Riding the Fire Horse

February 17, 2026

Happy Lunar New Year and Welcome to the year of the Yang Fire Horse.

You may be wondering what a Cold-Pressed Seed Oil producer from Vernon BC has to do with the Lunar New Year. You might be surprised!

If you don’t know anything about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), don’t worry, I’m going to do my best to make this easy to understand.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us, we’d love to hear from you!

Here we go:

In TCM, Jing (essence) is your foundational energy. It governs growth, reproduction, development, and longevity.

Basically, it's what your body uses your whole life to grow, recover, and stay resilient. And it's stored in the Kidneys, which TCM considers the "Root of Life."

So what does that have to do with cold-pressed oils? Everything, actually.

Every seed carries the full blueprint of a new plant. The oil inside that seed is the most concentrated expression of its life force. In TCM terms, when you cold-press a seed into oil, you're extracting its Jing.

But here's the catch: excessive heat destroys that essence. It's why we obsess over keeping our oil temperature under 40°C during pressing.

Through a TCM lens, that's not just a quality standard. It's the difference between preserving the Jing and burning through it.

Which brings us to the Year of the Fire Horse.

This is a rare one. The Fire Horse only shows up once every 60 years (the last one was 1966).

The Horse already represents speed, movement, independence, and big energy.

Layer Fire on top of that and you've got a year that rewards bold action, creativity, and forward momentum. It's exciting. But it's also intense.

In TCM, Fire governs the Heart, which controls emotional balance, mental clarity, sleep, and circulation. When Fire is balanced, you feel joyful, clear, and connected.

When it runs too hot, you get anxiety, restlessness, poor sleep, inflammation, and that "wired but tired" feeling that so many people already deal with.

The biggest risk of a Fire Horse year? Burning through your reserves without replenishing them.

Your Jing. Your deep energy. The stuff that doesn't bounce back with a good night's sleep.

That's where our oils come in. And honestly, we were a little surprised at how well they line up.

Flaxseed Oil: Your Yin Anchor (Ya Ma Zi in TCM)

If there's one oil built for a Fire year, it's this one.

Dry skin, brittle hair, constipation, irritability? Those are all signs of Yin getting burned up. Flaxseed oil addresses that.

It enters the Lung, Liver, and Large Intestine meridians and its primary action is moistening dryness, which is exactly what excess Fire creates.

Its Liver affinity also supports smooth Qi flow and emotional regulation, which matters in a year where feelings run high and impulsive decisions are a real thing.

Think of it as the cool glass of water for your internal fire.

Black Seed Oil: The Kidney Jing Protector

This one's interesting.

Black seed oil is warm, which might sound counterintuitive in a Fire year. But its most important role is how it strengthens the Kidneys.

The Kidneys store Jing, and Jing is what gets depleted when Fire burns unchecked.

Think of it this way: the Fire Horse is the furnace running full blast. Your Kidneys are the water reservoir that keeps it from overheating.

It's also no coincidence that black seed is, well, black. In TCM, deeply pigmented black foods have been recommended for thousands of years to nourish the Kidneys and restore deep reserves of energy.

On top of that, the naturally occurring thymoquinone in our black seed oil is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, which directly addresses one of the biggest Fire Horse risks: systemic inflammation from sustained stress.

Pumpkin Seed Oil: Your Earth Anchor

When your Spleen and Stomach get overwhelmed by too much heat, digestion suffers, nutrient absorption drops, and your body loses its ability to replenish itself.

Pumpkin seed oil (Nan Gua Zi) is warm and sweet with a deep Earth element connection. It strengthens and stabilizes exactly the systems that excess Fire threatens.

In TCM sweet flavors harmonize, entering the Spleen to support the transformation of food into usable energy. The zinc and magnesium in pumpkin seed oil support this process naturally.

This is your grounding force in a year that could easily sweep you off your feet.

Peanut Oil: The Steady Nourisher

Neutral temperature, sweet taste, enters the Spleen, Lung, and Large Intestine.

It quietly strengthens the Spleen and Stomach (your postnatal Qi production, basically your daily energy factory) and moisturizes the Lungs, which tend to dry out when excess Fire rises upward in the body.

Peanut oil doesn't make a big splash, but it's the reliable, everyday support for the systems under the most strain this year.

And its high smoke point means you can actually cook with it, making it the easiest oil to work into your daily routine.

Hazelnut Oil: For Those Who Need More Fire (Yes, Some People Do)

Not everyone experiences a Fire year the same way.

If you tend to run cold, feel fatigued, or have sluggish digestion, you might actually need help matching the year's pace.

It's in the same TCM food category as walnuts and chestnuts, recommended for building energy, strengthening digestion, and nourishing deeper reserves of vitality.

If the Fire Horse year feels less like "too much energy" and more like "everyone else has energy and I'm falling behind," hazelnut oil is worth a look.

Roasted Pumpkin Seed Oil: Intentional Warmth for Later This Year

As we move into autumn and winter, this oil becomes especially relevant.

Roasting intensifies the warming properties of the pumpkin seed, making it ideal for protecting Kidney Yang when temperatures drop.

The deep, complex flavor reflects what TCM calls "transformation through fire," where the seed's essence is refined into something richer and more concentrated.

Save this one for the colder months when you need grounding, warming nourishment to carry you through the back half of the Fire Horse year.