Traditional Chinese Medicine Tips for the Holidays
The holidays are rich with celebration, indulgent foods, delicious drinks. While we should enjoy this time with our families and friends, the ways we help keep our bodies in balance during this season that is meant for restoration affects our health and wellbeing in the following Spring and Summer.
1.) Sleep early, sleep well.
In Chinese Medicine (and Ayurvedic!) the amount of sleep you get isn't the only consideration when it comes to proper sleep hygiene. It is thought that to build qi, going to sleep between the hours of 8-10 optimally sync with your energy cycles, especially in the dark season. Going to bed between the hours of 10-2, even if you are getting 8+ hours of sleep can still leave your body feeling drained and depleted.
2.) Balance your food and beverage intake by being mindful of "Heatiness" in your body.
Eating heavy indulgent foods, drinking alcohol and staying up late can all increase what's known in Chinese Medicine as "Heat" in your body (western terminology refers to this as inflammation). You can balance out heatiness by prioritizing moderate excercise (outdoors is best!), getting adequate sleep, and consuming cooling foods, like our Clearing Heat Herbal Soup, a (delicious!) vegan herbal soup with Chinese ingredients like Nightblooming Cereus, Green Mung Bean, and Sarsparilla that are known to clear heat and reduce inflammation in the body.
3.) Take care of your immune system
In Chinese Medicine, a strong immune system is a happy bi-product of balanced Yin and Yang energy. Keeping your hands, feet, head and abdomen warm (especially for women on their period) is essential to keeping balance during the winter months and maintaining a thriving immune system. If you start to feel a cold coming on, you can consume easy to digest foods like porridges, and soups with immune boosting ingredients like our Four Seasons Wellness Herbal Soup
4.) If this season brings difficult experiences and stress for you, recognize that being human is layered and complicated, and it's okay to lean into whatever practices help you find balance.
