Spring Stress + Your Liver
During Spring, we see more involvement of the Liver in health patterns. Coupled with the Gall Bladder to represent the Wood element, the Liver manifests creativity, direction, justice and vision. When the flow of the Liver is disrupted, one experiences stress, anger, frustration, irritability, jealousy and guilt.
We all experience stress. Short-term stress is normal and expected in life. So, when does stress become the perpetrator of illness and disease?
Chronic, long term and intense stress have been shown to have harmful effects on the body. Stress places your organs, especially the endocrine (hormone-producing) system, into overdrive wreaking havoc on your body. This imbalance causes body systems to function poorly and cause diseases such as high blood pressure, weight gain, hair loss, missed periods, appetite fluctuations and many other illnesses.
Acupuncture can have a major role in helping you decrease stress and guide your body back to homeostasis. In Chinese Medicine, stress leads to Liver qi stagnation. The long-term stagnation of qi causes a whole host of issues within the body. A common principle when treating stress for acupuncturists is to move the qi and calm the mind (shen).
There are numerous points to help with stress and calming the mind, we choose what is best based on one's constitution and diagnosis. Yin tang is one of the most commonly used for stress and usually a patient favorite!
Other things you can do on a daily basis to move your qi and reduce stress:
Eat nourishing foods
Focus on getting good sleep
Practice mindfulness
Go outside whenever you can
Reduce technology and social media use
Schedule a health + wellness coaching session
Stress is inevitable in life, but there are ways to move through it and reduce it to decrease the chances of long-term illness. Schedule your acupuncture or health + wellness coaching session today!
