In Chinese medicine, springtime is correlated to the liver and the gallbladder as these organs carry energy to store and detox the blood. In spring, we look forward to longer days, the frost thawing and new growth surrounding us.
‘Spring cleaning’ is a great energetic way to express the change of the season, not only for your home, but for your body too.
As the bulbs begin to push through the soil, we humans should be pushing ourselves to be more active, to engage in activities or thought provoking experiences in order to move stagnant winter energy and express our creativity.
When it comes to our nutrition, raw greens, herbs and vegetables are in abundance this season to enjoy-which stimulates liver energy flow.
A restful winter that may have led to more indulging in heavy foods, alcohol, coffee, and Netflix will lead to more feelings of tension and congestion symptoms. This tense, sluggish energy is called liver stagnation.
Symptoms of stagnant or sluggish liver energy include: muscle tension, headaches, waking between 1-3am, difficult menses, increased allergies, waking feeling "hung-over", lethargic, depressed, impatient, irritable, or more constipated.
Foods that decrease liver stagnation are those that taste pungent such as watercress, onions, mustard greens, turmeric, basil, fennel, rosemary and mints. Too many pungent foods can lead to excess heat in the body. If you find yourself experiencing excess heat turn to foods like beets, taro root, sweet rice, strawberries, cabbage, kohlrabi or broccoli.
If this time of year you find yourself in depression or digestive indigestion, try drinking unrefined, high quality apple cider vinegar, brown rice vinegar or red wine vinegar. To drink, add one teaspoon vinegar of choice to one cup of warm water (raw and local honey an optional addition). If the vinegar causes excess heat try drinking warm water with lemon, lime or grapefruit instead.
Decreasing your cups of coffee throughout the day will also keep our liver healthy. In order to curb this habit reach for herbal tea rather than the caffeine. We suggest milk thistle, chamomile, licorice root or dandelion root tea. Add a hint of brightness with a fresh slice of lemon or lime and a generous teaspoon of honey to sweeten your morning or afternoon.
Upping our dose of raw foods, adding pungent, bitter and sour foods and drink along with drinking less caffeine will make for a happy liver, a calmer mind and a more creative spirit this time of year. Combine these fresh new foods with hot tea to ensure strong digestion.
yin yoga
YIN YOGA
Perhaps you’ve heard of Vinyasa Yoga, a Yang (masculine energy) style of practice that heats the body, stretches the muscles and connects your pose to your breath. Vinyasa yoga is a powerful practice that seeks balance with a Yin Yoga class (feminine energy).
In a Yin practice we slow down - poses are held between 2-5 minutes, we learn to slow and lengthen our breath, we learn to keep the mental chatter at a minimum. This practice incorporates longer held positions in order to open up the connective tissues in our body to allow for greater flexibility. In order to hold yoga poses for longer periods of time, we use props to support our poses to ease our body into a comfortable position. Once this shape is found, we learn to soften and find our breath to seek a meditative mindset.
You may be thinking, ‘this sounds a lot like your Restorative Yoga class…’ and yes, they are similar but still very different. Restorative Yoga is allowing your body and mind to surrender and deepen into the comfort of restful, easeful poses. In Yin, we work to surrender and deepen our understanding of our thoughts and our mental space because the poses in a Yin practice can be somewhat uncomfortable if new to you. Mentally, if all you focus on is the discomfort or fact that you ‘cannot do this’ or you ‘are not flexible enough’ the mind will not be in support of a restful body. There are always modifications for every body and every experience level is welcome. Examples of Yin poses would be supported forward folds, supported backbends, hip openers and shoulder mobility exercises.
This is a beautiful practice for anyone with an over stimulated mind, stress, tightness in the body and an overall feeling of being worn out. A regular gentle Yin practice will open up your body to simply feel better. This practice will quiet your mind to feel true presence and at peace within your body.
Yin Yoga is an effective practice that you will be guided and supported from Kaleigh, our 200 hour Registered Yoga Teacher. For her, regular Yin Yoga has made her realize how important it is to slow down her yoga practice to learn how to ‘just be’ in life and on the mat. Her hamstrings, hips, neck and shoulders always feel amazing after a class and her mind more open and receptive to the world outside the door.
ABOUT OUR YIN CLASS
Our classes are small~ 3 people is our maximum. Our space is warm and inviting. We allow space to find your postures and relax with adequate attention detail. Our space is calm, colorful, dimly lit, and enhanced with aromatherapy that compliments the practice.
Join Kaleigh and mke MindBody Wellness for this new weekly class on Tuesday’s 5:30-6:30pm, $15. Any inquiries, please message Kaleigh at info@kaleighatkinson.com
Namaste
BE BRAVE
As an Integrative Health Coach, I have read many books on Wellness, Coaching, Integrative Medicine, Spirituality and Health, Self-Help Books… The list goes on.
All of them have given me insight and I am grateful for the knowledge, the professionalism and research that supported my education. However, with all of the inspiring authors I have read, Cheryl Strayed is an author I love and just keep coming back to.
I happened on her book, Tiny Beautiful Things, years ago and gained advice on love and life from Dear Sugar. A friend recommended it, so I bought and was so surprised by what I was reading (much different then researched data and self help) that when I would read it, I would sit with what I read and just process. Sugar is Cheryl Strayed. “Dear Sugar” consists of short letters that she wrote as an anonymous online advice columnist for “The Rumpus”. I love that she was real and talked about all of life’s lows and highs, the “HARD” and the unthinkable. She always closed her columns with life insight and honored the participants asking for advice by thanking them and acknowledging their courage in asking for support.
No judgement- just real life experiences that remind us that we all are not perfect, there really is no Facebook perfect life. The reason we are here is to learn to navigate life and to do so with a community of support- not alone!
This book led me to recommend her book Wild to my book club (Firefly Book Club). We loved it and I suggested we all hike the Pacific Coast Trail! (that idea got vetoed, but it is still out there J)
Next, I picked up her book – BRAVE ENOUGH. It consists of quotes she has lived by, loved and used to help her navigate life. She also swears in her writing, which is something I like, because I don’t swear and when she writes it, it feels so good. In this book, she states why she wrote it:
“The best quotes don’t speak one particular truth, but rather to universal truths that resonate-across time, culture, gender, generation, and situation-in our own hearts and minds. They guide, motivate, validate, challenge and comfort us in our own lives. They reiterate what we’ve figured out and remind us how much there is yet to learn. Pithily and succinctly, they lift us momentarily out of the confused and conflicted human muddle. Most of all, they tell us we’re not alone. Their existence is proof that others have questioned, grappled with, and come to know the same truths we question and grapple with, too. I hope this book serves that purpose for you. ”
It is important to believe that can trust that life will support you. No matter what your choice, it is your choice, I encourage YOU to make one…even if it is not perfect ~ BE BRAVE!
Kerri Weishoff
Integrative Health Coach and Mindfulness Teacher
I had the chance to meet CHERYL STRAYED in person in 2017 (thanks to my friend Lisa Williams)! It was a thrill, she spoke in Chicago as part of a book tour, it was sold out and I tried desperately to get a ticket in many ways. I went to her show anyway without a ticket and miraculously I was given one ~ for free. I even got all of my books autographed (again thanks to Lisa). It was a true reminder to me to follow your heart, notice the synchronicities, follow your instincts and yes BE BRAVE and most importantly Go For It!