"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 period of storage is vital, as it allows the organism to rest and repair from its long seasons of activity. Although winter can be harsh, lonely, and isolating, it can also teach us how to relax and withdraw into a womb-like love.

In Traditional Chinese medicine, winter expresses the water element. Physically, winter qigong practices focus on the kidneys and 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/Tai Chi practices for winter emphasize silence and inward reflection, sleeping for more extended periods, taking naps, self-massage, 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 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 on a winter journey through soothing physical practices and stillness practices to help you reconnect with yourself. Qigong/Tai Chi is a complete practice of body, mind, and spirit.

All my classes include energizing Qigong movements, gentle and restorative Tai Chi Flow, breath awareness, guided meditation, an openness to self-awareness, and a deep dive into what each season teaches us. This practice maps the body, mind, spirit, and energy as an interrelated web of interaction and relationships. It relies on the principle that a part can only be explained by looking at the whole.

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