04/16/2024
Supporting Liver Health:
Spring is an ideal time to detox your liver to support your overall health and emotions. If you have been wanting to detox now is the time. The word detox can imply that extreme measures need to be taken, but taking this kind of action is actually hard on the body and can cause negative detox symptoms daily movements like walking, qi gong or yoga, eating in season, addressing stored emotions, and castor oil packs are all holistic practices that encourage good liver blood movement and relieve stagnation symptoms. The idea is to support your liver in gentle ways that flow with the transition into spring and summer.
Gentle Exercise for Liver Qi:
As the days get longer and warmer, sleep a little less and move a little more. Engage in gentle exercises like yoga and walking to promote liver congestion by increasing blood flow, improving circulation, reducing stress, and regulating blood sugar. In Chinese Medicine it is not about how hard or long you workout, but is about consistency. Working out regularly moves qi energy throughout the body, unblocks anything stagnant, and restores proper energy flow to the body. Liver qi stagnation can be caused by a sedentary lifestyle, stress, or a lack of blood flow, but working out 4-5 times a week can increase energy and blood flow in the body. Symptoms of over exerting yourself in a workout include fatigue, headaches, inability to focus, or lightheadedness, and signal that your workout is not as beneficial as it could be. Yoga, qi gong, and walking are all gentle workouts that reap all the benefits of a workout without the negative side effects. Slow and gentle movements aid the body without over exerting it.
Eating in Harmony with the Season:
Spring is a time to eat a little lighter and incorporate more raw foods into your diet. Bitter and sour foods behind the wood element and the liver: young beets, carrots, radishes, local berries, microgreens, sprouts, nettles, dandelion greens, asparagus, lettuce, and rhubarb. Nettle and milk thistle tea are great ways to support liver health and detoxification. In addition to including supporting foods, it’s also important to support the liver so it can function optimally all year long. Stimulants, alcohol and excessive caffeine can overburden the liver and cause dysfunction.
Emotional Wellness and the Liver:
Every organ has an emotion associated with it, and anger, frustration, and impatience are associated with the liver. These emotions can be the trigger or symptom of an imbalance in the liver, and while the emotions themselves are not inherently problematic, the repression or inward expression of these emotions can have negative somatic results. Because spring is the time of upward growth and expansion, it is the perfect time to address any stored emotions that are bothering you.
Harnessing the Power of Castor Oil:
The use of castor oil packs to aid in liver detox is an ancient practice that helps support optimized liver function, improve detoxification and hormonal balance, and to reduce inflammation in the liver. A component of castor oil, ricinoleic acid, is known to help the body rid itself of excess toxins. It is recommended to use a castor oil pack 1-2 times/week to help support the liver if dealing with hormonal imbalance, detoxification issues, or fatty liver.
Embrace Spring with Wellness:
As we welcome the season of renewal, let us embrace the energy of the Wood element and support our bodies and minds with gentle practices that align with nature's rhythm.
