Tending the Inner Garden: Winter Rejuvenation Through Food, Skincare, and Rituals
Snowy, ocean-side dunes speckled with animal foot traffic.
Winter is a season that asks us to turn inward. Long, cold nights, gray skies, and wind that strips the landscape bare. Water freezes, snow settles softly over the earth, and life above ground grows quiet. In this apparent dormancy, nature restores energy, tending to what is essential. And as nature takes a season to turn inwards, we would be wise to follow.
Winter is characterized by elevated cold, dryness, and mobility (like wind). The ancient wisdom of Ayurveda advises us to introduce the opposing qualities if we want to avoid illness and maintain our health (aka our radiance!). Especially if our innate constitution (prakriti) already contains a good deal of these qualities.*
How to Find Balance
Since we are part of nature, changes in the environment are reflected within our own bodies and minds.
In winter, balance comes from upping the warm, unctuous, and stable qualities in both diet and skincare. This ensures that the mind stays calm and free from anxiety. It also helps the body stay hydrated despite all the dryness.
How do we know when we’re out of balance? We may experience gas and bloating, dry, cracking, flaky, or tight skin, erratic appetite, and anxiety or worry.
First, Food
As the not-so-secret first step to skincare, digestion can maintain that glow even in the dead of winter. Invest in true radiance with the following guidelines:
Sweet, unctuous and grounding, dates are a winter remedy. Try them warm!
Warmth is your best friend. Enjoying warm food and drink is easy with the right gear. Grab an insulated water bottle for warm water/tea and some food thermoses to keep lunch hot. Save raw salads for the warmer weather. Their cold, rough, dry qualities can increase dry skin and exacerbate an overactive mind!
Cultivate consistency. Eat calmly and without distractions, and aim for consistent meal times every day- about 3-4 meals every 4ish hours. Giving the body predictability allows it to relax, preventing any stress breakouts. This one can be surprisingly difficult, so go easy on yourself and slowly work towards regular meals.
Moisture, baby! Moist, oily foods will keep your skin and joints supple from the inside out. Incorporate more sweet potato, tahini, grass-fed butter or ghee, avocados, and dates. Make sure you can digest them well! Favor cooking methods like steaming, stewing, and braising.
Savor the sweetness. In Ayurveda, ‘sweet’ foods are characterized by the presence of the earth and water elements. Not necessarily by the sweetness of sugar. Because earth and water are grounding and moistening, this cold, dry season is a great time to lean on sweetness. Stock the pantry with basmati or jasmine rice, oats, raw honey, cardamom, carrots, parsnips, squash, milk, and cheese.
Then, Skincare
Just like our digestive system, our skin is craving some warm, unctuous, and stable qualities too. Here are some effective ways to hydrate your complexion even on bitter, blustery days.
Softer and more receptive, damp skin will welcome a moisturizer more deeply than dry skin.
Oil! Oil! Oil! We love oil! Traditional Ayurvedic oil massage! Oil in your nose! Oil on the feet before bed! You can really up the calming benefits by warming the oil. I like to place a glass pump-top bottle full of oil into a bowl of hot water for several minutes before using. For the face, opt for an oil cleanse in the evening and, in the morning, splash with warm water instead of using a cleanser.
Swap your facial mist. While I lean heavily on artisan rosewater year-round, I do love the Rose Geranium Hydrosol or Juniper Hydrosol in the winter. Rose geranium calms and deeply hydrates, and juniper ever-so-gently exfoliates. Both offer comforting, grounding qualities.
Layer your moisturizer. As winter intensifies, you may notice that your daily cream isn’t cutting it. Try layering on a few drops of facial oil and/or finish with a tab of facial balm. Always apply moisturizers from thinnest to thickest and on damp skin.
Steam your skin. When experiencing dryness you just can’t combat, do a facial steam! In a heat-safe bowl, pour boiling water over herbal tea and allow to steep. Once it is cool enough, drape a hand towel over your head to trap the steam and lean over the bowl. Breathe deeply here for a few minutes, then follow with a hydrosol and moisturizer. This is a GREAT thing to do when the nose and eyes are dry, too!
