The Liver and the Wood Element. Just how flexible are you?

So, as discussed in the previous blog, today we’re going to look at the mental and emotional properties of the Liver to see how you can release those feelings of stress, frustration and anger.

The Liver corresponds to the Wood element in Chinese Medicine. The Wood element relates to Springtime, the colour green, a sour taste, the climatic condition of Wind, an upward moving direction, the capacity of decisiveness and the emotion of ANGER.

Thinking of Wood in nature, think of an acorn. Harnessing the power of water to transform into wood, pushing boundaries, growing, expanding, the acorn has a keen and direct sense of purpose. It wants to become an oak tree. Pure and simple.

It is the acorn inside of you that gives you the strongest side of the Wood element. The ability to PLAN and ORGANISE and to follow through with those plans.

Wood, in Chinese Medicine, is the mother of Fire. So let’s just think about how you create fire.

Firstly you need to plan. What do you need?

You need some good sized dry logs. You need some dry tinder. You need to build in a dry area. You need to build the fire to allow air to circulate through to allow the flames to grow.

So good planning, as you can see, can allow you to enjoy the benefits of your fruition. A nice, warm fire.

The acorn has planning built into it. Its own genetic code means that one day, given the right conditions; it will become a mighty oak tree.

So, when the acorn starts to sprout into a young oak tree, it starts to push away at the earth, striving, reaching upwards towards the light. But what does it do when it encounters a rock in its way? Does it give up? Does it stop growing? Of course not! It finds another path, a way around the rock. And in this it has a sense of FLEXIBILITY.

So the abilities of planning, organisation, bringing into fruition, and being flexible, are all built into you. It’s just that some people are better at it than others.

Quite often, if your Liver isn’t entirely healthy, when you encounter those “rocks in life”, you can’t find a way around. What rocks do I mean? Perhaps, a difficult or challenging boss. A friend who pushes your boundaries. An overly controlling parent. An abusive partner. Being told “no, you can’t do that”. These are the emotional rocks that you can encounter in life. And given how many “rules and regulations” you have to follow, health and safety overload, it’s not surprising that that you can often feel STRESSED, TIRED and FRUSTRATED.

The emotion associated with the Wood element and the Liver is ANGER. And anger, of course, can present a whole spectrum of emotions.

It can be the full-blown, red-faced, “I’M ANGRY!”

It can be the underlying, speaking through gritted teeth, irritability.

It can be a complete absence of anger. Apathy, indecision, depression.

So, what can you do to help smooth out your Liver Qi (energy), and get the natural flow back into your life?

Firstly, as mentioned in the previous article, EXERCISE! I can’t stress enough, how much of a benefit this is, especially if frustration and irritability are your primary concern. Exercise releases endorphins (the body’s natural painkillers), and boosts levels of serotonin (the “happy” neurotransmitter) so you feel good afterwards. It gets your Qi moving! I once remember seeing an episode of Grand Designs, where a couple were building their dream barn conversion. The husband had a brain tumour, but had managed to battle it through extremely good nutrition. But it was the wife I was most impressed with. She took on everything. The household, the children, looking after her husband and all the planning of the majority of the build. She had been dealt some pretty large “rocks”. How did she combat her stress? Kick-boxing! She loved it! They showed a clip of her at the gym, beating out her frustrations on boxing pad, and boy did it work!

In fact, BEATING CUSHIONS is another great way to relieve frustration. Take yourself off, into a quiet room, away from the family, and start by rhythmically beating the cushion with your fists. Start of slowly, but allow those pent up feelings of anger, resentment and frustration just to flow up and out of you. You’ll soon be walloping those cushions, and I bet you you’ll feel much better afterwards!

But sometimes in life, we find it all a bit too much, especially when we get to end of the spectrum, towards apathy, indecision and depression. So, this is the time to get some help. There are several therapies that I think are ideal for helping with those feelings of “stuckness” and depression.

ACUPUNCTURE helps to not only to clear your energetic blockages of Qi, but gives them a boost as well. It works by finding the root cause of your problem and treating that cause. And its actions will not only help your emotional problems, but physical ones as well. As you have already seen, Chinese Medicine does not differentiate between what is commonly seen as a problem with the mind or a problem with the body. They come from the same root source.

REIKI is a fantastic way to help you relax and clear blockages and move forward with your life. It is very calming and will quite often bring things to the surface which you can then deal with. Feedback from your therapist at this time is always very useful.

Or perhaps, it’s time to seek some other therapies such as LIFE COACHING, COUNSELLING or PSYCHOTHERAPY. I’ll be the first to admit, I have recently started attending a psychotherapist, to help me find a way round my own mental “rocks”. It’s been incredibly rewarding. A large proportion of people see seeking therapy as a weakness, but I’m here to tell is most certainly is not! It actually shows an incredible amount of bravery and courage, and a true determination to rectify your problems rather than bury your head in the sand.

So, those are the mental and emotional properties of the Liver, the Wood element, and what you can do to help solve those pent up feelings of frustration!

