Rest is Medicine - Winter and the Call to Slow Down
As the days grow shorter and the nights stretch longer, you might notice your body asking for more rest.
If you’re like many people I see in the clinic, this can bring up resistance. You might find yourself thinking you should have more energy, that you should still want to be as active and social as you were in the summer.
But the truth is that nothing is wrong.
Your animal body is responding exactly as it should. This desire to rest is not a problem — it’s an essential part of how nature restores itself through the winter season. And you are — we are — part of nature, not separate from it.
The Wisdom of Winter
In Chinese medicine, every season has a corresponding organ system. These systems include the organs and their functions as we know them from a modern Western medical perspective, and/but also include mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of our being.
Winter is associated with the kidneys. The kidneys have to do with our deepest reserves of energy — think of it like the “core battery” of our life force.
As we look to nature, we see that winter teaches us the art of conservation, stillness, and renewal. Just as trees pull their energy down into their roots, our bodies, too, are designed this season to turn inward, to rest deeply, and to rebuild.
Rest as Medicine
Sleep and rest are key ways to recharge that inner battery. When we ignore the call to rest — staying just as busy in December as we were in July, staying up just as late, getting up just as early — we’re drawing from those deep reserves instead of replenishing them.
That might feel okay for a while, but over time it leads to depletion — depletion that presents as fatigue, hormonal imbalances, digestive issues, or any of a myriad of ways the slow chipping away at our life force can affect our body, mind, and spirit.
Contrast that with aligning to the nature of the season: going to bed earlier, moving more slowly, and allowing yourself to sleep in whenever possible. These aren’t indulgences — they’re medicine. And craving them more this time of year is not a sign that something is wrong — it’s a sign you’re right on time.
A Seasonal Practice
So as we move toward winter, experiment with rest. Try to land home earlier in the evening, and dim the lights after dark. Skip the social event that doesn’t light you up. Let yourself go to bed when your body says it’s time, rather than when your to-do list says you can. Sleep a little longer when your schedule allows, and skip the alarm if you can.
And then notice how it feels in your body when you align with the season instead of resisting it. I don’t just want you to take my word for it — you don’t need another expert telling you what to do. I want you to take your word for it. This in an invitation to tune into what your body already knows.
And the more deeply you rest now, the more vitality you’ll have when spring arrives and life begins to activate and expand again.
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