Category: Emotions

Spring!

4/24/2023

Spring is finally here!

Do you know how I know? The symptoms that you all are coming in with!

Spring is the season associated with the Liver, in Chinese Medicine. The Liver, when it's out of balance, shows particular symptoms. Have you been experiencing any of these?

Allergies, especially eye symptoms
Worsening or flaring of Eczema symptoms
Irritability/Easily frustrated
Increased sense of stress or overwhelm
Worsening of pain symptoms - particularly those with an immune component
Trouble sleeping, especially if you're waking between 1am-3am
In folks who menstruate - increased PMS, clotting, cramping, and a general "That was a weird one!" sense of your cycle
In perimenopausal folks - temporarily worsening of your hotflash/nightsweats situation

The Liver is associated with the element of Wood. Just like the trees budding, bulbs popping up out of the ground, and grass growing crazy fast, our energy is ready to emerge for the season! Winter time is a time to rest and repair and rebuild. Spring is a time to emerge, grow and expand. Many of us are experiencing worsened symptoms because the weather hasn't been cooperating with our energetic and mental desires to start moving, growing and changing!

In order to help ease your Livery symptoms, consider trying some of these tactics!

MOVE! - Go for a walk or a run, do some yoga, Tai Chi or Qi Gong. Just be gentle with your first few outings. It's really easy to injure your tendons and ligaments (also associated with the Liver!) after being more stationary for the season.
Eat sour things! - The sour flavor is associated with the Liver - citrus of all types, but also many fresh fruits and berries can help move your stuck Qi
Green things! - Green is the color associated with the Liver - Eat leafy greens of all sorts, wear green, paint your nails green, green green green!
This one is my personal favorite - Garden - Getting your hands dirty while hanging out in the dirt and plant life and getting a bit of exercise can really break up the stuckness that you might be feeling!
Of course, acupuncture is a FANTASTIC tool for getting our energy moving as well!
If your body is being PARTICULARLY stubborn, an appropriate Chinese herbal formula might be needed

As you can see from the photo of the office - my family and I spent some time weeding and mowing this weekend. We still have a TON of work ahead of us, but I look forward to my dirt time medicine for the springtime BLAHS!

Until Next Time! <3 Becca

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Love and Kidneys

2/13/2013

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Image courtesy of gubgib / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and in western ideology, the heart is king of love. But in Chinese medicine, the Kidney plays a huge role in addition to the heart! I've seen a LOT of great articles around the last few days on just this topic, here are a few :

Jennifer Dubowsky of Acupuncture Blog Chicago - How to Boost Your Kidney Qi for Valentine's Day
If you want to boost your Kidney Qi using nutritional therapy, this recipe from Healing With Whole Foods looks AMAZING!
If a massage is right up your alley, then this article by Sara Calabro of AcuTake will be a perfect match!

Regardless of whether you have a valentine in your life, it's important to keep your Kidney Qi strong and healthy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Resolutions Week - Part I

1/4/2011

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Image: Ashley Cox / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Welcome to Resolutions Week! Today we'll be discussing exercise and its importance as viewed from the Chinese medical perspective.

Many many MANY people make exercise a part of their New Year's Resolutions. (It's definitely made my list!) We all know that to be truly healthy, exercise is an important building block. So why do so many of us struggle with the motivation to get up and move our bodies regularly?

We are a society of stress. Our jobs are stressful. Our families are stressful. Traffic is stressful. We're expected to do so much in so few hours! In Chinese medical theory, stress is associated with the Liver and the Wood element. Stress prevents the Liver from doing its job of keeping our Qi moving in a smooth fashion. If our Qi isn't moving properly, we start to get symptoms of unhealth.

When we exercise regularly, we are mechanically making our Qi flow. Think of all those muscles moving. That blood pumping. The sweat pouring. Your Qi follows each of them. So even though the stress may be making it difficult for your Qi to move smoothly, when you exercise, it is being forced to do so, which will help ease your levels of stress. See how that works? It's a great feedback loop!

