From resolutions to real change in 2025
After the holiday chaos settles, the temptation is to ‘hit the ground running’ on January 2nd. New Year’s resolutions abound. In the past, a few of mine have included:
- I will go the the gym every day.
- I will only eat salads.
- I will not drink alcohol ever again!
- I will avoid chocolate.
- I will be Zen and have less road rage.
Sound familiar anyone? Let’s take a closer look at these common resolutions through the lens of Chinese medicine.
The first thing to remember is that our bodies have their own seasonal rhythms, much like our environment. Winter, for example, is the time for slowing down and ‘storing’ the yin.
Yin is the nourishing aspect within us and is represented by stillness and the conservation of energy. What helps us to store the yin? Warm, nourishing foods like soups and stews, qigong, gentle yoga and walking.
On the flip side, things that deplete yin include alcohol, caffeine, excess sugar, too much sex, overwork, overdoing it with exercise and inadequate sleep.
Gym every day?
We all know that exercise is vital to health but it is key to remember that this season is about preserving energy, not expending it excessively. Winter workouts are best when the focus is on flexibility and building muscle mass.
In contrast, intense cardiovascular activities like running and cycling are better suited to spring and summer. At all times of the year, walking is great medicine and getting one’s heart rate up is important. The length of walks may be slightly shorter in the winter.
You may have also heard that ‘stretching is the new working out’. Flexibility is especially important as we age, helping to maintain our mobility and prevent injury.
Only salads?
Chinese medicine emphasises eating for the season. Digestion is a warm process and in the colder months, it is vital to eat warm, cooked foods. Soups, stews, and simple nourishing foods are best.
If you feel discomfort after eating a salad – such as bloating, loose stools, or diarrhoea – it may be a sign that you’re not aligned with food for that season.
Can a salad be modified to be more winter-friendly? Absolutely. Try a warm salad using baby spinach, toasted walnuts, and goat’s cheese instead of iceberg lettuce with cucumber. Adding a vinegar-based dressing can also support digestion.
Alcohol free?
Many have a love of the cocktail and one drink per day for women, two for men has been the advice for many years. However most recent data has shown that alcohol is cancer-causing for seven types of cancer types including breast and colon cancers.
In Chinese medicine, a little alcohol has been touted as good for circulation and digestion, but a ‘little’ means four to five ounces of wine with a meal, for example. More than that starts to worsen circulation and decrease the digestive function.
For folks who already have deficiency of the yin – for example perimenopausal women and those with chronic pain or people who take several medications – alcohol’s effects will be significantly worse. It’s also worth noting that the ‘weekend warrior’ – someone who drinks heavily only at weekends – may be doing more damage that someone who drinks small amounts more regularly.
What I find interesting with alcohol, is that our bodies are often very clear with us as to whether we should have that second glass of wine or not. We may get an instant headache, or it may simply not taste good anymore. I’ve recently seen this with my wine-loving aunt who, after hip surgery, felt no desire for wine post-surgery because her body was focused on healing. When you listen to those signals, your body will tell you how much alcohol is right for you.
No more chocolate?
If I find myself on the ‘chocolate train’ – which, for me, is having chocolate several times a day – it’s clear that in order to get off the train I must just stop it for a while. But in general, I will always fight in honour of chocolate!
Truly one of life’s simple pleasures is to have two squares of dark chocolate at 3pm. The main trick is to eat good quality chocolate – dark having the better health benefits such as magnesium and antioxidants. But let’s be honest, are we really eating it for the health benefits?
Why do we love chocolate so much? In Chinese medicine, the bitter flavour of cocoa is thought to stimulate the heart – similar to the effects of coffee – and we actually feel more joy. Now of course, more is not better with chocolate because the other ingredients like cocoa butter and sugar will not spark joy with our waistline!
Zen now?
We could all benefit from more Zen in our lives. Achieving this can be assisted by meditation, qigong, prayer, eating slower, living more mindfully and slowing our reaction time to stressful situations.
I often tell my patients that the whole point of what we do in Chinese medicine, with acupuncture, cupping and moxibustion is simply to move what is stuck. This may mean to release connective tissue adhesions, it may be to improve communication between organ systems, and it may even include shifting emotions that we cannot seem to move on from.
We as human beings should have every emotion. We should feel and be able to express love, anger, grief, worry and fear. But if we are stuck in fear, or if we are stuck in anger, it may be the beginning of illness in us.
Likewise if we are forcing a Zen-like persona, yet inside we are a roiling cauldron of bitterness, this will eventually result in exhaustion and breakdown. So while assisting our minds to find calm and to slow our reaction time to situations is always beneficial, putting on the illusion of calm is only creating more stagnation internally.
Less is more?
As we move into 2025, instead of the typical resolutions, I invite you to consider setting just three intentions:
- I will listen to what my body is telling me and adjust where necessary.
- I will build strength and flexibility in the winter and then increase my physical activity in the spring and summer.
- I will keep moving and if I get stuck, I will seek help.
Happy New Year!
