Navigating Christmas Wellness with Traditional Chinese Medicine Tips

The holiday season can bring joy and celebration, but it can also introduce stress, overindulgence, and disruptions to our usual health routines. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers a holistic approach to maintaining balance and wellness during Christmas. By understanding how to support your body’s natural rhythms and energy, you can enjoy the festivities while staying healthy and energized.

Understanding Christmas Challenges Through TCM

Christmas often involves rich foods, late nights, and emotional highs and lows. According to TCM, these factors can disrupt the balance of yin and yang and affect the flow of Qi (vital energy) in the body. Overeating heavy, greasy foods, lack of movement can imbalance the Spleen and Stomach, leading to digestive discomfort, heavines and fatigue.

For many, Christmas can be a source of stress rather than joy. While the holiday season is often depicted as a time of celebration and togetherness, it can evoke anxiety and distress for individuals facing unresolved conflicts, strained relationships, or the absence of loved ones. The pressure to create the perfect holiday experience can lead to overwhelming expectations. Financial burdens from gift-giving and travel can exacerbate stress, causing individuals to spend beyond their means and feel inadequate.

Stress can affect us on many different levels, disrupt the sleep, cause tension in the body, digestive disorders, etc, as an effect the Kidney Qi, which governs vitality and resilience may get weakened.

TCM views health as a balance between internal organs and external environment. The cold winter season corresponds to the Kidney and Bladder meridians, which need extra care during this time. Supporting these organs helps maintain energy and immunity.

Preparing Your Body Before the Festivities

Strengthen Your Spleen and Stomach

The Spleen plays a central role in digestion, supporting the muscles and energy production in TCM. To prepare for holiday meals you could:

• Eat light, warm, and easily digestible foods in the days leading up to Christmas. Balance heavy dishes with steamed vegetables and lightly spiced sides.

• Include congee or soups with ingredients like ginger, pumpkin, and carrots, orange foods support Stomach and Spleen

• Avoid cold and raw foods and drinks that can weaken digestion.

• Limit alcohol intake, as it can deplete Yin and cause heat imbalances.

  
  

Boost Kidney Energy

The Kidneys store the essence that fuels vitality. To support Kidney Qi:

• Get adequate rest to replenish your energy reserves. In the run up to Christmas we may often feel tired. If you have some time and space, it may be a good idea to have a nap, definitely going to bed before 10pm.

• Keeping the lower back warm, if you back is achy a hot water bottle may soothe the discomfort, or wearing haramaki over your back and tummy.

• Incorporate warming foods such as black beans, walnuts, and lamb.

• Practice gentle exercises like Tai Chi or Qi Gong to stimulate energy flow.

  
  

Managing Holiday Stress with TCM Practices

Stress can block Qi flow and create imbalances. TCM offers several ways to calm the mind and body:

• Walk in nature- slow movement activates the flow of energy, Blood, improves digestion, clears the head.

• Breathing exercises: Deep, slow breathing helps regulate the nervous system and improve Qi circulation.

• Herbal teas: Chamomile, laveneder teas soothe the nervous system and promote relaxation. Fennel tea supports digestion, warms up the digestive system, especially useful in case of constipation, not good if you consume a lot of heating foods- spicy or sweet foods, coffee, alcohol.

Using TCM to Support Immunity in Winter

Winter is a time when the body’s defenses can weaken. TCM emphasizes strengthening the Lung Qi and Kidney Qi to protect against colds and flu.

• Keep warm and avoid exposure to cold drafts.

• Eat warm foods and drinks, sipping warm water during the day is perfect

• Ensure enough rest.

• If you feel the first signs of infection the advice would be different if you are having more Cold or Heat symptoms.

• If you are having Cold symptoms: chills, can come with raised temperature but not very high, fatigue, stiffness in the neck, headache, no sweating, runny/blocked nose, the advice would be to warm the body up, wrap up, hot water bottle on the back, having a hot bath with epsom salts, few pieces of ginger root, or eucaliptus oil, Drink ginger tea, warm fluids to encourage sweating. If you’re not able to get rid of the wind-cold quickly, it may transform into wind-heat, a sore throat is the first sign of this.

• If you are having Heat (often flu) symptoms: fever stronger than chills, sore throat, thick, sticky yellow/green mucus, can develop loud cough, the advice is to cool the body a bit, but not to try to decrease temperature before the body starts sweating. You may want to drinking peppermint tea, gargle with saltwater to soothe a sore throat.

• In both cases, avoid dairy, caffeine, sugars/sweets and rich or fried foods, alcohol. Wrap up and rest, drink plenty of warm fluids, eat broths and rice. Gentle guasha on the neck and shoulders may feel nice. Using Evil Bone Water topically on your chest/ back/ neck and throat if you have first signs of infection. Having symptoms of Cold you could rub it in with a cotton ball, if having signs of Heat you can just spray it on the area and let it cool down.

  

  
  

When to Seek Professional Advice

When to consult your doctor/ call 111

• You suffer from a high fever (over 39 C) for more than 3 days

• You have a rash, difficulty bending your neck, light sensitivity

• The sputum you are coughing up is green or blood-tinged

• You have significantly swollen glands,

• Havin shorness of breath, wheezy, painful or shallow breathing

• Severe sore throat, ear pain

• Your cold lasts for more than 2 weeks or instead of getting better you start to feel worse.

• Feeling fatigued, dizzy, confused

I hope the last paragraph would not apply to anyone and you can enjoy the holiday season in whatever way you want. Please remember to take care of your needs, rest, recharge and rebalance your energy. I look forward to seeing you in the New Year. Clinic reopens on 6th of January 2026.

If you happen to be on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube I try to share some TCM wisdom there, so far I haven't worked out how to link them together but I am working on it:) If you have any topics you would like me to cover please drop me a line.

I am so grateful for all our sessions, they help me learning more and more. I love sharing simple tips on how to head towards balance. Wouldn't life be wonderful if we were all healthy and happy? Wishing you just that! Kate

*

TCM

MOXA

GUASHA

CUPPING

EAR SEEDS

ACUPUNCTURE

EVIL BONE WATER

HOMEOBOTANICALS

IEMT