6 Insights to Cultivate a Healthy Winter Season

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. and Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac.

Near the top of Mount Titlis in the Swiss Alps.

Near the top of Mount Titlis in the Swiss Alps.

We recently returned from a beautiful trip to Switzerland where we felt like we were able to slow down and enjoy the feeling of Winter and the holiday season. Watching snow fall and walking through the Christmas markets transported us into a true Winter Wonderland. 

Being in the cold also reminded us why wintertime is the most appropriate time to become more Yin. This naturally Yin, cold time of the year encourages rest and contemplation, both of which help us consolidate our energy and bring closure to our past.

Winter is the season related to the Kidney system. The Kidneys hold the essential energy of the body, known as Jing, which is related to our DNA and the inner self. We're born with a finite amount of this Jing, so living a healthy, long life requires the conservation of Jing through adequate rest and self-cultivation. 

Winter is the ideal time to cultivate yourself through rest and relaxation in order to consolidate and conserve your energy.

The Kidneys store your Life Gate Fire, called Ming Men; the strongest source of Yang Qi that brings power to your body and motivation to your mind. This energy creates the Zhi, or Willpower, that drives ambition and your will to live.

Finding balance is about the balance between being Yin, at rest, and being Yang, active.

Being too Yin causes stagnation in the body and being too Yang overheats and burns out the body.

On a physical level, the Kidney system includes the kidneys, the adrenal glands, the reproductive organs, the brain, the ears and hearing, and the bones or skeletal structure. 

Since the sex organs are an aspect of the Kidneys, excessive sexual activity has the most direct and exhaustive impact on the Kidney's Qi and releasing sexual fluids also exhausts the Jing, which is your most valuable commodity in life. Through the loss of Yin fluids, the body cannot stay insulated and maintain its heat so the body gets cold and over time the tissues dry up and wrinkle. Thus the decline of Kidney Yin and Yang relates to accelerated aging.

Cultivation practices are essential to consolidate the Kidney's Yin and Yang energies to slow down the aging process.

Self-cultivation practices involve daily exercises that increase flexibility and move Qi such as Qi Gong, Yoga and Tai Chi. In addition, emptying the mind through daily Meditation practice is the most powerful and important practice to allow the body's deepest energies to circulate. 

The Winter Solstice marks a change of seasons through the longest night of the year. 

While New Year's resolutions are powerful, Winter is not the time to bring new ideas and plans to fruition.

The seasonal energy of Winter is about going within ourselves and consolidating our energy so we have the power to sprout our intentions during the following, Yang season of Spring.

6 Insights to Help You Have a Healthy Winter Season

1) Go to bed early and sleep, sleep, sleep. Resting and deep, uninterrupted sleep help consolidate your Yin energy to support regeneration at this time of year. For those who have difficulty sleeping well, Chinese herbal medicine and Essential Oils are often very effective to cool and relax your Liver and nourish your Heart blood to support a calm mind for restful sleep.

2) Nurture your Earth digestive energy (Spleen and Stomach Qi) with cooked foods, including lots of soup and stews. This is important during every seasonal transition. Avoid cold, raw food and drinks which reduce your digestive energy and lower your body's core temperature.

Here's a healing Rice Congee recipe: Bring 7 cups water or chicken stock to a boil and then slowly simmer 1 cup long-grain white rice. Cook for about an hour stirring every 15-20 minutes. Add water if necessary to keep it soupy. Add bone broth, ginger slices, green scallion onions and any type of meat or eggs as desired. Eating a cup of congee at end of each meal is very potent medicine to strengthen a weak digestive system. 

Salvador practicing Qi Gong on a crisp morning in Oberohringen, Switzerland

Salvador practicing Qi Gong on a crisp morning in Oberohringen, Switzerland

3) Keep your body's core temperature warm to protect the Life Gate Fire of the Kidneys. If you’re feeling cold, increase your body's metabolism by eating more warming meats such as lamb, beef, pork, buffalo and wild game like venison, elk and moose.  It's also important to keep your feet, head and belly warm to preserve your Kidney Qi. 

4) Exercise to boost your metabolism and circulation but don't exhaust yourself or sweat too much. Sweating excessively dries up your Yin fluids. Practice more Qi Gong, Yoga and Tai Chi to move and strengthen your Qi. Click here to join us for our special New Year's Eve Yoga-Qi Gong class. You can also learn more and register for the one-of-a-kind Yin Yoga Immersion with Dr. Moafi in the new year by clicking here.

5) Meditate daily and focus on what's good in your life. What we focus on expands, so stay positive by keeping a daily journal of gratitude to help highlight all the good things in your life each day. In addition, 10-15 minutes of daily meditation helps to begin the process of emptying the mind. This simple 10 minute meditation will help get you started. 

