"WINTER RENEWAL AND REMEMBERING WELLNESS"

As we say goodbye to the Fall season, we enter the Winter season. This is a period of descent and rest, of going within our homes and ourselves. Like nature and the animal kingdom around us, this time of hibernation is necessary for our tired limbs and burdened minds. Although the winter can be harsh, lonely, and isolating, it can also teach us how to take away the distractions and the buzz and present us with the perfect time to rest and withdraw into a womb-like love.

In Traditional Chinese medicine, winter expresses the water element. Physically, winter qigong practices focus on the organs of the kidneys and the bladder.  In your body, the water element mainly affects your kidneys, urinary bladder, fluids, spinal cord, bone marrow, and brain.

During this period, all of nature is in a state of stillness and hibernation.  Therefore, it's the best time of year to conserve energy and nourish your qi.  Qigong practices for winter emphasize silence and inward reflection, sleeping more extended hours, taking naps, self-massaging, and maintaining internal warmth throughout the organs.

 The kidneys are considered the body's energy batteries. They also rule the water element by regulating its distribution and excretion through bodily fluids, urine, and blood.

Because the kidneys are so critical to our vitality in the winter, the qigong classics suggest that we pay extra attention to conserve our energy.

Winter teaches us to become still and awaken the awareness of our senses.  Meditation is one of the best practices to attune your energy with the yin energy of winter… then the new year will begin again around the corner. Like a seed planted in the earth, we will all rise with renewed energy again to dance in the sunlight.

Join me as I take you on the winter journey through soothing physical practices and stillness practices that help you reconnect to yourself. Qigong is a complete practice of body, mind, and spirit.

Life is a gift; let us live it well with awareness and grace.