(Ecns.cn)—It's basically everyone's routine job in winter to keep warm. However insignificant the task might sound, to Chinese medicine practitioners it takes skill, according to the Yangtze Evening News on Monday. If you want to enjoy a healthy holiday season this winter, try following 4 tips to keep the heat.
1. Bundle up- The best way to stay warm this winter is definitely the simplest and most obvious – bundle up in warm clothes. Dressing in layers makes the management of transitions easier. To keep your legs warm is especially important, but try to avoid tight leggings. Though they make you look slim, they hinder blood circulation. Always wear gloves when heading outside as this is critical not only to stay warm, but also to maintain smooth moist hands. Thermal underwear can be worn to avoid looking bloated with all those sweaters and down jackets.
2. Doing sports- It's also patently obvious that moving keeps you warm. However, it's better to take up some slower sports like jogging, brisk walking or doing a bit of Tai Ji Quan, since Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) says human bodies retreat into dormancy during this season. Any sweating will bring more harm than good, since it destroys energy being stored up for next year.
It is important, whatever exercise you select, to make sure you start the warm-up phase from your feet, which, again, to CMT, are the critical parts that determine our body temperature. Stamp your feet once a while.
3. Eat warm food- This refers to those foods rich in niacin, which is extremely helpful in easing the nerves and stimulating the circulatory system. Patients with chronic diarrhea and those suffering from nervous tension should therefore pay extra attention to niacin loaded foods. They are liver, eggs, milk, cheese and whole-wheat products.
Other recommended 'warm foods' include nuts and certain fruits like apricot, peaches and carica papaya. And sure, meats of any kind are necessary to a healthy diet.
Eat yogurt, if you are concerned about body weight while boosting your body's natural defenses. Rich in good bacteria, this product is great for regulating the immune system. Besides being low in calories it increases antibodies and prevents the rise of pathogenic organisms like salmonella and E.coli.
4. Do self-massage- The feeling of cold is related to slower blood circulation, which can be sped up by proper self-massage. Locate the Point BL15 (Xinshu), which is situated dead center of our two scapulas, press and rub it 36 times - 18 times from right to left and 18 from left to right. Another acupoint that needs to be pressed during massotherapy to keep you warm is the BL23 (Shenshu acupoint). Apply pressure using the technique described above to the Point BL23.
Following the preparations, drum your fingers one at a time in a quick motion on your cheekbones and forehead. Finally, don't forget to rub the third joint in your big toe. That's the full set for the self-administered warm up massage.
People with slimmer figures, those with low blood pressure and those experiencing tremendous stress are thought to be more vulnerable to winter chill, but for different reasons. If that describes you, better that you to track down the reason why you in particular are more sensitive to cold than others, and find the proper way to handle it.
