Take a moment. Warm your hands by rubbing them together. Once they feel nice and warm, reach around to your low back and place your hands over your kidneys. Track your breath. And when you’re ready, see if you can breathe into your kidneys. See if you can feel the gentle bellow of your breath filling your kidneys within the support of your hands. Stay here for a few more breaths.

“The forces of winter create cold in Heaven and water on Earth. They create the kidney organ and the bones within the body...the emotion of fear, and the ability to make a groaning sound.”

- The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine

Your kidneys represent the Water element within and around you. This is the place of life and death. As Gail Reichsten explains, “It is the womb from which all life emerges and the abyss to which it returns.” In the dark hours of Winter, storage is vital. This time allows us to rest and repair from the prior seasons of activity. If you observe the world around you, you’ll notice that plants and animals alike commune with their deepest potential during winter’s slumber. 

What is being stored? 

Jing Essence

Our kidneys are likened to our savings account or backup generator. They store our Jing Essence. Our Jing forms our overall constitution, our physical and energetic strengths and weaknesses. “Our Jing acts as our reserves of energy, and is related to our hormonal and reproductive functioning. The quantity and quality of our Jing dictates our ability to manifest in this world.” says Dr. Lia Andrews, author of 7 Times a Woman. The art of longevity helps us to hold our essence in value, so that we can make conscious choices in preserving rather than pulling from our Jing/Essence more than we need to. During the winter months and even during your period phase (inner winter), we can help our bodies to conserve our energy expenditure in order to become anew.   

How can we tell if our reserves are depleted? 

General Symptoms of Kidney Deficiency  

• Bone challenges (especially those of the knees, lower back, and teeth)

• Hearing loss and other challenges of the ears

• Head & Hair challenges

• Urinary, sexual, and reproductive disharmonies

• Excessive fear and insecurity

• Deep fatigue and diminished ability to recover

It’s always easier to clear away excesses than fill up or amend deficiencies. Conservation is the #1 way to prevent depletion. We can stop borrowing from our own future stores of Jing essence by matching our nature with nature. That being said, there are ways to amend losses and replenish our reserves. 

Harness the Water Element

• Wear black and eat black foods or other dark colored foods such as sesame seeds, black beans (or any other beans), blackberry, molasses, seaweed, and wood ear mushrooms

• Rest when your body calls for it

• Spark the freedom on imagination

• Seek adventures in philosophy, books, games, magic, mythology, and mysticism

• Allow yourself lots of flexibility and spaciousness

• Chanting and diaphragmatic breathing

• Cultivating presence and mindfully releasing clenched muscles

• Sound baths

• Self massage of the ears and the Kidney 1 acupuncture point on the feet

• Kidney hold (Simply placing hands over kidneys and breathing into them)

• Bathing and water suspension; floating or being near natural bodies of water

How will you work with the Water element to nourish your Kidneys?