Listen to your body and your intuition and feed it with what it needs as no two bodies are the same.
YIN ENERGY
If you are yin deficient, your body is overflowing with yang energy. Your body will often feel 'heaty', often referred to as 'yeet hay' in TCM. Common 'heaty' symptoms are high temperatures, headaches, ulcers and sore throat. If you're heaty, avoid the consumption of fried, spicy and sour foods that would cause any inflammation within the body.
YANG ENERGY
If you are yang deficient, you possess more yin qualities. You often feel cold and may be susceptible to illness. You may feel rundown and unmotivated. To help you find your balance, Hot foods are recommended such as stews and soups that will nourish your qi.
BALANCE
Mothers are in a yang state when they birth (think of the energy and force required to birth). They then move into a yin state postpartum because their energy and stores have been depleted. Hence general principles for confinement are about warmth and gentle nourishment.
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In TCM, both Yin and Yang are balanced by one another. In the Chinese Tradition of 'sitting the month’ (坐月子 – zuò yuè zi), mothers will aim for both Yin and Yang energies to work harmoniously. This will further support and restore our mind, body and soul as we transition from birth to postpartum.
If you are
yin deficient, your body is overflowing with yang energy. When this occurs, your body will often feel 'heaty', often referred to as 'yeet hay' in TCM. Common 'heaty' symptoms are high temperatures, headaches, ulcers and sore throat. If you're heaty, avoid the consumption of fried, spicy and sour foods that would cause any inflammation within the body. Instead, opt for cooling herbal drinks such as chrysanthemum tea or our
Elan x Herborium Red Dates Tea and
Hydrating Snow Fungus Dessert can help you balance your Yin & Yang energy. Our Red Dates Tea is designed to warm your body from within, this natural remedy has been hailed by our ancestors as a go-to, all-rounder Qi booster.
If you are yang deficient, you possess more yin qualities. You often feel cold and may be susceptible to illness. You may feel rundown and unmotivated. To help you find your balance, Hot foods are recommended such as stews and soups that will nourish your qi.
Generally speaking, according to TCM, mothers are in a yang state when they birth (think of the energy and force required to birth). They then move into a yin state postpartum because their energy and stores have been depleted. Hence general principles for confinement are about warmth and gentle nourishment. However, it is important to also know your constitution and feel into your bodies. It is actually possible to go too far the other way and I can attest to it.
I am naturally a heaty person and started off confinement with a lot of ginger, red dates tea daily, sesame oil in my food. Bearing in mind it was also summer and we were having streaks of high 30 degree days, I started noticing ulcers in my mouth suggesting imbalance (too hot). I made subtle changes - This included reducing the amount of ginger and sesame oil in my food and removing the seeds out of the red dates that were being cooked with as this is the source of the heat. Very soon the ulcers disappeared and the thick coating on my tongue also lessened. While confinement practices can apply to almost every woman, it is still important to tap in to your body and intuition to feed it what it needs as no two bodies are the same.
I'd also like to add, that we have to be mindful of the ways we choose to balance our energies. If you're feeling on the heaty side, it is not license to stand in front of air conditioning or start drinking cold smoothies because the cold and wind from these sources will be detrimental to our postpartum bodies and beyond.
Note:
To determine your constitution, tap into you body and feel what it is telling you. If you are one or the other, it is usually quite easy to tell from the symptoms described above. Otherwise, visit your TCM practitioner and they can assist you with this.
Getting enough sleep and exercise as part of your daily routine is also important in balancing and restoring your yin & yang energy. Gentle forms of exercise may include walking for 15 minutes or practicing some yin yoga.
Whilst your sleep will be lacking and broken especially in those early days, ensure your space of rest is well ventilated that will help you relax and restore. Sneak in some naps while baby rests too, the to-do list can wait.
References:
See our Instagram post
here.
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