Build Your Wei- Qi

As nights grow longer and days grow colder now is the time to strengthen your Qi in order to build your immune system.  The lungs are the internal organs related to fall. They  are  considered by Traditional Chinese Medicine to be the “tender organ.” This is because the lungs are the uppermost organ in the body and especially susceptible to wind and cold.  The lungs control the circulation of the Wei-Qi, which is the defensive Qi that protects you from the invasion of flu and colds. The Wei-Qi circulates on the surface between the skin and muscles and works to warm the body. Keep yourself warm and build your immunity with a few new additions to your daily routine:

 

Dry Skin Brushing may reduce duration of infection and accelerate the clearing of toxins by stimulating the lymph vessels to drain more quickly.

More Sleep The ancients advised that people should retire early at night and rise with the crowing of the rooster during the autumn. Although personal needs vary, on average, adults need 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night.  “Sleep services all aspects of our body in one way or another: molecular, energy balance, as well as intellectual function, alertness and mood,” says Dr. Merrill Mitler, a sleep expert and neuroscientist at NIH.

Netti Pot  because the nose is the opening to the lungs, you can prevent colds by keeping your nose and sinuses clean and clear using a netti pot  with some sea salt and warm water.

Pungent Foods, Teas, and Spices that reduce phlegm like garlic, onions, ginger, horseradish, and mustard are beneficial to the lungs. Include white foods such as pears, radishes, daikon radish, cauliflower, and cabbage. Also reishi mushrooms and astralagus tea support lung energy and the immune system.

There was temperance in eating and drinking. Their hours of rising and retiring were regular and not disorderly and wild. By these means the ancients kept their bodies united with their souls, so as to fulfill their allotted span completely, measuring unto a hundred years before they passed away.” –Huang Ti Nei Jing Su Wen

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