Next time, we’ll be looking at the SPIRITUAL side of your Liver. The Hun, your Ethereal Soul. How does your Hun affect your life? And how do you know if your Hun is troubled?

Spring, the Liver and the Body. Time for a clear out?

Spring is nearly upon us so it is most definitely time to focus on your spring cleaning. And what organ is the body's cleaner? Yup, you got it! THE LIVER.

Over the next 3 blogs I'm going to describe to you the physical, mental and spiritual properties of the Liver and what you can do to help each aspect. The Liver relates to the season of springtime, so now is the perfect time to make a plan and put it into action!

The Liver, in Chinese Medicine, is one of the most important organs in the body, whose functions are different to that of the liver found in Western Medicine.

The 2 principle physical functions of the Liver involve:

1) Circulating your Qi (energy) around your body
2) Storing Blood (again this is slightly different from the blood in Western Medicine)

So let's look at each function in turn...

1) Your Qi is vital to good health. Not only do you need a constant supply of it (from the food that you eat and the air that you breath) you also need it to circulate around your body, very much like the way the blood transports vital ingredients such as sugars, fats, oxygen and water around your body.

But if this process becomes interrupted, and a common pattern you see is Liver Qi Stagnation, and your body's Qi stops circulating as it should.

There is a saying in Chinese Medicine: "Where there is free-flow of Qi there is no pain, where there is no free-flow of Qi there is pain". So, perhaps you can see where this is leading…!

Common manifestations of Liver Qi Stagnation include things like headaches, neck and shoulder tension, tightness in the hips and down the outside of legs, period pain and digestive cramping.

2) Your Liver is the main organ to store your Blood. We need good Blood in Chinese Medicine as this helps nourish your muscles and internal organs, it helps you get good restful sleep, moistens the body and needs to be in plentiful supply to assist conception, pregnancy, childbirth and breast-feeding.

But, another common pattern that can occur is Liver Blood Deficiency.

This can manifest as poor sleep, light periods or no periods at all, fertility problems, dry skin and brittle nails and a "sinewy" or "sallow" look.

So, what can be done about these? Well, firstly it's important to discern whether you are more Qi Stagnant or Blood Deficient, though in my experience it can be quite common to be both! The first rule of thumb however, is to always clear the stagnation first, and then work on the deficiency.

1) To help clear the stagnation in your Liver, EXERCISE is first and foremost! Get your body’s Qi moving!! And this can be anything. Walking or cycling to work instead of taking the car. Using the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Going for a walk on your lunch break. Joining that yoga class you’ve wanted to go to for ages. Getting to the gym more regularly. Going for a swim. The most important thing to remember is to make sure it’s REGULAR exercise.

What therapies will help clear those energetic blockages and get your Qi circulating around your body? MASSAGE is a great start and really does get that Qi moving around your body. ACUPUNCTURE is another therapy that is perfect for getting your Qi going. In fact, acupuncture is practically designed to help clear Qi stagnation and is perfect for those who suffer with chronic pain.

To help with cleaning your Liver out, SOUR foods have a particular action of cleaning out the Liver.  Things like natural yoghurt, lemons and green apples. Supplementing with Milk Thistle is another great way to help clean out your Liver.  You will want to avoid greasy, fried foods, caffeine and alcohol as these all have the action of creating more stagnation in the Liver. And of course finally but perhaps most importantly, you need to drink plenty of WATER!

2) To help nourish your Liver Blood a more strict program needs to be undertaken for 90-120 days (this is how long it takes to fully replenish and renew your blood supply).

GENTLE EXERCISE along the lines of Yoga, Pilates, Tai Qi or Qi Gong.

NURITION is key to helping nourish your Liver Blood. Plenty of vegetables, especially the DARK GREEN LEAFY VEG. A small amount of red meat or liver once a week will also help. But perhaps more important is how you eat. NO SKIPPING MEALS! AND NO EATING ON THE GO! Taking time to enjoy your food and taking time to digest afterwards. Plenty of fluids again, and of course, the avoidance of greasy, fried foods, caffeine and alcohol.

Supplementation is also important with Liver Blood Deficiency. I always recommend FLORADIX, a liquid iron formula, made with lots of natural fruit and vegetable extracts. Wheatgrass, barley grass, Spirulina, and kelp will also help nourish your Blood.

And making sure you get enough REST as well. Therapies such as REIKI or reflexology will help with calming down your system as well as strengthening those underlying deficiencies.

If you find that you are very Blood deficient (i.e. an incredibly light sleeper, dizzy or light-headed, or are having fertility issues with very light or no periods) then I would recommend visiting a qualified Chinese Herbalist to get some herbs that will help nourish your Blood on a deeper level.

So that’s the physical aspects of the Liver and what you can do to help them! Next time we’re going to look at the mental and emotional capacities of the Liver and what can be done to help improve STRESS and FRUSTRATION. Something I’m sure we could all do with!!