Winter Shifts

[thelerner]

Actually Jeremiah posted something like(should have pasted it)'in the winter he's doing more passive, stillness meditations'.

 

Going still and deep makes sense in the winter. Eating hardier, winter rootery foods. I haven't really made a conscious decision to 'do' winter, but I should.

 

Sleep more. Exercise wise? Slow down, don't test limits, move gently into deeper endurance? Let Spring be a time for growth, Winter a time for sustaining, deeper inner growth, more sitting, more dream work.

 

Thoughts?

 

Michael

[sean]

Great inquiry Michael. I tend to get all screwed up during the winter. Depressed and anxious which create a downward spiral of excessive drinking, too much sugar and skipped practices. I intend to keep it simple this year and just make sure I stick with my basic morning and evening AYP meditation, get some cardio in at least 5 days a week, and, like you said, go in for the endurance mindset. I might also purchase one of those full spectrum sunboxes they give people with Seasonal Affectiveness Disorder.

 

Sean

[Cameron]

Hot miso soup and green tea. mmmmm..

 

But here in Az winter doesn't really exist anyway..

Edited December 10, 2005 by Cameron

[karen]

Homemade chicken soup, warming tonic herbs, Ayurvedic oil massage with warming herbal oils, reduce cooling foods. Here in upstate NY the keyword is "warming." :-)

 

Re. SAD lamps, there's some hype going around about that, emphasizing full spectrum bulbs that are not intense enough. Full spectrum is nice, but the more important spec is the intensity of the light. Should be 10,000 lux at a comfortable distance from the source.

 

I got mine over 10 years ago and it's still working great, a relatively inexpensive one (~$200) from a Canadian company, Northern Lights.. it's not as spiffy looking as some, a more utilitarian desk lamp. Called the Satellite.

 

http://www.lighttherapyproducts.com/products_lamps.html

 

With the fluorescents it's important that they've eliminated the flicker that standard fluorescents have.. I know the Satellite meets the specs, and probably some of the others do too, but I'd check them out.

 

Karen

[Lozen]

How cold is it in Phoenix right now? It's getting COLD here at night! At least for my sensitive temperament.

 

I'm doing ginger baths, ginger tea/tincture and fresh ginger, fire cider, garlic honey and elderberry elixir as needed, lotsa onions and garlic, eating less fruit and more protein and seaweed and cooked foods, whole grains etc. ad less raw food, mmmm soup! Also going to bed earlier and waking up later, and stretching more than usual.

 

But here in Az winter doesn't really exist anyway..

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Edited December 10, 2005 by Lozen

[Cameron]

How cold is it in Phoenix right now? It's getting COLD here at night! At least for my sensitive temperament.

 

I'm doing ginger baths, ginger tea/tincture and fresh ginger, fire cider, garlic honey and elderberry elixir as needed, lotsa onions and garlic, eating less fruit and more protein and seaweed and cooked foods, whole grains etc. ad less raw food, mmmm soup! Also going to bed earlier and waking up later, and stretching more than usual.

9792[/snapback]

 

 

LOL I still walk around in shorts and t-shirt. I lived on the east coast until I was 27 so it never really gets cold for me here.

[Leo]

Two things I do:

 

Honey and apple cider vinegar at least once a day, preferably at least twice. It's easy: squirt about a tablespoon of honey in the bottom of a coffee mug. Add water and microwave it for a minute or so until it gets comfortably warm, then eyeball about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, stir it with a butter knife, drink it down, then dash out the door to work.

 

Also: LONG UNDERWEAR! I work in an office, but I don't care. My grandpa swore by them, TOTALLY abused his body, and lived to the ripe old age of 93 with full mental faculties. He said you should wear them from Labor Day to the Fourth of July. I don't go that far, but I wear them all winter. If you try it, you may find you hate it the first few days, but when spring comes, I'll bet you'll wish it was cold enough to keep wearing them. Once you get used to them, they give you a warm, safe feeling. And you'll be the one with the knowing smile while everyone else is freezing their asses off!

[Jeremiah]

There's certainly something to be said for grandpa's generation's common sense. i wear long undies all winter too even indoors and something around the neck is very important. remember scarfs? the wind gates on the back of the neck are very exposed in the winter. wind/cold invasion is a major disharmony leading to "disharmony" or "colds" in chinese medicine.

 

but even for places like arizona there's still the seasonal entergitic shift. we are in a deep yin moment here on the northern hemisphere. the practices that are yin by nature will be supported now even more.

 

qi :-)

[sean]

Well, looks like we all made it!

 

So Happy spring, everyone! In the "Winter Shifts" thread.

 

I just got back from acupuncture. My acupuncturist did some amazing work to transition me into spring (I am sensitive to and often have difficulty with transitions). Between the spring coming, the warmer weather and taking tribulus the past few days, I've noticed a lot of warm energy in my upper body and head, but not so much in my LTT, legs and feet ... leading to a sense of ungroundedness and some pent up frustration. She used a needle pattern to balance my Kidney and Lungs, which just profoundly opened up my whole conception vessel, down to my perineum, into my legs and feet. I feel like a new man! It's like she accelerated what would have taken me another month to come into. Damn, acupuncture is so amazing and so complementary to cultivation I really highly recommend it.

 

Sean

[neimad]

not me... winter is just starting!