Yang Deficiency
陽虛 · yángxū
The body’s warming fire burns low — Qi Deficiency’s colder, deeper sibling.
Classic signs of Yang Deficiency
- Cold hands and feet most of the year; feeling cold when others aren't
- Strong preference for warm food and drinks; cold food brings discomfort or loose stools
- A cold, weak or aching lower back and knees
- Copious, pale, clear urine; waking at night to pass water
- Early-morning urgency to the loo, or persistently loose stools
- Low libido; low morning drive
- Puffiness, especially lower body
- Everything worse in winter, better in summer
- Tongue: pale, swollen and moist
No sun, no climate. No yang, no engine.
Yang is your metabolic fire, rooted in the Kidneys (腎 — TCM's deep battery, governing warmth, water metabolism, libido and the life-gate the classics call 命門). When Kidney yang runs low, everything cools and slows: digestion, fluids, drive, mornings.
Lifestyle
- Defend three territories: lower back, belly, feet — yang's borders. Layer them in cold months without apology
- Walk in sunlight — the traditional yang tonic that costs nothing
- Warm foot baths before bed — 15 minutes, water to mid-calf; an old Kidney-warming ritual that also settles sleep
- Movement generates yang — 動則生陽 — but gently: brisk walks, tai chi, strength work indoors. Don't get chilled after sweating
Food therapy — kindle, don't quench
- More: lamb, prawns, chicken; walnuts and chestnuts; leeks, onions, fennel; cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, clove. Slow-cooked stews and broths are this constitution's home cuisine
- Less: iced anything, raw salads as meals, excessive tropical fruit, cold dairy — wrong-season, wrong-body foods
One to try: cinnamon and ginger tea — a stick of cinnamon and three coins of fresh ginger simmered ten minutes, honey off the heat.
Acupressure — mornings
Guanyuan · CV4
Four finger-widths below the navel. One of TCM's great warming and consolidating points — press gently, or better, rest a warm palm or hot-water bottle over it.
Taixi · KI3
In the hollow between the inner ankle bone and the Achilles tendon — the source point of the Kidney channel. A slow 60-second press each side.
The Ember 陽
Our practitioner-formulated blend for this constitution: Epimedium (42%), Cinnamon bark (33%) and Goji berry (25%). Epimedium (淫羊藿) and Cinnamon bark (肉桂) are among the most storied warming botanicals in the classical pharmacopoeia — traditionally paired to support the body's yang. One 3g serving in warm water, once daily; mornings suit this blend's character.
This is also the constitution where moxibustion is at its most traditional. If your quiz score here was high, a consultation is worth more than any product on this page.
Food supplements support general wellbeing and are not a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment, nor for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.
Asked across the treatment couch
Isn't this just poor circulation?
When's the best time of year to work on it?
Is this a medical diagnosis?
Can my constitution change?
When to seek more than a webpage
- See your GP first for red-flag changes: unexplained weight loss, persistent unexplained pain, blood where blood shouldn't be, chest pain, breathlessness at rest, new severe headaches, or anything rapidly worsening.
- Pregnancy changes the rules: some acupressure points on this page are traditionally avoided in pregnancy (marked above), and supplements should be run past your midwife or GP.
- On medication? Check with your pharmacist or GP before adding botanical supplements.
This guide supports general wellbeing and is not a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your GP for medical concerns. Food supplements should not be used as a substitute for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.
Not quite you? Meet the other constitutions
Most people are a blend — a primary pattern with one or two supporting actors. If parts of this page fit and parts didn't, your answer is probably two doors down.
Take this page's advice for a season — then tell us what changed
Constitution work is gardening, not surgery. And if you'd like the professional reading — tongue, pulse, history, the full craft — the treatment room is where your pattern gets read properly.
Cheuk's Wellness & TCM · ATCM-registered practitioner (FM 0220069) · 96a High Street, Staple Hill, Bristol