In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Spleen governs the thought. 

A deficient Spleen will change the healthy process of “thinking” into the unhealthy “overthinking” or “overanaylsing”. Overthinking drains our energy and makes us unhappy. It keeps us stuck in a loop, which prevents us from finding any proper solution.

In Chinese Medicine, the Five Elements Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water each correspond to specific organs, emotions, flavours, seasons creating a holistic understanding of health. 

The Earth element corresponds to the Spleen, late summer, and the sweet flavour, governing worry. Worry can be viewed as a different form of “overthinking”: with fear rather than confusion.

The sweet flavour corresponds to the Earth element, governing stomach and spleen. These organs are all about feeling centered, grounded and nurtured. When out of balance, we feel jittery, in our heads, constantly craving food (sugary foods or carbs) or needing things out of our reach to feel satisfied, comforted and fulfilled.

If you have deficiency in the Spleen system, you may get:

• bloated
• tired
• weak limbs
• lower appetite
• sagging flesh
• prolapse
• slow digestion
• sugar cravings

Some tips to help your Spleen Qi.

Rest your brain
Concentrating, problem solving and worrying take a lot of energy. Just like an endurance athlete might become exhausted from training without enough rest, you can become exhausted when you concentrate or think continuously without a break.

Make sure that you take a 10 minute brain break for every hour of brain work, e.g. working on the computer, studying, reading information that requires concentration, working out solutions to problems etc. Any thing that allows your brain to switch off will help, like going for a short walk, putting a load of laundry on, tending to a plant, getting in the garden, or just staring out of the window for a while. 

​Learning meditation or breathing techniques can bring yourself back into the present moment, calm the mind and let go of the past as we cannot change what has gone before.

Diet tips

• Raw and cold foods are hard for your spleen system. 
• Eat less raw and cold foods like ice cream, yogurt, bananas, cold drinks
• Reduce damp and mucus producing foods such as dairy
• Eat warming foods such as soups, stews, baked foods
• Eat regular meals at regular times
• Avoid eating large meals after 6pm
• Do gentle workouts to strengthen your limbs and muscles - but not overexert yourself.

If you experience any of these symptoms above, I can help you get back into balance with a nurturing Shiatsu treatment to help you feel relaxed and grounded.

Contact Sarah to book your session

In the Five Element cycle the Earth phase is Late Summer, it represents support, holding, nurturing, nourishment, receiving and abundance. It gives us the ability to nurture ourselves and others. The Earth element comprises the Stomach and Spleen meridians and share the role of digestion. Just as the stomach accepts food and drink on a physical level, the same process is reflected on a mental and emotional level. The stomach also helps us decide what is good for us to consume and discerns what should be digested and what should be rejected.

Symptoms such as a dry mouth, stress and tension in the jaw muscles causing clenching and teeth grinding at night, bleeding gums, bad breath, indigestion can be due to a stomach imbalance. Other symptoms can be nausea, vomiting, headaches, hiccups and excessive burping caused by rebellious Qi or Qi flowing upwards. Healthy Stomach Qi needs to flow downwards but sometimes Stomach Qi can become rebellious when it starts to flow in the opposite direction and rejects the nourishment it needs.

Trust enough to receive…
On an emotional level, when we lack trust in the earth or in our ability to be nurtured, it can cause anxiety and worry. Due to this lack of trust it becomes difficult for us to receive and as a result we try to exert control or take care of everything on our own. It can affect those who didn't receive the nurturing they needed during childhood. The rejection of food or nurturing can also lead to eating disorders such as anorexia.

Try to reduce worry
The emotion of worry is associated with the Earth element, it tends to knot the Qi in the stomach. When we worry about things in the future, it changes your body chemistry. When you worry, your body sees you worrying and thinks this is the mode you're most comfortable in. The body co-operates with your thoughts so for example if you're worried or thinking about about a disease, that disease will come see you. If you worry about the worst things that might happen in the future, they're the things that often happen.

Try to reframe into positive affirmations by trusting that all is well and will work out in the best positive way works best for your body, health and wellbeing.

Helping your Stomach Qi

1. Eat small meals more often rather than big meals in big intervals.
2. Do not overeat, but don’t stay hungry either. Sometimes if you feel hungry you may be thirsty instead so drink some water.
3. Chew your food slowly to help the Stomach break down the food easier. Only focus on your meals so your focus is just on digestion and not watching the telly.
4. Connect to the earth by grounding. Feel your feet on the ground and breathe up the earth Qi into your body up through your legs into your lower belly. Then breathe out from your stomach, down your legs back into the earth. Again it's about trusting the earth to support and nurture you.

If you’re struggling with digestive issues or any of the symptoms above, Shiatsu is a wonderful treatment to receive and feel nurtured, supported and cared for to bring back balance in the Stomach and Spleen energies.

Book in with Sarah and get your digestion back into balance

What digestive conditions can Shiatsu help?

• Crohn's Disease
• Ulcerative Colitis
• Celiac's Disease
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome

What symptoms can shiatsu help?

• Bloating
• Digestive pain/cramping/discomfort
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Irregular bowel movements

A successful result for one of my clients suffering with chronic IBS.
“My IBS symptoms have gone as I don’t need to take the medication I was on anymore, thank you”. Lynn

Tips to reduce digestive symptoms
​
1. Don’t rush while you are eating
Stress can affect your digestion so eating in a relaxing and calm atmosphere activates the parasympathetic nervous system which releases the digestive enzymes and activates absorption. Eating on the go or regularly eat while doing other things at the same time activates the sympathetic nervous system, which inhibits the digestive functions.

2. Chew each mouthful thoroughly.
Chewing your food slowly helps to mix the food with saliva, activates digestive secretions and prepares the stomach for the next stage of the process. It also prevents feeling bloated and you will find that you actually eat less if you chew well.

3. Give your solar plexus a massage or receive a shiatsu massage
Massages are highly effective when dealing with digestive problems. The solar plexus is the energetic centre of the middle organs and upper digestive organs. Bad eating habits can cause the organs around the solar plexus to get clogged up by fats and toxins over time which can weaken the whole digestive system. The massage helps to activate the digestive energy. 

How to massage your belly: Using your finger tips, do a circular massage in the solar plexus area directly below the centre of the rib cage. Progressively penetrate deeper as you rotate 10-12 times. Repeat, rotating the massaging motion in the opposite direction. Try this circular massage after you wake up and before and after each meal.