December 12, 2024 • 33 mins
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Imagine living in harmony with nature's rhythm, embracing the wisdom of seasonal cycles for greater health and balance. This winter, I invite you on a journey of self-discovery—exploring the water element and kidneys, the essence of winter, as we slow down, turn inward, and align with the season’s yin energy. Drawing on ancestral traditions, we’ll uncover practices that bring tranquility and wellness during the dark, chilly days.
Winter invites us to focus on dreaming, intuition, and the transformative power of rest and reflection. Explore the art of setting intentions before sleep and embracing relaxation to replenish your energy. Discover how nourishing yin, finding deep rest, and leaning into stillness can create harmony with nature and uplift your spirit.
The wisdom of water—Wu Wei, the way of flow—teaches us to soften life’s challenges. In our bodies, the water element is linked to the kidneys, which hold the energy of trust and resilience but are depleted by fear. Winter offers a chance to feel fear fully, recognize its safety, and transform it into clarity and courage.
This season is a time to trust life’s divine orchestration, embrace stillness, and hibernate deeply. As shamans retreat into the silent lakes of winter, we, too, can use this time to listen, rest, and prepare for renewal and awakening in the spring.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My name is Bronwyn Isla and I am speaking at this
new moon that marks thebeginning of winter.
This is the time of the solarcycle when it is wise to stop,
slow down and take a break.
According to Taoist medicaltheory, the biggest cause of
(00:23):
disease is a failure for us tolive in accordance with the
cycle of the seasons, and as theplanet rotates around the sun,
it moves through progressivephases which invite
corresponding shifts in conduct.
It's actually every two weeksthat we enter a different qi
node or cycle, and each cycleinvites us to shift our conduct
(00:45):
according to the season'schanging landscape.
So if we act, for example, inmidwinter the way we did during
the summer solstice, we makeourselves vulnerable to dis-ease
.
And most of this medical theoryis coming from about 600 AD
Tang Dynasty, china, and Ireceived a lot of these
(01:08):
teachings from my teacher, luMing, who passed away a few
years ago.
If you'd like to hear moreabout this lineage and the Tong
Shu, which is the Chinesealmanac that is where a lot of
the information about the cyclesis based you can go to my
website at bronwynaylacom.
(01:28):
Slash cycles.
So when we are living in harmonywith the cycles, we align
ourselves with an earthly realmand we have an ancestral prayer
to live in a deeply embodiedearthly existence that is in
harmony with our surroundings.
We don't live in a fairy world.
(01:49):
We're not living in a place ofghostly.
You know, it's like living as aghost actually if we begin to
not live in a way that'sconnected to what's happening
around us.
This is how ghosts behave.
So having an earthly existenceand being in the body world
(02:10):
requires us to, if we want to bein health, to live in conduct
with the way the earth issuggesting, with its cycles.
So the environmental chi needsto be taken into account when
considering correct conduct.
And conduct in this context isnot a judeo-christian kind of
(02:30):
concept of punishment ormorality, it's simply a
resultant.
What we experience in thepresent moment is the result of
our conduct in the past.
So we're now moving into thefirst days of winter, when the
yin hides the yang.
It's a time of growing cold,where we develop big yin qi.
(02:54):
The days get shorter and thenights get longer.
Yin characteristics includecold, dark, quiet, inert, dense,
watery and night, whereas yangis the energy of movement,
action, heat, dominance andproduction.
(03:15):
Big yin rests in big stillness,which means that during this
time of year, small, wiggly,fast-moving young energy
creatures like insects andmosquitoes go dormant and
disappear.
That annoying, aggravatingyoung energy that we associate
(03:37):
with buzzing flies is replacedwith a slow, quiet, internally
focused repose.
Quiet, internally focusedrepose.
Winter is the time when big yinis free to develop, unhampered
by yang's effects of doing,being busy and moving fast.
When we carry the summer yangenergy into the winter, we miss
(04:01):
out on this tremendousopportunity for recovery that
the winter seasonal cycle offers.
Now is the time to turn inward.
It is the time of the waterelement, which corresponds with
the kidney and bladder organsand meridians.
During this time, it isimportant to not bend over
backwards, trying to get stuffdone, lest we overflush the
(04:23):
kidneys and exhaust the adrenals.
In aligning ourselves with theseasonal cycles, we are wise to
take our cues from nature.
The animals are heading intohibernation, the plants are
going down into their roots,some of them digging so deep as
to reveal nothing of themselves.
Above ground, water makes itsway down from the sky sky and
(04:45):
the shamans go into retreat.
Wintertime is an opportunity tofall deep down into the depths
of the ocean, of the unknown, ofthe mystery.
A healthy water element is athome in the depths of the
unknown and is comfortablecelebrating the darkness.
The unhealthy water elementkeeps going and doing recklessly
(05:07):
, pushing the perpetual flightor fight mode and thus taxing
the adrenals as it pushes on,despite the season's call for
quiet and stillness In aharmonized cycle.
The autumn is a time to store,while the winter is when we
withdraw.
Spring's impending resourcesare external, so we have to
(05:31):
cultivate our internal resourcesduring our winter retreat time
to be ready for and aligned withthe fresh lettuce that spring
promises.
It's why the craving to live ina warm climate year-round is a
symptomatic derangement thatdemands Yang's constant external
engagement, while denying thenatural cycles the earth endures
(05:52):
.
