East Meets West: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) View of Thanksgiving
[Note: This is a rough transcript based on my talk here on YouTube (Channel: Herbal-Pal) or in two parts (Thanksgiving & Storage in TCM and Emotions & Wills in Season) on TikTok (@LearnWithLulu). Welcome to subscribe and/or follow. ❤️
How does Traditional Chinese Medicine view Thanksgiving today, an American holiday?
Thanksgiving began as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. For Thanksgiving Day in Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Liberia, or similarly named festival holidays in Germany and Japan, prayers of thanks and special thanksgiving ceremonies are also common after harvests. Many cultures view the time after harvests as a season for thanksgiving.
In Chinese Medicine, winter is the season of storage, when Yang Qi goes into hiding, and American Thanksgiving happens around the second solar term of the winter, when Yin and Yang separate.
Being grateful and giving thanks has the effects of communicating Yin and Yang, nourishing Kidney Qi. When we are showing gratitudes, our heads are down, our hearts and minds are gathering inward, the Heart-Qi is falling, in line with the state of Qi for securing and storing, that’s why it helps nourishing and strengthening Kidney Qi. Just do a thanksgiving prayer now, do you immediately feel the energy in your heart is gathering inward? That energy is part of Heart Qi in Chinese Medicine.
What do you do when you feel impetuous or agitated, but want to get out of the trap of unsettled spirit? Giving thanks while breathing down to Dan Tian (roughly translates as “energy center” or “sea of qi,” lower dan tian is located about two inches below the navel), is a good way.
Therefore, in the winter season, let’s think more about our harvests, what we gained or learned, and let go of things we have lost or did not get. Focus on the blessings just like reaping harvests in our own fields.
In Chinese Medicine, the seven emotions (七情） — joy anger anxiety pensiveness grief fear fright, and five wills (五志) — anger, elation, obsessive thinking, grief and fear, all need to be moderate. Any excessive emotion-wills can fire up and hurt us. Fire in Chinese Medicine has the upward and out-bounding energy that breaks the securing and storing energy of the winter. So make sure to keep our emotions in moderation.
From the Chinese Medicine perspective, in the winter season, being restless, panic, fighty, or competitive warrior mode would hurt us. Modern life makes the winter season a time of year-end reviews, new year goal settings for workers and organizations, finals and competitions for students, and stressful demands for most, but if you want to be truly healthy, living in line with nature is the best policy. Keep in mind that we are designed to store in the winter, and to give thanks in all circumstances. For more information on how to live seasonally, check out my videos #4 and #5 of the “Sleep” series.
