In Traditional Chinese Medicine there are 5 elements that connect all living things and represent stages of change within all carbon-based life forces, including ourselves as humans. Wood, fire, earth, metal & water. Each element has a correlation to seasons, climates, organs & tissues in our body, colours, tastes, emotions, sounds and more.
The thriving and rejuvenating time of Spring is represented by the Wood Element. An expression of life at its strongest: sprouting, changing, growing and renewing.
The associations with Spring and The Wood Element are:
SEASON: Spring
COLOUR: Green
YIN ORGAN: Liver
YANG ORGAN: Gallbladder
TASTE: Sour
SENSE ORGAN: Eyes
EMOTION: Anger
TISSUES: Tendons, Ligaments & connective tissues
5 ways to support your Liver & Gallbladder during Spring, the time of the Wood Element.
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Include more Liver & Gallbladder supporting foods such as: Apple Cider Vinegar, Onions, Turmeric, Beetroot, Strawberry, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Seaweed, cucumber and sour foods like kimchi or sauerkraut. Try to limit heavy and highly saturated fatty foods.
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Make Acupuncture part your routine to assist the balance in your bodies systems as we transition to a new season.
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Engage in moderate movement or exercise. It's time to put our stored winter energy into use. Yoga is especially beneficial as it both moves, engages and stretches connective tendon tissues which are also associated with the wood element in TCM.
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Spend time in nature acknowledging the growth and change of the flora around us.
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Practice Gratitude & forgiveness. Stagnation in the Liver & Gallbladder often presents as irritability, anger, tension, holding onto resentments and indecisiveness or lack of direction.
The wood element commands flexibility, awareness and progress. If constrained, wood is also the energy of frustration. anger and stress. By embracing and supporting the change and growth potentials in our lives, with flexibility, we can thrive like a well rooted and supported tree. Book yourself a spring Acupuncture appointment.
We wish you all the best as we head into this season of Renewal!