Spring Newsletter

Spring has arrived!! The buds are beginning to bloom, the sprouts are sprouting, and the trees are growing new leaves. It is an exciting time of the year. The Spring Equinox is celebrated as the New Year in many traditions. A time of new beginnings, letting go of the old and welcoming in the new. As the cold and internal energy of winter comes to a close, the new warmer energy of spring leads us outdoors to enjoy the new life, new season all around us.

In Chinese medicine, Springtime is associated with the Liver and therefore cleansing and purification. This is a time when you want to be gentle with your body. Your liver energy is high now and can get overtaxed as we, in Western society, do not take the cold and hibernating time of winter to build strength for the new growth season. The spring is the time when the weather shifts suddenly, a Chinese proverb says, the weather changes as quickly as an infant's face. Dress in layers, you will be sensitive to wind now, so protect yourself. Doing what we can to strengthen our bodies detoxification processes during this time is essential for the coming months.

The element associated with the liver is wood, which when healthy makes us emotionally adaptable. If you want to create new plans for the coming year, now is a great time as you will be flexible and creative in its implementation. If your Liver tends to operate at an excess, this means you anger easily, are depressed and frustrated, or for women, have strong PMS symptoms, you may feel these symptoms aggravated. Counteract this by being easy on your body. Eat lightly steamed foods that are easily digestible. Eat smaller amounts. Incorporating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet will help to nourish your Spleen, thereby taking some of the stress off your Liver. This is not a good time to over-exert yourself, remember your body is just beginning to reawaken with the season.

The green color of this season comes as no surprise, absorb this color by getting outside and nourish your eyes, the sensory organ of the Liver, with it. The associated body parts that need special attention during this season are your tendons and ligaments, so stretching and walking outdoors are good activities now.


If you have a tendency to have a strong digestive system, you can tolerate some raw foods at this time. If your digestion tends to be weaker or your energy sluggish, lightly steamed vegetables at a high temperature for a short time or sautéed in olive oil is the best option for you. As the heat of summer arrives you can incorporate more raw foods into your diet, the environmental heat will help you to digest them.

Some ideas for a healthy new season:

• This is a great time to do a cleanse, 3 to 5 days. You don’t need to fast, just eat lightly, fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Remember the cooking instructions from above, this definitely applies during the cleanse.
• You can do some juicing, my favorite is beet, kale, celery with some apple for flavor, and a squeeze of lemon helps in the detoxification properties (you can also add cucumber or carrot into the mix). Eliminate refined sweets (white sugar products and baked goods) and white flour products, stay away from difficult to digest meats during cleansing. Take detoxifying herbs as tea or tincture, these herbs include dandelion root, burdock root, milk thistle, nettles, and be sure to drink plenty of water. (contact me if you want a more specific cleanse for your body type).
• Foods that help to detoxify the liver - mung beans, celery, seaweeds, lettuce, cucumber, watercress, tofu, millet, plum, chlorophyll rich foods (wheat & barley grass, spirulina, blue-green algae, chlorella), mushrooms, rhubarb root or stem, radish, & daikon radish.
• Sweet flavors can be good for the liver, just stay away from the refined sugars, good options are stevia, unrefined cane juice, whole sugar cane, licorice root, barley malt, date sugar, molasses, & rice syrup
• Herbs useful in cooking during this time are – basil, fennel, marjoram, rosemary, caraway, dill, bay leaf
• Clearing your home of clutter – whether a room, a closet or a corner, create space to allow fresh energy to flow through your space.
• Water with Lemon throughout the day or a few times during the week supports the cleansing action of the liver which is important now
• This is a great time to do a mental cleanse, clearing your mind in meditation for 15-20 minutes a day is a great way to accomplish this goal
• Spend some time with the earth, do this by digging in the garden or going on a picnic
• Doing skin scrubs are incredibly beneficial now as this stimulates your lymphatic system (our body’s filtration system), do a scrub in the shower daily, and end your shower with a cold stream of water, this stimulates the lymph
• Hot springs, hot tubs and saunas also get the lymphatic system moving
• Other foods particularly beneficial for liver health include:
• Beets, steamed or freshly juiced (combined with other veggies) are great for the liver, blood and colon, as are artichokes, celery, arugula, watercress, cilantro, and chicory.
• Cruciferous vegetables - Cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, turnips and radishes are the most common. These are best eaten lightly steamed, gently cooked.
• All sprouts during this time are good to eat.
• Fruits: all berries, but especially blueberries, cherries, and pears
• Avoid: ripe bananas and dried fruits, as they contain lots of sugar (you can soak dried fruits and use the water to cook with, I have used it to make quinoa, gives it a great flavor)

I hope you find these suggestions useful. Enjoy the season.