Springtime: this is how you grow

Spring is the season of the Wood element.  It is a time for renewal, rebirth and the moment is ripe for new beginnings. The organs of the Wood element are the Gall Bladder and the Liver. Each of these organs have physiological functions, as well as psycho-spiritual functions.

The Gall Bladder governs decision making and allows for courage.  

As anyone who has ever faced making important decisions knows,  it often requires some level of courage to choose a path where the outcomes are unknown. 

The Liver is said to open at the eyes, and because of this, it is connected to vision.  It is not only connected to our actual vision and ability to see, but also our ability to to envision our future. 

Together the Liver and the Gallbladder facilitate being able to envision what we want to manifest and give us the courage to make important decisions in our lives. 
The spirit of the Liver is called the Hun, and it is the strength of the Hun that manifests through self esteem. 

Our spirit is not separate from our mind.  They are interconnected to such a degree that the programming we receive from the world around us, interpreted through our mind from birth onward, determines the strength and vitality of the organs both on a physical level as well as a spiritual and emotional level.  

The Liver is profoundly influenced by the emotional processing of information that is coming into our fields of awareness and perceptions. 

Its job is to regulate the smooth and uninhibited flow of Qi and blood throughout the body.  When the inputs are emotionally challenging, it is the Liver that is the first line of defense in processing this information. 

How well we can move through emotionally intense experiences is both determined by and determines the health of the Liver. 

The Liver is, after all, a filter. It is a filters blood, trapping toxins and allowing nutrients to pass through. It also filters our emotions and lived experiences. It is understood to regulate the free and uninhibited flow of qi and blood throughout the body.

 When the energy of the Liver is balanced, it is well equipped to handle challenging situations.  The Liver wants to be challenged, in a way, it grows under pressure, just as wood does.

( I was once challenged by a patient whether it was true that wood grows under pressure, and according to Google, it is true. I find it funny that the person who challenged me on this was a carpenter who knew little about how wood grows … but I digress). 

What happens when the Liver is over-loaded with emotional stress and chemical stress? It gets angry. 

The emotion of the Liver is anger and its myriad manifestations: frustration, annoyance, irritation, resentment, hostility, vindictiveness, and depression. 

One way you can evaluate the health of the Liver is by checking in with your relationship to anger.  Do you quietly simmer and harbor resentments or do you explode and shout obscenities when you are stressed?  Do you have a healthy way to channel it or does anger control your behaviors?

Anger isn’t all bad; it inspires us to take action, and usually with passion.  Unmanaged anger, however, can be detrimental to our own health, as well as the health of those around us.  

With the shift into spring, you may notice feeling challenged by your emotions, particularly frustration, resentment and anger, or maybe you are having trouble making a decision and need a little courage. 

This is the season of the Liver and Gall Bladder and it’s the perfect time to get acupuncture to regulate the smooth flow of Liver and Gall Bladder energy.  

Are you wasting your own precious resources?

I love seeing the first signs of spring with snow drops and crocuses. I love feeling the intermittently warm and sunny days. But as it predictably goes in March, some days are glorious and others are meh.

There are forever opposing forces in life; what eastern philosophy teaches, is that this is the Tao or the Way. Yin and yang are mutually interdependent. You cannot have one with out the other. There is an ebb and flow, a push and pull, a tensing and releasing.

This is the Way of life. Regardless of how you wish it were, it has always been and always will be this way.

The wisdom in times of uncertainty is not necessarily to resist every little thing. The wisdom of the Tao is learning how to discriminate between when it is appropriate to resist or surrender.

No season is more unpredictable than spring.

Spring energy is Wood energy. Healthy wood needs external pressure or a challenging environment in order to grow with maximal resiliency.

In the absence of wind, like in a controlled environment, trees fail to develop "stress wood" (also known as reaction wood), which is crucial for structural support and resilience, ultimately leading to their collapse. 

The same is true for humans. Without some adversity during the earlier stages of life, we would collapse under the stress of being an adult.

I suspect the stress of being a teenager is a great training ground for developing “stress wood”.

Wood energy is about strength, resilience, and flexibility in all three realms: body, mind and spirit.

When you are feeling particularly stressed or stretched, take a moment to find gratitude for the opportunity to develop psychological and spiritual strength.

Can you find the gift in your most difficult moments? If you can, you have incredible resiliency and mental strength.

Most of us want to wallow in self pity, lash out at the world for being harsh, react with anger and vitriol at the injustices of life.

And maybe those responses have their place and are completely justified. Or maybe they are depleting your vital energy and simply a waste of your precious resources.

If you truly want to be strong, resilient and flexible, you must also find space for surrender.

Surrender is NOT necessarily a sign of weakness, but rather, a sign of wisdom.

If you are having trouble accepting and surrendering to life, I invite you to try acupuncture as a therapy to harmonize your body, your thoughts and your spirit.

If you feel spiritually stretched, mentally overwhelmed, upset, angry, irate or depressed, your Wood energy would be strengthened with acupuncture.

Whether it is a healing energy treatment, a walk in the woods, a battle on the jiu jitsu mat or whatever brings you into harmony, show yourself some love.

I invite you to take care to nourish the parts of yourself that are calling for some it.