Going Inward in Winter

Do you find it a little harder to feel optimistic, motivated and inspired in winter?

Its the time of year where we naturally go inward both physically by wanting to stay home more and inward mentally and emotionally as we slow down, and notice our emotional health more that other times.

Less distraction = slowing down = increased connection to ourselves

So how do make winter work for us and enjoy this time rather than wish it away?

In TCM (traditional Chinese Medicine) winter is associated with our kidney and bladder Qi & the water element. With strong kidney and bladder Qi we harness our intuition in winter and joyfully connect within, if our Qi is lowered we have a tendency to the opposite where fear and concern rule and we can find ourselves battling our unhealthy thought patterns, feeling anxious and doubt ourselves more than any other time.

Physically we tend to have more water symptoms appear in winter, such as ear problems (tinnitus, infections, dull hearing), issues with the teeth and bones, adrenal fatigue, foggy thinking, weak lower back and knees, frequent urination especially during night, arthritic pain, weakened immunity, and lowered libido.

So how to we nurture our kidney and bladder Qi? Here are some tips:

• Emotional Balance​
  • The water element is represented by the colour blue, you may feel like wearing more blue
  • The sound for the water element is groaning, the move stuck emotions associated with imbalance of water, fear, anxiety, dread, you can make groaning sounds to shift the energy
• Warm your body
  • ​The bladder meridian ends and kidney meridian begins on the soles of the feet so make sure you keep your feet warm
  • Keep your back warm at all times so your kidneys aren't exposed to cold
  • Consume warm foods and drinks to ensure less energy is required by your body in digestion
  • Ensure your bedding is winter appropriate and keeping your warm all night
• Movement 
  • Choose lighter exercise with stretching and strengthening such as yin yoga, Qi gong, Kundalini yoga, and Tai chi
  • Massage your lower back, knees, and feet regularly to increase energy flow
  • Neurolymphatic massage helps support the health of our organs by stimulating points to encourage the lymphatic movement and proper elimination. This video shows the points really well
• Water intake
  • We tend to forget about drinking water so to stay hydrated have a bottle of water with you & sip small amounts regularly during the day
  • The taste that helps balance the water element is salty, so its a great idea to maintain your hydration with good salt, enjoy warm salty bone broths and warm salt bath 
• Aromatherapy​
  • Essential oils that support the water element are geranium, juniper, ginger and cedar wood, you can put them in your bath, vaporise them, rub on your body after a shower, massage on the meridians or acupressure points
• Acupressure
  • ​Helps the bodies energy system stay in proper flow and function
  • Kidney 1 points on the bottom of the feet helps you stay grounded, relieve anxiety and calm the mind
  • Bladder 40 points are useful for relieving lower back pain & knee weakness
  • Bladder 1 points at the inner eye is useful for itchy, irritated eyes, also to help turn our focus inward for greater reflection and to change our perspective
  • Lung 11 points are useful for relieving sore, swollen or congested throat 

I hope these tips help you stay healthy and well in body, mind and spirit this winter

If you need more support to help you enjoy your connection to yourself during the winter months, you can book you kinesiology session online

Take care
x
​Karlie

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash