Cleansing and Rejuvenating the Liver
I've had a few patients over the past couple of weeks mention liver cleanses, it seems to be a popular thing this time of year maybe due to the excesses of Christmas. I thought it might be interesting to look at the Liver from an acupuncture perspective to find out what else can we do to help.
Before we jump in we may wish to ask the question why the liver deserves such special treatment? In Taoism the Liver is far more than a detoxifier, the liver provides much of our drive for life. A healthy Liver means a healthy vision, the ability to make plans and see them through. A healthy liver also provides better sleep, better digestion and a more calmer disposition. The liver is also responsible for a myriad of diseases, one teacher told me that if you come across a condition and it makes no sense, its alwaysthe liver. So if you feel a bit sluggish in the morning, sleep not so great and your emotions could do with some TLC, helping your liver may be a good place to start.
If you do a quick internet search you can find all kinds of supplements and decoctions that can cleanse our overworked livers, so instead lets consider other aspects of the liver. The liver is considered very yang but loves blood a substance which is very yin. The most common condition I see for the liver is blood deficiency or Liver yin deficiency which can be seen in some ways as another aspect of liver blood deficiency. So how do we nourish the liver blood?
Sleep: The liver is nourished while we sleep, even in Western Medicine we understand much of the blood goes to the liver while we are asleep. This may mean taking a few early nights just to help the liver out. The hours between 11pm and 3am are considered particularly important, if we can be fast asleep at those times the liver gets its full deluxespa treatment.
Screens: I personally feel this is a huge one as we are surrounded by computers, phones, ipads etc. The quality of our eyesight is also an aspect of liver blood. Working the eyes it is said uses the liver blood, as such taking a break from screens for a while would be of huge benefit.
Emotions: many people know that anger is associated with the liver, when the liver blood becomes weak our temper fuse begins to get shorter and shorter. A way to help calm the emotions is to incorporate deep breathing or meditation into your daily routine. Regular practice has a very beneficial calming effect so we know the liver is benefiting. In Acupuncture the Lungs control the Liver, this basically means they prevent the liver from getting to rowdy. If you want a calm liver breath deep and help the lungs.
Digestion: This should always be the central key to any endeavor concerning our health and wellbeing, and I'll certainly be writing more about this in the future, however for now all we need to know is that the liver blood is nourished by the digestive system. Unfortunately many people suffer with digestive ailments from the mild to the severe and a natural occurrence of this will be liver blood deficiency. Anything we can do to improve our digestion will help the liver. This may include digestive enzymes, glutamine, probiotics and just plain old ginger or turmeric tea.
However the quality of your digestive system does not depend entirely on what you put in it, the digestive system has a significant emotional response. We've all at some point had butterfly's when we are nervous, or we stop eating due to worry. Its very easy to see the connections if you take a minute and think about it. The quality associated with the stomach is pensiveness, this basically means over thinking or ruminating, how many of us can honestly say we don't over think? If you spend much of your day thinking and worrying about the same things again and again your digestion will be struggling. The more we can stop the ruminating and relax the happier the Stomach is. I will definitely write more on this topic at some point as its so important to create a fertile environment in which we can prosper. But for now think less and play more.
Food: This one is very straight forward, the colour for the liver is green and as such green foods are considered the best. This basically means all those leafy greens and vegetables which we already know are very good for the liver. Personally I'd also add in lemon juice tea, according to Chinese Medicine the sour taste will move fluids into the liver.
Acupressure: The liver has some wonderful points that I often use in practice nearly everyday. So I'm going to share two points with you, 1 is a liver point and the other surprisingly is a Spleen point, you'll see why very soon.
Liver 3 or TaiChong (Great Surge) is a great point for anything to with the liver. Found in the area between the bones of the big toe and the second toe. When moving your finger along the crease between the two pull the finger back to wear the bones meet. That area of skin contains the two points Liver 2 and 3. Please use the picture for rough location but don't worry to much about the exact point. My advise would be feel that area with your finger, how does it feel, hot, cold, is it puffy or does it have a depression? Feel for anything that may be a little sore or just feels different.
Massaging this area will help the liver on many levels including the blood, So you can either massage the whole area or the location on the picture or if you feel any point within that area needs massaging then go for it, you're probably right.
Spleen 6 or SanYinJiao (Three Yin Intersect) is a very good point to nourish blood and yin, also very commonly used for all gynecological issues. The name comes from the three meridians that all cross at this point, Spleen 6 not only connects to the Spleen but also the Liver and the Kidneys.
Locating this point is quite easy and again I would advise you to feel the area as its very common to find a depression where the point is. I remember a case from years ago when a very poorly lady had an extremely deep and cold depression on that point. As she slowly recovered over the proceedings months the depression lessened and eventually vanished. These points can often be used to assess our overall health and vitality. There is one warning with this point if your pregnant please do not use it, due to its gynecological connections this point is prohibited in pregnancy. So please please DO NOT use if you're pregnant. As for the rest of you, knock yourself out!
Hopefully a few helpful tips there on how we can help the liver without necessarily doing a cleanse. One advantage the liver has over many organs is its rejuvenation ability, given a chance the liver can do remarkable things and self healing is one of them. So sip your lemon tea finish that lettuce leaf and head off to bed for some deep breathing and an early night, trust me your liver will thank you.