Winter Health: Honoring Seasonal Rhythms in Body and Life
“You may think yourself lazy, or flawed. Yet your body is made of almost exactly the same elements as the stars. Your bone composition matches the coral in the seas and you, my friend, are ruled by the moon and the sun. Whether you like it or not. So no, you are not lazy, Nature is simply pulling you to slow, like the life, floral and fauna around you. It is not your moment to rise. It is winter, you are wintering. And you are right on time.
~Donna Ashworth
One of the greatest things I’ve done for my health and my life over the last years is learned to honor the seasons. Creating seasonal rhythmicity came from my own journey of deepening into traditional systems of medicine, like Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, as well as my journey of aging. My experience of my 20’s and 30’s, especially at MIT and during my medical training was that I could push my body to extremes and function and recover fairly quickly. My experience of my 40’s is that I need to honor my limits because if I push past them, the recovery is not as quick. I think my desire to honor my limits has also come from becoming clear about my values… I value feeling well during the day. I value showing up to my day with a rested mind and body that feels up to the day that stretches before me. I do not enjoy feeling like I’m dragging myself through the day or feeling like my mind is tired, and I have to work harder to manage my tasks. Understanding and honoring the energy of the seasons has helped me more easily recognize my own needs and honor them. So let’s talk about winter health from a whole health, whole person perspective.
I am writing this in early January… we are not that far from the solstice. We are in the deep dark, deep yin time of year. Our nights are still longer than our days. We are being called into this time of rest, reflection, of stillness and slowing down. Our modern lives are busy and demanding and tell us that we should keep the same structure and pace year round. We essentially ignore the dark and the cold and turn on lights and heat and keep going. And yet most of us feel the decrease in energy during the winter. We may feel more tired and that we have less capacity for doing all of the things. The season asks us to honor that and to slow down, it asks us to honor our capacity. The energy in winter is within. It is a time to slow down before we burst forth with new life and renewal in the spring. Many animals hibernate. The trees and plants have lost their leaves, but their life and energy is still within. It isn’t that we stop growing or stop doing during the winter but that it decreases and the growth may be more subtle and the work internal. Winter is the fertile darkness from which new life and new growth happens in the spring.
Many of us feel uncomfortable slowing down. So much of societal messaging is that our worth is linked to our productivity. We are accustomed to doing and often have trouble being. We stay busy because we feel good being busy and many times, because busyness keeps us from feeling. Winter is the season of being. It is the season of the sacred feminine. It is the season of receiving and of reflecting. It can be a profoundly healing season when we allow ourselves to rest and rejuvenate and reflect on the seasons past in order to move forward differently in the seasons ahead.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, winter is associated with the kidney - bladder meridians and the element of water. The kidney meridian stores our energy and can easily be depleted in the cold. We protect and nurture the kidney energy with hydration, warmth, warming foods and rest.
Winter Health Tips:
Here are the topics that come to mind when I think about taking care of myself for the season.
Hydration:
Hydration is always important but especially important in winter. It’s so basic and yet can really have profound effects on how we heal (as a side note, after many practitioners, I finally realized that one of my migraine triggers is actually dehydration.) When I think about hydration, I think about how much we’re drinking and what we’re drinking. Of course, we want to primarily consume water though I also find adding electrolytes to be helpful for me at times, especially if I’m feeling dehydrated. Winter is a great time to hydrate with warm herbal teas and liquids. I often start my day with a glass of warm water. (and not everyone likes warm water but if you think about your digestive fire then cold liquids dampen and decrease your digestive fire). Secondly I think about hydrating on the outside. In the winter, we add humidifiers to our home, and run them at night especially. It makes a huge difference in how dried out I feel in the morning. I also very intentionally nourish my skin in the winter using body oils and even the ayurvedic practice of applying Nasya oil to my nasal membranes.
Energy:
As we discussed above, winter is a time to really pay attention to and honor energy. As a practice, it can be helpful to pay more attention to which of your daily activities nourish you and which activities drain you… and begin to limit, as much as you can, the activities (or people in your life) that drain you. This is the season to really cultivate energy with food, movement, and rest.
Movement:
Movement and exercise are important practices in all seasons. From a conventional medical perspective, we want moderate to vigorous exercise and strength training. And yet, from a more traditional approach, we may want to lessen the energy we’re expending in the winter. It is most definitely a season to add in more gentle movement that also helps cultivate energy - like slow flow or restorative yoga or tai chi. It may also be helpful to do more intense activities in the morning or mid-day and allow for gentler activities in the afternoon and evening. See what feels best in your body (because we are all different).
Rest:
In general, we do not get enough rest. We sacrifice sleep regularly for productivity. Sacrificing sleep comes at a cost to how you feel during the day, to mental health, to your metabolism, and to your immune system. Adequate sleep and rest is so important. Learning to slow down and get to a more relaxed place before you sleep is also important (too many of us go to bed still stuck in a dysregulated nervous system which affects our ability to fall asleep and the quality of our sleep). Part of rest may be more restful activities before bed or even in the afternoon, things like meditation or journaling or intentional breathing. Adding in small doses of these activities throughout the day can help us re-regulate our nervous systems when we’re stressed and end the day feeling a little less drained.
Food:
Just like with movement, every person has different needs when it comes to food and nutrition. Approaching nutrition seasonally, this is a time to choose warm, nourishing foods and warm spices like cumin, cinnamon, cloves, peppers, turmeric, ginger, etc. Think about adding in root vegetables, whole grains, cooked greens (spinach, kale), and healthy oils. This is a season where we may want to decrease salads and berries and cold foods. Always listen to your body. Check in with your body after meals and see how that particular meal felt in your body and then make adjustments as you go.
Joy
As always, cultivate joy and pleasure. Choose activities that make you feel good. When we only do things to take care of ourselves and with the intention of optimizing health, the care can become heavy and simply feel like another task on the never-ending list of things to do. Enjoy a warm cozy bath! Find a hot tube or hot springs you can relax in. Read a book. Enjoy sitting by a fire. Light a candle! Make yourself your favorite warm beverage and savor it! Get outside and enjoy the sunshine when you can.
A few years ago, my teacher said that part of the work of winter is learning to love the dark. Each year that passes, I deepen into that teaching a little bit more. For me, staying well in winter is about reminding myself over and over that it is a season to slow down, it’s allowing myself more rest, it’s eating more warm foods, and it’s making sure that I prioritize sunshine and getting outside when I can. May you deepen your relationship with your body this winter, and more clearly understand it’s needs. And may you learn to love the dark.
