Winter 2025 Seasonal Wellness

Welcome to Winter 2025 and Dr. Paul Arellano’s seasonal Wellness blog covering the health challenges, potential climate patterns and practical strategies to stay healthy this season.

Each year, there are a succession of 6 “Climate Periods,” each with their own indications for weather and health patterns to watch out for. This information is derived from the Wuyun Liuqi system, and in my upcoming class on Dec. 13th, 2025, we will explore the coming Winter season to empower individuals to stay healthy and resilient in the midst of the seasonal changes, socio-political climate and energetic shifts around us.

The final Climate Period of the Wood Snake Year begins Saturday November 22nd, 2025 and runs through January 20th 2026. This period of Winter is usually characterized by colder weather, but this year there is the indication that Warm weather patterns can move through suddenly in the winter, and disrupt the natural patterns of freezing, hibernation and contraction.

Year of the Snake Winter Energetics: Excessive Heat Arising

Overview: The season of Winter, which is usually characterized by Cold climate, is this year “visited” by unseasonal heat. In all material manifestations, this creates a pattern of unseasonal warmth keeping things moving and active instead of going interior and dormant for the Winter - the natural activity of this season.

Effect on Climate: Conditions of unseasonal warmth may arise, delaying hibernation or even bringing creatures out of hibernation early, with disastrous results. Water does not freeze as usual, the ground remains soft and spring buds begin to sprout prematurely, or plants have a second flush, blooming late in the season. This is visible in Portland, where plants are blooming out of season in November.

Health Effects: People feel relaxed and comfortable with the unseasonably warm weather. However, these conditions are likely to give rise to epidemic diseases. This is the same pattern that was present during the winter of 2019, when COVID-19 began to develop. Imbalances of Winter weather are said to cause symptoms in the Spring. So disease may not manifest right away. For this reason, it is all the more important to take preventive measures now to stay healthy.

So, What Can We Do?

It is important to conserve energy in the winter. When we are not expending energy outwards, it can nourish us internally. To illustrate this, think of the way trees drop their leaves in fall, and the visible, outward growth of all plants stops. At the same time, plants experience a period of underground root growth and development known as “root flush”. If resources are not reverted to the interior to allow for the root flush to occur, this can lead to future illness and injury. Imagine a tree growing taller all winter long while its roots don’t receive the energy to expand. This might seem wonderful… until one day the tree collapses because it lacks a solid root system to anchor and nourish this external growth.

We want to create similar conditions of internal nourishment in the human body during the winter period. In antiquity, this happened naturally as people would sleep more in darker months, and eat more rich foods like dark leafy greens and animal protein, as these are what is most available in the winter and dietarily supplement our body’s Yin - that internal state of nourishment we want to promote during Winter. In the modern world, diet and lifestyle do not reflect seasonal changes, and there is the added complexity of years such as 2025, when normal seasonal climate may be disrupted, making it all the more challenging to adapt our bodies to the natural rhythm and energetic dynamic of the Winter season. Using the wisdom of the Wuyun Liuqi, however, we can understand and work with climate abnormalities, and understand how we can continue to promote seasonal wellness in the modern world.

How to Promote Health in Winter 2025-26:

To prevent depletion of yin, eating organ meat, bone broths, beets & other root vegetables, dark leafy greens, and mineral-rich foods is a way to use diet to support the body. Resting and avoiding excessive activity can help us remain in a state of winter rest despite the activity of the outer world. As the energetic dynamic of Winter is considered to be disrupted this year, we must conserve our energy and intentionally enter into periods of rest and relaxation.

While it is good to relax, in winter we also want to avoid excess sweating, which can even be the result of taking a hot shower. Giving yourself a momentary cold rinse at the end of a shower and immediately toweling off can help: this will close the pores of the body, preventing further sweating which can lead to dehydration and fatigue. We should instead focus on warming the feet and lower body throughout the winter, as this helps maintain body warmth and circulation without causing overheating. Having a hot water bottle at the foot of your bed while you sleep can promote deeper rest by drawing energy down and inward, aligning with the dynamic of the Winter Season. This is helpful even on warm days, when it might feel comfortable to wear lighter clothes or sleep in fewer layers. Drawing warmth downward prevents it from effusing to the surface and becoming blocked (leading to irritation, racing thoughts, physical discomfort) or getting depleted (leading to insomnia while feeling exhausted, cold sensations in the body, weakened immunity).

So, during the winter of 2025 when weather may be unseasonably warm, we want to continue with the gesture of winter of gently drawing warmth (Yang Qi) down and into the body, doing so even if we feel comfortable, and avoiding excessive exercise, sweating and activity, despite feeling energized. If you are looking for permission to take it easy, this is it. Take rest days, let activities and chores that aren’t essential wait until the spring thaw and prioritize rest, coziness and nourishing, warm food this winter season to keep your immune system in top shape and limit long-term health effects.