Winter Advice for SuperWomen by Elizabeth Carpenter, MS, L.Ac., CEFP

Winter is the most yin of seasons. In Chinese medicine, winter is the season of water, of sinking and depth. The plan, if we look about in nature, is quiet, rest and renewal. Snow blankets the earth creating silence. Ice freezes water’s movement above ground. Yet below the surface big things are happening. Underground rivers feed and assist germination, preparing the way for the burst of creation we call spring.

Associations with the water element: the kidneys and adrenals, reproduction and life stages, bones, the fear-trust opposition dynamic, deep understanding of who we are, deep health programming and genetics.

Winter begs us to follow nature’s lead. Chinese cosmology tells us we humans are not above natural law, even if we’re Superwomen! Fertility issues, difficult hormonal transitions and issues, immune challenges, premature aging, lack of energy and many of the psycho-emotional ailments are considered issues of water imbalanced or under-performing, according to Chinese medicine.

We westerners like to flaunt nature. We SuperWomen are sure we can do it all. We overwork and push ourselves to the limit in every season. We forget to eat or fail to eat nourishing foods. We consider sleep, relaxation time and alone time….luxuries. And we exercise like it’s a competition out of will power.

Yet, if we are brave enough to listen, by heeding winter’s call we have opportunity to heal deep matters, balance hormones, regain energy, restore fertility, turn things around, thrive!

Winter’s Advice for SuperWomen

• Dance with your shadows ~ know yourself more deeply, go into your dark places and take ownership of them. We are more psychologically tuned in during winter.
• 20 minutes a day ~ hot bath and tea…the soothing nourishing heat is restorative and the mind wandering, alone time heals mental-emotional tension
• Slow down and stop pushing ~ less on the calendar whenever possible, less pushing through, more downtime and quiet time, more sleep.
• Store up energy ~ spring is coming and that season invites you to breakthroughs, high energy creative pursuits, and to get in the game!
• Quickie Diary ~ remember the therapeutics of this as a girl? Dump your mind in your journal, pour your heart out . . . watch the surprises tumble out . . . no judgments or premeditation, no need for punctuation or perfection . . . feel the difference in the load you carry!

“The wise nourish life by flowing with the four seasons and adapting to cold and heat, by harmonizing joy and anger in a tranquil dwelling, by balancing yin and yang, and what is hard and soft. So it is that dissolute evil cannot reach the man of wisdom, and he will be witness to a long life.”

— from the Huang Di Nei Jing, Su Wen (The Yellow Emperor’s Classic on Internal Medicine, Simple Questions; circa 200 BCE)

For more of the deep stuff, we invite you to read Sandra’s gems on the fear-trust opposition dynamic.