The Wood Element & The Liver
10-12 MINUTE READ
Welcome.
I’m glad to have you here.
I’d like to start with some acknowledgements, and then share some nourishing things with you.
Firstly, these offerings of wisdom are based in Yang Sheng (nourishing life). They have my synthesis and way of working woven through them, and the Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and 5 Element Acupuncture this work is rooted in isn’t part of my cultural heritage. They began to inspire me 20+ years ago while I was working in a whole food co-operative which was around the same time that I was introduced to acupuncture. I’ve spent many years dipping in and out of spaces that grow, make and serve food and medicines, always making connections to the foundational knowledge that inspired me onto this meandering path of healing. I’ve applied this knowledge to life, and as the seasons pass and the yearly cycles keep moving in rhythm, I’ve carried on reading, listening, observing and learning while in contact with nature.
My intention with this piece is that it is here as a tool for you to keep coming back to, and you take and make use of what feels helpful to you. I know there can be many feelings and associations that can come with food and eating patterns, and this offering comes as a part of a network of tools that can support your health and wellbeing. It feels important to mention that I have tried and tested most, if not all of the offerings I share. I have tried to be thoughtful, and to bring in connections and ideas rooted in this medical tradition and nature connection to enable you to make your own choices about how to integrate what has been shared. The more inspiring, enjoyable and pleasurable something is, the more likely we might want to keep coming back to it. Let me know what you think if you would like to, I am always open to feedback.
The Wood Element and The Liver
// the energy of spring time // dynamic movement and courageous growth after dormancy and restriction // burst of opening and hope // an activation of what our body and soul wants to see born and brought into the world // movement, creativity, fertility // the blue print of who we are, visioning for our future to be able to grow into all of our potential // change and growth when something isn’t aligned with our innate souls purpose, and isn’t aligned with what is fair, right and just for all beings // boundaries // protective, assertive, yielding // anger being the seed for change // considered action and embodied movement // ability to find equanimity within opposing energies //
THE INSPIRATION OF THE WOOD ELEMENT
There’s a significance to the Wood element and spring time that touches our psyches and hearts in ways that other elements and seasons can’t meet. The Wood element and spring bring a deep stirring within the earth, within our bodies and within our psyches. The growth, harvesting and hibernation of previous cycles is behind us, we begin to remember the potential for movement and joy after the stillness of the recent wintering we have been through. Our body carries knowledge of previous times and as part of the ever evolving motion of nature, the situation we are in can no longer stay the same, dormancy gives way to imagining, to an impulse to move forwards, an activation for change and growth. We feel times of tension, frustration and anger along the way. We enter a time of pioneering and trying new ways of being, both in response to ourselves and the many environments and structures around us. We hold the potential to create individual and collective change both in the present and in our futures.
EMBODIMENT AND A NOURISHED LIVER
The liver has several major roles within biomedicine including receiving blood from the intestines, stomach, spleen and pancreas. It metabolises fats and carbohydrates, it stores iron, vitamins and minerals for the production of blood, the cleaning and clearing of toxins and harmful chemicals from the blood. It produces bile and blood plasma proteins for the transportation of hormones and it stores sugars and nutrients for later use.
Within the framework of TCM and whole systems East Asian medicine, the liver is involved in the storage and pooling of blood at rest. The blood is replenished, ready for the embodiment of the Wood element to be brought into action through the qi of the liver and gall bladder. The liver governs over the ability to plan, order, oversee and coordinate; ensuring all the complex parts of the body, mind and soul work smoothly and efficiently. When the spleens ability to take in and absorb nutrients functions well (read up on the Earth element and spleen qi in TCM in support of this here) and the liver’s ability to clean and replenish the blood is efficient, the liver blood can become rich, abundant and full of vitality. With well nourished liver blood, people tend towards being more resourced and resilient, less overwhelmed by stressors, more grounded and embodied. They are adaptable and able to flex in thoughts and emotions, and physically through their muscles, tendons and sinews. They have a sense of direction and clarity about their life, and are generally calm, settled and steady. They sleep well, wake rested and refreshed with enough resources to get through whatever demands are brought their way.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF LIVER BLOOD DEFICIENCY
Dryness and dullness in the skin, hair, nails, and greying hair. Muscles and tendons that have a tendency to be injured easily or aren’t very flexible, cramping muscles during or after activity, or in the night sleeping. Blurry eyes, dull frontal headaches or pounding temple or crown headaches, high pitch ringing in the ears, dizziness standing up, when moving the head too quickly or while turning over in bed. Feeling sensitive to internal or external stressors like noise, light, emotions, demands, and feeling overwhelmed: like everything is too much and you can’t cope. Trouble focusing, being unable to plan and order well; finishing tasks may be challenging. There can be a general emptiness and depression, lack of orientation or feeling directionless in life. These are all manifestations of the qi and yang not being fully rooted in the body and blood, therefore not being to embody its full potential.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF QI STAGNATION IN THE THE LIVER AND GALLBLADDER
Feelings of tension, being blocked and stuck in mind, body and emotions. Being unable to move forwards, a lack of hope or sense of a future, depression, hopelessness. Frustration, nothing feeling right, unable to make a decision; movement can be more rigid. Oppression and pain in the heart and diaphragm regions, both physically and emotionally. Digestive symptoms can include pain, bloating, gas, acid reflux, constipation, IBS. Tension in ligaments and tendons throughout the body, locked in activation, tightness and pain in the jaw, shoulders, neck, around the eyes, temples and hips.