So many people will say, oh, inthe wintertime I need to go in
Mexico or go to this really hot,sunny place, but there's a
denying, actually, of thewintertime, of the yearly cycle.
So I'm going to go over a fewsimple ways to protect your
(06:13):
kidneys during the winter andharmonize with the season.
The idea is that the winteractually offers a really amazing
opportunity to replenish ourkidneys and if we just keep
going and sometimes on mytravels I meet people who are in
the summertime, they're goingto a hot place in the winter and
(06:34):
they just kind of keep on thisglobal cycle of only being in
the summer zones, and I see alot of adrenal exhaustion when
that happens, and for a whileit's okay, you know it doesn't
really immediately impact usbeyond missing out on an
opportunity for deep cultivationof wisdom, but it starts to
catch up physically to people,especially for a woman when
(06:59):
menopause comes or when agestarts to take more of a toll.
So a simple thing that we cando is then go to a dark climate
and spend a winter in Finland orNorway or somewhere where the
days are short and the nightsare long and let the body
actually really rest into thatwinter darkness.
(07:20):
And we do a couple other ideasof ways to harmonize with the
season, specifically with thistime period from the new moon,
which you know, we know fromother cultures, is also a time
to go inward.
We have some Samhain, which isabout, you know, the day of the
dead and this going into theunderworld and of the way it's
(07:45):
often celebrated western worldwith Halloween or like going
into this, the Dia de losMuertos, kind of honoring the
ancestors and taking a time toconnect into the world that we
don't usually see in the waking,bright, summertime.
So during this period theenvironmental chi is most potent
(08:07):
at 9 pm.
This is when the energy is mostprecisely aligned with this chi
node.
This is a time to wind down andto move towards sleep rather
than activity.
It is auspicious to use thistime for a modest qigong
practice or for yoga, forbreathing exercises, harness it
for a meditative practice aswell.
(08:29):
So most potent time is nineo'clock in the evening.
Another way that can be helpfulthis time of year is to wear a
haramaki, which is hara meansmiddle and maki is a wrap, so a
middle wrap.
This is a cloth band wornaround the kidneys for warmth
and protection.
It's hard to imagine really howwonderful this feels until you
(08:52):
actually try it, and any scarfor similarly proportioned cloth
works well for this.
Another practice that's reallyimportant all year round, but
especially in the wintertime, isto do morning water.
So our kidneys need water andthe best time to hydrate them is
(09:13):
first thing in the morning, 45minutes before you have any
other kind of food or drinks,and I would drink a big jar of
water with half cold and halfboiling water, so it's just
drinkable and nice and warm.
For the spleen you could put alittle bit of orange oil or
(09:33):
lemon juice in there, along witha little bit of salt to guide
that hydration to the kidneys,and this is a wonderful practice
.
If you don't have it and I dohave a blog just on morning
water, which can be found atbrownvaniyalacom slash morning
water this is also a time ofyear when we begin to consume
(09:56):
the autumn foods that we'vestored, such as squash and root
vegetables.
Bone stock makes a really greatsupplement to the autumn
harvests, as fresh foods don'tgive us all the resources we
need for the winter months.
This time provides us with anopportunity to access a
different quality of nutrientthan those we accessed during
(10:18):
the more young times of the year.
For those who are navigatingchronic spleen deficiency or
digestive problems, pork stockis a really wise choice if you
can get some locally grown,locally pastured.
(10:39):
So when we slow cook, we boilaway all of the fresh aspects of
our food and reduce it down toa different, more yin nutrient
state.
So we don't, in this case, wantthe immature quality of fresh
food during this time as much.
When we slow cook food for along time, it starts to generate
(10:59):
something more precious, forexample, dried mushrooms or
tomatoes.
These vegetables condense theirqi and their jing, which is
their life force kind of lifeforce, inherited life force
during the drying process.
So when we rehydrate thesedried vegetables and slowly cook
them, they give off a highlyconcentrated essence that is
(11:22):
unacceptable in their young,fresh state.
Similarly, even a lightvegetable soup made with boiled
bones doesn't give up itsdeepest, most magical essence
until the last hour as it'scooked.
A stir fry doesn't offer usthese concentrated qualities.
Slow cooking is a useful way tosupport our inner yang in the
winter months.
(11:43):
I recommend cooking with stocksrather than water to enhance
simulation and allow nutrientsto absorb more deeply.
So you can make a big pot ofbone broth.
You basically take some highquality local organic grass fed
bones and bake them in the ovenfor about 40 minutes until they
become brittle, and then putthem in the slow cooker or a
(12:05):
stock pot and simmer them with atiny bit of vinegar for about
eight hours.
So to get this stock reallygelatinous you'll need to boil
the bone marrow or bone tissueas well.
When you're done simmering,strain out the bones and freeze
the stock into ice trays andthen you can just use.
You can also just drink it asbone broth, but you can also
(12:28):
freeze it into ice trays andthen use one cube at a time when
cooking anything that invitesyou to use water.
You just add the ice cubes toother soups or different kinds
of anything really.
Another way to protect qi andyang and yin this time of year
is to dress warmly.
We have to remember that the qireport is not the same as the
(12:50):
weather report.
So even in, for example, herein this part of California, it's
quite warm in November, or ithas been, but that doesn't mean
that we're not vulnerable topernicious winds that come off
the ocean.
