Alright lovely, grab a cup of ginger tea and your cosiest blanket, because today we’re diving into the wisdom of Winter – and more specifically, the magical, mysterious world of your Kidney Organ System.

Yep, your Kidneys aren’t just cute little bean-shaped things that filter your blood; they’re the powerhouse of your vitality, fertility, and longevity.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, winter is ruled by the Kidney organ system, and it’s a time for slowing down, going inward, and preserving your precious life force – known as Essence, or Jing. And honestly, you want to preserve that Jing like it’s liquid gold. Because it kinda is.

So today on I Love Me The Podcast, I’ll be walking you through:

• What Jing and Essence actually are
• Why your Kidneys are key to long, juicy health and fertility
• The difference between internal and external cold (and how they mess with you)
• And how to live your best Kidney-loving life this winter.

 

Here in the Southern Hemisphere we’ve just entered into Winter, and if there’s one area of the body we want to be looking after, so we can enjoy a healthier cold season, it’s the Kidneys.

But in order to really understand how our Kidneys work for us, we need to know what Essence or Jing is.

And if you’re wondering, why should I care about Essence or Jing, let me explain…

We can think of Jing like our soul’s savings account.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, we were all born with a certain amount of Essence – a gift from our parents at conception – and every day we either spend it or preserve it.

Essence fuels our entire physical body.

It’s the basis of our fertility, our bones, our brain, our vitality, and yep – how long we live.

The Taoists believed that once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Like, end-of-the-road kind of gone.

Where do the Kidneys come into this?

Well…

The Kidneys store this Essence.

Think of the Kidneys being like a ‘container’ for our Essence, taking care of growth, reproduction, and development.

So whether you’re wanting to have a baby, stay sharp into your 90s, or just not feel completely wrecked every afternoon – protecting your Kidneys, especially in Winter – is where it’s at.

Just as the plants act differently in each season, so too do we need to act differently in each season, to support us in staying well now, and into the future.

And I’m going to share ways you can do that.

Now in most places in the world, it gets cold in Winter.

And this cold can sneak into our body.

This is what’s known as ‘external cold’, where the cold weather enters our meridians; the energetic pathways that carry qi – or energy – around our body.

This is why our neck may get stiff, our sinuses clog up, or our lower back starts to ache when we don’t dress warm enough, with a long jacket and a scarf, to cover the vulnerable parts of our body.

The Bladder meridian – which runs down our back – is the yang partner to the Kidneys and super exposed to the elements.

When we get cold from outside, this cold blocks the flow of qi in our meridians.

In Western Medicine, this can be likened to decreased circulation.

And when there’s inadequate circulation of blood and qi, then this can lead to pain.

So that’s External Cold.

But we can also experience ‘Internal Cold’.

Unlike External Cold that comes from outside of us, Internal Cold comes from within.

This usually happens when you’ve burnt the candle at both ends – working too much, not resting enough, skipping meals, running on stress and oat lattes.

You’ve burnt through your inner fire, or what’s also known as your Kidney Yang.

When you don’t have enough yang, your body loses its heat.

Your digestion slows down.

You feel cold all the time, even indoors.

You’re tired, uninspired, unmotivated.

You’ll know you have Kidney Deficiency or too much cold, if you have:

• Cold hands and feet (like… always)
• Deep fatigue, especially in Winter
• Blue or dark circles under the eyes
• Low back pain
• Low libido
• Feeling sad, flat or fearful
• Peeing all the time
• Weak knees or bones
• Infertility or hormonal imbalance

These are all signs that your Kidneys need a little love.

A little spark.

A little heat!

On the flip side…

When your Kidneys are happy and thriving, you’ll feel it in your bones – literally!

Healthy Kidneys show up as strong vitality, steady energy throughout the day – without needing to drink coffee – and a deep sense of inner calm.

You’ll notice warmth in your lower back and body, clear thinking, sharp memory, and a healthy libido.

Speaking of which…

Our fertility is directly linked to our Kidneys.

If the Kidneys are weak, fertility will be compromised, and you’ll start to experience hormonal imbalances.

And this isn’t just about making babies…

Fertility is our creative life force too!

Our ability to create anything – a project, a dream, a business, a new version of ourself – starts here.

When a person’s Kidneys are thriving, their hair tends to be thick and shiny, their bones feel strong, and their hearing is clear – because in Chinese Medicine, the ears are the sense organ connected to the Kidneys.

Emotionally, you’ll feel resilient, grounded, able to handle stress without tipping into fear or overwhelm.

It’s like having a solid inner battery that keeps you charged and steady for all seasons of life.

This is ideally, what we’re working towards.

So let’s look at how we can support our Kidneys through Winter, so that we can experience more of those positive signs, that indicate that our Kidneys are operating on full charge…

Firstly,

We want to be eating warm, slow-cooked, nourishing foods.

