Deep Winter Wellness Part 2: The Transformative Power of Quiet Time

This is Part 2 of the Deep Winter Wellness series. If you missed Part 1 on understanding winter through Chinese Medicine, start here.

“This section contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase — at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use or trust.”

As a new mom, juggling family and work, I strongly relate to individuals who stress about feeling the need to always be productive, drowning under a never-ending to do list.

You’ve seen it in yourself or in those around you: someone who is exhausted, getting sick every few weeks, struggling with anxiety and chronic low back pain. All signs of depleted Kidney energy. In their chaotic schedule, there isn’t a single moment built in for true rest—just constant motion from 6 AM until she collapsed into bed at midnight.

In these moments, the question arises: What if rest isn't optional? What if it's actually the most productive thing you could do right now?

This is the paradox of winter and the first pillar of winter wellness: stillness is not the absence of productivity. It's the foundation of it.

Why Stillness Matters

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, winter is the season of storage and conservation. Remember from Part 1 that the Kidneys store our Jing—our deepest energetic reserves. Think of Jing like a battery that powers everything in your body. Every thought, every action, every cellular function draws from this battery.

Here's what most people don't realize: that battery doesn't recharge from sleep alone. It recharges from true stillness. From doing less. From creating space for your nervous system to fully rest and your Kidney energy to replenish.

When we push through winter without building in quiet time, we're constantly withdrawing from the Kidney battery without making deposits. Eventually, we overdraw the account. That's when we get sick, burned out, or find ourselves unable to think clearly or feel motivated.

Winter is nature's invitation—really, nature's insistence—that we slow down. And when we accept that invitation, something remarkable happens. The quiet time we give ourselves doesn't just prevent depletion. It actually opens the door to creativity, problem-solving, and the kind of deep wisdom that only emerges in stillness.

I've seen it repeatedly in others and in my own life: the people who honor winter's call for rest arrive at spring with clarity, energy, and ideas that seemed to appear from nowhere. They didn't appear from nowhere—they germinated in the quiet.

The Resistance We Face

Before we get to the practical how-to, let's acknowledge the elephant in the room: our culture makes rest incredibly difficult.

We're swimming in a sea of productivity culture that tells us our worth is tied to our output. That rest is earned only after we've accomplished enough (which is never enough). That "hustle" and "grind" are virtues while rest is laziness.

This is causing a health crisis. The anxiety, burnout, and adrenal fatigue that became most apparent during COVID continue today. Burnout has reached epidemic levels. People are running their bodies into the ground, and then wondering why they can't heal, why they're always sick, why they feel disconnected from any sense of joy or purpose.

If you feel guilty about resting, that's not a personal failing. That's cultural conditioning. And it's time to question it.

One of my guiding mottos is: "If you don't take time to be healthy, you will take time to be sick." The choice isn't whether you'll rest. It's whether you'll rest now, intentionally, or whether your body will eventually force you to rest through illness or complete exhaustion.

Winter is offering you the first option. I hope you'll take it.

Reframing Rest as Medicine

What if we stopped thinking of rest as something we do when there's nothing left to do? What if we thought of it as essential medicine—as necessary as food, water, and air?

Because according to Chinese Medicine, that's exactly what it is.

Rest during winter specifically replenishes Kidney Jing. It's not just recovery from being tired; it's deep restoration at the level of your constitutional energy. This is the energy that determines how you age, how resilient you are to stress, how quickly you recover from illness, and how much vitality you have available for your life's purpose.

You can't supplement your way out of Jing depletion. You can't caffeinate through it. The only way to restore it is through the practices that build it: adequate rest, nourishing food (which we'll cover in Part 3), and practices that calm the nervous system and allow deep restoration.

Strategic withdrawal during winter—pulling back from some of your commitments and creating more spaciousness—isn't giving up. It's setting yourself up for spring vitality. It's planting seeds in the dark that will bloom when the time is right.

Practical Ways to Cultivate Quiet

Okay, enough philosophy. Let's get practical. How do you actually build quiet time into modern life?

The key is to start small and choose just one or two practices that feel doable right now. Don't try to overhaul your entire life overnight—that's yang energy trying to force change. Instead, make small, sustainable shifts that honor where you are.

Daily Practices

Earlier Bedtimes This is the single most impactful thing most people can do. In Chinese Medicine, we say that Kidney energy is most active between 5-7 PM and that the hours before midnight are worth double for restoration.

