I love this time of year.

The garden may be dormant, but there is still so much beauty and life expressing itself throughout the natural world. The cool, misty mornings, the woodstove, and the longer nights giving way to the season of dreaming. 

(Around the corner from my house; my favourite view.)

There is medicine in every season. The teaching of winter is one of slowing down, contemplation, and taking stock of what is. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), winter is associated with the element of Water and the kidneys. The kidneys not only filter the Water Element throughout our body, they also hold the deepest essence of life source energy, called Jing.

(My road on a snowy December day.) 

The Jing (essence) is the foundational energy that fuels vitality throughout our whole lives. Jing is inherited by our parents, and is nourished or depleted by diet, lifestyle, and environment. During the winter, the kidneys are said to be most active, and need to be nourished and protected. They are depleted by prolonged stress, overwork, and persistent fear.

That’s most of us, isn’t it?

In these times, who isn’t living with stress, fear, and overwork? How do we counter the stress of life when it might feel like there's no escaping it? Here are some of my favourite winter practices and herbs to nourish kidney essence and protect Jing.

(Snow, ice & the ocean down the road.) 

Your Circadian Rhythm

Get Outside if you can, even when cloudy. Humans are meant to have their eyes exposed to as much natural light as possible. Natural light, even on cloudy days signals your internal clock, the circadian rhythm, to suppress melatonin production during the day which leads to more regulated, deep sleep at night. Visualize pulling breath into your body from the green world, breath carries Qi; direct your breath right into your kidneys and feel breath moving into the adrenals that sit on top of them. 

(Snow is rare where I live. Winter mostly looks like this. While I love our mossy elfin landscape, I do treasure the snow days.) 

Warm, nourishing foods are so important. Skip the cold salads and iced drinks and slowly integrate more warm soups and hearty stews. This can be difficult for people who crave cold, crunchy things; however, slowly training yourself toward enjoying warming food and drink will have a huge payoff. Warming foods improve digestion, the home of Spleen Qi, whereas cold food and drinks weaken digestion. Warm foods, especially those cooked low and slow, are easier to digest and promote the flow of nourishment throughout the body. Bring awareness to your belly before, and during, enjoying a meal. Is there tension in your gut? Bring breath here. Relax your belly, and direct your intention toward eating your meal with ease. 

(A typical autumn or winter day in the forest. Misty and magical.)

Meaningful Pauses throughout the day can help counter stress. If your work or parenting life doesn’t afford you any real breaks during the day to catch your breath, do whatever you can to take brief moments, I mean that quite literally, even half a minute. It might sound ridiculous that a pause of even a few seconds can make a difference to your well being; but try it. This is something I’ve done when my own stress is high. Recently, I spent a few days in the hospital with my dear, sweet grandmother who was flown by helicopter to the ER. It was an extremely stressful few days without seemingly any relief. I decided to take my own advice. To my amazement, even ten or twenty second pauses several times through the day while standing in a loud, crowded emergency room helped. I’d close my eyes and take long, deep breaths, which helped me come back to myself over and over again, leaving me more centered and clear-headed. From this place, I was able to make better decisions (decisions that had to be made fast) and was able to remain steady and clear once I implemented this 'meaningful pause' practice. Set an alert in your phone to remind you to take a meaningful pause or write a note on your hand, and try taking just a few seconds if that’s all you have, to come back to yourself. When taking these meaningful pauses, I direct my focus to remembering the sacred order of life. This alone grounds me.  Leave a comment below and let me know if you tried this practice. 

(Forest resident, close-up.) 

Winter movement is critical, especially if you don’t feel like it and abhor winter. Gentle movement such as walking outside not only resets your natural melatonin production as mentioned above, but movement in general improves immune function and helps maintain muscle strength and balance. Walking in the rain or snow can be invigorating. The fresh air is good for your respiratory system because it lowers the concentration of airborne germs, and it also improves mood. Once again, this doesn’t have to be a long walk. Even short, ten or fifteen minute walks once or twice a day can make a huge difference in developing appreciation, instead of avoidance and resentment, toward the season. Getting outside with the intention to connect with the natural world with a sense of wonder and awe reminds us of what it means to be human. The natural world is alive, and has so much to tell us if only we made the time and psychic space to listen. Most of my most life-changing insights came while walking outside. 

