Resources for Healing, Growth, and Everyday Support
Thoughtful guidance, reflections, and practical tools to support your body, mind, and spirit, both in and out of session.
Moxibustion for Winter Immunity: Strengthen Your Defenses Naturally
Your body knows it is winter even if it is not cold and snowy outside. Winter - indeed all seasons - bring changes in the length of the day, quality of daylight, temperature of the earth and water bodies, blooming cycles, and animal behavior patterns. Our bodies are attuned to these natural signals. You are probably feeling the need to sleep longer, eat more warming foods, move a little more slowly. These are all signs the body is acclimating to winter and trying to go inward to store vital resources. This going inward also means that we have less external defenses (think immune system help) to protect us from colds, flus, and other ailments that surge during winter. This is where moxibustion can be a powerful healing tool.
Snake Shedding: Releasing What No Longer Serves
Like a snake shedding its skin, the process of letting go requires both courage and wisdom. This winter, as we transition from the Wood Snake year to the Fire Horse, discover how Traditional Chinese Medicine's Kidney energy supports releasing old fears, outdated beliefs, and patterns that once protected you but now only confine you. Explore the intersection of ancient TCM wisdom and modern neuroscience research on fear conditioning, behavioral change, and the brain's capacity for transformation. Learn why the Kidney system holds both our deepest willpower and our relationship with fear, and how winter's introspective energy creates the perfect conditions for shedding what no longer serves your growth. Understand the paradox of true strength: knowing when to release rather than hold on, and how this active choice of letting go opens space for your authentic self to emerge. This is your invitation to trust the natural intelligence of release and step into renewal.
Winter in TCM: The Kidney Season and Why Rest is Medicine
Key Insights:
Ancient TCM texts prescribed "retire early, rise late" in winter. Modern research confirms we naturally need 30-60+ minutes more sleep during winter months
Your Kidneys (in TCM) store Jing (vital essence). Winter rest prevents depletion that shows as fatigue, immunity issues, and premature aging
Sleep deprivation increases cortisol by 37-45%, triggers inflammation, and creates "allostatic load": the cumulative wear that mirrors TCM's concept of Jing depletion
Winter rest isn't laziness. It's strategic restoration that builds reserves for spring's expansion
What is Medical Qigong?
My journey into the heart of Chinese medicine has equipped me with the knowledge and skills to guide you on your path to healing. Through the Beijing Mebo Traditional Chinese Medicine Training Institute and the Institute of Chinese Herbology, I have mastered the principles and practices of Chinese medicine and herbal remedies. Additionally, my certification in face reading allows me to provide a unique, non-invasive diagnostic approach.
At Winding Path Guide, I focus on helping you regain balance and become your healthiest self. Whether you seek to transform your health, discover your life's path, or unleash your creative potential, I am here to support you. My empathetic listening and perceptive observation create a safe and nurturing environment for your healing journey.
Year of the Yang Wood Dragon: Navigating Transformation, Creativity, and Balance
Celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year on February 10 as we welcome the vibrant energy of the Yang Wood (green) Dragon for the entire year. This dynamic force, coupled with the ever-changing seasons and daily transitions, promises a year filled with transformation, freedom, strength, and persistence.
Winding Path Guide: Empowering Transitions with Holistic Wellness
Transitioning Through Life's Phases
Life's journey is full of transitions, especially for women who are navigating through different phases of life. Whether it's a shift in personal identity, the onset of an empty nest, or adapting to the changes in our bodies and souls as we age, these transitions can be both challenging and transformative.
Winding Path Guide recognizes these pivotal moments and offers unique services tailored to women in these times of change.
The Power of Silence: Embracing Unpleasant Thoughts
In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, our minds are constantly on the move. Thoughts flit in and out like butterflies, some light and beautiful, others dark and unsettling. But what happens when an unpleasant thought pops into your mind?
Do you react instinctively, trying to push it away, making a noise of some sort to drown it out? If you do, you're not alone. Most of us have a defense mechanism that automatically kicks in when our minds bring up something we don't want to think about. It's as if we're trying to silence our own thoughts.
The Body's Rhythm: Understanding the Transition from Yin to Yang
Our bodies are incredible systems of balance and rhythm, constantly shifting from yin to yang throughout the day as our 12 major organ systems perform their vital functions. Starting around 7 pm, a significant transformation begins as our body readies itself for sleep. In this blog, we'll explore the intriguing transition from yin to yang that occurs in our bodies during the evening hours, shedding light on why it's beneficial to refrain from excessive eating and drinking after 7 pm.