This article is based on ancient text about how we should take care in winter.
Table of Contents
Introduction
In my previous article, I explained the natural way of living in autumn following the laws of nature and the repercussions on faces if the same is defied. Now it’s time to start preparation for winter. It sounds too late to mention about beginning of winter but nature has plans that didn’t follow the earlier rule that I mentioned. 3-month rule for each season. Where winter would start somewhere in November and slowly finish off at the beginning of February leaving a tail of cold winds giving birth to a windy spring.
Characteristic of Winter
Winter is the most extreme of all seasons, it leads to slowly killing of life, causing stagnation. When I say killing it means the life slowly moves towards hibernation. Moving deeper into the earth. The main reason for this is due to the positioning of the sun farthest away from Earth. In indian scriptures, there is mention of Dakshinayan and Uttarayan which is the movement of the sun towards the south which means the sun will slowly diminish in intensity hence summer will transit to winter. Hence this period is termed inauspicious.
The inauspicious aspect of this concept is that the diminishing solar energy will lead to the death of life on earth and our metabolism also slows down. Hence the natural boost of energy that one gets from the sun which helps in kickstarting and running our body slowly diminishes. As we know from a basic understanding, life on a planet is based on the availability of a perfect amount of solar radiation.
Life breathes into the planet. Sun goes away life rests or dies. We in today’s reality don’t pay enough attention to the sun nor give enough credit and importance to the Sun for its grace on earth and for making us alive. We find ways to avoid the sun and go away from the one life-giving entity in the name of radiation.
Let us look at the TCM aspect of winter and its effects on our daily life. The book 《黄帝内经》The Yellow Emperors Classic of Internal Medicine describes beautifully with a few verses the way of the winter.
The Yellow Emperor Classic Insights Into Winter Lifestyles
冬三月， 此谓闭藏，水冰地坼， 勿扰乎阳。
This explained in simpler words would be, that the winter has 3 months of its influence. This influence is not exact. Chinese traditional text has a way of expression where they don’t mention specific but generalize an idea so that people don’t get fixated on it.
As the Book of Change 《易经》says the only thing constant in the universe is change. And that change is inevitable. If so how can we fixate and limit ourselves in this ever-changing timeline? Hence, Chinese philosophers although appear to mention very specific terms, their meanings are widely flexible to the changing times.
These three months of winter are termed as close and store. Closing and storing is a process used in farming. As mentioned in my last post Autumn farming is a process that involves 4 stages: Birth, growth, collection, and storage. Spring is birth, summer is growth, Autumn is collection and winter is storing.
After we collect the grains we need to store them in place for future use. To store also implies the energy of a body of humans as well as animals. In the animal world, we notice most of the wild species of animals tend to retrieve themselves into hibernation during winter.
This process can last for months and their body doesn’t need to expend energy in the form of heat to fight the cold. Once the winter passes these animals can resume their activities. This is common in most cold-blooded animals as it’s easier for them to hibernate through the winter.
The water turns to ice due to cold and the earth or the ground cracks open. When that happens the life ceases to exist. This refers to plant life dwelling on these floors. And due to freezing water, the plants also lack the water supply so they wither to nothingness and wait for the spring to spring them back to life.
In Winter especially during extreme winter in most countries with extreme climates, the sun is barely visible, and mostly a cloudy day prevails. Hence it is said the day is not disturbed by the sun. When the sunlight ceases to exist life becomes difficult to thrive hence utmost caution is needed to survive and remain healthy in winter.
早卧晚起，必待日光，使志若伏，若匿，若有私意，若已有得。
Extreme importance is given to the time of sleep and waking up. During winter the days are shorter and nights are longer hence our sleep should tune in with this change of nature. Sync our biological clock such that we sleep early and wake up late.
The simple rule is “Sleep With Sun Wake Up With Sun” which applies to all the seasons not only winter. In winter the sun sets early so we should sleep early mainly to sustain energy and wake up late after the sun rises. The waking up time is very variable as it depends on the geological location of the country.
Sunrise is the ideal time for waking up. In the olden days with a rooster as the alarm clock, Villagers would wake up after the rooster. The reason for such tradition is that the rooster’s biological clock is set along the sun.
The next four words emphasize the importance of waiting for the sunlight to hit the earth. This is because as mentioned above the sun is the source of Yang which is the energy of movement. The energy kick start required to carry out daily activity is achieved not from coffee or tea but the sunlight.
Once you have a nice sunbath in the morning your battery is charged for the whole day. It is said that such a packet of solar radiation is enough to carry out daily activities without even needing food. But these are things of the past when body and mind were simple and daily activities were limited to outdoors.
志 (zhi) implies will which is executed. we think about doing certain tasks with high energy and being able to execute them well. Here in winter the text however asks readers to not let that “will” go loose and engage in unnecessary activity. The “will” or “zhi” must be subtle. It is as if the “will” is prostate and lay low. As if it’s hidden away concealed.
