Winterizing the Body
The Traditional Chinese Medicine Approach
by Thea Harlans

     "Winter is dominated by the storage of energy."
-From The Yellow Emperor's Classic

     We winterize our cars, we winterize our homes, but how do we winterize our bodies? We begin our preparations in the three months of autumn when everything in nature reaches maturity. When the weather cools and the wind begins to stir, this is the pivotal point when the yang, or active phase turns into its opposite, the yin or passive phase. Yang represents movement going out and Yin is movement coming in or inertia. Things that stimulate movement are light or Yang, darkness is Yin. We simplify our diets incorporating the foods of fall which have a contracting nature, and utilizing cooking methods focused on consolidating energy; slow cooking with less water over a longer time period.
     Similarly, it is a time to refocus and organize the expansive and sometimes scattered mental and physical habits of the warmer seasons, According to the Yellow Emperor's Classic (we'll call our authority simply "the Yellow Emperor" from here on) when the weather turns harsh, so does the emotional climate. It is important to remain calm and peaceful, to not let yourself slide into depression, to make a smooth transition to winter. This is a time to gather one's spirit and energy, and not allow desires to run wild. It is a time to consolidate and tonify the lungs. The lung energy must be kept full, clean and quiet. The practice of breathing exercises enhances lung qi, a Chinese term for vital energy. One should refrain from smoking (which damages the lungs)-and grief (the emotion of the lung).
     Winter is a time when yin dominates yang, it is a time when all things in nature wither, hide, return home, and enter a resting period. It is the end of all seasons. In nature during the winter, nothing is growing, but plants and animals are active underground. Likewise in people during winter, the energy of the kidneys is gathered, consolidated and stored. It is a time for introspection, rest, deep meditation, a time to refine the spiritual and restore the physical. The Yellow Emperor recommends retiring early and getting up with the sunrise. Desires and mental activities should be kept quiet and subdued. Stay warm, avoid the cold and keep the pores closed. Avoid sweating. The philosophy of the winter season is one of conservation and storage. Living in a cold climate, one must take extra care with one's activities. It is a time to refrain from overusing yang energy, energy going out. Just as people indoors are protected from harsh weather, the yang qi acts as the walls in a house to protect the body. If we give in to impulsive desires and emotions such as anger and irritability, the spirit becomes restless causing the yang qi to disperse, creating breaches at the surface. It is important to be orderly, so that the castle doors are closed, and pathogenic energy cannot invade.
Internal organs have an elemental connection to emotion. Within this context, grief is said to injure the lungs, and fear and shock the kidneys. In light of the events of September 11, our internal organs are vulnerable to injury in the very season when our energies would naturally be devoted to their consolidation and restoration. What practical steps can we take to repair and restore our system after the shock, fear and grief we've experienced?
     In the classics of Chinese medicine, each internal organ has a title and a role. Here is a hierarchy of relationship: The heart is the Sovereign Ruler and represents the consciousness of one's being. It is responsible for intelligence, wisdom and spiritual transformation. The lung is the Prime Minister, the advisor to the Sovereign Ruler. It helps the heart in regulating the body's qi, or energy. The kidneys store vitality and mobilize the four extremities. They also aid the memory, willpower, and coordination. The lungs grasp the qi from the air and mix it with qi extracted from the food we eat, which is then distributed throughout the body. The kidneys must be able to grasp the qi from the lungs to consolidate their vitality. The internal organs must work together harmoniously, just like a kingdom. Consequently, if any member of the kingdom is deficient, the whole is weakened.
     From this discussion one can see the vital role the lungs play in this hierarchy. If the lungs are weak, they are unable to express emotion, and release grief and sadness. This repression then weakens the heart and the kidneys. One of the best ways to revitalize lung qi and to release emotion is by singing. Your musical experience or training is irrelevant-just sing out with a full voice, sing for release, and pay no attention to the quality of the sound. You can sing in the shower, sing along with your favorite cd's, sing in a choir, sing along with recorded chants. Try singing one sound and see how long you can extend the breath: eee - aaa - ahhh - oooh - oooo. Try singing happy birthday, using a full breath for each syllable: haaaa - pyyyyy - birrrrrrth - daaaaay - toooo - yoooo. The lungs need a certain amount of activity for proper respiration and elimination. Rest alone will not restore weak lungs, they need to be exercised. These simple singing exercises can do a lot to tonify the lungs. As you feel stronger you can sing more sounds on one breath, or a longer phrase with one breath.
