The six solar terms in winter are the season when the yang in nature declines, everything is collected and the climate is cold. The ancients said: "Winter is the end, and everything is collected." At this time, all things are alive, the yang is lurking, the vegetation is dying, insects are dormant, the earth is frozen, the snow is cold, and the animals and plants in nature are in a dormant state, saving their energy for the next spring. Man corresponds to the four seasons, and the change of the natural four-season climate has a direct or indirect impact on the human body, and the human body will inevitably change with the change of seasons. This change reflects the adaptability of human physiology, just as it is said in Neijing Lingshu that "man corresponds to heaven and earth" and "man relates to heaven and earth, and corresponds to the sun and the moon". The physiological function of the human body is also corresponding, and the metabolism is in a relatively slow state. It's called "Yang-qi latent", which is beneficial to the nourishing and accumulation of essence, so the six solar terms in winter are the best season for health care.
1. It is advisable to store essence in winter and keep it in time. According to the characteristics of "everything is stored, kidney qi and water are flourishing", it is necessary to avoid cold and warm up, astringe yin and protect yang, balance yin and yang, keep "hidden" and consolidate kidney qi, enhance physical fitness, prevent diseases and prolong life. Winter, the last season of the year, has experienced six solar terms: beginning of winter, light snow, heavy snow, winter solstice, slight cold and severe cold. People should keep fit with the characteristics of six solar terms in winter. For example, in the six solar terms in winter, when the weather is cold, yin flourishes and yang declines, it is easy to suffer from yang deficiency. Whether it is health care and longevity, or tonifying deficiency and eliminating diseases, we should pay attention to warming and nourishing yang, and use nourishing yin drugs with caution or less.
2. Raise the sun to keep out the cold, and adjust your daily life to the severe winter and the twelfth month. The wind is cold, the rain and snow are falling, the rivers are frozen, and the plants and trees are thin. Such an image of everything dying often makes people feel touched by the scene and feel depressed, especially the old, weak and sick, and the emotional changes are more obvious. Therefore, mental adjustment is very important. The spirit of the six solar terms in winter is adjusted, focusing on the stability of the mind, paying attention to the quiet expression, and not making the emotions too intense, so as not to disturb the latent yang. As "Su Wen, Four Qi Tunes the Spirit" said: "If you hide your ambition, if you have private intentions, if you have it." This refers to the "way to raise Tibet" to adapt to the spirit of winter.
In winter and March, the world is closed, and the adjustment of daily life should be in line with nature. "Su Wen Four Qi Tunes the Spirit" said: "Stay up early and get up late, and you must wait for the sun." It is pointed out that it is appropriate to go to bed early and get up late in winter, and go to bed early to nourish the yang of the human body and keep the body warm. Get up late to nourish yin and wait until sunrise, so as to avoid the cold and seek its warmth, making the human body overcast and peaceful. Especially for people with insufficient yang, it is especially advisable to lie down early and get up late when the wind blows suddenly. "Li Xu Yuan Jian" said: "Winter is cold-proof and windproof." "Health Mirror" puts forward: "When the collection is blocked in winter and March, it is best to stick to Yuanyang to nourish the true qi." Therefore, attention should be paid to maintaining indoor temperature in winter. The indoor temperature is too low, which is easy to damage the human yang; The indoor temperature is too high, and it is easy to rob and hurt the yin essence. In winter, the yang is hidden inside, and the yin is outside. If it is improperly adjusted, it will disturb the yang inside, force it to leak out, or accumulate heat inside, forming a syndrome of yin deficiency and fire flourishing. In spring, it will cause febrile diseases or induce chronic diseases. This is also contrary to the principle of "nourishing yin in autumn and winter" in Su Wen's Theory of Four Qi Regulating the Spirit.
While keeping warm in the six solar terms in winter, attention should be paid to keeping the indoor air fresh. Often open the window to exchange air, to prevent dizziness, chest tightness and other hypoxia caused by poor ventilation, leading to respiratory diseases such as colds, asthma, chronic bronchitis and other diseases. You can also put a basin of water indoors, or raise some daffodils and ornamental fish to adjust the air humidity. In the cold winter, people should pay attention to keep warm and keep warm, and increase or decrease their clothes with the climate change. Underwear with good elasticity is better, close to keep warm. The coat should be a little wider, so that qi and blood can circulate and the limbs can stretch freely and comfortably. As the saying goes, "Cold starts at the foot." When the foot is in contact with the ground, it has a large amount of heat dissipation, less muscle and fat in the foot, thinner blood vessels, far away from the heart, and poor blood supply and heat preservation performance. Once the foot catches cold, it is easy to cause colds, abdominal pain, lumbago and leg pain, dysmenorrhea and diarrhea in women. Therefore, it is very important to keep the feet warm in winter. There are many ways to keep your feet warm. Besides wearing clothes, shoes and socks with good warm-keeping performance, you should also pay attention to exercising your feet, such as running, race walking and walking. Especially before going to bed every night, washing your feet and rubbing your heart can not only remove dirt, keep warm from the cold, but also tonify the kidney, relieve fatigue, promote sleep, delay aging, and prevent and treat colds, hypertension, coronary heart disease and other diseases. In winter, it is generally appropriate to exercise indoors, which is suitable for its cold temperature. Indoor environment should be warm, comfortable, clean, cold-proof to nourish essence.
