Winter Wellness: Healing in Winter

What an amazing time of year for healing! We've moved from the beginning contractive nature of Autumn to the deeply internal nature of Winter.  This is the time to invest deeply in your healing, to grow your roots, to pause, and to strengthen.

In many healing and spiritual traditions, Winter is a time of gestation and replenishment.  This season shows us how beautiful it is to slow down, relax and rest. In Chinese Medicine, Winter is associated with the Water Element and the Kidneys (plus the bladder and adrenals). This season is all about gathering energy for the growth and expansion of Spring. 
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On an emotional level, fear, unsteadiness, and unwillingness to face our discomfort can show up during the Winter.  This makes Winter a particularly good time to intentionally turn towards discomfort or fear, and choose healing. It's also the time to ask ourselves what we are afraid of that may not be serving our highest good.  This season is a time to dig deep, invest in self, and create space to deeply nourish the kidneys and adrenals.  When we grow our roots and invest in ourselves, we create abundance and vitality for new opportunities, deeper healing, and more flow. 

Yin, the energy of rest, receiving, and surrender, is the language of the Parasympathetic Nervous System. It's here that we can rest, digest, and heal. In Winter, we intentionally move towards quiet.  We stay inside more.  We sleep more. We cuddle more.  All of these quiet places create an opportunity to refuel on a deep level and prepare us for bursting forth with energy in Spring and Summer.  Without this important time of nourishment and investment, we may feel deficient, fatigued or empty as we approach Spring.

In Winter, we may feel an increased sense of fear or uncertainty.  For some of us, these emotions have become stuck in our bodies and are holding us back from our healing potential.  During this time, people also often experience physical symptoms of lower back pain, adrenal fatigue, high blood pressure, headaches, and sexual problems. If you are suffering from fear, anxiety, uncertainty, or chronic adrenal or kidney symptoms, this is your season to turn towards these symptoms and nourish yourself deeply! The antidote to fear and anxiety is grounding, nourishing, and filling ourselves completely.

Try allowing all of these symptoms and emotions to rise up to the surface and move through you.  Remember that these symptoms are our allies.  They tell us what is happening in our bodies. 

A reminder about eating in the Winter.  We are resting and replenishing, putting energy into our roots, and choosing more quiet time.  Follow the lead of nature with your food choices and you will notice a difference in how you feel.  Be gentle with yourself.  Our bodies desire warming, well-cooked foods such as soups and stews and plenty of minerals, fats, and healthy salt. Minimize cool or raw foods.  Most of all, listen to your body.

Sending you abundant wellness - Mitten

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