Spring Cleaning

by Laura Lamun

Another winter has gracefully, and finally, given way to spring. I love to watch what happens outside, this time of year. Every day looks brighter, there's more coming alive by the second. This is also a perfect time to revel in your own seasonal renewal - to welcome the sunshine back into your life, restore your body and give thanks for all the little green sprouts that appear. It is a time to notice the new shoots of creativity finding their way to the surface inside of you. Ideas you have nourished and incubated all winter can now begin to sprout and make them known.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, spring is the natural and logical time for physical cleansing and rebirth. This Eastern model of medicine is based on the philosophy that all life occurs in the circle of nature, and that shifts in nature and climate propel the body into new states of readiness. It is in the springtime that the body seeks to clean out its own closets, to slough off the dead cells, and make way for new growth. This is the season of the Liver - the primary blood-cleansing organ of the body, without which Life would be impossible.

The liver is like the commander of an army, collecting, distributing, and cleaning up the blood - and is responsible for the quantity and pressure blood, evenness of emotions, & consistency of behavior and feeling of the body. The Liver dramatically affects energy levels, and it makes a considerable difference whether it has the ability to do its job in a state of health or disease. The blood stored by the liver is responsible for nourishing the tendons, ligaments, muscles, joints and eyes. This makes the liver a very important organ for athletes and many physical individuals. When the liver is stagnated and full of toxins it is incapable of properly storing the blood required for all these activities, and symptoms such as muscle spasm and weakness, dizziness, numbness of limbs, and dry eyes can occur. The blood flow becomes poorly regulated and muscles and nerves become easily fatigued, metabolic waste cannot be cleared, exasperating muscle pain and tiredness that is worse after rest.

A healthy liver will protect the very instruments of physical motion, not to mention emotional attitude and mood. Judgement and decision-making are more sound, vision is clear, physical actions are effortless, drive and adaptability increases, sex drive returns, and the body operates, as it should, in harmony. So give your liver a little loving this spring - after all the abuse you probably put it through at the end of ski season. Whether your seasonal job is ending, now that the mountain is closed, or if mud season simply leaves you with a little more time - use the few more free hours you have in the day for continuing healthy pursuits. Here are some self-improvement tips for liver loving that will leave you feeling perfectly in tune with this season of renewal:

Eat liver friendly - no fried foods, saturated fats, hydrogenated oils -read the labels. Cut back on sugar and white foods - processed flours, pastas, starchy vegetables and dairy products. All of these are hard, sticky foods that have a tendency to affect the blood and liver functions. Eat no later than 7 pm at night.

Drink lemon water in the morning and evening to help expel excess acid waste and aid digestion.

Raw foods, fresh juices, and fasting are very much recommended for the liver. Be moderate and seek to give your body a gentle cleansing that includes nourishment and vital enzymes. A juice-fasting day once a week or a few meals a day that you add raw foods into the diet, will give your digestive system a break from digesting great amounts of food, so it can process and release more wastes.

Help your body eliminate toxins- the ginger bath Letting Go by Little Moon Essentials gives the body a head start by enabling toxin-release, by increasing circulation and opening the pores of the skin, our biggest excretory organ of the body. Let the sweat break in this bath, and take a cool shower afterward.

This is a good time for colon cleanses and flushes. Using psyllium seed husk or another fiber product, with tons of water, you can help the body clear out old metabolic wastes and unnecessary clutter.

Several herbs are ideally suited for this time, and can be taken in capsule form, or my favorite, extracts.
Use 2 dropperfuls of the extract, or 2-4 capsules, 2 times a day for a little extra help. The Western herbs I like are burdock, yellow dock, red clover, Oregon grape root- it is helpful to look at the health food store for a combination that is specifically for this purpose. One I can recommend heartily is Red Clover Supreme by Gaia. Chinese herbs that are helpful this time of year include lycii berries, buplerum, peony, citrus peel, and ligusticum.

Remember to get a lot of rest - the blood flows through the liver meridian during the hours of 1:00 to 3:00 am - being awake at this time may seem to be a creative time, due to the liver/blood focus, but it is much better to be sleeping during these hours. If you perpetually wake up during these hours you definitely need liver maintenance.

CREATIVITY heals the liver - expressing your creative side has proven to be physically good for the liver. This is probably one of the main reasons that some alcohol and drug abusers fall into the artistic fields, as a means of slowing the punishment they put their poor livers through.

A doctor in Western medicine is considered more of a mechanic - as a doctor in Chinese medicine is considered a much more of a gardener - working WITH Nature. Use this fruitful time to tend your own garden, give generously to your your liver & your body so that it will be ready for the summer. Celebrate this awe-inspiring time of year by giving yourself, your ideas, and your body permission to bloom.