So, here's the Winter season! According to the Classics, 7th December marks the beginning of the second month of Winter. This middle month of Winter represents to us the festive season in which we celebrate light (December being the darkest month of the year) and our humanity. It comes from our innate need to come together on dark and cold evenings to create and share heat and light. We withdraw from much outdoor activities to rest and recover after many busy months. We are supposed to accumulate energy during the next couple of months or so. So, avoid doing harsh eliminations or energy wastage, i.e. detox or rushing around without stopping, in the next couple of months.
In some ways, we have adopted that innate need to withdraw and accumulate energy into acquisition of goods as presents and foods for the festive season. But remember that this is really our instinctual urge to accumulate and recharge our batteries. Look at trees, all their energy is withdrawing from the external parts (branches) into trunks and roots. Hence they lose their leaves. Look at animals; they either hibernate or look for warm shelter and sleep a lot.
In Chinese Medicine this energy, our batteries, is called Jing and it is placed in our Kidneys. We have two Kidneys, one is related to our pre-natal energy and the other to our post-natal energy. This means that the Kidneys are a kind of a bridge between our living energy and the energy we had brought in with us: ancestral or reincarnated. So, this month we reconnect with our roots, our families, to renew the connection to who we are and where we have come from. I encourage you to take time off to yourself to reflect on what you feel your human identity is here on Earth.
The next two months will give us this possibility to dive deep into our essence and identity. If, in that process, you rediscover or re-identify some aspects of yourself you have, but you have not realised you have had, it has the potential to give you a new shot of life, a renewed will to live. Sometimes it is simply a family connection, going back to your roots and feeling that connection can reignite life. Whether you feel part of the family or not (you feel more of an outcast), facing them up still reinforces the message about who you feel you are. Other times, it is slowing down and reflecting that gives us more clarity on your identity. In any case, make time to reconnect and reflect.
In Winter we should be like the stormy waters which calm down and reveal their transparency all the way to the bottom of the sea. You will benefit immensely on the mental level too! Physically, it will give you tranquil sleep, good body circulation, physical strength (especially in the lumbar back) and improved immunity to cold-borne diseases (such as viruses).
The post-natal Kidney "batteries" are further renewed during these Winter months by taking care of our "renewable" physical energy. The best way to renew it is to keep the body warm, circulation stable and resting sufficiently. If you suffer from cold, do warm up with hot coarse salt compresses and warming herbal teas (ginger, cinnamon, etc) and soups (especially with winter root vegetables). Brisk walking or jogging and winter sports are also indicated in this season to keep the circulation going and building up the body's strength and determination.
To keep you warm, nourished and sustained during this Winter I have prepared special herbal teas, meticulously made from personally harvested herbs and according to the principles of Classical Chinese Medicine. If you are interested in getting this special herbal tea edition, please contact me below:
