Time to get plenty of rest, nutrition, relaxation and sleep.

Your Seasonal Wellbeing

Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water 

In traditional Chinese medicine there are Five Elements and each element gives birth to the next and nourishes it by a flow of energy.  So the bracken is burnt, the ashes go into the earth and form minerals, the water flows and there is new growth.

Kinesiology is an effective way of balancing the energies of your meridians which can improve health and wellbeing on a physical, mental and emotional level.

Meridians are passages of energy flow located all over your body, as a kinesiologist I work with Chinese Medicine Five Element Theory, which believes that everything in the universe, including our health, is governed by five natural elements: WOOD, FIRE, EARTH, METAL and WATER. This theory underscores the Traditional Chinese Medicine understanding that human beings, both physically and mentally, are intertwined with nature.

An individual’s state of health manifests according to the balance between these Elements.

Winter – Water

The season of winter is related to the element of WATER.  The meridians associated with the water element are Bladder and Kidney.

The Bladder Meridian is where our vital energy is stored for times of need. This is our ability to hold on to ideas, to stay with things to retain vital chi itself.  If we are tired it is good to look at the Bladder meridian.

The Kidney Meridian is the centre of our will and determination.   This part of us is like water; when roused nothing can get in our way, when quiet can still erode a mighty mountain.   When unwell we don’t have the will to do anything.

Winters are an inward sensitive time.  Nature rests, the season is quiet and roots are preparing for spring.  Amazing that at this time we have our most exuberant celebrations.  It is a time to get plenty of rest, nutrition, relaxation and sleep.

At this time of year you need to eat food that produces more heat.  There tends to be less physical activity and you burn fewer calories than in the summer.  Mainly carbohydrates and protein are needed.  Soups particularly root vegetables are good at this time of year with the addition of garlic, ginger and cayenne.

Movement is important at all times of the year, exercise that requires deep breathing like stretching and dancing will keep your energy circulating.

The WATER ELEMENT is associated with the emotion of  FEAR

MERIDIAN MASSAGE

For the Bladder Meridian.  Place both hands between eyebrows go up over crown and down back of head and neck.  Remove hands from neck and reach back underneath as high as you can reach on spine. Trace hands down either side of spine to below waist into sacrum and up toward waist around gluteus maximus.  Leave and come on to your shoulders, go straight down to the back of the knees in at the knees down to the floor off your little toes.

For the Kidney meridian: place fingers under the ball of each foot, middle finger in line with the space between first and second toes.  Draw fingers up to the inside of each foot, circle behind the inside of each ankle bone, and go straight up the front of the body to K 27 – (in the dip below the nobbly bits where your collar bone meets) massage these points.

Meridian Stretch for the water element

Sit with your legs straight out in front of you. Inhale and raise your arms above your head. Lean forward to grasp the soles of your feet as you exhale. Inhale and bend your knees, then exhale as you straighten them. Repeat five times.