     Here's a simple way to start strengthening the kidneys. Stand with your feet a shoulder-width apart, and place the palm of your hands on your lower back, just above your waist line. Tip your upper body forward slightly to focus the breath into your lower back. Take some long breaths into your lower abdomen, and try to expand the area under your hands, as if you were inflating an inner tube around your body. Imagine you are drawing the energy up from the sole of your foot (where the kidney meridian begins, at a point called "bubbling spring"), and into the area under your hands. You may feel this area growing very warm as you continue to practice.
     If you have difficulty breathing into your lower abdomen, try making exaggerated "ha - ha - ha" sounds, forcing the breath out on each sound, mimicking a big belly laugh. You might find yourself overcome with spontaneous laughter. Dancing around the house to your favorite music helps release emotion and restore the joy of life.
     Dancing in company is also a good idea. There are many dance events in Northern Dutchess for swing dancing, zydeco, or country where you are welcome with or without a partner. Yoga, Tai Chi, and Qigong all revitalize the body through breathing, so I encourage you to explore these ancient systems. However, you can start with these simple practices at home and increase your self-awareness, until you find a class that suits you.
     Dietary therapy has been a part of Chinese medicine since 1100 BC, and it can easily be incorporated into everyday life. Foods have taste and energetics whose directionality emulates that of the seasons. Congested lungs need cooling foods: apples, pears, seaweeds, watercress, radish, carrot, pumpkin, cabbages, bok choy, cauliflower, chard, chickweed. Soups made with millet, barley, or rice cool and soothe lung heat. Millet and pear can be cooked overnight in a crockpot and be ready for breakfast in the morning, the pear can be added at the end. Pungent food such as hot peppers and chilies can be used cautiously to cleanse and protect the lungs and colon: they disperse the stuck energy of these organs.
     Dry weather, or long-term inflammation or infection, can create dryness in the body and the lungs. Foods that moisten the lungs are soybean products including tofu, tempeh and soymilk; also almonds, pine nut, peanut and sesame seed, eggs, clam, crab, oyster, mussels, herring and pork. Using a little salt in cooking also moistens dryness. Spices and herbs are warming and drying, so use with caution with dry conditions.
     Kidney yin is nurtured by many of the same foods that cool and moisten the lungs, along with black beans, black soybean, mung bean, kidney bean and most other beans. The source and preservation of the yin (body fluids, blood, tissue, and bone) come from the five flavors of food; sweet, sour, pungent, salty, bitter; however, improper use of the five, too much of any one flavor, may injure the organs. Animal products should be eaten in small amounts to avoid over-stimulating or stagnating the liver. If one does not have sufficient body heat (kidney yang) a good vegetarian remedy is to add warming spices-dried ginger, onion and fennel seeds-to a black bean and seaweed soup.
     (The above guidelines are taken from Paul Pitchford's Healing with Whole Foods, which is a good reference book for seasonal eating as well as for using specific food groups to treat acute or chronic illness.)
If we allow ourselves to be open, then we are allowing change and there is endless potential. The body is constantly changing. To get stuck physically, mentally or emotionally is the ultimate cause of disease. Hopefully an idea or two in this column will suggest small ways to explore change in your daily life, and to begin to heal the grief and shock of recent events. To be at peace with the world, we must first be at peace with ourselves and accept ourselves. To be compassionate in the world, we must first be compassionate to ourselves.

     Thea Harlans is a licensed massage therapist who practices Tui-Na-Chinese massage and Chinese medicine-in Rhinebeck and New York City. She has been a student of Dr. Jeffrey Yuen, a Taoist priest, herbalist and cancer specialist, for the last ten years. She has an MFA from Columbia University and an MA from The Manhattan School of Music in performing arts.