Winter Qi Chats | Week 9
Got cold feet?
The winter season challenges us to stay warm & calm but how can our feet help us navigate our emotions?
Cognition + Calm
At the base of the foot, there’s a very important acupressure point knowns as Yong Quan or Bubbling Spring. This is the first point of the Kidney channel and I refer to it often in class as our ‘grounding point’. The feet are our root and comes in constant contact with the ear, our external source of Yin.
By keeping the feet warm, we maintain this warm flow of Qi from within while keeping our intentions inward as well. Winter is a time for quiet and rest, the feet can help connect you to the calm. Yong Quan is our grounding point as it bring excess Qi down from our busy minds and we can settle into our Yin state.
Emotions & Illness
In Chinese Medicine, your emotions can often be the root cause of an illness. It is often said, that having too many emotions or ‘big’ emotions will lead to a pathology. So Yong Quan is part of getting you to settle the mind beyond that point of ‘meditation’ but allowing yourself to train the brain to inhibit habitual emotions and react more calmly. How? Take Yong Quan for a walk. Walking does activate Yong Quan, there are many walking meditations practices in Eastern medicine. Walking helps with circulation, keeping the body warm and moving Qi outward to the extremities. But you’re also upregulating the frontal cortex and cerebellum of the brain which helps navigate your emotions. Remember, emotions are only natural and they are not ‘bad’ (there’s never a “good nor bad”) but it’s important to remember you have 3 minute to express, then let it go.
Neuro-Qi Tip o’the day!
Press + Breathe
In today’s Zoom I’ll teach you three acupressure points of the feet that you can use to calm the spirit
Know when to take a walk
Set your Winter practice around foot care (massage, soaking, pedicure, etc)
*Video posts every Friday by 11:30am MDT
