Spring-cleaning. Learn Some Helpful Tools to Benefit your Liver
Spring is a time of new beginning, the birth of a new year. It is a time of growth and shedding. We shed the pounds we gained over winter and we clear our lives and homes of clutter. We rub our eyes and emerge from our hibernation with a new outlook on the world. Where winter was a time of hibernation and introspection, spring is a time to take that self-awareness and put it into action. Express yourself! Start something new.
Forget New Year as a time for resolutions, spring is the time to start fresh and try new things.Naturally in spring we begin to become more active, we sleep fewer hours, we tend to eat less than in winter and we start to shed our emotional baggage. Spring is a time of rapid changes, like a shoot bursting from a seed planted deep in the earth. This time can bring about a burst of energy and emotions, or these changes can be exhausting if we have not rested enough through the winter.
The organ related to spring in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the Liver. Emotions which may arise in spring and which are related to the liver are: frustration, agitation and anger. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you notice you are a little less patient than usual, to a certain extent, this is normal.
So what can we do to help this time of renewal and rejuvenation?
First of all we can move! Watching your energy levels as not to push too hard, begin doing , or increasing the amount of good exercise practices which benefit your tendons and joints, like Yoga and Pilates; go for walks where you can see green, like a forest or a park. (note: this isn’t summer, so stay bundled up!)
There are many foods which can help the liver clear and cleans the heavy clogging foods of winter. Firstly, young foods are preferred, sprouted grains, young beets and baby carrots are great staples. Leafy greens are also especially good this time of year, like kale and parsley. For herbs, begin adding pungent neutral or cooling herbs like basil, fennel, rosemary, mint and basil into your cooking. Try drinking a tea of fresh mint and honey. In general spring is a time for raw foods. With that said, raw foods are best for people with warm, hot or ‘yang’ type constitutions. If you get bloated easily, feel cold often or see undigested food in your stool, raw foods should be limited. Foods to start eating less of are, heavy, greasy, oily foods, as well as salty foods like miso and soy sauce.
Everything in life should be enjoyed in moderation. Remember, you have just woken up from the long slumber of winter, take your time, ease into it, listen to your body and have fun!
Emilie is the resident Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner and Acupuncturist at The Space. Along with acupuncture, massage and herbal medicine, Emilie provides diet counseling and lifestyle coaching.
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