Winter the Season of Yin

Denise D’Fantis Cowichan Valley Acupuncture

As the warm and bright days of Summer gently surrender to cooler nights and fewer hours of sunlight, we are reminded of the pending seasonal change around the corner. Winter, the season in Canada associated with cold temperatures, snow, and dark days, can prove to be a challenging time for some Canadians as they adapt to the changes in the natural world.

The season of Winter represents the most “Yin” aspect in Chinese Medicine. Yin is the dark, cold, slow, inward energy. This is in contrast to the Yang of Summer whose energy represents light, hot, quick, expansive qualities. Yin time, offers the opportunity for self-reflection, looking inward, quiet time, meditating, etc.

Some people may notice an energy drop, depression, and or increased stress during the long and cold months of Winter. While exercise, fresh air, and a balanced diet may improve mood quality, acupuncture is increasingly being shown in scientific research to calm the nervous system, resulting in decreased stress and a greater sense of relaxation in the patient.

While stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, acupuncture activates the opposing parasympathetic nervous system of the body which triggers relaxation.

Acupuncture releases endorphins which are natural pain-killing chemicals in the brain, and stimulates the release of oxytocin, a hormone that signals and regulates the parasympathetic nervous system. In addition, acupuncture improves the circulation of blood throughout the body, which oxygenates the tissues and cycles out cortisol, a stress hormone produced by the body.

According to a 2003 World Health Organization study, acupuncture affects the body on several levels, including activation of a person’s natural opioid system, stimulating electromagnetic signals and the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, as well as altering neurotransmitters that positively influence brain chemistry.

Acupuncture accordingly deactivates parts of the brain and decreases neuronal activity, so that the limbic system physically alters the body’s experience by shutting down pain and stress regions in the brain.

What these acupuncture initiated biochemical changes mean for the patient is that acupuncture treatments can influence the homeostatic mechanisms of the body and promote emotional & physical well being. Acupuncture may consequently reduce the effects of stress, like high blood pressure, elevated blood glucose levels, and insomnia.

At times, accompanying the winter blues that some people experience throughout the winter season, is the associated sense of anxiety. While meditation, counselling, walks in nature, and sometimes pharmaceutical medication may assist with seasonal anxiety, acupuncture is increasingly being shown to be an effective complimentary modality of treatment.

According to the 2017 Acupuncture Evidence Project, co-authored by Dr John McDonald, PhD and Dr Stephen Janz, acupuncture may be an effective treatment for anxiety. This body of research provided an up-to-date comparative review of the clinical and scientific evidence for acupuncture. This comprehensive document determined that acupuncture is moderately effective in treating anxiety according to high level evidence. This evidence included a 2016 systematic review with over 400 randomised patients that concluded that the effects from acupuncture for treating anxiety have been shown to be significant as compared to conventional treatments. The largest of these studies, which included 120 randomized patients, found that acupuncture had a large effect on reducing anxiety and depression compared to conventional treatment involving pharmacological approaches and psychotherapy, with over twice the reduction of symptoms.

At Georgetown University Medical Center, researchers demonstrated how acupuncture can significantly reduce the stress hormone response in an animal model of chronic stress. This research, which was published in the Journal of Endocrinology, showed that acupuncture blocks the chronic, stress-induced elevations of the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal Axis (HPA) and the sympathetic Neuropeptide Y pathway.

While we embark on the collective Canadian winter experience which brings its unique set of challenges and potential difficulties, we are reminded that this season, like all others, constitutes a mere segment of the natural seasonal cycles on earth, not a static and eternal state. Just as Winter gently reminds us of her pending arrival, so will the brighter days of Spring before we know it.

Winter grey and falling rain, We’ll see summer come again Darkness fall and seasons change Gonna happen every time. Same old friends the wind and rain, We’ll see summer by and by. Winter grey and falling rain, Summers fade and roses die. We’ll see summer come again, Like a song that’s born to soar the sky.

Weather Report Suite, Part I Bob Weir and Eric Anderson