How to Stay Healthy This Winter

By Angel Clark | January 6, 2019 |

How to Stay Healthy This Winter

According to Ancient Chinese Medicine

According to the Ancient Chinese, human beings thrive when they live in harmony with the natural cycles of their environment. The cold and darkness of winter urges us to slow down. This is the time of year to reflect on our health, replenish our energy, and conserve our strength.

During the winter months it is important to nurture and nourish ourselves. Our bodies are instinctively expressing the fundamental principles of winter – rest, reflection, conservation, and storage.

Foods for Winter

It’s best to emphasize warming foods during the Winter months:

Soups and stews
Root vegetables
Beans
Miso and seaweed
Garlic and ginger

Avoid raw foods and cold drinks during the winter as much as possible, as these tend to cool the body. Eating warm hearty soups, whole grains, and roasted nuts help to warm the body’s core and to keep us nourished. Sleep early, rest well, stay warm, and expend a minimum quantity of energy.

Staying Healthy This Winter

Seasonal changes affect the body’s balance. With the wind, rain, and low temperatures comes the colds, flu, aches, and pains.Here are a few tips to staying healthy this winter:

Wash your hands regularly. Studies have shown that one of the main reasons that we catch colds and flu in the winter season is that we are indoors and in closer proximity to others in cold weather. Protect yourself by washing your hands regularly and try not to touch your face.

Get more sleep. The ancients advised people to go to sleep early and rise late, after the sun’s rays have warmed the atmosphere a bit. This preserves your own active body energy for the task of warming yourself in the face of cold.

Reduce stress. Find a way to relax and release stress on a daily basis. Such methods may include yoga, meditation, simple relaxation therapy, or whatever method you use to release the stress and pressures of modern life.

Build up your Protection

Acupuncture can prevent colds and flu by building up the immune system with just a few needles inserted into key points along the body’s energy pathways. Chinese Herbal formulas can help you prevent a cold by strengthening your immune system (protective energy) to defend itself against the winter elements and viral pathogens.If you’ve already happened to catch that cold, acupuncture and herbal medicine can also help with the chills, sniffles, sore throat, or fever in a safe, non-toxic way that doesn’t bombard your body with harmful antibiotics. Acupuncture does not interfere with Western medical treatment. On the contrary, it provides a welcome complement to it in most cases, and with its emphasis on treating the whole person, recovery time for illness is often shortened.

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