Transition Into Spring With These Chinese Medicine Tips.
By Kari Pettersen
March is here and spring is fast approaching. You can already feel it in the air. The days are getting longer and there’s a lot more warmer days than cold days. Who doesn’t love spring flowers and sun soaked days especially after the long winters we have?!
The Chinese, in their wisdom, recognized that our bodies also undergo change with the seasons. In winter, our energy goes deeper into the body. We go into more of a hibernation or rest mode. We settle into our homes and go to bed earlier. When spring comes, just like a flower, our energy starts to expand from more inward to outward. We start to emerge from our homes. We want to be outside more, we want to move more and stay up later. I personally never want to be in my house in spring. I want to explore, get out and soak up the sun. They do not call it spring fever for nothing y’all. If you pay attention to nature you will also see that animals start moving around, birds are more active and even your pets might start to act out more.
This transition can be difficult. Each season has an associate organ involved. In the spring, it is governed by the liver. That is because the the liver is responsible for the smooth flow of energy or Qi in our bodies. Our energy can feel sporadic in spring as our liver tries to navigate our energy moving from more inward to outward but also the energy from our daily life stressors. Long standing liver Qi can tax the system and an overtaxed liver can cause all sorts of disharmony in the body including headaches, pms, stomach aches, anger and frustration. This is further aggravated by wind which is something that we see quite often in spring.
I am going to share some Chinese Medicine tips to help keep your liver healthy, your Qi moving and allow your transition into spring to be a smooth one.
Move- One way to help the liver is to move. Our tendons and sinews are moistened by the liver so in the spring you may feel more tightness in the joints and muscles. It is good to focus on taking the time to stretching everything out . I always up my workouts in the spring and find I want to run more. Running is a great way to expand any excess energy that might be stuck in the body and get things moving but really any type of movement that gets your blood pumping and energy moving is a good thing in the spring.
Wake up earlier- Now that winter is subsiding we do not need to rest as much. Wake up early with the sun. Get your blood pumping and enjoy the brighter mornings.
Nutrition- Our liver preforms so many functions in the body including detoxification of toxins and excess hormones. To much fat, chemicals and toxins can easily overwhelm the liver. In the spring you may find you want to drink more because alcohol can temporarily move Qi but it harms the liver and causes damage to its ability to function properly so it is best to give your liver a break in the spring. Think of this as spring cleaning for the body.
Skip the alcohol and add warm water with lemon or apple cider vinegar to your routine. Both can help the liver to move Qi in the body. Herbs like milk thistle or the antioxidant NAC can help the liver regenerate and can assist in detoxing the body.
Clean up your products such as drinking or eating out of plastic. Now is the time to do a product ( cleaning and beauty products) detox to decrease the toxic load on your liver. This is also important for hormones.
Ditch the heavy foods from winter. Now is the time to add in more green vegetables to your diet, these are nourishing and detoxifying. Now, however, is not the time to be eating lots of raw foods. We still have cold temperatures here in Grande Prairie and its not uncommon to have a spring snow storm so making sure to steam your veggies or drink your smoothies warm ( yup, I add warm water mine) to help your digestion.
Manage Emotions- Anger, frustration and stress can cause our energy to stagnant and get stuck. Finding healthy outlets for those emotions are must anytime but especially in spring. Punch a pillow, scream into a pillow, punch a punching bag… you get it.. anything to get those emotions out of the body and not letting them fester and become stagnant.
Take a vacation- This is my own personal tip. I find that if I vacation in the spring it can curve my restless energy from being indoors all winter. Change in scenery, new experiences and a rest from daily stress is exactly what my soul needs in spring.
Acupuncture- One of the best ways to help your body transition into spring is acupuncture. By placing tiny needles along the liver and gallbladder meridians we can help move the liver Qi and some of the side effects that come along with spring such as insomnia, pms and headaches. You will feel your mood is lifted, stress is decreased and that you overall feel happier in spring.