Winter Wellness

Here are a few simple, homespun ways of keeping fit and healthy this winter.

Cold and flu fighters

1. At the first sign of a cold or flu

I soak my feet up to my ankles in hot water—as hot as I can stand without scalding—for 20 minutes before going to bed. I also take 5,000 milligrams of vitamin C a day for five days.

— Erika Schwartz, M.D., NATURAL HEALTH ADVISOR

2. Spice up your stir-fry

Use lots of fresh ginger root and fresh garlic in your cooking to boost your immune system and protect against viruses. Hot peppers are good for enhancing circulation and keeping you warm. Toss plenty of these into your next stir-fry.

Ginseng has a stimulating, immune-enhancing effect. Get a black ginseng paste extract at natural-foods stores or put a spoonful in herbal tea, add honey, and drink. (You can also order it online at store-china.com)

If you do wind up getting sick, try the Chinese herb Andrographis paniculata. It’s one of the most potent cold-fighting herbs on earth, it’s cheap, and the World Health Organization recommends it. Take two capsules of 250 mg twice daily. It’s a pretty powerful herb and should get rid of your cold quickly. I’m also a big fan of Umcka, a herbal syrup that knocks out colds in record time.

— Chris: Kilham, medicine hunter and ethnobotanist

3. Try a homeopathic cure

For people interested in flu prevention, I suggest the homeopathic medicine Influenzinum 9C. Although no studies have confirmed its success, it’s widely used throughout Europe by doctors and the public with reportedly good results. Take one dose per week for four weeks, and then take one dose 30 days later.For the very first stage of a cold, I recommend Aconitum 30C. Consider Allium cepa (onion) 30C if your symptoms resemble exposure to chopped onions—i.e., watery eyes and a profuse, watery nasal discharge that tends to irritate the nostrils. If you have a cold with a thick, stringy nasal discharge, take Kali bichromicum 30C.

The dose schedule for the previous three remedies is four times a day for up to two days. If you’re not over a cold after two days, it’s not the correct remedy for you and a more accurate homeopathic medicine needs to be taken.

— Dana Ullman, M.P.H., NATURAL HEALTH ADVISOR

Quick energizers

Take a breath break

The best way to keep healthy is to keep breathing! Just as not putting oxygen into an aquarium causes the water to turn thick and murky, not getting oxygen into the blood lowers immunity and prevents the release of endorphins. We should all go outside to take breath breaks the way smokers take cigarette breaks. When you notice that you’re not breathing deeply, you should consciously take long, full inhalations.

Here’s one exercise I do every day: I stand with my feet a little wider than hip-width, place each hand on the opposite shoulder, and twist side to side, aligning my breath with the movement and inhaling through the nose, exhaling through the mouth. Do this for 20 to 50 breaths—it’s a quick energizer, and it really gets the spinal fluid flowing.

There’s no one right way to breathe, but people who breathe through the nose are less likely to get colds and coughs. On a plane, when the people around you are coughing, be especially careful to breathe through your nose. It helps filter out cold germs.

— Devarshi Steven Hartman, director of professional training at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health

Health boosters

1. Rub your feet to sleep

If you’re prone to insomnia, get your sweetie to rub jojoba oil onto the soles of your feet, then put on a pair of cozy socks you don’t mind ruining and rest with a water bottle on your abdomen until you check out. Invest in soft, cozy designer cove for your hot water bottle, and throw out your electric blanket.

— Scott Blossom, O.M.D., yoga instructor and Ayurveda practitioner

2. Move your body

In the winter, when it gets dark out at 4 p.m., it’s harder to motivate yourself to go outside and exercise. Make a pact with a friend that you’ll take a walk every day. A winter walk, even at night, can be rejuvenating and wonderful. Make it your reward to come home to a nice fire.Winter is also the time when many new dance classes start up. Sign up for a tango or a salsa class—or just dance around your house for fun. It’s festive, and it can help lighten your mood and provide a good opportunity for socializing.

3. Relax from head to toe

The people who get sick in the winter are the ones who are stressed out. To stay healthy, make an effort to activate the relaxation response every single day. Try this exercise:

1. Sit or lie in a comfortable and quiet place with your body fully supported by a chair or the floor. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths: deep inhale, deep exhale.
2. Bring your attention to the top of your head. Focus on your scalp and your forehead, noticing whether there’s any tension there. Give it permission to just let go.
3. Progressively move your attention down through your body, from head to toe, assessing each of the muscles along the way and then mentally releasing any tension you find. Move from your head to your neck, shoulders, upper arms, lower arms, and fingers, your back all the way down your spinal column, around to your belly, your hips, buttocks, thighs, knees, calves, the arches of your feet, and your toes. The idea is to let go of the tension in your mind.

4. Eat dark chocolate

As October progresses, many women start to feel moody and depressed and experience intensified PMS. Craving for chocolate goes through the roof. Make sure to have high-quality dark chocolate available; 90 percent cocoa is too much, but 70 percent should be about right. Seasonal affective disorder is closely linked with PMS being worse during the winter, so borrowed light from windows and skylights in your home and office can make a powerful difference.

— Christiane Northrup, M.D., NATURAL HEALTH advisor and author of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom

5. Lighten up

At least 30 minutes exposure daily to natural light outdoors, in addition to using a light box indoors, helps combat seasonal affective disorder. Natural light seems to have certain ingredients that just can’t be duplicated by an indoor light box.A common problem for people with seasonal affective disorder is serotonin deficiency. St. John’s wort (600 to 900 mg per day), 5-HTP (50 to 200 mg per day), or SAM-e (400 to 1,200 mg per day in enteric-coated tablets) can be quite helpful in raising

6. Drink a warming ginger tea

Ginger boosts the immune system, clears the lungs, aids digestion, and tastes yummy. One of my favorite things in the winter is a homemade brew: Mix 1 tablespoon fresh-grated organic gingerroot, 1 teaspoon fresh organic lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon honey in a 12- to 16-ounce cup of very hot, purified water, and let steep for five to 10 minutes before drinking. The honey, if locally farmed and pesticide-free, is also stimulating to the immune system.