A build up of emotions including anger, passive aggression, bitterness, resentment, rage. Ongoing conflict and frustrations in intimate partner relationships, an inability to orgasm and joyfully connect with oneself or with others when there is a desire to. Genitourinary issues can include painful or hot urination, tendency to inflammation, infections, internal or external pain and cysts. For people who menstruate, premenstrual and menstrual symptoms coming up often indicate issues with the Wood element, liver and gallbladder qi. These can include swings in emotions and thoughts, depression and mental tension, painful breast tissue, pain during bleeding especially focused in the lower abdomen, small blood clots in the menses, brown spotting, stop-start bleeding and an irregular cycle.
HOW TO HELP THE LIVER AND ITS ENERGETIC FUNCTION
Clearing stagnation in the body, mind and psyche calls for movement on all levels. We have to make space and find ways to envision and imagine, learning from role models and ancestors (including those who are living) who have walked in their own truth and paths of liberation before us. This can be a powerful starting point to helping us open our eyes and minds to the possibility of moving in more harmonious, intentional and free flowing ways.
Working therapeutically with relationships and with the body through somatics, bodywork and therapy can open up the possibility of learning about our boundaries in relation to ourselves and others. Safe, nurturing and accountable relationships can be a catalyst for repair, healing and growth. Learning what boundaries mean for you internally, and learning how to recognise, navigate and assert them when any external input doesn’t align with honouring all of who you are, therefore disrupting your right to autonomy and safety, can align you with the Wood element and ensuring a smoother flow of liver qi. Acupunture can be an incredible space for this growth, healing and repair to happen in. We can work with the Wood element through needling specific acupuncture points in the body that can encourage and remind the psyche of its’ self and of its deep connection to the rhythms of life. Acupuncture also moves stagnant, stuck qi in the liver, unbinds unresolved activation of the nervous system in the gallbladder channel and can nourish deficient liver blood to build resilience.
When nervous system activation is held in the tendons, muscles and sinews as qi stagnation, it is essential to create physical movement to discharge this store. Embodied practices that have been developed over thousands of years like qi gong, tai chi and yoga can be helpful. They are at their core about movement, releasing, balancing, building, which are key parts to regulating the nervous system. Other forms of physical movement can also help do this, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be regular exercise. The goal is to move your qi and to be in your body. Anything that you can be spontaneous in, or find rhythm in that moves different parts of your body will be beneficial. This could be dancing, gardening, decorating and moving your furniture around, playing with your dog on the beach or taking them for a vigorous walk through the park.
Listening to your ideas, stirrings and wonderings, learning how to not stand in the way of what your body and soul know they want to see brought into the world also supports the free flow of your qi. This movement could be channelled into things that are seen as conventionally creative like writing, sculpture, singing, cooking, or it could be applied and engaged to life when we are up against things that need a creative solution like problem solving and pioneering new ways of being or doing. This could include activities like creating a family in your own way through adoption, co-parenting and egg sharing with a friend, or co-creating a network of people centred around mutual care and shared values. It could also be recognising that who you are isn’t aligned with the structures and expectations that exist for your assigned gender within your culture, and deciding to come into yourself, expressing your gender in the way you know is true to you and in the spaces that you want to share it with. The important thing is that the activities that you choose to do help you to be here in the present moment. Choose activities or actions that bring you into your body and your longings, so you can be here and engage with the world as it is, right now, and work towards the future that you want to see.