So even though it might not becold cold it's still important
to dress warmly, and especiallyaround the neck, kidneys, wrists
(13:12):
and ankles.
And if we don't do this, thebody needs to work harder to
protect ourselves frompernicious invasions such as
colds and flus.
And then, instead of using ourbody, the resources to protect
our bodies, it's using thoseresources to warm us up.
Or instead of using it todigest food, it's using it to
(13:33):
warm us up.
So if we can just keepourselves warm, then the body
can use its energy reserves tofight off different kinds of
pathogens, or eat, digest,transform and transport the food
we take in into qi rather thanhaving to work just to kind of
keep us warm.
(13:54):
This is a really, reallybeautiful time of year to
practice, dream work, dreamingwith intention.
So, keeping a journal by yourbed and, before going to sleep,
have the intention to rememberand be awake in your dreams and
then in the morning, beforedoing anything else, just
(14:18):
rolling over and writing in yourjournal any dreams that you
remember at this time.
This is a really great time toharness the power of your
intuition and being guided bythese deeper energies of our
soul, purpose or beyond ouranalytical mind and into the
(14:38):
world of dreams and symbols andmemories, different ways of
being guided besides the logicalbrain.
So yeah, keep a journal rightby your bed with that intention
to write down and record yourdreams before they start to wash
away in the morning.
(14:58):
Exercise this time of year isbest to focus more on the
relaxing side of exercise thanathletic exertion.
You can practice in the eveningbefore bed, like that.
Nine o'clock time is reallygood for the next two weeks.
In the spring and summer morevigorous exercise is indicated,
but this time of year strenuousexercise can be damaging.
It's certainly important not toget sweaty in the cold weather,
(15:22):
cold wind, meaning the sweat isarthritis and paralysis in the
making.
We would say you might not feelthis right away, but it could
lead to a sudden onset later inlife if we do this repeatedly
for a long time.
And I think it is important notto talk about things like in a
way where we're impending doom.
(15:43):
I'm open to all kinds ofpossibilities and not to
pathologize anything, but it canbe good to really stay warm and
protect ourselves from thispernicious energy.
Yeah, in the summer strenuousactivity may give strength, but
in the winter there's asuggestion of withdrawal.
(16:04):
The same way, the plants arewithdrawing and the animals are
withdrawing.
The bears are going intohibernation along with the
shamans.
So vigorous training in thesummer is great and then
meditation retreats in thewinter, because that is a
cultivation of a different kindof strength and it actually
changes our notion of strengthwhen we can focus on more of
(16:26):
that meditative quality in thewintertime.
Strenuous activity in the winterdrains chi away from the
surface and cold wind can theneasily invade.
So misconduct in terms of notwearing enough layers, getting
really sweaty, being reallystrenuous enough layers, getting
(16:48):
really sweaty, being reallystrenuous it routinely enables
us with our misconduct can beenabled by temperature control,
like air conditionings andheaters and things like that.
So it's like, oh, I'll just getcold and sweaty and then I'll
go into this warm room and thenso it's like an enabling of not
actually being in rightrelationship with the
environment.
So you know, light bulbs arethat, for example, at nighttime,
(17:08):
having lights on allows us tohave less time in the dark, less
time in that underworld zoneand less time to really
contemplate our death, the term.
You know that we're all goingto die, unless you have some
secret that I don't know about,unless you have some secret that
I don't know about.
So winter is actually a time ofyear that can prepare us for
(17:30):
contemplation of our own death.
When you know, strength is agood idea as a teenager, but the
older we get, longevity becomesmore interesting and appealing
than strength.
It's a kind of maturationprocess where, instead of
strength being the primary goal,it becomes more longevity and
(17:53):
quality.
The things that make us strongshould turn into those things
that give us long life.
This idea that I can bestronger than nature that
probably came from Christianity.
It's not masterful to not livein harmony with nature.
That's not a kind of mastery,that's a kind of teenage
(18:15):
strength.
So this idea that power thatcan't respond is not actually
power, and strength that can'tsense how to use itself is not
strength.
We need to have the sensitivityto know when to use strength.
That's actually an essentialpart of wisdom.
(18:36):
It's not only about beingstrong.
You can even look at this on afiber level with muscles.
It's not only about theirability to contract, but also
about their ability to lengthen.
Modern life we often measurestrength by contractility rather
than ability to lengthen andcontract a muscle or a muscle
group.
So the idea, the invitation thistime of year is to relax, not
(19:00):
because it's warm, but becauseit's getting cold and we need to
do less and to relax.
This is the natural state.
It's not the same as doingrelaxation.
It's about a returning to ourown nature.
It's about having nothing to do.
It's not about being sedated.
It's not an aggressiveness.
(19:22):
It's a natural state.
An aggressiveness, it's anatural state.
It's a relaxed natural state.
It's not about a sloppiness ora slurriness or a warmth kind of
relaxation.
It's about a cold slowing down,kind of like the way the water
slows down in the winter becauseit becomes hard and cold and
ice-like.
Our blood slows down,everything starts to go slower.
(19:45):
This is not really a time to goon vacation in order to feel
relaxed.
It's more of an original nature.
The invitation is more to movetowards quiet, the quiet side of
our nature, being in our homes,being quiet.
