How to honour your body’s needs this winter.

Each winter we're inundated with adverts, messages and social media posts encouraging us to detox, commit to new resolutions, and overhaul our health in the name of a ‘new year, new you.’  And whilst these may be done with the best of intentions, receiving messages like this can cause us to completely disconnect with what our bodies really want and need at this time of year. 

The truth is, even though we may live in a world of bright lights, screens, and endless to-do lists, Winter was once a sacred season to slow down and pause. Traditions like Yule, Twelfth Night Feasts and celebrating the Winter solstice were all born out of a more introverted time of year when all people would crave was human connection (and maybe a feast), and that was enough…  

Today though, traditions are often lost in favour of reverting back to our ‘normal’ state on incessant productivity and busy-ness. When we go against our innate needs in Winter, we miss out on all the benefits this season has to offer us, from restoring the nervous system to enhancing digestive health, and nourishing the adrenals for greater resilience. 

January is still very much the middle of Winter and the middle of a cold, dark ‘Yin’ season where we’d naturally live in a more introverted and quiet state. Nature’s true new year starts in Spring when the world around us truly comes back to life. So, instead of pushing through and going against what nature wants for you this January, try leaning into the remaining months of Winter and honour what your body and mind truly need.  

Embrace Darkness

Whilst many people struggle with the darker months, there’s so much value to be had when we allow ourselves to lean into the benefits darkness offers. Throughout brighter seasons like Spring and Summer, we can often obtain good amounts of vitamin D from midday sun. When we shift into Autumn and Winter however, the UV strength and angle of the sun’s rays hitting our skin means we aren’t as able to make as much vitamin D from the sun as we need. This isn’t a fault of nature however, because vitamin D and melatonin provide us with very similar benefits, and melatonin is made in darkness. Benefits such as reducing inflammation, improving immunity, supporting cellular energy and preventing cognitive decline are shared by both vitamin D and melatonin, so when there’s less sunlight to utilise, it’s essential for us to embrace darkness instead. You can do this by avoiding bright overhead lights after sunset, and swapping screentime for books and family games by candlelight, wearing blue light blocking glasses, or even spending evenings outdoors around a firepit. 

Rest, Digest & Restore

Bright, busy and sunny seasons may help boost our mood, but they can also raise cortisol (the ‘stress hormone’) levels significantly too. Spring and Summer are often times of high energy and high activity, but if we try to live in ‘Summer mode’ all year long, this can eventually lead to burnout. Constantly demanding our bodies and minds to be productive and active means we never give them an opportunity to recover and restore, and this is where leaning into the gifts of Winter comes in. Ancestrally, Winter has long been a season of hibernation and introversion, when we’d retreat from exploring and engaging with new people and places, and return to our closer relationships and time spent at home. Doing this not only gives our bodies time to rest, but our nervous systems too, meaning we’re able to emerge in Springtime with renewed energy. Try scheduling less on your calendar in January, prioritising evenings at home, and spending time deepening your relationships with close loved ones. Join us at one of our upcoming events to help strengthen your sense of community, which is so essential at this time of year. 

Choose Warm Foods & Drinks

Think of your stomach as a cooking pot; when the fire is burning strongly underneath it, the water simmers and the food is cooked well. Add too much cold water or icy foods however, and the cooking pot becomes cold and stagnant. In the very same way, consuming too many cold foods can have a dampening effect on the digestive system and metabolism, slowing everything down, leading to bloating and potentially unabsorbed nutrients. Our bodies want warm foods at this time of year, not cold juices and smoothies. Try sipping warm water throughout the day (this can be a game changer if you experience bloating!), adding warming spices such as cinnamon, ginger and cumin to meals, and opting for soups and stews over salads. Bone broth, slow cooked meats, vegetable soups and daals are some of our go-tos. 

Enjoy Sweet & Salty Tastes

According to the Wisdom of Ayurvedic medicine, we benefit from prioritising different tastes depending upon the season, and Winter is all about sweet and salty flavours. These tastes help nourish and strengthen the body, calm the nervous system, and promote digestion by stimulating the release of digestive juices and healthy levels of stomach acid. Think of foods that are naturally sweet, rather than added sugars or sweeteners. Well-cooked root veg, seasonal fruit, raw honey, preserves and even warm milk are all sweet and comforting, whilst seaweed, sea salt, miso, seafood and cheese all provide saltiness.

Nourish Your Adrenals

Yet more ancient wisdom from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) gives us important Winter guidance. This holistic health system encourages us to nourish different organs each season, with Winter connecting to the Kidneys. From the perspective of TCM, the Kidneys store our Jing or ‘essence’ – our deep reservoirs of strength, vitality and longevity, which can become depleted when we’re overly stressed, busy or neglecting to nourish ourselves. From a Western perspective, the energy of the Kidneys is very similar to our adrenals, which too become depleted through chronic stress and elevated cortisol, eventually leading to fatigue. Instead of diving head-first into busy-ness, resolutions or deprivation, use the month of January to show your adrenals some love and strengthen your vitality. You can do this by prioritising sleep and rest, gentle movement, less stress, naturally salty foods, adaptogens like ashwagandha, maca or rhodiola, and dark coloured foods like black beans, kidney beans, kale and cavolo nero, walnuts, black sesame seeds, sea weeds, salty foods and root veg.  

Written by Emma Newlyn