In East Asian Medicine, Winter is associated with the element of Water. We see this reflected in the organs associated with this season, the Kidneys and Urinary Bladder, as they are responsible for the purification and elimination of water in our bodies. Let’s dive into the depths of the wintry well of regeneration and the element responsible for that transformation and rebirth and explore how are these qualities and energetics are reflected in your own system.

Water is the womb. It is consciousness. It is the collective consciousness. It affects our consciousness and is simultaneously affected by our consciousness. Water is the channel for energetic information manifesting into physical reality.

Growing up a few miles from the Pacific Ocean, surfing with my dad and exploring the tide pools, the salty sea helped raise my brother and me. I believe so much of who I am is a result of being born here and spending so much time in and around this awe-inspiring body of water. Water provides so much of the context for the way our lives are shaped, the way the land moves, even the way we perceive and define ourselves in relationship to the natural world around us, consciously and unconsciously.

I feel most myself when I’m near or in water. Yes it heals and cleanses, but even more than that, it invites me into deeper layers and states of consciousness. It reveals an interconnectedness between myself and others: humans, animals, spirits, plants. In water, I hear my own voice most clearly, but I also get clarity on how my voice fits in and belongs in this world.

But in truth I think it does this for all of us. Whether it is a river, ocean, lake, a bath, a shower, a puddle, a hot spring, a cold spring, or simply a cup of tea, water can be deeply transformative because of the consciousness it holds and the way it interacts with our very DNA.

Whether that's through baptisms or holy water rituals or divination or parting Red Seas, and doing these sort of miraculous events of walking on water or generating storms, I mean, there's all of these places in our history where we have recognized not only the profound potential of people to do and participate in miraculous events with water, healing springs, and curings and relieving of chronic and acute ailments, but then also, you know, that relationship of purification, of cleansing oneself before presenting to the Lord, or of water holding the Spirit of God, and we see that all over the place. - Carly Nuday, Mythic Medicine Podcast

Throughout human history, water has held a vital place in our everyday routines as well as our sacred rites. It is the undercurrent of all life and literally, spiritually, metaphorically, and profoundly connects all of life.

In the Winter, the garden sleeps under the cover of mulch, leaves, or cover crops. The cold slows down human and animal activity just like sap stops running in the Maple trees. We gathered the last of the harvest at Samhain and now we come inward to tend to ourselves, our families, our communities.

We enter the deep and dark, watery inner well of regeneration over the Winter. This is partly why it feels so depleting to do too much and go too fast this time of year. We’re naturally meant to slow down, nourish, replenish our inner reserves. This is a time to ebb, not flow. This is the Dark Moon. This is the dreaming time when we enter deeper states of consciousness, going within to tap into our creative reservoir so that we can emerge renewed in the Spring.

One metaphor I’ve resonated with for this time of year is the fact that water expands when it freezes. In the Winter, the Northern Hemisphere freezes (or at least gets colder) and while most liquids contract when they freeze, Water expands.

Just like Water, when we allow ourselves to embrace the slow nature of Winter and do less, we actually expand our capacity for life, creativity, compassion, nurturing, and relating to the world around us.