Another way of connecting to the rising and expanding energy of spring, is to get up early in the mornings and move. This could be a walk or a run, or doing somatic exercises outside, while tuning into the many plants around that are expanding their leaves and are blossoming. Eating fresh green, young leaves also helps to attune to the season, and is a wonderful time to forage or to start building a relationship with the nature around you, learning about the plants waiting to be eaten.
HOW TO SUPPORT THE BLOOD AND EMBODIMENT
Nourishing the blood through supporting the spleen and earth element is foundational as well as consuming blood-nourishing foods. After this, supporting the mind-body connection and finding ways to keep connected to your body, to your mind and spirit is essential. If your work and labour (paid and unpaid) isn’t aligned with who you are as a person, creating constant stress, friction or harm on any level, if it continually stagnates your qi and depletes your blood, you need to create breaks from work in order to be able to find and keep that deeper connection. You need time to replenish your blood and anchor into it with rest. The liver loves planning and routine, so factoring in quality sleep and down time will support the blood and help to keep the liver resourced, anchored and rooted.
For most people, eating after 7pm means their liver is still hard at work while in bed at night, which can lead to qi and blood stagnating, as well as the liver not being able to do its job very well. We all need a good night's sleep, livers included, and finishing work early enough is an important part of that. Liver and gut health tend to go hand in hand. Eating in a way that supports gut health and a strong microbiome also supports the liver. Overly complicated combinations of foods aren’t particularly healthy for any of the organs in TCM, especially the liver and spleen. Aromatic herbs and spices (not the really hot and spicy ones, ones like fennel, dill seed and coriander) also support the liver and spleen by aiding digestion.
FOODS AND HERBS TO STRENGTHEN LIVER BLOOD (IN ADDITIONS TO FOODS WHICH NOURISH THE SPLEEN)
- all grains, kidney, aduki and black beans, black sesame, fermented soya and legume products (miso, tempeh, tofu), eggs, all meats including organic liver, seaweeds, leafy green vegetables, carrot and beetroot. Cherry, date, blackcurrants, red and black grapes. Nettles in food or as tea, dandelion root coffee, artichoke leaf. Black mulberry molasses (pekmez).
FOODS AND HERBS TO STIMULATE AND MOVE STAGNANT QI
- members of the allium family (onions, leeks, chives, garlic), cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale, pak choi, mustard and spring greens), carrot and beetroot, herbs and spices including dandelion leaf, basil, bay leaf, marjoram, rosemary, turmeric, ginger, black pepper, horseradish, cardamon, coriander, cumin, fennel, dill seed, the mint family, lemon balm and angelica root. Pine nuts. Sprouted grains, beans and seeds. Strawberry, cherry, chestnuts. Sweet rice. Teas made from jasmine, aniseed, dill or chamomile with or after a meal. Warm water with apple cider vinegar or a lemon first thing in the morning. Tea made from cinnamon, ginger and tangerine peel.
MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS ENTERING THE LIVER CHANNEL
- Reishi (Ling Zhi / Ganoderma Lucidum),
- Honey Mushroom (Mi Huan Jun / Armillaria Mellea
- Wood Ear (Mu Er / Auricularia Auricula / Auricularia polytricha)
- Turkey Tail (Yun Zhi / Trametes Versicolor)
That’s almost all for now.
Hopefully you have some ideas and ways to support your Wood element through the spring, times of stress, rest, growth and change. If you are new to acupuncture and would like to start working together you can book in here and if you recognise some of these themes from already working together in clinic and would like a seasonal tune up, you can book in here.
If you want to keep on learning and engaging with some of the wood element energetics and themes, there’s more resources for you below.
With warmth and encouraging wishes your way,
Orley
BOOKS:
TENDERNESS: A BLACK QUEER MEDITATION ON SOFTNESS AND RAGE by Annika Hansteen-Izora
What would it mean if tenderness could hold a simultaneous existence of joy and rage? How to call on tenderness as a practice of love, rather than a regurgitation of white supremacy? Author and writer Annika Hansteen-Izora explores answers in Tenderness: A Black Queer Meditation on Softness and Rage. A meditation, critical inquiry, and invitation to expand our imaginations on meanings of tenderness, this piece calls into question conceptions of tenderness that are rooted in desirability, anti-Blackness and white supremacy, and instead unfolds the potentials of tenderness as a tool, a balm, a healing agent, and a question to lean into.
