Embrace The Energy of Spring!
Spring is a time for renewal and to create, cleanse, move, and grow!
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, everything is connected and in synchronicity with nature. As our bodies are one with nature, each season is associated with an organ system and the spring is connected to the Liver. The energy of the Liver is responsible for moving our energy freely and it is the guiding energy during the spring time.
The Liver energy this time of year has a job to promote growth and to help all things in nature expand. This is a time of year that the Liver energy needs to flow freely in order to support growth and expansion. We can see this all around us in nature as plants and flowers bloom and begin to grow.
Internally, we can feel this as we start to feel the energy of the spring. Pay attention to what comes up for you this time of year. Are you wanting to move more? Are you wanting to detox and clean up your diet? Are you wanting to spring clean and de-clutter your space? Do you feel the impact of being stuck? Our energy naturally wants to move optimally and freely. Maintaining balance in the spring is critical as the energy of the liver is prone to getting stuck if anything prevents it from moving with a free flow. This can present as irritability, frustration, depression, anxiety, and pain. An example of the impact of this that many people can related to is when we are driving a car. When we are driving and traffic is flowing and we catch every green light we feel good. We are moving, getting to whatever place we are headed. We might be enjoying a good song and we can feel at ease. However, if someone cuts us off, drives too slow, we catch every red light or we hit road construction or a traffic jam, think about how quickly we can feel frustrated or some degree of road rage. In Florida, we can feel this quite a bit during spring break if we are driving near a beach. How many of us have talked about the frustration of the traffic? All of a sudden, internally we feel the impact of not being able to move or flow freely.
This happens within our bodies in ways we may or may not be aware of, especially if anything is out of balance that impacts our internal flow of energy. Thus, it is so important for us to take steps to address our health and wellbeing in a way that aligns with what is happening in nature.
Steps to optimize your health in the Spring:
With every change of season, we have an opportunity to optimize our health and wellbeing, to harness the energy of the season, and live in balance with nature. The spring is a time to support our Liver energy. How do we do this?
1. Get acupuncture (of course) to keep your energy moving. It is an incredible passive tool to move your energy and improve your outlook. If you are dealing with pain, it can also help to decrease your pain so that you can do the type of movement or exercise that you love.
2. Take Herbs: If your Liver qi is prone to stagnating (for example, you feel frustrated easily), taking herbs to promote the movement of Liver qi can be extremely beneficial. The herbs that are helpful can really vary on the person. For example, Liver energy can get stuck if there isn’t enough, if there is too much, or if there is something that is creating a blockage. Your practitioner can help determine the best formula for you to use.
3. Move your body. This can be as simple as taking a walk or it can be more intense exercise, paddle boarding, biking, yoga, swimming, playing with your dog. It doesn’t matter – just move your body. This will move your energy and can help your emotions, your outlook, and help you feel more grounded and calm.
4. Detox your Liver. This is a great time of year to do a Liver detox. This is something I do a couple of times per year. The detox I use myself offers a 10 day or 21 day detox and I choose the length depending on what I need at the time. This is a great way to reset what you’re putting in your body and it helps to clear out and support the Liver.
5. Spring clean your space. Embrace the desire to deep clean and get rid of things you don’t need that just create clutter. This process can be freeing and can give us space for creativity, renewal, and it can improve our outlook. Our space can have a significant impact on our mindset and our health.
Chinese Medicine is all about living in tune with nature and during these season changes, it’s a great time to come in for a treatment to get your seasonal tune up at Elevate Wellness.