Self Healing Tips

As we transition into June, the key players of good-health switch out.  Spring starred the Liver and Gallbladder; Summer, however, sets the Heart and Small Intestine center stage.  In the five elements system of Chinese medicine, we are moving from Wood into Fire.  Where Wood is expansive, Fire is light, bright, creative.  Fire requests us to express our joy, to travel, to work, and to help others.

Aduki beans influence the Heart and Small Intestine.  They strengthen the adrenals, detoxify the body, clear excess heat, disperse stagnant blood, and reduce swelling.  The "juice" from cooking aduki beans also increases mother's milk.  Try cooking 1 cup dried aduki beans in 2-3 cups water, on simmer for 1 ½ hours.  Add salt, coriander, cumin, and ginger to spice.

Heart 7, Shen Men, or Spirit's Gate, nourishes the Heart.  It is the source point of the Heart, and it strongly calms the spirit, as well as helps detoxify the Heart and Small Intestine.  Shen Men treats anxiety, worry, stress, palpitations, poor memory, insomnia, and depression.  It is regulatory – invigorating the withdrawn, non-communicative state, or soothing the talkative, excitable insomniac state. 

The winter's solstice was upon us this year on December 21st. It is the shortest day of the year, the end of one planetary year, the beginning of a new one, and the official beginning of winter. Winter a season of reflection, and it is ruled by the Water element. It is also a time of consolidation and storage. We warm and store the yang energies deep within the body while the outer body cools. The way to harmonization with winter's energies is to embody our more yin qualities. We can do this by becoming more receptive, introspective, and storage-oriented. It is a good time to rest, to meditate deeply, and to store physical energy while staying active enough to keep the spine and joints flexible.

One of the simplest things we keep learning in our practice at InFocus’s is that great physical, spiritual, and mental health comes from staying in the flow of life.  Stagnation leads to pain and illness in the body, mind, and spirit.  So how do we get our energy to really continue to flow – despite daily stress and difficulty, physical trauma and injury, personal losses and gains?  It’s a simple thing.  We have to let go.  Master Zi reminds us time and again to invest in loss. 

The Chinese word for the 5 elements is “wu xing.”  This translates (more or less) into “5 movements,” which is how the seasons are viewed in Chinese medicine – not as things, but as the movement of energy.  March brings the movement of Water into Wood, Winter into Spring.  For our bodies, we experience the power of Water nourishing and infusing Wood.  The energy that Water gives to Wood allows for sprouts to emerge fresh and new from branches, and for new leaves to emerge from the inner growth and energetic storage that occurs during Winter.  We need to honor this within the body by balancing the Water and Wood energies, and assisting in the infusion of Water into Wood.

Self-Acupressure for the transition into Spring - 
Liver 8, Qu Quan, Spring at the Bend, is the Water point on the Yin Wood meridian.  Qu Quan treats lower abdominal pain, retention of urine, insomnia, depression, impatience, irritability, and pain in the knee and thigh.  It helps to nourish the Liver, and balance and strengthen the Wood element.  It is an excellent point for knee pain relieving knee pain.

Liver 8 is located along the inside of the knee.  To locate, bend the knee and find where the knee crease ends on the inside of the knee.  Just an inch above this point is Liver 8, in a depression tucked right up next to the bone there.  It should feel tender on palpation.  Massage this point in the evenings and at night before bed on both legs for a few minutes.