Popsicle Toes - Countering Cold Conditions

To keep our toes toasty and ban bone chilling cold we need to look at the nature of cold and our relationship to it - how and why we become cold.

The Nature of Cold

Cold slows things down, putting the bakes on the movement of Qi, Blood and Fluids of the body - it decreases circulation and can cause sharp pain. Cold easily invades the most superficial parts of our bodies - hands, feet, head, ears, neck and joints. The lower back and belly are vulnerable to cold, as are the interior organs, the Kidneys and the Spleen.

Button up your coat and pop on your cap, I’m going to echo Grandma.

It is better to bundle and unwrap a little when you are hot than to pray that your body will catch up if you are already cold.

That’s just simple thermodynamics - and the wisdom to recognize that we need to help our body. If you are already cold - for whatever reason, cover up - get the circulation flowing.

Exterior or Interior?

Simply put, cold is a lack of Yang or Fire in the body, either due to exterior exposure or interior disharmony of organs. Here's a quick overview of the symptoms and causes of cold and what you can do to prevent or treat cold - whatever the cause.

General symptoms of cold

• clear or white discharge - sinus congestion, cough, vaginal discharge

• desire for warmth, warm liquids and foods

• loose stools

• pale profuse urination

• the sensation of cold anywhere in the body - especially hands, feet, joints, low back, belly, ears and neck

• slow digestion - bloating

• white or pale fingernail and toenails

Exterior causes of cold

This is when cold attacks from the outside of the body and tries to work its way interior. These are patterns that come on quickly, and are due to environmental conditions. That walk through the snowy woods, sitting on cold bleachers, or being in cold drafty rooms.

Pathologies include:

• allergies

• colds

• flu

• frostbite

• headaches that are tight and binding

• hypothermia

• loose stools after being out in cold weather

• poor circulation

Interior Cold Patterns

Interior patterns are chronic in nature. They arise from lifestyle behaviors like eating too many cold and raw foods, living in a cold environment, or exterior cold that is never properly treated and is allowed to settle in the body. Cold can also be caused by constitutional patterns - you were born with it.

Patterns include:

• accumulation of dampness - phlegm, weight gain, etc

• arthritis that improves with warmth

• constitutional pattern - born with a propensity

• four frigid extremities - The body is mostly warm right up to the hands and the feet, which are sharply cold, and feel like blocks of ice. It’s a stagnation pattern, first. Heck, we even have a formula named for this pattern.

• frequent colds and flu

• hypothyroid - low body temperature

• infertility, PCOS, cysts

• lack of emotional warmth

• low desire and disinterest in life

• low libido

• many chronic illnesses

• painful periods with cramping and clotting

• poor circulation

• Reynaud's Syndrome - a tricky pattern, usually caused by repeated attacks of exterior cold that lodge in the person and move in deeper. Cold and stagnation entwined. You will see very white or blue, frigid finger tips.

• slow digestion - gas bloating, lack of appetite

• Yang collapse

The Color Blue Is A Clue

Blue coloring under the finger nails, around the mouth or on the skin in general is an indicator of the presence of cold. Sometimes you people who are blue within blue - I’ve seen this in Kidney failure. Asian medicine practitioners, look for a pale, puffy tongue and a slow pulse in interior cold. Exterior cold signs may not show up right away on the tongue or in the pulse. Purple blue indicates stagnation is involved.

Tips To Warm Up And Counter Cold

As with all patterns, it is best to treat the root (cause) while relieving the branches (symptoms). But there is always something we can do now, even if we don’t know the cause. Fortunately with cold, it’s a little easier to see the root sometimes, it might just be that it’s deep into winter and you’ve been under-dressed.

Know yourself – Are you cold all the time or just catch a chill here and there? Knowing self means you can take appropriate steps to prepare. Personally, I am vulnerable to cold - it’s just a part of my constitution. I do love cold weather and winter, and to be able to enjoy it, I’ve learned to bundle up, pile on the blankets and steer clear of cold foods. My childhood home and grandparent’s house was heated by wood stoves - I spent a lot of time in the fireplace rooms. Now, if I’m working in an area of the house that is a little cooler, I have radiant heater to create a warm space to work in.

