Articles & Podcasts
Regain & Maintain Your Health
| Past Sightings |
|---|
The Joy of Chi Kung |
The Tao of Health
New York Times
Health Section
Teahouse Experiences
Conscious Connections
Detoxify and Tonify Your Liver
During the Spring season are you, or people you know more irritable than usual? Or surprised by unexpected surges of anger?
If so, then Oriental Medicine can help you become more calm and balanced in your body and mind.
According to the 5 Element Theory, Spring is the season of the ‘Wood” energy, and the energetics of ‘Wood’ directly affect your Liver. Since the Liver affects the nerves, if your Liver isn’t balanced you’ll be more prone to irritability and anger in Spring than during the rest of the year.
Tonify and Detoxify
Because the tendency towards irritability and unexpected anger are directly related to Liver imbalance, if you tonify and balance the Liver, you should feel calmer and less frustrated. ("Anger management” techniques are always useful, but if you detoxify your Liver, you’ll have to rely on them less often.)
When your Liver is out of balance you’re more prone to irritability and anger.
How do you know if your Liver is “toxic” — assume that it is! With the amount of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides all around us — in the air, water, food, and other products we use, you should assume your Liver is somewhat toxic, and start doing some simple things to detoxify it.
Spring is Stirring
March is a “transitional” month: cold and windy when it arrives; warmer, with a tinge of mildness—mixed with a feeling of relief at Winter’s passing—at its end.
As nature’s energies shift from winter to spring, important changes are happening outside—and inside of you—that affect your health.
The Sap Is Rising
As Spring arrives the “sap” begins to rise, and so must the question: “What do I need to do to prepare myself to process the surge of energy that Spring floods through my body?”
The Liver is the primary organ of the body affected during Spring, so it’s important to make sure it’s strong and balanced. The primary organ system affected during winter was the Kidneys, so now is the right time to help them replenish the energy that was expended throughout the winter.
Oriental Medicine at BIOM combines very effective medical herb formulas, acupuncture, acupressure, and Chi Kung techniques for replenishing the energy of the Kidneys, strengthening and balancing the Liver so that it’s ready to spring into action as the Water season turns to Wood, and the Kidneys pass the baton to the Liver.
Valentine’s Day: A Matter of the Heart (and Kidneys)
Happy Valentine’s Day! a celebration of the Heart — whose health depends on strong Kidneys. As Valentine’s Day inspires you to feel love in your heart, I encourage you to also focus for a minute or two on the level of energy (health) you’re feeling, or not feeling, in your heart and kidneys.
As I mentioned in A Mid-Winter Checkup, your kidneys are probably pretty pooped by now, leaving you feeling low in energy. Look at the Five Element Cycle of Regulation illustration on this page and you’ll notice that the ‘Water’ element, embodied in your Kidneys, regulates the ‘Fire’ element, which is embodied in your Heart.
So if your Kidneys are low in energy they won’t be able to adequately support the Heart, and as a result, the Heart function can get a bit out of alignment.
What to Look Out For
If you’re already predisposed to heart problems, you may be experiencing things like a little bit of extra pressure in the chest, or maybe some mild heart irregularities in the rhythm and beat, usually not to the extent of interfering with breathing; but for people who have compromised heart energy, these symptoms may be more severe at this point in the winter.
Mid-season is the time to start rebuilding the strength of that season’s organ.
A Way to Good Health
A ‘rule of thumb’ for good health is this: toward the middle and end of each season, focus on rebuilding the strength of the organ that is the focal point for that season. Right now, in mid-winter, it’s your Kidneys. And because each organ system has a companion organ that it regulates, (at mid-winter it’s your heart), it’s a good idea to pay some attention to the companion too so that it will be in tune and ready to go when it’s season to perform comes; (for the Heart, that’s summer).