How to Stay Warm when It's Cold AF Outside
As we transition into colder months, I wanted to offer some practices to keep you warm. If you are anything like me, your hands and feet go icy as soon as the temperature drops and it takes the hottest of baths to defrost them. If this sounds familiar, see if any of the information shared below resonates with you. If you are easily irritated and overheated these practices may not be for you. I always recommend working with a practitioner (herbalist, Ayurvedic, TCM) to guide you through these energetics.
Let’s start with herbs! Adding heating herbs to your diet can help stimulate digestion and circulation during a time when our bodies might be moving slowly. You’ll want to focus on tastes like pungent, sour and salty. Pungent herbs are also drying, while sour and salty are moistening, another thing to keep in mind when choosing an herb for your body.
Some examples of each:
Pungent: basil, black pepper, cardamom, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, ginger, horseradish, onions, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme.
Sour: hawthorn berries, lemon, lime, rose hips.
Salty: epsom salt, irish moss, kelp, sea salt, seaweed.
In motion this might look like, adding a squeeze of citrus to your water if you tend to dry out during the winter. Adding oregano, rosemary or thyme to your dishes if you feel slow and congested. Or maybe bringing epsom salt into your bath or adding seaweed to your broths or grains. Just remember, overdoing anything can lead to an imbalance in the opposite direction of where you started. Everything in moderation.
Turning to soups during the winter is deeply nourishing to our body and souls. I highly recommend cooking from scratch if you have the time/energy.
If you are a meat eater, find a high quality, pasture-raised whole chicken (extra points if it comes from a local farm) or 1-2 lbs of chicken thighs (this can be more manageable). Put into a large stockpot and cover with filtered water plus lots of salt (himalayan, sea, celtic, anything that hasn’t been stripped of it’s minerals). Simmer 1.5 hours. Strain the meat from the broth (the meat should be falling off the bone at this point). Now make a soup with whatever veggies you have! I like to sauté garlic, ginger, onions, chilis, and veggies in a good fat then add the broth and shredded chicken overtop. Simple and delicious.
If you are vegetarian/vegan try making a broth with all of your veggie scraps, think carrot tops, broccoli bottoms, outer layer of onions plus some medicinal mushrooms (I love shiitake). Same process as above.
If you have a bathtub, epsom salt baths will get you through the colder months. Try self-massaging with an herbal infused oil beforehand. This lovely ritual will get your lymphatic system moving and increase circulation. I love using our Moon Oil before a bath, the ginger will help warm your tissues and the essential oils will relax a racing mind.
Lastly, I love herbal infused vinegars and fire ciders! These go back to our sour taste and are another great way to improve circulation and support your immune system. Take a little swig when you’re feeling cold and sluggish or add to salads and other dishes.
