In yoga today the instructor was talking about keeping our organs warm. In much of the East they recommend not drinking cold beverages because it 'makes your organs cold.' Colleagues that I worked with in Japan would often tell me that drinking large amounts of cold water would make me fat and to drink small amounts of tea for good health. In my 20's I thought they were absurd and just smiled while inside I thought they were rather moronic. But for the last month I've been experimenting with not drinking cold liquids. I've only been drinking hot tea and must admit to having better digestion and feeling more relaxed.
While traveling through Asia I often noticed particularly in the elderly that they wrap their middles with an extra layer. In Korea elderly women often wear a velcro thick belt around their middles to keep their organs warm.
In Waldorf schools in the young years teachers are always on parents to dress their children in layers to keep warm. Steiner believed that a child's organs could not develop properly if they were not warm.I always like it when the same information comes at me from drastically different sources saying the same thing. There is quite a bit of tension that is created in the body when it's trying to keep itself warm that often comes out in play when children are not dressed warm enough. When teaching preschool I always kept extra sweaters and hats around for those children that came underdressed in the morning and it definitely made a difference in their behavior once they were warm. The 'good' Waldorf parent dresses their child in three layers. In moderately cool climates it's an undershirt, long sleeve shirt and sweater- all out of natural materials, ideally the sweater hand knitted out of wool. In cold climates the outer layer is of course more serious.
They also believe that children ought to wear a particular garment often like we used to when we were kids. For example, a sweater that is 'theirs.' One that everyone knows belongs to them because they wear it everyday. It really has their energy imbued into it. When children wear new clothes all the time they never get a chance to really make them their own and personalize them. Think about a favorite sweatshirt that you've owned for years. It definitely feels different than a brand new one and it's not just about how many time it's been washed to make it softer. It has a different energy to it. Children especially are very in tune with energy of things, which is why it is wise to take much care in the objects that children are exposed to.
Since cold season is starting up again here is Dr. Mercola's
advice on the flu vaccine.