Have you been wondering lately…
What’s up with my energy?
Why is it so hard to get up?
Why do I feel so tired in the winter?
We’ve kept the same pattern ~ waking, sleeping, eating, exercising from one season to the next, so what changed?
In the 5 Element cycle, each season is associated with an organ system and particular ways it operates best.
The Winter season corresponds to the Kidney system and the element of Water.
So, what? Why am I so groggy in the mornings in Winter, when I’m ready to jump out of bed early in the Summer?
Part of the answer is that our bodies are 75-80% made up of water. When we experience the different phases of water (ice, liquid, steam), it changes how all the water in our body reacts.
Water in winter transforms—freezing into ice, slowing down, or condensing into frost. Similarly, the cooler temperatures signal our bodies to slow down, conserve energy, and focus on staying warm.
When it’s super cold outside (39 degrees this morning!) our body wants to conserve energy by keeping us nice and warm in bed!
So what can we do to combat this?
1. Movement! Right when you wake up.
Try starting with some stretching in bed, then after a few minutes, try movements to moderately increase your heart rate.
My go-to is 10 squats with my arms extended at shoulder height. If I’m feeling adventurous, I’ll follow up with 8-15 push-ups. The ‘ole tried and true jumping jacks are also great, try 15-20 to start the day right!
Increasing our heart rate brings cortisol into the bloodstream to gently activate the “Wake-up cycle”.
Keep in mind, moderate movements first thing is better than intense exercise. This wakes the adrenal glands, but keeps the cortisol spike moderate.
2. Take a short hot shower.
Warming our core with water hitting our skin ~ this also activates the lymphatic system to cycle out the toxins from the day and night before.
This usually triggers our morning pee! This is how we balance water in our body.
If you still feel groggy in the shower, try the last 15 seconds in cool water, but warm your core with the water (as hot as you can stand) before the cool water surprise!
3. Hydrate.
After my morning shower, I have ½ - 1 liter of warm water with electrolytes. This also helps to clear out yesterday’s toxins and re-hydrate.
Adding water back into our system in the morning is such an important step, and it’s important to think about the temperature of the liquids we put in our body.
We all know that the normal body temperature is 98.6, but why is the temperature of the water, tea or coffee we drink in the morning important?
If the core of our body wants to stay warm, and the general temperature is cold…drinking cold liquids in the morning will disrupt the digestive system.
Think about heating up cold soup before you eat it ~ it takes energy to heat the liquid. Or, letting your car engine warm up in the winter before driving. It’s the same in our stomach!
If the liquid is cold, we rob our core of the vital energy it needs to warm it in order to digest. warming up the liquids when it’s cold will save your vital energy.
Want to learn more on how to maintain your energy and work with the season? Or need a quick impromptu acupuncture session?
Join me at the SAN Center this Saturday ~
Intro to the 5 Elements & the Body
Plus Community Acupuncture!
In this 5-week series, I’ll focus on how to work with the 5 Elements to bring & maintain balance. Each session includes an open Q&A and discussions of physical issues.
First Class Date: Saturday, January 18th
Time: Class 11:15 - 12pm | Community Acupuncture 12pm-1pm
No registration necessary, just drop in!
I hope to see you there!
In health,
Dr. Alan Chang