Dress for the weather - Grandma was right. Bundle up, it is better to be warm than force your body to try to warm up and maintain warmth. Wear wonderful scarves, hats, gloves, slippers and sweaters.

Cover your head and ears – Kidneys open to the ears, and cold enters the ears easily. The overall head is a hot spot and can rapidly lose body warmth by being exposed to cold conditions.

Cover your belly and back - Winter in Idaho is not crop top season. Really…what do they do with the bottom half of the shirts and sweaters?

Wear a haramaki – The Japanese wear haramakis to protect the low back and abdomen. Haramakis encircle the waist covering the umbilicus, low back and tops of the hips to retain heat and warmth. This helps the body create Qi, Blood flow and Yang – aiding all other bodily functions. It’s a simple wardrobe piece really, just a tube that can be made of stretchy material, knitted, crocheted or sewn.

Eat Warm Foods - Our digestive system is likened to a cauldron, it must heat foods to best absorb them. Stick to warm soups, stew, roasted and cooked foods to bring back interior warmth and strength - and chew, chew, chew. Avoid raw or leave them for the warmer months at least.

Add in warming spices – Licorice, cinnamon, rosemary, nutmeg, paprika, ginger, fennel…oh my. Warming pungents (spices) in moderate doses will build and sustain bodily warmth. We use larger doses to bring on sweating when needed to drive out a cold or exterior invasion. I keep crystalized ginger for camping and travel to nibble on to drive out cold. Sip chai or cinnamon tea. Add pumpkin pie spice to your squash or eggnog. Need more spicy ideas? However…

Don’t sweat it out – We want a lovely warm glow, so use your ginger and cinnamon and heat packs but not to the point that you open your pores and sweat. You will actually cool the body’s core temperature down. We want a lovely, even warm glow.

Eat Seasonally Appropriate Foods - All foods create a post metabolic phenomenon in our bodies. They heat or cool, moisten or drain and move to particular organs. Roots, winter squashes, lentils, legumes, longer cooked foods all move the warmth the center of the body, nourishing the Spleen Yang. Grab my Energetics of Food poster for more details.

Know your organs - Besides your extremities getting cold, several internal organs are vulnerable to cold.

• Kidneys - The Root of Yin and Yang in the body, the Kidneys - they rule the low back, bones, brain, genitourinary tract, reproduction, growth and maturation. They are the spark for all Fire in the body and if they are weak, you may have a low glow. We want a nice sustained glow from the core.

• Spleen – Spleen Yang is essential for all proper transformation and transportation in the body. That's your digestive fire, and it relies on your Kidneys to warm it. Spleen Yang is easily damaged by too many cold, raw and sweet foods. As its Yang decreases, it can't turn around and nourish your body, including your Kidneys - Crud...

Keep Kidney 1 warm – Located on the ball of the foot, Kidney 1, Gushing Spring, is where the Kidney energy rises into the body. If it’s cold, you will be. Wear warm socks, and give up the light shoes and flip flops until summer comes again.

Keep out of the cold – Discern (Hi, Gallbladder) whether it is reasonable for you to be in cold conditions. If you’re just recovering from a cold or Covid - hunkering down maybe the right thing for now.

Cover up after you’ve exercised – Working out is wonderful! Do appropriate exercise for your age and health. You need to stay active to move Qi  and Blood and build Yang. However, don’t dash out into the cold when all your pores are open and you’ve been sweating. Cold will quickly drive into the body, tightening up the muscles and slowing down all processes. Grandma wasn’t kidding about not running outside with a wet head in cold weather.

Don’t sit on cold surfaces – Cold cement, cold bleachers, cold bottoms beware. Cold can enter the lower orifices of the body causing cold pattern diarrhea or constipation, bladder weakness, pain, chills, cramping and clotting cycles and more.  Cover up if you must be out in it.  Sit on a blanket, and get your young athlete off the ground and into sweats between events.

Get out of drafts and cover up – Is your back against a cold wall, as you read this? Is there a draft at your ankles?  Get out your bunny slippers, wrap up in a blanket, add layers–remember shawls?

Use heat packs or rice packs – Moxa heat packs are great if you are going out for games or hanging out in cold gyms. Microwaveable rice packs are an excellent use for microwaves. The Irish use hot water bottles that have fuzzy coverings on them – mmmm, toasty.

Here’s to a warmer core!

April