In ancient China it wasforbidden actually to travel
this time of year.
The invitation is to movetowards a quietness so that yin
(20:08):
can actually be nourished, andpart of understanding our health
and our nature and ourhumanness is a nourishment of
yin.
So when yin is not nourished weskip a whole level actually of
understanding our own nature,our own beingness.
We only get to understand onepart of ourselves which is more
(20:30):
of an exuberant, outward going,extroverted self.
So nourishing in helps us toget to know our own selves on a
deeper, more internal world.
It's a movement from focus onthe outside to focus on the
inner landscape.
So we're in the 10th moon ofthe year.
(20:54):
This is the time to go intoretreat and to go into
hibernation and to reflect andto be reminiscent and to find
quiet.
Traditionally, this is the timewhen shamans do go into their
winter retreats.
The spring and summer are thetime to come up with lots of
things, and now it's time toedit it back to that which is
(21:15):
most important and to find whatis most of value.
So my teacher looming would saywhen in doubt, stay home.
When in doubt, rest, lie down,do nothing.
And one of my favorite lines hewould say do not squander your
free time with activity.
There's an opportunity actuallyfor each of us to have our own
(21:36):
experience of knowing what is avalue in life.
When we use the winter to editto that which is a value we can
distill down to find our innertruth.
What will stay with you throughthe winter is the thing of
value.
If we keep going and jugglingall the things in the winter,
(21:57):
this process of distilling downto what is most of value cannot
happen.
So it's the time to widen downdown, to be withdrawn rather
than celebratory.
We don't need to put lights onin our house to pretend it's not
dark.
This is a really great time forpeople to meditate.
(22:17):
I have people come to saythat's too hard for me to
meditate.
We'll try in the winter time,it's a lot easier.
The counsel is stay close tohome to say that was too hard
for me to meditate.
Like well, try in thewintertime, it's a lot easier.
Yeah, the counsel is stay closeto home, start to let go of all
the activity and begin towithdraw, and in six weeks time,
when it's actually wintersolstice, the mid winter,
(22:39):
deepest, darkest time of theyear if we can start now to
begin to hone down our energiesand let go of activity and
busyness and that young, thatyoungness, by the time winter
comes.
We've already cultivated tothis, this deep yin quality, so
that when winter solstice comes,then it's starting going to
(23:00):
start to be brighter and lighterand we could actually welcome
and greet that light because wehave enough yin.
We've nourished ourselves fromthe beginning of winter to
midwinter.
These are the most potent timeto nourish our yin so that when
winter solstice happens and thedays start to get longer, we can
actually celebrate that from aplace of having done our inner
(23:22):
journey work.
A place of having done ourinner journey work and when the
new year, meaning the brighter,light year, starts to come in,
there's a sense of knowing whatit is we want, where we want to
go.
We've distilled all the extraexcess out to this fine
concentration of what is mostvaluable to us and we can start
(23:43):
moving towards the springfreshness with a sense of
cultivation of a deep force inour system.
Winter, in this way, is reallya time to gather our power, and
this is actually echoed in thekidney meridian.
The kidney meridian's movementis a wave that rises up and then
(24:03):
returns back down again.
It gathers and then returns andin this way we also gather
power and resource and be ableto bring it forth.
It's a place of balance, of yinand yang and the gathering of
power and the ability that comesforth with this power.
(24:23):
I'd like to give an exercise tohelp us tune into the kidneys.
In the winter time theseexercises really can work well
to do at 9 o'clock if you're notdoing a different kind of
qigong or meditative practice orto add on to it.
So the exercise my counselwould be to sit in the dark,
(24:43):
perhaps at 9 pm you can adjunctthis onto your meditation or
qigong or yoga practice any kindof gentle exercises and, with
your eyes closed, just begin tonotice what's happening in your
body, listen to the sounds, feelyour breath, blood, heartbeat,
(25:06):
taking a moment to get reallypresent to what is.
And, with this awareness ofyour baseline, begin to breathe
into your kidney organs andnotice what effect your breath
has on your kidneys and noticewhat effect your breath has on
(25:34):
your kidneys and with that,initiate the breathing then from
your kidneys and notice whatimpact your kidneys have on your
breath.
Then we're going to take amoment to sound into the kidneys
(25:57):
.
When the kidney organ sound istree, you can practice chanting
this or toning this sound ChuiChui Chui and notice what impact
(26:27):
this sound has on your kidneys.
Focus the sound around yourkidneys so that they begin to
condense.
So you're focusing the chuisound around the kidneys so that
(26:49):
they begin to become condensingand then focus the sound in the
center of the organ so it helpsthem to expand Chui Chui.
Initiate the sound from theorgan and notice how your
(27:21):
kidneys change the sound.
You can explore variations inpitch and intensity and you can
begin to jiggle into yourkidneys.
A little bounce or wiggle canbe small and notice how jiggling
(27:45):
changes your kidneys.
And then jiggle from yourkidneys and notice how that
changes your movement.
How do the kidneys actuallywant to move you?
So we're moving into the organand noticing how movement
(28:10):
impacts the kidneys and then youcan initiate movement from the
kidneys and notice how itimpacts movement.
Finally, begin to initiateinhaling from the kidneys and
(28:34):
then, as you exhale chui, letthe sounds come from the kidneys
, as you exhale Chui, chui, chuiChui, and then begin to
(29:26):
improvise with sound andmovement.