(View from the end of my road. Douglas Fir trees and the ocean.) 

Sleep and hibernation are the natural invitations of winter. The tendency to sleep and rest more during the winter is the innate wisdom of our being taking its cue from Mother Nature. It’s important to conserve energy and sleep a bit more at this time of year in order to build energy for spring. While it’s so tempting to cozy in for the night watching hours of television, closing down devices an hour before you aim to go to sleep improves the quality of sleep. Also, aim to stop eating three hours before laying down for bed for a more restful night. If you do wake in the night, instead of resisting wakefulness, tell your brain that even though you are not sleeping, you welcome non-sleep-deep-rest. Perform a body scan, send loving messages to your body, breathe so your exhalations are longer than your inhalations. Make this time restorative, and direct kindness toward yourself. 

(Favourite morning hike spot). 

Winter as the sacred pause 

We are too often divorced from the quiet invitation of winter. Slow down, go within. It’s a time for contemplation and reflection. A time of inward focus, to hear the holy invitation from the inner forces that guide us. Just as nature pauses to prepare for spring, so too, must we pause and tend the soil of our innerworld. This is a time to journal, contemplate, and reflect on the year that is coming to a close. This isn’t the season to take action, but rather, take stock on where you are now. 

Herbs for Winter 

Garlic was known as “Russian penicillin” during World War 1 because it was so effective in treating infected wounds when antibiotics were not available. My grandfather loved to tape a fresh clove onto warts, rub garlic juice on our feet to get rid of colds, and chop it raw into our pasta dishes all throughout winter to stave off colds. While I did not enjoy all this as a child, now as an adult, I crave raw garlic in my pasta :) When the cloves are bruised or crushed, garlic produces a byproduct compound called allicin. This compound is mainly responsible for its antibiotic activity. Garlic stimulates immune function, lowers blood pressure and also cholesterol counts. For these long-term conditions, consider taking garlic capsules. Herbalists use it in formulas for active bacterial infection, in which case it should be used raw (whole crushed or as a juice). I also love it as one of the main ingredients, along with its cousin onion, in Fire Cider. 

Ginger has been used as food and medicine for thousands of years. References for this powerful rhizome have been found in ancient Sanskrit and Chinese texts, as well as in ancient Greek, Roman, and Arabic medical literature. My favourite way to take ginger daily through the winter is easy: I simply grate a teaspoon of fresh ginger into a mug, and pour boiling water overtop. Add a spoonful of honey and a squeeze of lemon, and you have one of the most delicious (and inexpensive) warm drinks of the season. There is nothing like freshly grated ginger tea! Traditionally, Ginger has been used for indigestion, gas, colic and nausea. It can also bring great relief for menstrual cramps, loss of appetite and poor circulation. Ginger is a diffusive stimulant; meaning it is a metabolic (heating) and circulatory enhancing agent that re-inforces the therapeutic activity of other herbs. It's also an ingredient in Fire Cider. 

Cinnamon is yet another herb that has been used for thousands of years as both food and medicine. There are over one hundred different varieties of cinnamon trees in the world, but the two that are commercially available are C. Cassia and  C. zeylanicum which is considered the “true cinnamon",  and is also known ceylon cinnamon. I like to add cinnamon to porridge, milk, and stews. In clinic, I make a beautiful extract of cinnamon for many therapeutic indications that call for a warming circulatory stimulant and blood sugar regulation. You can add it to tea to reduce fevers. And look for the essential oil and apply to a toothache, just as you would use clove oil. Studies show cinnamon has the ability to decrease insulin resistance and lower blood sugar levels, one of the reasons I add it to high carbohydrate sweet treats. I also add it to all my digestive tonics and teas to relieve gas pain and ease that feeling of fullness after a big meal. I also love to combine it with cardamom, an herb that also has a warming, circulating action, in teas, porridge, and desserts. 

What are your favourite herbs for winter? Do you have any special practices? I'll share more of my soul-nourishing practices soon. Including my New Years practice.

Sending love and cozy sweaters,

Seraphina