As a Chinese medicine practitioner, I love to think about how the external environment and seasons affect us. It can be a challenge to keep well in winter. Colds and flus are everywhere, and most people have bouts of feeling low energy, run down and flat. It is easy to fall into the pit of only feeling enthusiasm for the couch, a book or a TV series on the laptop, while eating endless toast and chocolate.
That is ok, but it could be better. There are other ways to experience winter so you don’t feel like life stops or stagnates but instead just changes direction, moving inwards and slowing down.
In the West we can feel uncomfortable with this slower, more introverted season and as a reaction to discomfort we either push through or withdraw. I advocate a middle-road approach. Winter is an opportunity to prepare for the rest of the year – and if not taken, a great opportunity is missed. Winter wellness is about balancing, slowing down and having some time out from getting stuck or feeling too flat. The dynamic of the season can be used to nourish and better our body, mind and soul.
7 tips to help you keep well in winter and stay relaxed, nourished and happy
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Let yourself sleep!
Getting a few extra ZZZ’s in winter is what nature intended with those long nights, so let winter take you and your body on its seasonal journey of rest! Go to bed at 8pm if you feel like it. No guilt. However, I would warn against sleeping in too much. This can sometimes make us feel sluggish. Still get up before 7:30am in winter, but allow yourself to go to bed AS EARLY AS YOU LIKE!
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Soups are the source.
Soup is the dish of the season, so get into it!! In winter, the energy in our bodies and in the external environment has the lowest amount of energy for the year, so getting more energy from food is required. Naturally we get into the slow-cooked, stodgy, meaty and carby foods. Soup is easily digestible and thus an easily accessible energy source to keep your body vital.
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Tea!
I find it hard not to recommend tea as a cure-all – because it is! Tea in winter can warm, hydrate and keep you feeling well. Turn to tea instead of the more rich and sweet hot beverages such as milky coffees, hot chocolate and chai. Herbal tea with ginger and cinnamon can help you warm up. Other herbal teas can be great way to subtly keep cleansing the body at a time when there’s a tendency to create a bit of build-up and blockages in the body’s energies.
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Tonifying exercise.
As I said above, winter is a great time to keep things moving and not get too stuck. Sometimes this means not being too ambitious – you don’t have as much energy to burn in winter, but it is better do something rather than nothing. While you might run daily or exercise like a fanatic over summer, in winter a gentle approach is more appropriate. Walking, swimming in a heated pool, gym classes and runs are all great few times a week to help keep you in good health.
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Yoga and meditation.
Winter is the time when if you practice yoga or meditate, you might not feel like you are achieving much. However, you are profoundly shifting very deep energy. At this time we are naturally the most Yin – introverted and still. We can harness this inward focus to really build a steady base before spring comes along and knocks that Zen feeling to the side in spring fever. It would be great if everyone had a week off in winter to relax and recharge, do yoga, meditate. What you do in winter gives you a foundation for the rest of the year, which is usually a lot more dynamic.
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Family and good friends.
Winter doesn’t usually feel like a super social time. But it’s a great time to spend with friends and family close to you and nourish these relationships. While spring and summer are usually a time of social exuberance, winter is time to nourish connections with your nearest and dearest, and not be as “out there” as summer. Snuggle up to your loved ones and stay connected, but don’t push social agendas too hard. The right amount of solitude for you can be also deeply satisfying and nourishing.
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Take time out.
It is time to look inside, reflect, reassess, sit with where you are and ponder what is next. It might not be a time you feel like taking much action. That’s ok. Just put energy into thinking, pondering and wondering – the rest will happen when it is ready.
How do you stay well in winter?