After this very snowy winter many are itching to move into the warmer months. Like the sugar maple sap, we feel our juices flowing as the days lengthen and the sunshine grows stronger. In the Chinese calendar, Spring actually begins at the time of our ground hog day. Although that change may be more noticeable outdoors in a southern latitude, our internal energy starts to shift then. By March, it can be surging, even though we’re still being plastered with snow. This can be a problem! Certainly wild cabin fever reliever parties can dispel a lot of pent up energy, but not always with the desired affect on our poor livers! Which brings me to the phase, or element, associated with springtime, which is wood and its organ the liver.

With the tendency to load up on rich foods during the winter months, many are anxious to cleanse their system come Spring time. Perhaps the aging New Year’s resolution is coming to the fore once again. In my view, there’s an overemphasis placed on clearing our system, whether it be the colon or liver. Spring comes slowly and teasingly to Maine and, as I have said before, raw foods are hard work for our digestion. Purging diets can tire our digestive system as well. A more gradual, tonifying, method better suits most of us, who tend to be a little worn down at the end of the winter. Something that is a tasty part of our diet will be more likely to be incorporated naturally and become a regular practice. Of course, regular movement practice, such as qigong, is a prime way to detoxify the year around.