You can keep going with this aslong as feels good and, as
you're ready, make your waytowards dream time.
Thank you so much for listening.
I wish you super deep, blessedup, nourishing time as we head
(29:48):
into the darkest time of theyear, going from this 10th new
moon and heading into deep, darkwinter.
Go gently, be gentle withyourself others, be kind, be
nourished, slow down, letyourself say no to overextending
(30:13):
yourself and find that deep innourishment that's actually only
available this time of year,this time of year Blessings.
If you'd like more information,you can go to my website.
My name is Bronwyn Isla and I am speaking at this
new moon that marks thebeginning of winter.
This is the time of the solarcycle when it is wise to stop,
slow down and take a break.
According to Taoist medicaltheory, the biggest cause of
(00:23):
disease is a failure for us tolive in accordance with the
cycle of the seasons, and as theplanet rotates around the sun,
it moves through progressivephases which invite
corresponding shifts in conduct.
It's actually every two weeksthat we enter a different qi
node or cycle, and each cycleinvites us to shift our conduct
(00:45):
according to the season'schanging landscape.
So if we act, for example, inmidwinter the way we did during
the summer solstice, we makeourselves vulnerable to dis-ease
.
And most of this medical theoryis coming from about 600 AD
Tang Dynasty, china, and Ireceived a lot of these
(01:08):
teachings from my teacher, luMing, who passed away a few
years ago.
If you'd like to hear moreabout this lineage and the Tong
Shu, which is the Chinesealmanac that is where a lot of
the information about the cyclesis based you can go to my
website at bronwynaylacom.
(01:28):
Slash cycles.
So when we are living in harmonywith the cycles, we align
ourselves with an earthly realmand we have an ancestral prayer
to live in a deeply embodiedearthly existence that is in
harmony with our surroundings.
We don't live in a fairy world.
(01:49):
We're not living in a place ofghostly.
You know, it's like living as aghost actually if we begin to
not live in a way that'sconnected to what's happening
around us.
This is how ghosts behave.
So having an earthly existenceand being in the body world
(02:10):
requires us to, if we want to bein health, to live in conduct
with the way the earth issuggesting, with its cycles.
So the environmental chi needsto be taken into account when
considering correct conduct.
And conduct in this context isnot a judeo-christian kind of
(02:30):
concept of punishment ormorality, it's simply a
resultant.
What we experience in thepresent moment is the result of
our conduct in the past.
So we're now moving into thefirst days of winter, when the
yin hides the yang.
It's a time of growing cold,where we develop big yin qi.
(02:54):
The days get shorter and thenights get longer.
Yin characteristics includecold, dark, quiet, inert, dense,
watery and night, whereas yangis the energy of movement,
action, heat, dominance andproduction.
(03:15):
Big yin rests in big stillness,which means that during this
time of year, small, wiggly,fast-moving young energy
creatures like insects andmosquitoes go dormant and
disappear.
That annoying, aggravatingyoung energy that we associate
(03:37):
with buzzing flies is replacedwith a slow, quiet, internally
focused repose.
Quiet, internally focusedrepose.
Winter is the time when big yinis free to develop, unhampered
by yang's effects of doing,being busy and moving fast.
When we carry the summer yangenergy into the winter, we miss
(04:01):
out on this tremendousopportunity for recovery that
the winter seasonal cycle offers.
Now is the time to turn inward.
It is the time of the waterelement, which corresponds with
the kidney and bladder organsand meridians.
During this time, it isimportant to not bend over
backwards, trying to get stuffdone, lest we overflush the
(04:23):
kidneys and exhaust the adrenals.
In aligning ourselves with theseasonal cycles, we are wise to
take our cues from nature.
The animals are heading intohibernation, the plants are
going down into their roots,some of them digging so deep as
to reveal nothing of themselves.
Above ground, water makes itsway down from the sky sky and
(04:45):
the shamans go into retreat.
Wintertime is an opportunity tofall deep down into the depths
of the ocean, of the unknown, ofthe mystery.
A healthy water element is athome in the depths of the
unknown and is comfortablecelebrating the darkness.
The unhealthy water elementkeeps going and doing recklessly
(05:07):
, pushing the perpetual flightor fight mode and thus taxing
the adrenals as it pushes on,despite the season's call for
quiet and stillness In aharmonized cycle.
The autumn is a time to store,while the winter is when we
withdraw.
Spring's impending resourcesare external, so we have to
(05:31):
cultivate our internal resourcesduring our winter retreat time
to be ready for and aligned withthe fresh lettuce that spring
promises.
It's why the craving to live ina warm climate year-round is a
symptomatic derangement thatdemands Yang's constant external
engagement, while denying thenatural cycles the earth endures
(05:52):
.
So many people will say, oh, inthe wintertime I need to go in
Mexico or go to this really hot,sunny place, but there's a
denying, actually, of thewintertime, of the yearly cycle.
So I'm going to go over a fewsimple ways to protect your
(06:13):
kidneys during the winter andharmonize with the season.
