Every January you hear about making New Year’s Resolutions, starting new diets, or exercise regimens. By February you aren’t hearing about this much anymore. Why is that? Why do we give up so quickly on such noble and worthwhile goals? Because we are setting ourselves up just to fail. If you look at every other animal on the planet, the winter is the time to slow down, rest, and rejuvenate. Your body naturally wants to slow down this time of year. According to Ayurvedic Medicine, winter is not the time to make changes or start new things. This is the time to finish things, end the cycle. If you must make a resolution, a good one is to “get healthy.” Go with your bodies natural rhythms. If you try to start something new right now, you are going to fail. Not because your intentions aren’t good, but because you are fighting against your own nature. January is absolutely the worst time to make extreme changes.

I’m not telling you that it’s okay to eat whatever you want and be lazy. No, you can do simple things to help your body through the cold winter months, and be healthy at the same time. Winter is the time to gently detoxify the body. Did you ever notice that you have a lot more mucus in the winter? That you seem to get sick a lot this time of year? This is because the body is naturally trying to detoxify and clear itself out. Rather than taking medications to treat the symptoms, work with your body’s natural healing mechanisms and do things that will help support your immune system in the process.

It is very important to eat winter foods in the winter. Onions, apples, pumpkins, winter squash, chard, ginger, collard greens, cauliflower, teas, soups, (no meat of course). Nature has planned it for us to have certain foods available when we need them. You can make sure you are getting brown rice in your diet as this is naturally gently cleansing to the body. Make homemade Ginger Tea. The recipe is here: Ginger Tea This tea is a great immune booster!

Winter is the time to nurture yourself. Take hot baths! This is very important to help your body fight off viruses and infections by gently raising your bodies temperature. Get regular massages, this will also help to gently detoxify your body. If you must start an exercise regimen, try yoga. Start with a beginners class and don’t push yourself beyond where you are comfortable. All of these things will help you on your path to better health in a gentle and nurturing manner.

To set up an appointment please call my office at 770-427-7387 or you can send us a message in the live chat.