The darker days and longer nights of winter are upon us. Energetically it’s time for rest so cuddle up under a cozy blanket with a good book or watch those movies that you’ve been wanting to see but were too busy with enjoying the outdoors during the warmer days of summer.
Winter is also when we should be spending time reflecting upon what worked and didn’t work for us in the past year so that we can plan for the next. Set new goals and determine how to best achieve them, but don’t act on it yet.
Remember, this is still the time for rest. The time for action will come in the Spring when we can ride the momentum of that season’s outward growth. Journaling is a great way to reflect and start to map out a plan.
Our diet should consist of only warming foods. Swap out your yogurt at breakfast time for oatmeal and get the crockpot out for lovely warm stews at lunch and dinner time. We also want to continue to avoid cold beverages and stick with warming ones like Chai tea.
Definitely avoid smoothies during the winter. They will damage your digestion and you will end up losing all of the nutrition that they hold.
The organ associated with winter is the Kidneys. From a TCM perspective, the kidneys are weakened by overwork and not taking the time to recharge. Think of them as rechargeable batteries, they need rest in order to be able to replenish energetically and winter is a great time to take that rest.
Foods that support the TCM Kidneys are easy to spot. Look for foods that are darker in colour or contain high-quality salts such as seaweeds, Braggs Soy sauce, black beans, kidney beans, beets, celery, roasted nuts, and miso.
Sit back and enjoy the quiet time of Winter!