The idea is that the winteractually offers a really amazing
opportunity to replenish ourkidneys and if we just keep
going and sometimes on mytravels I meet people who are in
the summertime, they're goingto a hot place in the winter and
(06:34):
they just kind of keep on thisglobal cycle of only being in
the summer zones, and I see alot of adrenal exhaustion when
that happens, and for a whileit's okay, you know it doesn't
really immediately impact usbeyond missing out on an
opportunity for deep cultivationof wisdom, but it starts to
catch up physically to people,especially for a woman when
(06:59):
menopause comes or when agestarts to take more of a toll.
So a simple thing that we cando is then go to a dark climate
and spend a winter in Finland orNorway or somewhere where the
days are short and the nightsare long and let the body
actually really rest into thatwinter darkness.
(07:20):
And we do a couple other ideasof ways to harmonize with the
season, specifically with thistime period from the new moon,
which you know, we know fromother cultures, is also a time
to go inward.
We have some Samhain, which isabout, you know, the day of the
dead and this going into theunderworld and of the way it's
(07:45):
often celebrated western worldwith Halloween or like going
into this, the Dia de losMuertos, kind of honoring the
ancestors and taking a time toconnect into the world that we
don't usually see in the waking,bright, summertime.
So during this period theenvironmental chi is most potent
(08:07):
at 9 pm.
This is when the energy is mostprecisely aligned with this chi
node.
This is a time to wind down andto move towards sleep rather
than activity.
It is auspicious to use thistime for a modest qigong
practice or for yoga, forbreathing exercises, harness it
for a meditative practice aswell.
(08:29):
So most potent time is nineo'clock in the evening.
Another way that can be helpfulthis time of year is to wear a
haramaki, which is hara meansmiddle and maki is a wrap, so a
middle wrap.
This is a cloth band wornaround the kidneys for warmth
and protection.
It's hard to imagine really howwonderful this feels until you
(08:52):
actually try it, and any scarfor similarly proportioned cloth
works well for this.
Another practice that's reallyimportant all year round, but
especially in the wintertime, isto do morning water.
So our kidneys need water andthe best time to hydrate them is
(09:13):
first thing in the morning, 45minutes before you have any
other kind of food or drinks,and I would drink a big jar of
water with half cold and halfboiling water, so it's just
drinkable and nice and warm.
For the spleen you could put alittle bit of orange oil or
(09:33):
lemon juice in there, along witha little bit of salt to guide
that hydration to the kidneys,and this is a wonderful practice
.
If you don't have it and I dohave a blog just on morning
water, which can be found atbrownvaniyalacom slash morning
water this is also a time ofyear when we begin to consume
(09:56):
the autumn foods that we'vestored, such as squash and root
vegetables.
Bone stock makes a really greatsupplement to the autumn
harvests, as fresh foods don'tgive us all the resources we
need for the winter months.
This time provides us with anopportunity to access a
different quality of nutrientthan those we accessed during
(10:18):
the more young times of the year.
For those who are navigatingchronic spleen deficiency or
digestive problems, pork stockis a really wise choice if you
can get some locally grown,locally pastured.
(10:39):
So when we slow cook, we boilaway all of the fresh aspects of
our food and reduce it down toa different, more yin nutrient
state.
So we don't, in this case, wantthe immature quality of fresh
food during this time as much.
When we slow cook food for along time, it starts to generate
(10:59):
something more precious, forexample, dried mushrooms or
tomatoes.
These vegetables condense theirqi and their jing, which is
their life force kind of lifeforce, inherited life force
during the drying process.
So when we rehydrate thesedried vegetables and slowly cook
them, they give off a highlyconcentrated essence that is
(11:22):
unacceptable in their young,fresh state.
Similarly, even a lightvegetable soup made with boiled
bones doesn't give up itsdeepest, most magical essence
until the last hour as it'scooked.
A stir fry doesn't offer usthese concentrated qualities.
Slow cooking is a useful way tosupport our inner yang in the
winter months.
(11:43):
I recommend cooking with stocksrather than water to enhance
simulation and allow nutrientsto absorb more deeply.
So you can make a big pot ofbone broth.
You basically take some highquality local organic grass fed
bones and bake them in the ovenfor about 40 minutes until they
become brittle, and then putthem in the slow cooker or a
(12:05):
stock pot and simmer them with atiny bit of vinegar for about
eight hours.
So to get this stock reallygelatinous you'll need to boil
the bone marrow or bone tissueas well.
When you're done simmering,strain out the bones and freeze
the stock into ice trays andthen you can just use.
You can also just drink it asbone broth, but you can also
(12:28):
freeze it into ice trays andthen use one cube at a time when
cooking anything that invitesyou to use water.
You just add the ice cubes toother soups or different kinds
of anything really.
Another way to protect qi andyang and yin this time of year
is to dress warmly.
We have to remember that the qireport is not the same as the
(12:50):
weather report.
So even in, for example, herein this part of California, it's
quite warm in November, or ithas been, but that doesn't mean
that we're not vulnerable topernicious winds that come off
the ocean.
So even though it might not becold cold it's still important
to dress warmly, and especiallyaround the neck, kidneys, wrists
(13:12):
and ankles.
And if we don't do this, thebody needs to work harder to
protect ourselves frompernicious invasions such as
colds and flus.
And then, instead of using ourbody, the resources to protect
our bodies, it's using thoseresources to warm us up.
Or instead of using it todigest food, it's using it to
(13:33):
warm us up.
