Lisa’s Spring Self-Care Tips
5 Ways you can transition into Spring
plus a Flexibility Challenge🤸 & a Rose Coconut Face & Body Scrub Recipe 🌹🥥🧼
Are you ready to detox? Are you ready to improve your flexibility, mental clarity and digestion? Are you ready to get out from under the winter doona? Are you ready to feel the warmth in the air and to start to have longer days with more energy?
Spring is the season of change, for rebirth, renewal and regrowth. It is when we move from the darkness of (YIN) winter into more light and more energy (YANG).
Let’s have a quick look at the Natural Element Health theory of spring and my recommended tips to help you kick off this gorgeous season. These tips will keep you reminded of the balance that we need to strive toward in our own lives. Gaining balance means you can achieve optimal health.
“Spring is represented by the Wood Element and involves the correlation to the organs of the liver and gallbladder. These organs are what have the strongest pull on us as humans and what makes us so uniquely individual”.
The seasons all have a direct effect on our health, and the seasons affect the balance in our bodies as well as the external climate surrounding us.
I love Spring, it always makes me just feel happy, to feel the warmth in the air and to start to have longer days with more energy around providing me with more energy. I also love not having to wear so many clothes and be able to wake up and get up and not feel like diving back under the doona.
Chinese Medicine encourages us to make changes in our lives to match the environmental changes. This is how we stay healthy and balanced. It also helps us to prevent illness and imbalance.
My recommended Spring Tips are:
1. Look after your liver 🤗
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, spring is associated with the Liver. The liver is the most important organ for renewing, cleaning, and energising the body. When the liver runs smoothly the emotional Qi will have free flow. The liver Qi hates to be blocked or stagnant, which can cause mood swings or sudden emotional outbursts.
WHAT YOU CAN DO?
Release negative emotions, it will help you feel invigorated and refreshed and ready for new beginnings. The liver is the prime organ associated with emotions.
Try something new or refocus your energy on a goal you may have let slip.
Take regular breaks from the computer screen and do some eye exercises. The liver opens into the eyes. Every muscle needs to be strengthen and stretched including eye and face muscles.
2. Cleanse your Body - Do a Detox🟢
In winter we often find ourselves craving those hearty meals, eating too much and far too rich food. This winter has been particularly bad with the extended stay at home orders and so we have tended to use food and beverages as our home entertainment as we have not been able to get out and about.
Here are my quick tips to support your cleansing
Plan a Detox Program
Liver energy is GREEN, just like spring. Activate and nourish your Liver Qi by adding fresh green and sour foods, such as leafy greens like rocket, radicchio, kale, baby spinach, and parsley to your diet
Start getting regular acupuncture and shiatsu massage. The stimulation to the circulatory system will support your body’s natural detoxifying process. As well as feeling great it will relieve tension and increase energy levels. Tuina, cupping and gua sha are all special techniques to help release blocked stagnant Qi caused by the sluggishness of winter.
3. Do a Flexibility Challenge 🤸♀️
The Liver controls the tendons in the body, so start stretching every day. A good way to do this is to set yourself a flexibility challenge.
Stretching is effective as it will open the liver and gallbladder channels, which help avoid stagnation in the body.
Your body will love to stretch at this time of year because the natural energy around us is expanding during Spring.
PLAN to do any form of a stretching and flexibility challenge. HOW?
Pick a move that has been difficult for you to achieve;
Practise it daily;
Measure your progress. Take a photo or a mental note of where you are at.
It’s important to record your start point in flexibility because we all love to see meaningful changes in our body. Sometimes with stretching it feels like you are not getting anywhere but if you can compare your start point you will be able to easily track your progress and results.
Make sure you are following Natural Element Health on Instagram or Facebook 👉🏼
Want to get flexible?
Just download the guide below and start anytime. I’m here to support you !
4. Spring Clean 🧹
In springtime it is just as important to detox your home as it is your body.
During your home detox ask yourself:
Have I used this item since last year??
Is it necessary in my life?
Do I really love and cherish this item?
The sages say a wealthy man is one who can carry all he owns on his back!!
In winter we tend to store and accumulate, and especially this winter I know many people who have been shopping online just to be able to look forward to the postman bring them something.
Marie Kondo says “purge your living space and feel a sense of relief” “tidying is about what you want to keep in your life, not what you want to eliminate – choosing to keep what sparks joy”
MY TIPS TO GET STARTED:
Remove toxins from your daily life
Open all your windows (cleaning windows is really rewarding too) and let that spring breeze in
Reduce toxic load by using natural cleaning products
Choose natural body care products, try making your own body scrubs and face masks
🎁Remember to re-gift, recycle or donate your unwanted things, after all one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
GET my Rose Coconut Face and Body Scrub Recipe. You can download it below.
5. Grow and Nurture 🌱
The liver is related to your ability to plan ahead, to have new ideas, and the gallbladder relates to your ability to finalise decisions and carry out the plans set by the liver.
Practise small daily tasks where you create and carry out your plans.
Grow a plant. As well as nurturing yourself this is a great time to nurture and grow some sort of plant in a pot or garden bed.
Get in touch with your creative side and create, design, plan and complete a task.
Enjoy the results of your colourful or delicious plants.
I will be preparing my veggie patch and planting all those lovely green vegetables. What will you plant?
Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts on my Spring Self-Care Tips and most importantly how you went with some of the activities in the comments below. Post your pics and comments and tag me @naturalelementhealth, I’m on Instagram and Facebook.
Lisa 🌷
Join me for morning or afternoon Yoga. New classes available so check out the timetable and reserve your spot now.
Content is Copyright to Natural Element Health, All rights Reserved, to share this content please submit a request via email.
Natural Element Health Clinic ABN 20 516 511 675
M +61 451 970 997 E naturalelementclinic@gmail.com W naturalelementhealth.com