The Liver, the organ of Wood!

If there is one organ you will never stop hearing about in Eastern Medicine (aside from the Spleen) it is the Liver. There are many functions assigned to this organ just like in Western medicine and it doesn’t take much to end up with a Liver imbalance just like the Spleen and Stomach. Let’s jump in!

The Liver stores, cleans, and puts the blood back into circulation when we go from resting to becoming active. If the Liver does not obtain enough blood, our muscles, tendons, and ligaments become tight and can be prone to cramping and tearing. When there is a surplus of Blood, we become more supple and flexible. In this case, the Blood in our body does not all go into the Liver and stay there, this parallels the Western function of the Liver filtering our blood. People with poor Liver function tend to be less active and can be injured more easily. Back on the Eastern side, poor Liver function concerning Blood can also lead to poor sleep, vivid dreaming, vision issues, menstrual issues, and erectile dysfunction.

The Liver is in charge of how Qi flows throughout the body. In other words, if the Liver is relaxed and uninhibited, the rest of the body stays relaxed, fluids and blood freely flow, and organ functioning is optimal. If the Liver becomes compromised, everything else suffers as a result. This can range from constipation to migraines and even Strokes.

Intertwined with the obstruction of how the Qi of the Liver flows, this also leads to Anger and/or Frustration. In daily situations if you see something stop working or not do what it is supposed to obviously we get annoyed. That is our Liver Qi being compromised. A better and funnier example of this are the old cartoons where you see a character get angry and their face goes red and the steam flies out of their ears. That is the Liver! Only when things get back in order do we see things calm back down.

We could keep going on and on about the Liver but what about the Gallbladder? It is the counterpart of the Liver just like in Western medicine but has a bit more of an interesting role. The Gallbladder helps us make short term decisions whereas the Liver is said to help us make long term strategies. Know someone who cannot make their mind up? This is the Gallbladder weakness. The other role that we all know medically is that the Gallbladder stores and releases Bile.

So what can we do to keep our Livers happy? Here are some tips:

Incorporate sour flavored foods in your diet

The Sour flavor helps relax and strengthen Liver function. This is plain and simple without much else needing to be explained. The caution here is to not have too much and it does not have to be super sour foods. A few drops of lemon will do just fine for example. This is not to tell you to run out and get sour flavored candy however! The other caution is that sour foods and herbs tend to be astringent and can cause fluid retention if you are not careful.

Stretch!

This goes with the notion of the Liver being in charge of the muscles. A good stretch will calm the Liver and therefore relax the muscles, increase circulation, release tension and stress, and help detoxify the body. This is why Yoga is such a great practice!

Breathe!

Deep breathing, meditative breathing, or just hanging out to take a few breaths not only help our Lungs and calm our Hearts, it also helps calm our nerves and therefore calms the Liver as well. You can’t be angry or stressed if you are breathing properly!

Cheers!