LOVE AND RAGE, THE PATH OF LIBERATION THROUGH ANGER by Lama Rod Owens
For many Buddhists, anger is often thought of as a root cause for suffering and lasting, negative repercussions. In American culture at large, anger–particularly among people of color–is delegitimized, demonized, or “supposed to be” suppressed. Social activist and Kagyu lama Rod Owens offers a different understanding. For Owens, the coauthor of Radical Dharma, anger is one of the most important aspects of his personal identity as a Buddhist, social activist, African American, and gay man. Anger serves as a bodyguard for our personal pain and suffering. When recognized and handled with attention, love, and compassion, it can be a powerful mobilizing factor in our solidarity and commitment to enacting social change. However, too many activist communities have an ill-informed, immature, and romanticized relationship to it. What is needed, says Owens, is a relationship to the heartbreak of anger that is embodied, nondestructive, and deeply healing for all. Here he offers personal insights, stories from others, as well as Buddhist teachings and meditations for tapping into anger’s liberating potential.
HEALING JUSTICE LINEAGES by Cara Page (Author), Erica Woodland (Author), Aurora Levins Morales (Foreword)
In this anthology, Black Queer Feminist editors Cara Page and Erica Woodland guide readers through the history, legacies, and liberatory practices of healing justice—a political strategy of collective care and safety that intervenes on generational trauma from systemic violence and oppression. They call forth the ancestral medicines and healing practices that have sustained communities who have survived genocide and oppression, while radically imagining what comes next.
THE CARE WE DREAM OF, LIBERATORY AND TRANSFORMATIVE APPROACHES TO LGBTQ+ HEALTH anthology of voices by Zena Sherman
The Care We Dream Of offers possibilities—grounded in historical examples, present-day experiments, and dreams of the future—for more liberatory and transformative approaches to LGBTQ+ health and healing. It challenges readers to think differently about LGBTQ+ health and asks what it would look like if our health care were rooted in a commitment to the flourishing and liberation of all LGBTQ+ people. This book is a calling out, a calling in, and a call to action. It is a spell of healing and transformation, rooted in love.
CHINESE AND ANY OTHER ASIAN by Anna Sulan Masing
‘Chinese’ or ‘Any other Asian’. The boxes that people of vastly varied East and South East Asian heritage have to tick when declaring their ethnicity on many forms in the UK. This represents a shameful sweeping together of a diverse heritage and experience. East and South East Asian people have lived and worked in the UK for centuries, fought for the British Army in both world wars, have influenced British culture through food, writing, music and art in a multitude of ways. And yet this influence is often overlooked. People of ESEA heritage experience unique forms of racism. Asian food is mocked as unhealthy and Asian restaurants as dirty. ESEA women are exoticised and sexualised, and assumed to be the nanny of their mixed-race children. The community was scapegoated for the Covid-19 pandemic. Anna Sulan Masing addresses these issues in a comprehensive way. She explores what it means to be East and South East Asian in Britain today, and celebrates the varied experiences that make up ESEA identity.
RECIPES FOR SELF HEALING by Daverick Leggett
One of the most important steps towards self-healing is to take responsibility for your own nourishment. This book provides a set of tools to do this. It takes guidance from the insights of traditional Chinese medicine and makes them accessible. There are over 100 recipes using familiar foods from many cultural backgrounds from around the world, and each recipe's energetic actions are described to enable the reader to choose recipes suited to their own individual needs. There are no good foods or bad foods: all the reader has to do is listen to the wisdom of their own body.
MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS by Martin Powell
Based on both traditional Chinese medicine and the latest research and clinical experience, this book covers 17 medicinal mushrooms, cross-referenced by condition. Designed for the practitioner, it addresses the key therapeutic questions: Which is the best mushroom for the patient? What is the best form to give it in? What is an appropriate dose?
COURSES: WE CAN’T BE ABOLISTIONIST AND CONFLICT AVOIDANT
VIDEOS: WHAT DOES THE LIVER DO
LEARN ABOUT HERBS AND FORAGING: MISERY PARTY, COMMUNITY APOTHECARY, RHIZOME COMMUNITY HERBAL CLINIC
***APPRECIATION AND THANKS SENT OUT TO TOBI OBISANYA FOR SUPPORT WITH EDITING THIS PIECE***