“The sages follow the laws of Nature and therefore their bodies are free from strange diseases. They do not lose any of their natural functions and their spirit of life is never exhausted.”
- Inner Classic
The ancients remind us that when we live according to the seasons, balance comes more easily. The seasons remind us that we are in it together but also that we are unique. Each of us has our own way of sensing, interpreting and communicating with ourselves and with the world. Only when we are balanced as individuals do we fully connect within ourselves and as integral parts of a marriage, a partnership, a family, or a community. Living in harmony with each season powerfully effects our health and well-being. In this way, when we are centered, we remember what it means to be human and the necessity of our part to the whole.
The darker, cold days of winter invite us to slow down, go inward and to reflect. With our feet firmly planted in the present, we embrace being more than doing. Our movement is more internal than external. It is a time to compassionately observe the results of our year’s actions in body, speech and mind. Quietly gazing into a fire during the longest nights of the year dispels judgements and fear, and summons our spirit as we spend time learning something of ourselves, remembering what nourishes who we are and considering what does not, and wondering what is our unique purpose relative to all we are bound to.
Winter’s cadence is one of profound mystery, where energies resonate slowly in the depths. Things rot and transform to become food for seemingly dormant roots and things unseen. As we discern the dimensions of the limits we’ve experienced throughout the year, including and especially where we’ve fallen short of being ourselves, our center becomes knowable. We use our intention to sit, slow our minds and compassionately pay attention. Physical discomforts ask us to listen to what our body is saying. Unresolved emotions find purpose here if they move. Feelings come and go, but if we can sit still long enough to listen from within to the deepest source of their expression, the opportunity for refinement is palpable and there we find our work. True well-being does not exorcise its adversaries, it offers them a seat at our table. We discover that the difficult moments strengthen our innate capacities to become more ourselves. Such a worthy seasonal endeavor stirs our health rather than shakes it. And this is how we learn what precisely restores our balance so that with Spring, we be-come, renewed.
Whether moving through the seasons or the years, as humans, being, balance is dynamic and relative. Just as there is no one “right” way to be, there is no one “right” way to eat apart from considering the season. What’s important is our willingness to understand ourselves and to learn what keeps us centered at any given time. We are expansive beings after all. We are nourished by our capacity to digest as much by the food we eat and the water we drink, as we are by the air we breathe and the thoughts we think. We are, right now, a collection of our choices which has led us to this very moment. Everything is connected.
Ancient Eastern thought not only honors the cohesive relationship between the tangible and the intangible, but remembers humans’ connection and obligation to the natural world that exists within and without us. From a Classical Chinese medical perspective, we observe the principles and interconnected relationships between five elements that can be discerned in ourselves and our world - Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. All of these elements have their own characteristics and dynamically influence each other. Wood burns to create Fire that decomposes into Earth which contains Metals that enrich Water to nourish Wood. Wood is cut by Metal. Metal is melted by Fire. Fire is extinguished by Water. Water is contained by Earth. Earth is penetrated by Wood. Everything is energy.
Constitutionally, each of us resonates with one or sometimes two elements more heavily which, in part, reflects our genetics as well as our tendencies that, when challenged, can sometimes bring us out of balance. When we understand our temperament, we recognize our strengths and are willing to appropriately stretch ourselves in the face of physical, mental, emotional or spiritual challenges such that we mature to become more ourselves. Everything changes.
Each food as well as its method of preparation has its own innate flavors and thermal dynamics which create specific therapeutic actions, properties and abilities to affect the various organ systems of the body. When we are healthy, the foods, flavors and energetics of each season keep us in tune so we can maintain our well-being. In health, a balanced diet focuses on the nourishing Sweet flavor with small amounts of Bitter, Salty, Sour and Pungent foods. When symptoms give way, however, imbalance is made manifest and the dietary focus shifts to the predominance of one or sometimes two flavors and cessation of flavors that exacerbate a condition. This is how we utilize the flavors to bring us back to our particular elemental equilibrium. Food is medicine.
The Water element rules winter and is associated with the Bladder and Kidneys, and is considered the fundamental energy of reproduction and longevity. The cold weather requires more nourishing warmth within while the darker days generally lessen our activity and therefore our caloric needs. To attune to the season, slow cooked stews, warm hearty soups, home made bone broths, cold water fish, small beans, whole grains, root vegetables, roasted nuts, steamed winter greens, tofu, dried, preserved and fermented foods are fortifying. Salt is the flavor of Winter but not too much. The natural salts in seaweeds, miso and soy sauce, millet, barley along with the moderate addition of land or sea salt promotes sinking and centering so that we can store energy during this time. Winter spices like cloves, fenugreek, chives, onions, scallion, anise, ginger, cinnamon, and black pepper are quite moving to support digestion and assimilation so that the energy we store does not stagnate. Too much hot spice, alcohol, coffee and tobacco consumes our essential qi. Too much meat and excess sweet flavored foods and overeating during this time cause sluggishness which is ultimately depleting.
Winter asks us to eat less, sleep more and spend time in quiet contemplation. Hot ritual mineral salts baths warm and relax while salt scrubs exfoliate the dehydrated top layer of dead skin, detoxify and move our lymphatic system. Exercise in the form of yoga, martial arts and warm footed walks in nature are called for. Winter outdoor play during the daylight hours balance the evening’s repose.
Fear, insecurity and overwork consume our vital energy. The antidote to fear, the most primal of emotions, is reflection and meditation. The opposite of fear is Will. When we deliberately take stock of who we are, focus on our strengths, have compassion for our weaknesses, we remember who we are deep down and find nothing to be insecure about, only room to grow. When we continuously expend more energy than our day allows for, we erode our internal cycles and gradually deplete our deepest reserves of energy.
As we move into the new year, after thoughtful reflection, I invite you to write down all that you wish to let go of on a piece of paper and, with gratitude and reverence, safely burn it in a fire allowing your new found lightness to be replaced with an affirmation for yourself or an invocation of who you are willing to become.
I wish you and yours a beautiful season of wellness, love, peace and light.