Reference: https://mbp-japan.com/jijico/articles/32336/
Modified and translated by CFJA
Yoga is Ideal for Raising Body Temperature
Exercise is ideal for raising body temperature, but winter is not the best time for people who aren’t used to regular exercise to start sports. Due to muscle inflexibility, the joints become stiff, making it easier to injure them if you force yourself to exercise. If you want to start exercising during this season, it’s recommended to engage in activities like yoga or Tai Chi, which involve gentle and slow movements.
During this time, it’s important to be cautious about easy ways to keep warm. Items like electric blankets, heated carpets, electric mattress pads, kotatsu (heated tables), and hot packs, which emit continuous heat when kept close to the body for a long time, can actually lead to a degradation of the body’s temperature-regulating functions and result in lower body temperature.
Acupuncture and Blood Stasis Treatment Are Effective for Kidney Diseases
In traditional Chinese medicine, it’s believed that the liver is associated with spring, the heart with summer, the lungs with autumn, and the kidneys with winter. Diseases are thought to be caused by both individual lifestyle-related “internal factors” and environmental influences known as “external factors.” Seasonal diseases in spring, summer, autumn, and winter are attributed to “external factors.”
Winter, with its low temperatures, is considered a time when people with originally weak kidneys start experiencing discomfort around the beginning of winter (November 8th). This can be especially challenging for people who work outdoors.
If you experience the following symptoms:
- Coughing
- Runny nose
- Reduced neck mobility, leading to the risk of straining your neck
- Reduced lower back mobility, leading to the risk of a back strain
- Waking up in the middle of the night to use the restroom
- Experiencing leg cramps in the early morning
- Hearing ringing in the ears
- Losing appetite
- Feeling heaviness in the back of the head
These symptoms indicate that your kidney function is starting to decline, and you need to raise your body temperature and relieve physical fatigue. Taking a 30-second to 1-minute bath in a tub at around 38°C can be effective.
If these symptoms persist for an extended period, you may become more susceptible to conditions like acute nephritis, acute pyelonephritis, and cystitis. Moreover, if they become chronic, you might experience pain due to ureteral or kidney stones. Acupuncture and moxibustion therapy (both internal and external treatment) can be effective for all these conditions. If you’ve undergone drug treatment (internal medicine) or surgery (surgical treatment) and still feel unwell, consider acupuncture and moxibustion therapy (both internal and external treatment) that can influence organ function from the outside. Consult a nearby acupuncture and moxibustion clinic or a medical facility where acupuncturists work.