Try going to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual this week. Just 30 minutes. Notice how you feel. If it helps, gradually work your way toward a before-11-PM bedtime. I know this isn't always possible with young children (I know this personally!), but do what you can. Even 15 minutes makes a difference.

Morning Stillness Before Devices Before you reach for your phone, spend 5-10 minutes in stillness. This could be:

• Simply sitting quietly with your morning tea or coffee

• A few minutes of meditation or breathwork

• Gentle stretching or self-massage

• Looking out the window and noticing the quality of morning light

This practice sets a tone of presence for your entire day. You're choosing intentional awareness instead of immediately activating your stress response with emails and news.

Meditation or Breathwork Even 5 minutes counts. I use the Insight Timer app (free) and love their short guided meditations. If sitting meditation feels intimidating, try this simple breathwork:

• Inhale for 4 counts

• Hold for 4 counts

• Exhale for 6 counts

• Repeat for 5 minutes

The longer exhale activates your parasympathetic nervous system—the rest-and-digest mode that allows Kidney restoration.

Gentle Movement Winter is not the season for intense, sweating workouts that deplete Kidney yang. Instead, try yin yoga, restorative yoga, flowing qigong, or gentle walks. I love this travel yoga mat for yin practices at home.

Weekly Rhythms

One Tech-Free Evening Per Week Choose one evening where you turn off all screens after dinner. Read a physical book, do a puzzle, have an actual conversation, take a bath, journal. You'll be amazed how different the quality of your evening feels—and how much better you sleep.

Cancel One Social Obligation I know this feels radical, but winter is the season to say no. Look at your calendar for this month. Is there something you said yes to out of obligation rather than genuine desire? Can you gracefully bow out? Your energy is precious—protect it.

Nature Walks in Silence There's something deeply restorative about walking in winter nature without talking or listening to anything. Bundle up, leave the phone in your pocket, and just be with the season. Notice the bare trees, the quality of light, the way your breath makes clouds in cold air.

Journaling Time Set aside 20-30 minutes once a week for reflective writing. Winter is the perfect time for the kind of journaling that helps you process the year, understand patterns, and begin to sense what wants to emerge. I'll share specific prompts for this in Part 4 when we talk about planning.

Setting Boundaries

This is often the hardest part, but it's essential.

Saying No to Non-Essential Commitments Practice this phrase: "Thank you for thinking of me, but I need to honor my energy this season." You don't owe anyone an elaborate explanation. "No" is a complete sentence.

Protecting Evening Hours If possible, set a boundary with work: no emails after 7 PM. Or whatever time works for your life. Let your evening be for unwinding, not ramping up.

Creating a Sanctuary Space Designate one corner of your home as your quiet space. It doesn't have to be elaborate—maybe a comfortable chair with a cozy blanket, a small table with a candle, and whatever books or journals you're currently using. Make it a place that invites stillness.

My sister loves this weighted blanket that has completely transformed her evening wind-down routine. The gentle pressure activates the parasympathetic nervous system—it's like a hug for your Kidney energy.

Start Where You Are

Here's my invitation: don't try to do all of this at once. Choose ONE practice from the daily list and ONE from the weekly list. Commit to just these two things for the next week and notice what shifts.

Maybe it's 10 minutes of morning stillness and one tech-free evening. Maybe it's an earlier bedtime and one canceled obligation. Start there. Let it be easy. Let it feel nourishing, not like one more thing on your to-do list.

Remember, we're working with Water element energy here. Water doesn't force. It flows, finds the path of least resistance, and slowly, steadily shapes everything it touches.

Your Next Steps

In Part 3, we'll dive deep into Kidney nourishment—specific foods, acupressure points you can use at home, and lifestyle practices that build your energetic reserves from the inside out. Trust me, you'll want to stock your kitchen with some of these warming, nourishing foods.

If you haven't already, download the free Winter Wellness Guide that accompanies this series. It includes a printable tracker to help you build these quiet time practices into your daily rhythm, plus a Kidney energy self-assessment quiz.

I'd love to hear from you: What's your biggest challenge with creating quiet time? What practice from today's article are you going to try first? Let me know in the comments.

Next up: Kidney Nourishment through food, acupressure, and lifestyle practices you can start today.