Welcome 2022
Welcome 2022: A year of seeking wellness through new understandings of body, mind, spirit; our interconnectedness to each other and our planet using the Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective as I understand it.
- by Wendy Fritz, RN, R.Ac., MSTOM, Dipl.O.M.
As I step in to 2022, I think about all the people I have spoken with: patients, family, friends. A recurrent theme coming into the New Year is sort of guarded optimism; we all want this year to be better, but we feel a little let down by our hopes from the previous couple of years. So my thought for myself is to focus on what I can do for prevention and wellness, using the tools I know, and expanding on those by connecting our community. I thought it might be fun and useful to share, so I am inviting you to journey with me as a way of doing what we can to assure a better year.
My plan is to touch base weekly to biweekly with wellness topics related to body, mind, spirit, and/or the environment from the eyes of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Together, we can explore practices and touch in with others in the healing community on their areas of selfcare, giving us all tools to evaluate and put into practice those ideas that fit our individual life styles and what resonates for each of us individually.
This blog will follow the seasons, as wellness practices in Traditional Chinese Medicine often do. I hope my readers find this informative, but also fun. I plan to keep the information in small bites, so it is easy to take in, but will try to provide resources for those of you that want to dive deeper.
So here we go…
Winter is the time of the Kidney: The deepest of organs that guards our very essence and is what we grow out of—our roots. The kidneys are also separators of the clear and the turbid. Think of yin energy—quiet, slow, building potential, sorting through, discarding what is used up for us, cleaning and holding what is good.
Its element is water in all of its various forms; cooling, cleansing. We cannot survive long without water. It is one of our most valuable resources and a large part of what makes our planet habitable.
The color of winter is black, gray, dk blue or purple—think of the night sky and how early it gets dark coming into and exiting the solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.
The sound of the kidney is groaning—think of icebergs shifting and birthing. Groaning can happen at times of deep despair or prolonged illness; it can happen with heavy work, but that vibration can also illicit healing. Try groaning for a few minutes, letting those deep baritone vibrations move through your body. How does that feel?
The smell of the kidney is putrid or rot—it is that deepest transition of one life to the next.
The emotions of the kidney are fear and anxiety—more on this to come, but think of how often the dark is associated with fear.
The Flavor is salty—think both of the ocean, and of preserving things through the months where fresh food is hard to come by.
The sense organ is the ear and the tissues of the kidney are the bones and its related organ, the urinary bladder. Within the dark, we depend more on our ability to hear as we navigate our world.
I am thinking about how these ideas play out for me as I begin this journey. The sun is shining right now. The land is snow covered and iced—water in its finest attire. I soak up every drop of sun knowing that darkness will still arrive early for a couple more months. While this is a quieter, contemplative time, don’t be at all fooled; think of the seeds buried deep, building energy and transforming in ways we can’t yet see, but transforming none-the-less.
I invite you to dive into your kidney energy. Move more slowly and contemplatively. Listen deeply. Nourish yourself with soups and stews that use bone or mineral broth as a base. Savor salty broths. Drink warming teas. Sleep a little more, but also use this time to plan and make space for the more active months to come. Look at those things that cause fear and anxiety. Maybe write them down. Develop a plan to see them in a new way to bring peace. And here, in the North, marvel at all the forms that water takes on.
Welcome 2022
Up next: An interview with Dr. Marti Peters on Mindfulness