Wood

This week at Flow we worked with the Chinese medicine element Wood. 
Anger and irritability are a sign of the Wood element out of balance.

One way to lift our energy is the age old practice of smudging with healing herbs. 

Smudge with wild sage, renosterbos and buchu, readily available in our Cape fynbos covered mountains, lucky us! I purchased some beautiful bundles from the sackcloth people in Kalk Bay. I also enjoyed a profound philosophical chat with them.

More on the Wood element from

https://fiveelementhealing.net/spring-the-season-of-renewal-the-element-of-wood/

The power of Wood is gentle, persistent, and filled with creative potential. It has the power of both being and becoming—of being true to your own nature and becoming more yourself by clearly expressing your inner needs and desires. 

Wood gently penetrates the earth to bring forth water, the source of all life.  Drawing from our roots, we find the energy to push forward with strength and firmness of purpose, always remaining supple, yielding, and true to our nature.

When we're righteously indignant we can create positive change -- just think of the incredibly brave women of the #metoo movement and the young people who are demanding policy change in America in response to the school shootings. Emma Gonzalez is a powerful manifestation of the necessity for anger.
It's only a problem when it gets out of control or is bottled up. We need to learn how to express our anger, which is a clear message that something needs to change, in healthy and productive ways. 

Liver (Yin Organ)

The Liver is the body’s largest organ and has hundreds of essential functions, including the formation of blood and the cleansing and filtering of blood to help the body eliminate toxins and ensure its continued vitality.

It is responsible for keeping the free and easy flow of blood, energy, and emotions throughout the body, mind, and spirit. The element of Wood abhors stagnation and inertia, which is associated with all forms of disease.

Gallbladder (Yang Organ) – Decisions & Judgment

The Gallbladder is a small organ that stores and intensifies the bile that was created in the Liver, and pumps it into the body and bowel as needed. In Traditional Chinese Medicine the Gallbladder has the role of the Wise Decision Maker.

The Gallbladder helps to utilize the Liverʼs vision and make the proper judgments and decisions to bring those visions to fruition. 

As the Liver opens to the eyes and gives us vision, both inner as well as outer, visual problems frequently are connected to Liver imbalances.

The Liver also rules the muscles and tendons, which connect imbalances to all manner of disorders involving muscles, ligaments, and tendons—bursitis, tendinitis, arthritis, and fibromyalgia.

Problems Associated with Imbalances in the Wood Element:

        Muscle tension, prone to have tendon and ligament injuries

        Sciatica (radiating pain from lower back into buttocks and down the leg)

        Headaches, especially migraines

        Irritability and outbursts of anger

        Visual disturbances

        Menstrual irregularities, PMS, fibroids

        Digestive disturbances, including heartburn (GERD), irritable bowel syndrome, ulcers

        High blood pressure, with tendency toward atherosclerosis

Liver & Gall Bladder Meridians

Neural-lymphatic for liver under right breast

Neural-lymphatic for gall bladder where the ribs join the sternum

Yin Yoga: 

From

http://blog.yogawithkassandra.com/2017/01/yin-yoga-for-liver-gall-bladder.html

Yin yoga is often called the Yoga of the joints because unlike other styles of yoga, the emphasis is not on the muscles but on the deep connective tissue. 

Connective tissue is made up of fascia, ligaments and tendons which surround and form your joints. Yin yoga improves the range of motion in your joints and also strengthens them. The results and benefits are more flexibility and greater range of motion and also more stability within your joints. Although your muscles will also be stretched, that is not the focus of the practice. 

It is best to practice yin yoga while your muscles are cold and NOT warmed up, even if that sounds counter intuitive. The reason we do this is so that we can send the "stress" and the "stretch" to the connective tissues. If the muscles are warm they will steal the focus away from the joints.

Some good poses: 

One legged tree pose

Wood-chopper

Swaying palm tree

Animal Relaxation

Pigeon pose

Side ways stretch with one leg bent

Art Therapy:

Draw out your irritation/anger/blame flexibly with Charcoal

Recommended soundtrack:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjXKU-yo_Vg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akBff675l1Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdoafPTSQpE


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