Stay warm this Winter and Protect your Kidneys
Wisdom from Chinese Medicine
During the winter season, it is important to nurture your body with special care and attention to stay healthy and nourished. In Chinese medicine, each season is associated with a different organ. The organ that needs the most loving care and attention during the cold months is our kidneys.
The kidney’s balance the Yin and Yang energy of the whole body and are said to house our bodies’ most fundamental energy. We need energy to feel strong and healthy.
Nurture your body and take care of your kidneys this winter. Here are six tips:
1. Stay Warm this Winter
It is important to protect the neck, shoulders and back from the chilly, cold wind. Be sure to wear a scarf and a hat that covers your ears. When your ears are warm, your whole body is warm. In Chinese Medicine, protecting ourselves from the cold is extremely important. Aside from making someone sick, it can aggravate existing conditions like arthritis. In the winter the cold can deplete our life force (Qi). Keep warm to prevent and relieve ‘cold’ symptoms. This is important because winter is when we’re most likely to be affected by symptoms considered ‘cold’ in nature, which can include: common colds, fatigue, reduced stamina, and reduced metabolism. Also be sure to avoid sitting on cold surfaces!
2. Nurture your Body and Get More Rest
Winter is the time for us to recharge and to do so, you should do your best to go to bed earlier in the evenings. Much like many animals, winter is the time for us to hibernate, conserve energy, and get more rest than normal. Chinese Medicine teaches the importance of restoration of our body. People are so action-oriented that many of us find it difficult to value rest and the role it plays in our lives. Imagine if we always exerted energy but never restored it? What if we considered resting as part of the restorative action? Just like a vehicle can’t run on empty, neither can we. Taking time to recharge is simply a necessity.
3. Nurture your Kidneys by Massaging your Ears
Okay, It may sound weird, but this is a common (and centuries-old) practice in Chinese Medicine. The ear is the sense organ related to the kidney. When you massage your ears, you’re massaging your entire body with less strength and less effort. A gentle rub of the ear lobes stimulates the nerve endings that lead to the release of endorphins; the feel-good hormone that helps in relieving pain. To massage your ears start from the top of each ear and work your way down slowly to allow the energy to flow. Repeat as needed.
4. Use the Right Salt to Nurture your Body
Salt is the taste associated with strengthening the kidneys. Chinese Medicine teaches that salt is a cooling, grounding, centering flavor. Although salt often gets a bad rap in Western medicine, it is essential for the body, and has many positive effects. We are not talking table salt here, but natural salt such as Himalayan or sea salt. Sea salt is rich in many minerals needed in the body.
5. Gentle Pounding of the Kidneys
Studies have found that stimulating acupuncture points could help to relieve symptoms such as fatigue, depression, and sleep problems. Gentle pounding of the kidneys helps stimulate blood flow, supporting the kidneys in filtering and eliminating toxins. By improving circulation, this not only aids the kidneys but also promotes better overall health. Watch this short video to learn how to gentley pound your kidneys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYKaWzGdf5I
6. Chose foods to Nurture your Kidneys
It is a good idea to use warming herbs and spices for cooking and teas. These include cinnamon, cloves, fennel, ginger, black pepper, cardamom, and anise. Energetically warm foods include garlic, leek, sweet potato, pine-nuts, chicken and coriander. Grapes, leeks and strawberries are also good for supporting, supplementing and tonifying the health of kidneys.
To recap, winter, is associated with the kidneys which holds our body’s most basic and fundamental energy. It is important to nurture your body and pay particular attention to your kidney during the winter season. It is also understood that by harmonizing oneself with the seasons you can stay healthier and prevent disease. With these six tips to nurture your body this winter, you can not only prevent colds and other ailments, you will have peace of mind knowing you are nurturing your body.
To learn more or for a customized consultation please contact our office at: 651-430-0018. You can learn more about Olson Acupuncture Group here: https://olsonacupuncturegroup.com/
