It happens this time every year, yet never ceases to be amazing. Sunlight shines radiantly, birds chirp melodically, and colorful blossoms enliven our surroundings. Spring is is a time of rebirth, rapid growth, and expansive movement; qualities which also typify “wood” in 5 element theory. Wood correlates to liver whose job is to maintain the smooth circulation of chi throughout our entire being. This is a challenging task that requires a delicate balance of energy building through rest and proper nutrition and efficient circulation of blood and body fluids. Toxicity, poor eating habits and stress can leave us feeling lethargic and difficult to move forward into an active summer. Lightening the load through history’s oldest healing practice - cleansing or detoxification - unburdens the liver, and has numerous health benefits.
Let’s face it, your liver has a critical job. As your body’s largest detox organ, it filters between 3 and 4 pints of blood each minute! In addition to detoxification, the liver metabolizes proteins, manufactures hormones, creates immune factors, and produces bile for fat emulsification and absorption. Poor liver function can lead to a wide variety of health issues including: fatigue, skin problems, hormone imbalances, digestive insufficiency, systemic inflammation, weight gain, and immune system disorders.
Optimal liver function is crucial to our state of health, especially this day in age when we are exposed to an alarming amount of toxins. Estimates have around 80,000 synthetic chemicals in use today, and of these, the vast majority have not been tested for their longterm effects on our health. We are regularly exposed to chemicals and metals in tap water, air pollution, additives and preservatives in processed foods, pesticides in non-organic produce, hormones and antibiotics in meat and poultry, not to mention off-gassing of carbons from construction sites, carpets, paint and dry-cleaned clothes. Chemicals persist in our environment and accumulate in our fatty tissue for decades - disrupting our hormone balance, and our nervous and immune systems’ function. The CDC estimates that we carry a burden of at least 148 chemicals!
Cleansing is like a tune-up. It allows your body to rest, re-equilibrate, and catch up on old work (ie processing all of our stored toxins). Some benefits of cleansing include: improved energy levels and mental clarity, more efficient digestion and assimilation of nutrients, weight loss, reduced allergy symptoms, better immune function. Believe it or not, cleansing can be quite simple, feel free to contact Dr. Rodriguez on how to get started on this effective healing practice, or check out her upcoming detox workshop at MINT - details below.
Detox & Yoga Workshop at MINT
Detox is an ancient healing practice that can help us maintain our health and vitality even as we age. Come learn about this therapeutic practice and why it should be a cornerstone of wellbeing in a health talk by Dr. Rodriguez in collaboration with MINT (www.mintfitness.com)1-3 pm on Sunday June 10th at MINT, dress comfortably for an hour long yoga practice focusing on asanas that facilitate detox. You will be given detox guide with recipes and ideas to get you started on some internal spring cleaning.
