The WINTER SEASON
WINTeR’s Associations
in CHINESE MEDICINE
A season of inward reflection, rest and restoration.
Element: Water
Organs: Kidneys & Urinary Bladder
Emotion: Fear
Spirit: Zhi (Willpower)
Climate: Cold
Color: Black/Dark Blue
Taste: Salty
Sense Organs: Ears
Tissues: Bone
Virtues: Strength, Courage, Wisdom
WATER ELEMENT
Winter is the most Yin and still time of year. Water is the element of winter, the most nourishing and essential substance for life. The wisdom of water is to flow. Water moves effortlessly and takes on the form of whatever contains it. A balanced water element moves smoothly through the season with strength, courage, and willpower. There’s a sense of flow and ease, and alignment with one’s purpose or destiny.
Water has depth, darkness, and mystery. Its associated emotion is fear. In appropriate amounts, fear is essential to survival because it enables us to navigate situations with care and caution. When the water element is out of balance, one might experience excess fear, phobias, and a lack of courage.
ORGANS OF WINTER
The Kidney channel represents the foundation of our vitality and life force. It embodies our ancestral heritage, housing the essence that shapes our growth, development, reproductive potential and aging process. Just as the Bladder stores and regulates urine, this channel governs the transportation and distribution of energy throughout the body. It is a reservoir of strength and resilience, ensuring a smooth and continuous flow of life force.
Together, the Bladder and Kidney channels represent movement and depth, activity and rest, resilience and nourishment. They symbolize the interconnectedness of our physical and energetic systems, reminding us of the importance of balance and adaptability. When we push too hard for too long, we drain our resources and we lose the ability to flow and adapt.
COmmon themes & COMPLAINTS
Fluid imbalance (swelling), low back and knee pain, hot flashes, dryness, lack of will, hopelessness, fear (we react by trying to control the flood instead of “going with the flow).
Meridian CHANNELS
The Kidney channel, with its fluid grace and depth, resonates with vitality and the essence of being. The Bladder channel represents the forceful aspects of the Water element that span the entirety of the body.
Kidney (figure A) – channel begins on the bottom of the foot beneath the little toe, circles around the medial malleolus, travels up the medial aspect of the leg, across the abdomen to where it ends just below the medial aspect of the clavicle.
Large Intestine Channel (figure B) – begins very close to where the lung channel ends, on the radial aspect of the second finger and runs proximally along the lateral aspect of the arm to the shoulder, along the lateral aspect of the neck across the face where it ends on the lateral aspect of the nose.
Essential oil recs
Saro, Spruce & Nutmeg
Saro – On Lung 1, can relieve coughing and open lungs. Spruce – Warming, stimulating and great for aches and pains, often prominent in the wintertime. Nutmeg – Warming and provides circulation. Nutmeg on GV4 warms body through support of adrenals.
MODALITY HIGHLIGHT
HEAT
Hot pack or infrared lamp on the low back to warm the adrenals and signal safety.
Lifestyle recs