6) Bring completion to things in your life. This is a great time to let go of a bad relationship or job that keeps you feeling stuck and unfulfilled so you can harvest and create space for those new plans to sprout forth in the coming Spring. Winter is the time for bringing closure when there are loose ends tying up your energy.

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Thank you for helping make our year so special. Wishing you and your loved ones a nourishing Winter and holiday season!

With love,

Setareh & Salvador

Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac. is the Founder & Co-Director of A Center for Natural Healing in Santa Clara, California, a health and wellness clinic run by he and his wife, Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. that specializes in Classical Chinese Medicine. Salvador is a leading U.S. practitioner of Japanese Meridian Therapy, a rare form of non-insertion Acupuncture using Gold & Silver needles. More information at www.acenterfornaturalhealing.com.

Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. is Co-Owner and Director of A Center for Natural Healing in Santa Clara, California, a health and wellness clinic that specializes in Classical Chinese Medicine and Traditional Japanese Acupuncture. Dr. Moafi offers clinical services and transformational workshops that blend the ancient practices of Classical Chinese Medicine and Yoga. More information at www.setarehmoafi.com and www.acenterfornaturalhealing.com. 

Understanding Yin & Yang in Your Body

by Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac.

At the core of Chinese Philosophy and Chinese Medicine is the fundamental principle of Yin and Yang. 

The concept of Yin and Yang is often attributed to the philosophical traditions of Daosim. This holds true for the theory of Five Elements as well. These major theoretical concepts were, however, all established by the School of Naturalism that predated Daoism. This school was also called the School of Yin and Yang. The first mention of Yin and Yang are found in the I Ching, a book of cosmology established by this school, dating back to 700 B.C.

The ideas of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements were established as theoretical principles in order to understand the cosmos and man’s relation to the cosmological forces found in nature. Yin and Yang are symbolized by the black and white divisions within a circle, indicating the circle of life and the movement of energy from one basic form into another.

As described in Chapter 1 of the Dao de Ching: "From nothing, came the one, the Ether that was the first Essence of life.  From the one, formed the two and from the two creates the myriad of all things."

This is how Yin and Yang are considered the fundamental principles of life and creation. 

Yin represents the substantial resources of life while Yang is the motivating force that works with these resources. Yang is about action, Yin is about substance. From the Chinese philosophical creation idea, first comes the force, the Qi, the Yang aspect creating a constrictive energetic field. As this constrictive field gathers, the condensation of gas creates the dust that densifies into matter. In this way, Yang initiates the formation of Yin. In other words, function creates form.

Prior to planetary matter were clouds of gas. Yang is the gaseous state, the Heaven. Yin is the state of particles creating matter, our Earth.

As the Earth forms, matter collects together into a sphere with its gaseous state contained within its center. The magmatic core found within the Earth equates to the core energetic center that is called the “Dan Tian” or “Elixir Field” in the body of humans. The Dan Tian, located below the navel, is the most powerful energetic force within the body that maintains optimal function and preserves the integrity of form.

When using the terms Yin and Yang to describe personality types, these definitions do seem contrary. For example, a Yin personality type is more constricted or constrained and in its extreme state an introvert whereas a Yang personality type is very expressive and in its extreme negative state rather manic or belligerent.

The more Yang, the more expressive and the more Yin, the more reserved. 

There are four basic principles of Yin and Yang. 

  1. Yin and Yang are oppositional forces.

  2. Yin and Yang are interdependent and cannot exist without the support of each other.

  3. Yin and Yang are mutually creative as one energetic movement can transform into the other.

  4. Yin and Yang are mutually consumptive forces as each will consume the other as it becomes over predominant.

These are the fundamental aspects of YIn and Yang that form the basis for understanding the forces influencing and shaping our selves and our lives. These principles of Yin and Yang are the basic building blocks that guide us to create balance in body and mind.

Yin relates to contraction and introversion, darkness, coldness, feminity and alkalinity.

Yang relates to expansion and expression, brightness, warmth, masculinity and acidity. 

If a person is too Yang, overactive and overstimulated with work, exercise, sex and drugs such as caffeine, cocaine, or energy drinks, this can lead to excessive heat in the body. Excessive heat or acidity in the body will burn the body out.

Over time, too much Yang will lead excess Yin as overactivity will create fatigue and lethargy. Hypo-metabolism will potentially result with lowered thyroid and adrenal function.

In this way, balancing activity (Yang) with rest (Yin) is essential to creating a balanced, healthy life.

Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac. is Founder & Co-Director of A Center for Natural Healing in Santa Clara, CA, a wellness clinic that specializes in Classical Chinese Medicine & Japanese Meridian Therapy, a rare non-insertion form of Acupuncture. More information at www.acenterfornaturalhealing.com.