Winter Regimen

About winter regimen

In Chinese Lunar Calendar, winter includes the 10th month, the 11th month and the 12th month.

In 2007, winter is from November 11th to January 6th,2008

Regimen principle in winter.

In winter,trees and other green plants are withered,vital force is latent and closely stored. Yang Qi of our body is also stored inside with the nature's change. Yang Qi is just like the Sun. The Sun gives light and warm to the nature. The world won't exist without it. Without the Yang Qi,we'll lost the ability of metabolism. So,we should acclimate nature's latent rule,take collecting Yin and protecting Yang as the base in winter.

Spirit:

Keep spirit and emotion quiet. Avoid being bothered and rush action. So that the Yang Qi in our body is stored.

Living:

Sleep earlier and get up late. Make sure enough sleep. "cultivation and store" are important in winter's living. To prevent cold,you can do as the following guide:

• In the morning wash face with cold water
• At night wash and deep feet with warm-hot water
• Wash mouth with brine in the morning and at night. This will kill bacteria in the mouth.
• Go for appropriate outdoor activities to improve constitution.
• Two palms face to face,rub to warm-hot, then massage Ying-Xiang-point on nose and Yong-quan-point on foot.(see pics).
• Open windows of your living room at least 30mins to make sure ventilation.
• Drink Brown sugar with Ginger Soup before sleep.(30g brown sugar,3g ginger,boil 3mins in water)
• Wear more clothes in the morning and at night

Diet:

It's cold and easy to be affected by coldness and chill in winter, so don't eat too much cold and raw food to avoid to spoil Yang Qi of spleen and stomach.

Increase heat but don't eat too dry and too hot food. Diet principle should nourish Yin and protect Yang. Make sure enough heat to balance the heat needed in resisting cold and maintaining labor intension. So the increased heat should come from the fat and carbohydrate intake. Protein intake should maintain under the normal temperature level. In the meantime,we should eat more fresh fruits and vegetables which contain much vitamin C.

Eat more bitter food while eat less salty food. This will nourish Yang in our heart.In winter if we eat too much salty food,the Yang in heart will be hurt because of too much Yin in our kidney.

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