Think stews, broths, soups, casseroles, and congee, with warming spices like ginger, cinnamon and cloves.

A good hearty porridge, root vegetables, dark leafy greens, seaweed, black beans, kidney beans, back sesame seeds, and walnuts.

These are all good strengthening foods for Winter.

Ditch the smoothies and salads for now – raw foods can weaken our digestive fire, especially in the colder months.

While excess dairy and sugar can create dampness, mucus and sluggishness.

So go easy on them, and be mindful not to overeat.

Our digestion needs support at this time, not overwork.

Just as we want to eat warm, nourishing foods, so too do we want to:

Drink warming beverages.

We need to stay hydrated.

The Kidneys are associated with the element of Water.

So we want to get them lubricated.

The types of teas I love to sip through Winter are, ginger, rooibos, cinnamon and chai.

Ginger is your classic Autumn into Winter tea, because it’s warming, it boosts digestion, supports circulation and helps dispel internal cold.

Our digestive fire is sacred, and ginger really fires up our digestion.

Cinnamon is another superstar herb that warms the Kidneys, supports metabolism and stabilises blood sugar.

Traditional chai spices like cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg are all warming and tonifying.

I recommend opting for a decaf or rooibos-based chai, so you’re not further depleting your Kidney Yang… which leads me onto:

Reducing ‘fake Yang’.

Caffeine, energy drinks, stimulants – these are basically borrowing energy you don’t have, and putting you into Yang debt.

If you’re tired, rest.

Don’t try and push through, by relying on caffeine.

And you heard me there say REST.

That’s the next supportive measure we can take.

Rest like it’s your job.

Sleep longer.

All we need to do is look to Winter and we see that the nights are longer.

They’re longer, because in Winter we need more sleep.

Nap when you can.

Honour the season’s invitation to be instead of constantly do.

Now, while we want this extra rest, we do want to balance our Yin and Yang, our Fire and our Water, and we do this by also inviting in:

Gentle movement to stoke the fire within.

A slow walk in the Winter sun.

Some yoga that warms us from the inside, but also offers us some deeply restorative postures.

When I’m feeling really cold in Winter, I turn on my favourite song and dance my heart out, to help add some heat to my body.

I also like to lie on my Shakti mat (yes, those spiky ones!) to activate my Bladder meridian, which runs down the back of the body.

It goes without saying, that in Winter, you want to:

Keep warm.

This is not the time to go swimming in the lake!

Bundle up with a good jacket, wear scarves, and protect your lower back and feet.

Especially your feet!

Cold travels up through the Kidney meridian, which starts on the sole of each foot.

The colder months are the perfect time to:

Journal and meditate on the mystery.

Winter is the time of the unknown, the dark, the womb.

The more you embrace the stillness, the more your Jing is protected.

So go deep into your meditations, journal on all those deep questions, that maybe you’ve been avoiding.

If you want guidance on how to Meditate, have a listen to Episode 41, and if you want to learn how to journal, take a peek at Episode 20.

And while you’re at it, you may like to use these practices to:

Tend to your fears.

The emotion associated with the Kidneys is fear.

Working through old fears and choosing trust, safety, and peace helps harmonise the body.

When we live in a fear-state, or easily go into fear or stress, it depletes our Kidneys.

In Episodes 39 and 40 I go into depth on the emotion of fear, the physiology of fear, and how it cripples our immune system, while also offering you a new perspective on fear, so you can embrace it, as opposed to letting it hold you back and deplete you.

So if you tend to spend time in fear, be sure to listen to those two episodes; When Little Miss Fear Drops Round For A Cuppa and The Physiology Of Fear: How Our Body Responds to Stress And Fear.

My final tip for looking after our Kidneys is specifically for men.

And this is practising:

Mindful Intimacy.

When a man ejaculates excessively, this depletes his system.

In my Sexual Self course I teach men how to orgasm while withholding ejaculation, so they don’t deplete their Kidney Essence, but also so they can experience higher states of pleasure.

So gorgeous one, your Kidneys might not be front of mind when you think about wellness, but in Winter, they should be.

By protecting your Essence, balancing our Yin and Yang, and learning to live with the seasons – you’re literally preserving your spark for years to come.

I do plan to run a Seasonal Self-Love program that will go into far more depth on all of this in the future – with lots of beautiful practices to support you – but for now, start with what I’ve shared with you today.

Let these little lifestyle tips support you in supporting your Kidneys this Winter.

And if you’re looking for more support to heal the fears and emotions that could be dragging down the health of your Kidneys, take a peek at my One-on-One Intensive where we do some deep healing work around fear, or my Remarkable Relationships program, where we clear out the beliefs that lead to fear and stress in our lives.

And if you do enrol in any of my programs, please know that a percentage of profits go to planting trees, so together we can re-robe Mother Earth.