The reason for this is, that winter in 5 elements is attributed to water as water nature is cold. The kidney is also represented by water with similar properties. Among the Five Spirits mentioned in the TCM text 神(Shen)，魂(hun)，魄(po)，意(yi)，志(zhi), Zhi belongs to the kidney.
Hence it is said a strong-willed person has a strong base or strong core. as their kidney is strong. This spirit has to be concealed and not let loose hence during winter the natural energy strongly affects kidney energy or essence hence the will has to be controlled and activities minimised.
The next few lines describe the way how our will and our spirit should be in a very beautiful comparison. It is said that our will should be as if we are hiding something. As if we have a hidden intent. An intent hidden is as good as well hidden. Further, it says it can also be compared to feeling when something is already achieved. It implies a feeling of self-satisfaction after achieving something, which also means that our will has already borne fruit.
We can take it in as when you have a strong will you will waste a lot of energy to execute it in winter trying to achieve it but when you have a feeling of satisfaction of completing a task you will not go to that extent. So controlling your will is equivalent to feeling you have already achieved something.
去寒就温，无泄皮肤，使气极夺，此冬气之应，养藏之道也。
Try to keep warm. Keeping warm and staying away from cold is essential for warm-blooded animals like us. This in today’s world is achieved with air conditioning and heaters, thick woolen clothes, and good food. In earlier days people used to light fire in warm caves to stay warm.
Food was scarce hence food was collected and stored for winter. Hunting and agriculture were not possible in winter so people had a sense of future preparation and were never unprepared. In ancient times unprepared means starvation and death. Nowadays due to the abundance of comfort, we don’t realize the essence of preparing ourselves for worse circumstances.
Even animals and birds migrate in winter to warmer places to avoid the cold wrath of winter.
In later ages during the era before these texts were written, most people had an understanding of certain Yogic or Daoist practices which allowed them to stay warm in extreme winters. Slowly with the development of technology such skills diminished and became the luxury of only sadhu in the Himalayan mountains. And we city dwellers have become reliant on gadgets and machines so much that we can’t even stand the simple cold.
During winter it’s forbidden to practice any kind of sports activity which can lead to sweating. In winter, the pores are closed to prevent the dissipation of heat from the body to maintain the inner temperature necessary for optimum functioning of our organs. If in such cold conditions, we engage ourselves in extreme sweating this will lead to the opening of pores and the release of heat. And simultaneously by the rule of nature, the cold gust of wind will force itself into our body causing numerous cold syndromes.
This not only applies to winter but also to doing extreme workouts in Gyms with extremely cold air conditioning. Most people today don’t realize this simple disorder-causing factor that leads to complications. The secret of cold is that it doesn’t cause us to fall ill right away. It slowly accumulates over a period of time and then one day manifests as severe problems like headaches, backaches, stomach problems, Painful menses, etc.
When such a thing happens when we sweat in the extreme cold our energy, protective qi which is responsible for guarding our fortress called the skin is taken by force and we are unable to protect ourselves from diseases. This same qi in modern terms is called the first line of defense (immunity of the dendritic cells) when damaged the cold causes symptoms of fever common cold or even corona.
This is the way of the winter. The way to tackle winter and respond to the change of nature. The way of concealing our energy for a better future.
逆之则伤肾， 春为痿厥，奉生者少。
Lastly text talks about the repercussions we may face if we don’t follow these laws. If we go against the law of nature nature will punish us is the absolute truth. If we don’t embrace the change the time will make sure we suffer. When we oppose these laws we tend to damage the kidney qi the very essence of life.
The kidney is our life-force our very existence depends on the essence held by kidney energy. If that is damaged the suffering will occur in spring. Spring is the next season in line. Attributing to Liver. The liver is responsible for the control of muscle and tendons. If the kidney essence is not nourished in winter then the energy wasted will damage the liver hence lacking the energy to sustain in spring. Hence wind prevalent in the spring season will have a heavy influence on weak liver qi causing it to lose control over muscles, hence a severe weakness of limbs and paralysis will occur.
It’s a common factor noticed in many of the cases where people lose control over their limbs in cold countries in spring or the end of winter. To prevent such complications it is advised to strictly adhere to these ways of the winter and not let suffering into your life.
When winter is not able to nourish kidney essence, new life is not able to arise in spring smoothly hence the cycle of nature is hindered. Similarly, the body also has to be properly nourished to prevent the gradual degeneration of our mind and body over the years.
I have written this article for the current generation to understand and follow these ways of the world as we have lost the awareness and tuning with nature. A lion or a deer in the wild doesn’t need this education as they are much wiser than men and know how to adapt. But we humans with the advancement of materialistic technology lose precious inbuild sensors and gadgets that help us adapt navigate and thrive in extreme conditions without any machine.
These articles are an attempt to revive our awareness of the prowess of our body by at least being aware of the way of nature.
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