21st of June in the Southern Hemisphere … we have reached the deepest point of winter, the shortest day of the year. From now on, the days will become longer again, the sun will shine a bit longer each day, truly a day to celebrate 😊
In Chinese Medicine, everything represents a continuum, a constant flow of different energies, opposing but also complementing each other. The time of winter is Yin. Until the 21st, Yang kept shrinking and Yin expanding, on the 21st of June, Yin has reached its maximum and Yang, so to speak, is born within and will keep expanding a bit more each day.
What does that mean for your health? Winter is the time of the element water and the Kidney organ. The senses most easily affected are the ears, the most fragile emotion is depression.
So what to do? Keep warm and nurture yourself, pay attention to a warm and supplementing diet with acrid and sweet flavours. Maybe drink some cinnamon tea, which is gently warming (peppermint is more cooling and better adapted to the warmer seasons). Sprinkle some (black) sesame seeds over your food, maybe add some ginger to your cooking. Slow-boil broths (especially bone broth if you are not vegetarian) increase the amount of beans in your diet, and catch as much sun as possible outside ❤
