of water in the ocean. The only difference is that each human has an individual Soul, incarnated on Earth for his/her specific purpose. That implies you also need to recognise the boundaries between you and your tribe in order to direct your essence at your will. Otherwise, you become ill.

So, take time in Winter season to, first self-reflect and recognise your own essence, both individual and colletive, and then take notice of where your boundaries must lie. By the way, "the boundaries" does not mean erecting the walls, but recognising when you allow your essence to be compromised to the point you cannot will who you are into being.

Mind focus

It may not be easy to reflect on your essence and your place in the world. With such tumoulous energies in the worlds right now, one can find that the mind is easily dispersed by the social media, fast developing technology, constant availability to asnwer a phone or messages. Sleeplessness or emotional tribulations can result from such restless mind.

Winter energy in itself can be still but can be rough too, just as the sea, depending on the winds. In fact, the conscious mind can navigate those rough winds. Mind control comes particularly strong in Winter. Some of you may know that the mind is closely linked with the Heart in Chinese Medicine, fewer of you may know the brain is also related to the Kidneys. Kidneys, with their will power, determine what your mind focuses on. That's why we need to realise that "the mind over matter" does matter sometimes and disciplining of the mind is an act of our own will power.

I encourage you to try out one simple exercise of willing your mind. If you have thoughts that are negative and/or repetitive, try to say to yourself three time (more potent): "(your name) stop thinking about it, now". Sometimes willing your mind that way does work. There can be other ways and methods of training your mind.

Meditation practices are aimed at focusing your mind. I remind you of my weekly meditation sessions I hold live on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/DoroTao.ClassicalChineseMedicine

and soon to be available also on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/dorotao.kowal/

Body focus

Kidneys and Bladder are related to the Winter season and the Water Element. These organs take care of our waterway systems in our body, including distribution of warmth. Just like the central heating system, the thorough distribution of warm water around assures the right temperature is maintained in every parts of the body.

How to maintain our good circulation when it is freezing or nearly freezing outside?

First of all, the diet. Absolutely avoid ice-cold foods and drinks. They will not only slow down your circulation but also digestion, creating more phlegm and in turn lower your overall energy. There are also foods that are cold or cooling in nature, such as cucumbers, lettuce, mint and most fruits and raw vegetables. It is best to avoid or reduce cooling foods, selecting the seasonal ones and cooked preferably. If you are consistently feeling too hot in winter you may be having toxic heat inside and should seek treatment to adjust your energy rather than eat or drink ice cold foods to cool down in winter.

Secondly, I suggest hot and cold showers (with gradual application) to stimulate the circulation. Thirdly, do regular brisk walking or better: running. Yes, Winter is actually a good time to do some running. Since we are not totally hibernating species, we need to keep the circulation going well. Running awakes in us the primordial memory of flight from the danger, which stimulates the life preserving energy of Kidneys and the Water element in us.

And if you are feeling pulled down by long and dark winter days, remember to drink tea from the flowers of St. John's Wort plant. It's flowers have enclosed in them the peak summer sunshine and now you can boost your mood by drinking its infusion.

Generally, the Winter season is the time to eat more root vegetables and herbs based on roots, tubers or rhisomes. They give us sustenance necessary to keep the body going but simultaneously sustaining our Winter Yin energy. If you would need a consultation for diet and herbs best fitted for you in Winter months, contact me here https://www.dorotao.com/clinic-contact.

How do you live through the winter season yourself? Do you know that depending on our energetic make-up we approach each season differently? Leave your comment about your particular challenges or tips for living through the Winter season.

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