So if we can just keepourselves warm, then the body
can use its energy reserves tofight off different kinds of
pathogens, or eat, digest,transform and transport the food
we take in into qi rather thanhaving to work just to kind of
keep us warm.
(13:54):
This is a really, reallybeautiful time of year to
practice, dream work, dreamingwith intention.
So, keeping a journal by yourbed and, before going to sleep,
have the intention to rememberand be awake in your dreams and
then in the morning, beforedoing anything else, just
(14:18):
rolling over and writing in yourjournal any dreams that you
remember at this time.
This is a really great time toharness the power of your
intuition and being guided bythese deeper energies of our
soul, purpose or beyond ouranalytical mind and into the
(14:38):
world of dreams and symbols andmemories, different ways of
being guided besides the logicalbrain.
So yeah, keep a journal rightby your bed with that intention
to write down and record yourdreams before they start to wash
away in the morning.
(14:58):
Exercise this time of year isbest to focus more on the
relaxing side of exercise thanathletic exertion.
You can practice in the eveningbefore bed, like that.
Nine o'clock time is reallygood for the next two weeks.
In the spring and summer morevigorous exercise is indicated,
but this time of year strenuousexercise can be damaging.
It's certainly important not toget sweaty in the cold weather,
(15:22):
cold wind, meaning the sweat isarthritis and paralysis in the
making.
We would say you might not feelthis right away, but it could
lead to a sudden onset later inlife if we do this repeatedly
for a long time.
And I think it is important notto talk about things like in a
way where we're impending doom.
(15:43):
I'm open to all kinds ofpossibilities and not to
pathologize anything, but it canbe good to really stay warm and
protect ourselves from thispernicious energy.
Yeah, in the summer strenuousactivity may give strength, but
in the winter there's asuggestion of withdrawal.
(16:04):
The same way, the plants arewithdrawing and the animals are
withdrawing.
The bears are going intohibernation along with the
shamans.
So vigorous training in thesummer is great and then
meditation retreats in thewinter, because that is a
cultivation of a different kindof strength and it actually
changes our notion of strengthwhen we can focus on more of
(16:26):
that meditative quality in thewintertime.
Strenuous activity in the winterdrains chi away from the
surface and cold wind can theneasily invade.
So misconduct in terms of notwearing enough layers, getting
really sweaty, being reallystrenuous enough layers, getting
(16:48):
really sweaty, being reallystrenuous it routinely enables
us with our misconduct can beenabled by temperature control,
like air conditionings andheaters and things like that.
So it's like, oh, I'll just getcold and sweaty and then I'll
go into this warm room and thenso it's like an enabling of not
actually being in rightrelationship with the
environment.
So you know, light bulbs arethat, for example, at nighttime,
(17:08):
having lights on allows us tohave less time in the dark, less
time in that underworld zoneand less time to really
contemplate our death, the term.
You know that we're all goingto die, unless you have some
secret that I don't know about,unless you have some secret that
I don't know about.
So winter is actually a time ofyear that can prepare us for
(17:30):
contemplation of our own death.
When you know, strength is agood idea as a teenager, but the
older we get, longevity becomesmore interesting and appealing
than strength.
It's a kind of maturationprocess where, instead of
strength being the primary goal,it becomes more longevity and
(17:53):
quality.
The things that make us strongshould turn into those things
that give us long life.
This idea that I can bestronger than nature that
probably came from Christianity.
It's not masterful to not livein harmony with nature.
That's not a kind of mastery,that's a kind of teenage
(18:15):
strength.
So this idea that power thatcan't respond is not actually
power, and strength that can'tsense how to use itself is not
strength.
We need to have the sensitivityto know when to use strength.
That's actually an essentialpart of wisdom.
(18:36):
It's not only about beingstrong.
You can even look at this on afiber level with muscles.
It's not only about theirability to contract, but also
about their ability to lengthen.
Modern life we often measurestrength by contractility rather
than ability to lengthen andcontract a muscle or a muscle
group.
So the idea, the invitation thistime of year is to relax, not
(19:00):
because it's warm, but becauseit's getting cold and we need to
do less and to relax.
This is the natural state.
It's not the same as doingrelaxation.
It's about a returning to ourown nature.
It's about having nothing to do.
It's not about being sedated.
It's not an aggressiveness.
(19:22):
It's a natural state.
An aggressiveness, it's anatural state.
It's a relaxed natural state.
It's not about a sloppiness ora slurriness or a warmth kind of
relaxation.
It's about a cold slowing down,kind of like the way the water
slows down in the winter becauseit becomes hard and cold and
ice-like.
Our blood slows down,everything starts to go slower.
(19:45):
This is not really a time to goon vacation in order to feel
relaxed.
It's more of an original nature.
The invitation is more to movetowards quiet, the quiet side of
our nature, being in our homes,being quiet.
In ancient China it wasforbidden actually to travel
this time of year.
The invitation is to movetowards a quietness so that yin
(20:08):
can actually be nourished, andpart of understanding our health
and our nature and ourhumanness is a nourishment of
yin.
So when yin is not nourished weskip a whole level actually of
understanding our own nature,our own beingness.
We only get to understand onepart of ourselves which is more
(20:30):
of an exuberant, outward going,extroverted self.
So nourishing in helps us toget to know our own selves on a
deeper, more internal world.
It's a movement from focus onthe outside to focus on the
inner landscape.
So we're in the 10th moon ofthe year.