One of the reasons we may find it difficult to get motivated to get moving is because of our Qi not moving properly. Think of it like a car with a dead battery. If the battery isn't sending power to the engine to start it, you're going to have to push-start it. It's hard to be motivated to push that car, especially if it means having to get up earlier in the morning! However, if you know that if you push that car and get the battery fixed so it'll start easily when you tell it to, it's much easier to get out there and start pushing!

So get out there and fulfill your New Year's Resolutions, and know that you're doing your body good to get that Qi moving! Remember, it'll get easier to continue with your new habit once all those little bits of Qi get unstuck!

Resolutions Week - Intro
Resolutions Week - Part II - Healthy Eating
Resolutions Week - Part III - Quitting Smoking
Resolutions Week - Part IV - Willpower

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Cravings

8/11/2009

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Ask the biomedical world why we crave the things that we do, and they're not really sure. Could be hormones. Could be some sort of nutrient deficiency. Could be that your mother only showed her love to you through food as a child.

Cravings are kind of a cool subject when looked at through a Chinese Medical perspective. Cravings are brought on by imbalances in our organs and emotions.

Every organ is associated with both an emotional spectrum and a flavor.

Heart - Sorrow or joy and Bitter
Spleen - Over-thinking/worry or being at peace/centered and Sweet
Lung - Grief/a feeling of alienation or feeling connected with the world and Acrid
Kidney - Fear/apprehension or will-power and Salty
Liver - Anger/frustration or being flexible and Sour

When we experience too much of the emotions on the negative side of the emotional spectrum, this tends to damage the associated organ.

So, for example, if you tend to be a worrier, it can damage your Spleen leading to symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, fatigue and sugar-cravings.

For those who crave salt, they may have a history of being afraid or apprehensive in their lives. They may also experience symptoms such as incontinence, early aging, and low back pain.

If we're talking about pregnancy cravings, this tends to be a little different, since it is a healthy state, not one of imbalance. If a woman craves sour (think pickles or citrus) it is likely because her baby is growing, with Liver being the organ associated with quick growth. Remember my post on Liver being associated with wood? Think of the baby as a little seedling. Seedlings tend to change very quickly in their early stages - this is a quality of Wood energy.

If a pregnant woman craves sweet things, it's possible that her Spleen energy (or energy associated with digesting and processing foods to convert to Qi) is a bit weak due to the new, greater demand on her system. Tonify the Spleen and she should see a decrease in her sweet cravings!

As is the way of life, too much of a good thing can be bad for you. If one over-indulges in their cravings, they can further damage the associated organ. It's all about moderation!

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Anger Management

2/20/2009

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A friend asked today when anger was useful. This got me to thinking. Every emotion exists for a reason. So what is the purpose of anger?

In Chinese medicine, each organ has an emotion, much like each organ has an element associated with it. For anger, the organ association is with the Liver. I discussed some aspects of the Liver and the element of Wood in I'm a Proud Tree Hugger, so we'll be building on those concepts here. Remember that the Liver is associated with Wood. Wood likes to grow and change. Wood so much likes to grow and change that it will grow THROUGH rocks, breaking them in half. Wood will push up sidewalks. Wood is very persistent. It is very driven.

We have these same desires in ourselves. We always strive to better ourselves. We want to get things done, to get that new car, to buy that new house, to get that promotion. So what happens when our aspirations are blocked? We get angry. According to Chinese medicine, the reason we get angry is because our Wood element is unable to do something. It's frustrated.

Think back on all of the times you were angry. Didn't it all lead back to being frustrated because you were blocked? You couldn't have that toy at the store. You didn't get that promotion, but the "undeserving idiot" did. You got cut off in traffic. Interesting, don't you think?

So back to the question "When is anger useful?" Anger is useful, the same as any other emotion. As long as we don't get stuck in any one emotion - it's a part of a healthy experience. Anger (or frustration) can lead to creativity and problem solving. Think about it - some of the world's greatest inventions probably stemmed from frustrations with the current technologies!

Anger or frustration should also help us to better ourselves. The next time you find yourself cussing someone or something out, ask yourself, "Why does this bother me?" And remember that when Wood can't figure out a way to get THROUGH something, it goes AROUND.

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Spring!

Love and Kidneys

Resolutions Week - Part I

Cravings

Anger Management

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