The cold winter, Warm life

Source:learnchinese.sg

Staying >warm in winter the TCM way means keeping warm, avoiding the cold, getting plenty of sunlight, doing gentle exercise and eating yang (hot energy) foods.

Note: All those young women in short skirts and short jackets are losing their vital "hot" (yang) energy for the sake of fashion. The best advice is to wear more clothes.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, the major principle for health maintenance in winter is cang (storing) because yang keeps the body warm and active.

Sunshine is a major source of yang energy in the universe, and ancient TCM principles call for arranging one's schedule accordingly, with respect to sunrise and sunset.

Yang energy is consumed when people are awake and active and it is stored during sleep. Therefore, the first principle of storing energy is to get up late (or later than usual) and to go to bed early. One should wait for the yang-giving sunshine, according to "Huang Di Nei Jing" ("The Medical Classic of the Yellow Emperor"), the fundamental text of TCM.

Eating various nuts can help reinforce yang (hot) energy in winter.

As the sun rises later in winter than in other seasons, the idea is to get up no earlier than 7am. These ancient principles date from agrarian times when people lived closer to nature: Obviously modern people don't go to bed when the sun sets.