Deep Winter Wellness Part 1: Understanding the Season of Water

Where my parents live in the northeast, one of my favorite winter rituals is peeking out my window at the moonlight reflected on the freshly fallen snow of the front lawn. The world feels hushed, sacred even, like nature is holding its breath. Where I live in the northwest, we have rain, fog, and frost instead of snow. I love walking in the sprinkling rain and have begun to bundle up my baby and take her outside to experience the rain as well. There's something magical about introducing her to winter's quiet power—the way drops bead on leaves, the softness of fog rolling through the trees, the crisp bite of cold air on our cheeks.

These moments remind me that winter isn't something to endure or push through. It's an invitation. An invitation to slow down, turn inward, and align ourselves with the deepest rhythms of nature.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, winter is understood as the season of the Water element—the most yin time of the entire year. It's a time of maximum darkness, cold, and inward-turning energy. And just as seeds lie dormant underground and animals retreat into hibernation, we too are meant to embrace this season of conservation and storage.

But here's what most of us do instead: we push through winter at summer's pace. We fill our calendars with holiday obligations, maintain the same workout intensity, and wonder why we feel depleted, anxious, and constantly fighting off illness by February.

This winter, I want to invite you into a different approach. One that honors three essential pillars: quiet time, kidney nourishment, and intentional planning. Over this four-part series, we'll explore each pillar deeply, giving you practical tools rooted in both ancient wisdom and modern science to not just survive winter, but to truly thrive.

Today, let's start with understanding what winter actually means for our bodies and spirits according to Chinese Medicine.

The Season of Water Element

In the Five Element theory that forms the foundation of Chinese Medicine, each season corresponds to a specific element and organ system. Winter belongs to the Water element, and its corresponding organs are the Kidneys and Bladder.

Water is the element of depth, wisdom, and potential. Think about water in nature—it flows to the lowest places, it finds its way through obstacles with patience, it nourishes roots deep underground where no one can see. This is the energy of winter. It's not showy or productive in the way our culture values productivity. It's quiet, deep, essential work happening beneath the surface.

During winter, nature demonstrates this perfectly. Trees have pulled their energy down into their roots. Seeds rest in the dark soil, gathering strength for their spring emergence. Bears curl up in dens, living off stored reserves. Everything is conserving, storing, preparing.

The wisdom here is profound: conservation and storage aren't laziness. They're strategic necessity. Without this period of rest and consolidation, there's no energy available for spring's explosive growth. The seed that tries to sprout in January won't survive. The bear that doesn't hibernate won't make it to spring.

We are not separate from nature. We are nature. And we need this winter rest just as much as the seeds and the bears do.

Kidney Energy: Your Body's Battery

In Chinese Medicine, the Kidneys are considered the root of life itself. They store what we call Jing—often translated as "essence"—which you can think of as your body's deepest energetic reserves. It's like the battery that powers everything else.

The ancient medical text, the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Cannon (Huangdi Neijing Suwen), tells us that the Kidney system governs bones, bone marrow, ears, hair, the lower back, reproduction, and willpower. When your Kidney energy is strong, you have vitality, clear thinking, strong bones, lustrous hair, and unshakeable determination. When it's depleted, you experience fatigue, lower back pain, frequent urination, premature aging, hearing issues, and—perhaps most significantly—fear and anxiety.

Winter is the Kidney season. This means two things: first, the Kidney system is most vulnerable during winter, making it easier to deplete this precious Jing. Second, and more optimistically, winter is when the Kidneys are most receptive to nourishment and restoration. It's the optimal time to rebuild your deepest reserves.

Here's something that should stop us all in our tracks: Chapter 2 of the Huangdi Neijing warns that if you don't take care of yourself in one season, it damages the root of the next season and results in illness then. If you don't nourish yourself in winter, it can manifest as illness in the spring—exactly when you want to feel vibrant and energized.

How many times have you gotten sick in March or April, just when the weather finally turns nice? That's often the result of winter depletion catching up with you.

Signs Your Kidney Energy Needs Attention

Do any of these sound familiar?

• Persistent fatigue that doesn't improve with a normal night's sleep

• Lower back pain or weakness, especially when you're tired

• Feeling cold all the time, particularly in your hands and feet

• Getting up multiple times at night to urinate

• Increased anxiety or a baseline feeling of fear that you can't quite explain

• Hair thinning or losing its luster

• Difficulty with focus and memory

• Feeling depleted after sex

• A sense that you're running on fumes

These are all signs that your Kidney Jing may be running low. And if you're experiencing several of them during winter, it's a clear message from your body: slow down. Restore. Nourish.

The Natural Rhythm We've Lost

Our modern culture has completely lost touch with seasonal rhythms. We expect the same productivity in December as we do in June. We maintain the same social calendar, the same work pace, the same everything—only now we're doing it in the dark, in the cold, with less natural energy available.

And then we layer on the winter holidays. Don't get me wrong—I love gathering with family and the magic of the season. But let's be honest about what the holidays often demand: endless shopping, elaborate cooking, hosting obligations, travel stress, financial strain, and pressure to create picture-perfect experiences while maintaining our regular responsibilities.

Is it any wonder we start the new year exhausted?

The consequences of pushing through winter at summer's pace are real. We see it in the surge of illness in late winter and early spring. We see it in the epidemic of burnout and adrenal fatigue. We see it in the anxiety and depression that so many people experience during the darker months.

Our bodies have a biological need for winter rest and restoration. We're not meant to override this need with caffeine, artificial light, and sheer willpower. Eventually, the body demands what it needs—usually in the form of illness, injury, or complete exhaustion.

A Different Way Forward

What if this winter could be different? What if instead of pushing through, you aligned with the season's natural energy?

That's what this series is about. Over the next three articles, we'll explore:

Pillar One: Embracing Quiet Time – Practical ways to build rest and stillness into your days, even in our busy modern world, and why this isn't optional if you want spring vitality.

Pillar Two: Kidney Nourishment – Specific foods, acupressure points, herbs, and lifestyle practices to rebuild your deepest energetic reserves.

Pillar Three: Planning and Intention Setting – How to use winter's reflective energy for strategic planning that actually works, combining Chinese Medicine wisdom with timing research from author Dan Pink.

One of my mottos is: "If you don't take time to be healthy, you will take time to be sick." Winter is offering you the first option. The question is whether you'll take it.

Your Winter Wellness Toolkit

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Before we dive into the specific pillars in the coming articles, I want to make sure you have the foundational knowledge you need. That's why I've created a free Winter Wellness Guide with a quiz to assess your Kidney energy, a seasonal foods chart, and a printable daily tracker to help you stay aligned with winter's rhythms.

Download your free Winter Wellness Guide here and join my email community where I share weekly tips on seasonal living, acupuncture wisdom, and practical ways to stay balanced year-round.

And if you're feeling called to dive deeper into the wisdom of Chinese Medicine and seasonal living, I highly recommend these books:

• The Web That Has No Weaver by Ted Kaptchuk – The most accessible introduction to Chinese Medicine I've found

• Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford – A comprehensive guide to food therapy and seasonal eating

• Between Heaven and Earth by Harriet Beinfield and Efrem Korngold – Beautiful exploration of the Five Elements

In the next article, we'll explore the first pillar: embracing quiet time. I'll share specific practices you can implement immediately to start honoring winter's invitation to slow down—and why this might be the most important thing you do for your health all year.

Until then, I'd love to hear from you: What's your relationship with winter? Do you fight it, or have you found ways to work with it? Drop a comment below and let's start a conversation.

Stay warm, stay nourished, and remember—the seed's work in winter is invisible but essential.