Winter rituals for mind and body

One of the strong points of Chinese medicine is that the basis of health stems from balancing one’s internal environment with the external environment. With diet, it becomes important to eat appropriately with the change of season. This means selecting foods associated with the time of year they are harvested, as well as eating warming foods and drinking warming fluids.

Winter is a very yin time of year and the body needs to adjust. Slow cooked foods and nourishing roots are what the body needs to maintain moisture and boost the yang energy in the body. We naturally gravitate towards a more sedentary lifestyle, but that doesn’t mean you have to quit exercising all together. This is a great time to introduce yin balancing exercises like Yoga and Qi Gong.

Chinese medicine practitioners have used Qi Gong, which means “Qi cultivation”, for centuries to boost the immune system. It is a simple and effective system that only takes a few minutes a day. The following exercise, known as “Standing like a Tree”, has been a favourite of ours for preventing illness during the winter months, as well as bolstering the immune system when you are feeling under the weather. It also happens to add a nice glow to your complexion!

Standing like a Tree Instruction:

Posture: Stand with your legs shoulder width apart. Knees should be slightly bent. Tuck in your pelvis and your chin so that your spine becomes straight (imagine a straight line from the top of your head travelling down through the spine, through the anus to the floor). Shoulders are back and down. Most of your weight is on the balls of your feet, but the whole foot rests on the floor. Grip the floor with your toes. Imagine you are hugging a tree or a ball and lift your arms to the level of your navel.

Breath work: Breathe in and out naturally, filling the space between your navel and pubic bone. Your goal is to stand like this for 20 minutes. Begin with 5 minutes and build from there. You may notice that you sweat or your body shakes, all of which are normal reactions. Doing this practice daily can boost your immune system and keep you healthy all year round.

Enjoy your practice!