The Water Element
The Season is Winter
The three months of winter
Are called closing
and storing.
Water freezes, earth cracks.
No more influence from the yang.
One goes to bed early,
one gets up late.
Everything must be done according to
the light
of the sun,
Exerting the will
As if buried, as if hidden
Taking care only of oneself,
As if fixed on oneself, in possession of
oneself.
One must avoid the cold
And seek the heat.
Not let anything escape
through the layers of skin,
For fear of losing all the qi.
This corresponds
with the winter qi.
It is the way
that maintains the
storing of life.
– The Neijing
