In traditional Chinese medicine, winter is a time to support the lungs and kidneys— organs associated with immunity, energy conservation, and inner wisdom. In Ayurveda, it is considered kapha season— cold, slow, and damp. To remedy this, we want to balance these qualities and support our internal being with warmth, movement, and vitality.

Here is how we can intentionally prepare our internal and external landscape for winter through food, lifestyle, and herbal medicine— so we ensure our body’s enter the cooler, slower months feeling grounded and deeply well.

EAT

The foods of summer and autumn dance around bring fresh and raw, the body craves light and bright. As the seasons shift, and the environment around us turns cold and sharp, we need to soften and warm. Our digestive fire needs to be nurtured and we can do this by adopting a warming and hearty diet. We want to take a burden off our digestive system and gut by opting for slow cooked meats, soups and stews, filled with warming herbs and spices, good for both our digestive and immune systems.

Think:

• Broths, slow cooked meats, soups, stews.
  Soups, stews, bone broths, slow roasted vegetables and meats are not only comforting but deeply mineral rich and loving to your digestive system. They are warming on the body, supportive of the gut lining, and enhance the immune system.
  
  
• Warming spices.
  Spices are both physically and energetically warming, being a great support for your whole being in the cooler months. You want to lean on foods like ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, garlic, and cloves. Warmth supports stagnation of the body, helping to improve circulation and digestion.
  
  
• Seasonal produce.
  Living with the land honours our body’s needs in the most sustainable and simple way, winter vegetables are supportive of what we need and are in abundance at the time when we need it, as does all seasonal fruit and veg. Vegetables and fruit like pumpkin, sweet potato, carrots, beetroot, parsnip, brassicas, citrus, and kiwi, provide the body nutrients to sustain and ground over the cooler months.
  
  
• The microbiome.
  While the gut is an important factor in overall health all year round, a health gut homes a healthy immune system. The best way to support your microbiome here is by eating a diverse and colourful diet, weaving in prebiotics, fibres and probiotics to feed your good gut bugs and support a healthy microbial balance.

LIFE

The world softly invites us to slow down through these months. I personally believe that honouring rest becomes essential. It isn’t an invitation to inactivity, stagnation, or dormancy, it’s an invitation to a conscious slowing, turning inward and reflecting, and regenerating.

Think:

• Follow the sun.
  Embrace the natural eb and flow of light and dark in this season, wake with the energy of the bright morning sun and allow yourself to fold into a slow and relaxed afternoon when the sun sets a little earlier. Syncing with the light in this time is a great way to regulate your circadian rhythm for restful sleep and energy maintenance. Your immune system is deeply connected to your sleep-wake cycles, poor sleep weakens white blood cell activity reducing the body’s ability to fight infection. 10 — 15 minutes of daily sunlight exposure is also perfect for regulating circadian health and seasonal mood.
  
  
• Hydration.
  Hydration = moisture, moisture = healthy mucous membranes (your first line of immune defence). Proper hydration is essential for your immune system, it helps flush toxins and enhance your lymphatic system, starting your day with a glass of water, sprinkled with celtic sea salt, is perfect for cellular hydration.
  
  
• Mindful movement.
  Daily body movement is another great support for your lymphatic system, which is a great defensive system for your immunity: walking, yoga, pilates, stretching, dry body brushing, and hot—cold therapy in the shower can boost circulation, stimulate lymph flow, increase immune resilience and regulate our nervous system, connecting back to and protecting the self.
  
  
• Come back to breathe. 
  Our lungs are deeply connected to our immunity, they are the portal between our internal and external world. A simple way to enhance this connection is conscious breath. Deep breathing promotes lymphatic drainage, moving stagnant immune waste that accumulates in the cooler months. Try: diaphragmatic breathing or box breathing. Steam inhalations or diffusers are also a comforting ally in the cooler seasons, leaning on eucalyptus and thyme to open airways and inhibit acute infection.
  

HERB

Herbal medicine offers a bridge between the energetic and physical body. In this seasonal shift, herbs can hold us, help us adapt, nourish and protect.

Herbs I like to consider coming into the cooler months:

Think:

• Immune modulators: herbs to regulate your immune system, I like to use mushrooms here, looking at reishi, shiitake, and turkey tail
  
  
• Warming circulatory herbs: ginger, cayenne, cinnamon, and garlic, all help to promote warmth, improving blood flow, and preventing stagnation, especially helpful if you tend to feel cold or sluggish in winter.
  
  
• Adaptogens & nervine herbs: withania, rhodiola, licorice, oats, lemon balm, and skullcap all help to adapt to emotional, physical, and environmental stressors which may arise.
  
  
• Lung support: herbs like elecampane, thyme, licorice, mullein, ivy, and ribwort support the respiratory system, helping clear and lingering congestion and strengthen lung function— a key focus before the cooler season

Winter preparation is an act of love to the self— a time for checking in with yourself, seeing where you are at, and tending to the parts of you, you may have looked over in the warmer seasons. As we move from long summer days, towards cooler moments and long nights, this is your invitation to build warmth within you, on the foundations on nourishment and intention.

Rhi O'Hanlon Flore Naturopathy