3. Sexual intercourse, nourishing kidney and storing essence, keeping healthy in six solar terms in winter, focusing on keeping kidney essence closed, which is of great significance for promoting health and longevity. Neijing said: "If you don't hide essence in winter, you will get sick in spring." It is clearly pointed out that if people don't know the way of keeping Tibet in winter, and semen will still leak frequently in winter, then their bodies will inevitably become weaker day by day, and the deficiency will lead to cold pathogens taking advantage of it and hiding in the body, and the latent pathogens will accumulate for a long time, and when the spring sun rises in the coming year, it will surely cause febrile diseases. "Shou Shi Bao Yuan" also said: "Essence is the master of the kidney. In winter, you should control sexual intercourse, and you can't indulge your lust and hurt your kidney essence." Sun Simiao, a famous doctor in the Tang Dynasty, thought that the reason of "people who are less than 100 years old today" was "I don't know how to abstain from abstinence and nourish my essence". The elderly have symptoms such as dizziness, tinnitus and memory loss due to the deficiency of kidney essence, which leads to the emptiness of the medullary sea. Kidney governs bone, so kidney deficiency can also affect the physiology of bone, which leads to the weakness of bone in the elderly, weakness of waist and mobility. It can be seen that the "essence" is weak and leads to the aging of the human body. In winter and March, the important content of "the way of nourishing Tibet" is to maintain kidney essence and control sexual intercourse, so as to maintain sufficient essence in the body and maintain the normal physiological functions of internal organs. The Record of Nourishing Life and Prolonging Life says: "When winter is normally closed, you should not give essence, but when you are in heaven, you can hide it in winter, so you can live forever." It points out that "when you give in winter, you should win a hundred." It is believed that abstinence should be practiced in the six solar terms in winter, and abstinence will make your spirit and blood more than enough, and your kidney-yang will be consolidated and your body will be strong. At the same time, the back of the human body is where the yang meridian runs. In winter, it is very important to keep your back warm. The method of keeping your back warm is relatively simple. At noon with sunshine in winter, you can put your back to the sun for 1 ~ 2 hours, which can not only warm your back, but also absorb the ultraviolet rays in the sun, thus playing the role of sterilization and promoting the absorption of calcium by the human body. You can also wear a close-fitting cotton, down or fur vest to warm your back. In addition, be careful not to let your back catch cold when sleeping in winter.
4. Exercise, yang protection and body shape In the harsh environment of six solar terms in winter, human functions are prone to disorder, especially for the elderly and infirm. When they can't adapt to the external environment, some diseases will be induced. For example, under the stimulation of cold air, the human immune function is reduced and the ability to defend against diseases is weakened. Once attacked by bacteria and viruses, diseases such as colds, chronic bronchitis and pneumonia can be caused. In winter, due to the cold stimulation, sympathetic nerves are excited, and the secretion of adrenaline and other substances increases, which causes the resistance of peripheral small blood vessels to increase, blood pressure to rise, and blood rheology to change, which can aggravate the pathological damage of the original cardiovascular and cerebrovascular atherosclerosis, leading to the onset or aggravation of diseases such as coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, cerebral embolism and cerebral hemorrhage, and even accidents. In addition, asthma, stomach and duodenal ulcer, skin pruritus, etc., often recur in winter, and should also be paid enough attention. Therefore, it is necessary to choose an appropriate exercise program. Exercise places should be mainly indoor, with sunny weather and moderate outdoor exercise. This can not only comfort the bones and muscles, circulate the blood, but also be a positive measure to increase heat, keep warm and prevent cold. In order to adapt to the winter climate and enhance the cold resistance of human body, the six solar terms in winter should be based on the climate in different regions and people's physique. Exercise in the six solar terms in winter should not be carried out in severe cold, strong wind, heavy snow and fog and dew, especially for the elderly and infirm. The amount of exercise in the six solar terms in winter should be moderate. Qianjinfang said: "In winter, the sky and the earth are closed and the blood is hidden. People should not sweat and vent their yang, which is harmful to people." This shows that the sun's spirit is hidden in the six solar terms in winter. If the amount of exercise is excessive, it will dissipate the sun's spirit.