(20:54):
This is the time to go intoretreat and to go into
hibernation and to reflect andto be reminiscent and to find
quiet.
Traditionally, this is the timewhen shamans do go into their
winter retreats.
The spring and summer are thetime to come up with lots of
things, and now it's time toedit it back to that which is
(21:15):
most important and to find whatis most of value.
So my teacher looming would saywhen in doubt, stay home.
When in doubt, rest, lie down,do nothing.
And one of my favorite lines hewould say do not squander your
free time with activity.
There's an opportunity actuallyfor each of us to have our own
(21:36):
experience of knowing what is avalue in life.
When we use the winter to editto that which is a value we can
distill down to find our innertruth.
What will stay with you throughthe winter is the thing of
value.
If we keep going and jugglingall the things in the winter,
(21:57):
this process of distilling downto what is most of value cannot
happen.
So it's the time to widen downdown, to be withdrawn rather
than celebratory.
We don't need to put lights onin our house to pretend it's not
dark.
This is a really great time forpeople to meditate.
(22:17):
I have people come to saythat's too hard for me to
meditate.
We'll try in the winter time,it's a lot easier.
The counsel is stay close tohome to say that was too hard
for me to meditate.
Like well, try in thewintertime, it's a lot easier.
Yeah, the counsel is stay closeto home, start to let go of all
the activity and begin towithdraw, and in six weeks time,
when it's actually wintersolstice, the mid winter,
(22:39):
deepest, darkest time of theyear if we can start now to
begin to hone down our energiesand let go of activity and
busyness and that young, thatyoungness, by the time winter
comes.
We've already cultivated tothis, this deep yin quality, so
that when winter solstice comes,then it's starting going to
(23:00):
start to be brighter and lighterand we could actually welcome
and greet that light because wehave enough yin.
We've nourished ourselves fromthe beginning of winter to
midwinter.
These are the most potent timeto nourish our yin so that when
winter solstice happens and thedays start to get longer, we can
actually celebrate that from aplace of having done our inner
(23:22):
journey work.
A place of having done ourinner journey work and when the
new year, meaning the brighter,light year, starts to come in,
there's a sense of knowing whatit is we want, where we want to
go.
We've distilled all the extraexcess out to this fine
concentration of what is mostvaluable to us and we can start
(23:43):
moving towards the springfreshness with a sense of
cultivation of a deep force inour system.
Winter, in this way, is reallya time to gather our power, and
this is actually echoed in thekidney meridian.
The kidney meridian's movementis a wave that rises up and then
(24:03):
returns back down again.
It gathers and then returns andin this way we also gather
power and resource and be ableto bring it forth.
It's a place of balance, of yinand yang and the gathering of
power and the ability that comesforth with this power.
(24:23):
I'd like to give an exercise tohelp us tune into the kidneys.
In the winter time theseexercises really can work well
to do at 9 o'clock if you're notdoing a different kind of
qigong or meditative practice orto add on to it.
So the exercise my counselwould be to sit in the dark,
(24:43):
perhaps at 9 pm you can adjunctthis onto your meditation or
qigong or yoga practice any kindof gentle exercises and, with
your eyes closed, just begin tonotice what's happening in your
body, listen to the sounds, feelyour breath, blood, heartbeat,
(25:06):
taking a moment to get reallypresent to what is.
And, with this awareness ofyour baseline, begin to breathe
into your kidney organs andnotice what effect your breath
has on your kidneys and noticewhat effect your breath has on
(25:34):
your kidneys and with that,initiate the breathing then from
your kidneys and notice whatimpact your kidneys have on your
breath.
Then we're going to take amoment to sound into the kidneys
(25:57):
.
When the kidney organ sound istree, you can practice chanting
this or toning this sound ChuiChui Chui and notice what impact
(26:27):
this sound has on your kidneys.
Focus the sound around yourkidneys so that they begin to
condense.
So you're focusing the chuisound around the kidneys so that
(26:49):
they begin to become condensingand then focus the sound in the
center of the organ so it helpsthem to expand Chui Chui.
Initiate the sound from theorgan and notice how your
(27:21):
kidneys change the sound.
You can explore variations inpitch and intensity and you can
begin to jiggle into yourkidneys.
A little bounce or wiggle canbe small and notice how jiggling
(27:45):
changes your kidneys.
And then jiggle from yourkidneys and notice how that
changes your movement.
How do the kidneys actuallywant to move you?
So we're moving into the organand noticing how movement
(28:10):
impacts the kidneys and then youcan initiate movement from the
kidneys and notice how itimpacts movement.
Finally, begin to initiateinhaling from the kidneys and
(28:34):
then, as you exhale chui, letthe sounds come from the kidneys
, as you exhale Chui, chui, chuiChui, and then begin to
(29:26):
improvise with sound andmovement.
You can keep going with this aslong as feels good and, as
you're ready, make your waytowards dream time.
Thank you so much for listening.
I wish you super deep, blessedup, nourishing time as we head
(29:48):
into the darkest time of theyear, going from this 10th new
moon and heading into deep, darkwinter.
Go gently, be gentle withyourself others, be kind, be
nourished, slow down, letyourself say no to overextending
(30:13):
yourself and find that deep innourishment that's actually only
available this time of year,this time of year Blessings.
If you'd like more information,you can go to my website.
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