Winter Qi Chats | Week 6
Qigong and Winter Restoration
This week we discuss concepts of Chinese Medicine so you can thrive this Winter Season.
Why Your Kidney Essence and Nervous System Are Connected
In Chinese Medicine, the Kidneys are said to store your deepest reserves. Your Jing keeps your body strong, adaptable, and resilient as you age. When Chinese Medicine texts talk about “marrow,” they’re describing more than bones; they’re pointing to the health of your brain, spinal cord, nerves, balance, hearing, and reaction time.
Modern science tells us the same story in different words: your nervous system controls how well you move, think, recover, and respond to stress. When your nervous system is supported, your energy lasts longer and your body adapts better. When it’s under constant strain, aging feels faster.
Both neuroscience and Chinese Medicine emphasize conserving resources and restoring balance rather than forcing change. Protecting “Kidney essence” supports greater resilience and awareness. Through the Four Pillars of Health, the nervous system receives repeated signals of safety, allowing it to become more flexible, adaptive, and supportive of healthy aging over time.
Why Less Really Is More
“By living moderately, practicing Qigong in our lives, cultivating the heart and cultivation of Qi,
we can enhance our lives and our lifespans”
My Qigong Master would always reminds us to take the road of simplicity during the Winter season. But how do you take those words and actually live by them in our modern era?
Your nervous system’s main job is to keep you alive by deciding when to act and when to recover. As you get older, it becomes more cautious because recovery takes more resources than it used to. Pushing harder, training longer, or staying constantly busy can overload the system and slow healing. What works better is learning when to do less: less stimulation, less rushing, less overtraining. When you reduce unnecessary stress and focus on quality sleep, gentle movement, steady breathing, and nourishment, your nervous system has the space it needs to repair and stay flexible.
Aging well isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing what your system can actually recover from. One option is to recognize your WANT vs the NEED to do something. Can you cut back on tasks that cause you strain? Can you create boundaries around saying “yes” to others? Can you give yourself more silence throughout the day?
Neuro-Qi Tip o’the day!
Moderation is key
Just do Qigong - finding Qigong as a daily practice doesn’t have to be much
Breathe like the Turtle 4-2-8-7 (the lungs bring Qi to the Kidneys)
Tap the teeth and tap the kidneys 39x
Find a time/day on your calendar where you can set time aside for YOU. And in that time, just be still, be silent and breathe.
Know your Pillars of Health and check in!
*Video posts every Friday by 11:30am MDT
