Today I was on WBOL Baltimore speaking about Ayurveda and the subject came up of cleansing stored experiences in our bodies and how it relates to disease. I thought it would be worthwhile to address this on my blog, so here goes:
Spring is the season when nature gives us all these bitter greens to eat, which have the properties of increasing bile flow, cleansing the liver and clearing congestion from the body. In winter, the energy of the body is somewhat stagnant. We are protecting and insulating ourselves from the cold, so we hold on to things. Our bodies want to build up bulk so we can survive the cold. Animals do this too. We see our pets put on an extra layer of fat and fur and shed their winter coats in the spring. As spring hits, leafy green vegetables begin popping up, which are nature’s way of giving us what we need to create mobility in the body after the lethargy of winter. Since most toxins are fat soluble, our bodies purge toxins as they burn winter fat. The bitter greens support the liver as those toxins are being processed. As the body is decongested, our metabolism begins to increase, circulation of blood and lymphatic fluid improves, and excess mucous is eliminated from our sinuses and lungs. As the body cleanses chemical toxins, emotional ones are purged as well.
Ayurvedic practitioners learn that different emotions are stored in specific parts of the body. If we see that someone has a lot of one
emotion, we may recommend that they do certain practices and/or take herbal supplements to support that area while clearing it of the emotion. Here are some examples of emotions and where they are stored:
-anger: stored in the liver, can cause inflammation, heart disease, heartburn, high blood pressure
-grief: stored in the lungs, can cause asthma and other chronic breathing disorders
-anxiety: stored in the spleen, can cause an almost endless list of immune disorders
-feeling overburdened with responsibility: stored in the pancreas, can cause pancreatic illnesses (e.g. diabetes, pancreatitis)
-chronically not expressing your own needs (not “speaking your truth"): stored in the throat, can cause thyroid diseases (e.g. thyroid cancer, hypothyroidism)
-insecurity: stored in the solar plexus, can affect blood circulation and oxygenation, can cause digestive disorders ranging from gas and bloating to more serious problems
-stress: stored in the colon, can cause digestive disorders and colon diseases (e.g. cancer, polyps, constipation), can lead to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, adrenal fatigue, lack of menstruation in women, and fibromyalgia
-trauma with our mothers or offspring: reproductive area, can cause fibroid tumors and other uterine issues for women and infertility in men
-trauma with our fathers: can cause spleen abnormalities, liver disease, and pancreatic illness
-trauma with our mothers: can cause spleen abnormalities
-trauma with romantic involvements: can cause chronic hip and thigh pain, lower back problems, sciatica, knee issues, menstrual disorders for women
It is important that when we look at our physical symptoms, we consider their emotional and psychological components. Without these considerations, we may treat the symptoms of illness but neglect the cause. In Ayurveda, we use Yoga, meditation, chanting, and energetic healing to clear the body of stored emotions. Emotional cleansing also happens when physical cleansing happens, as with the seasonal cleansing I wrote about not too long ago. Cleansing emotions does not keep us from feeling them. With practice, we can feel emotions as they come, allow ourselves to feel them fully without denying the experience, and then let them go. We often store emotions “for later use” as it were, without meaning to do so. For example, we may feel angry at something when we know our anger is irrational and inappropriate. Instead of just allowing ourselves to feel angry, we deny it and stuff it inside, where it will then resurface when we least expect it. Over time, we add other angry experiences to it, creating heat and inflammatory processes in the body. Those inflammatory processes can lead to accumulation of plaque on the arterial walls, and then heart disease.
It is alright to feel emotions. We cannot control what we feel, but we can control how we act in response to what we feel. Feel the emotions as they come, good or bad. Make an effort not to stuff things deep down where they can cause trouble later on in life. Accept that you are human and will therefore make mistakes and have feelings of which you are not proud. Our experiences make us who we are. We learn from them and become wiser. However, we need not carry the physical memory of them with us at all times.
Spring is the season when nature gives us all these bitter greens to eat, which have the properties of increasing bile flow, cleansing the liver and clearing congestion from the body. In winter, the energy of the body is somewhat stagnant. We are protecting and insulating ourselves from the cold, so we hold on to things. Our bodies want to build up bulk so we can survive the cold. Animals do this too. We see our pets put on an extra layer of fat and fur and shed their winter coats in the spring. As spring hits, leafy green vegetables begin popping up, which are nature’s way of giving us what we need to create mobility in the body after the lethargy of winter. Since most toxins are fat soluble, our bodies purge toxins as they burn winter fat. The bitter greens support the liver as those toxins are being processed. As the body is decongested, our metabolism begins to increase, circulation of blood and lymphatic fluid improves, and excess mucous is eliminated from our sinuses and lungs. As the body cleanses chemical toxins, emotional ones are purged as well.
Ayurvedic practitioners learn that different emotions are stored in specific parts of the body. If we see that someone has a lot of one
emotion, we may recommend that they do certain practices and/or take herbal supplements to support that area while clearing it of the emotion. Here are some examples of emotions and where they are stored:
-anger: stored in the liver, can cause inflammation, heart disease, heartburn, high blood pressure
-grief: stored in the lungs, can cause asthma and other chronic breathing disorders
-anxiety: stored in the spleen, can cause an almost endless list of immune disorders
-feeling overburdened with responsibility: stored in the pancreas, can cause pancreatic illnesses (e.g. diabetes, pancreatitis)
-chronically not expressing your own needs (not “speaking your truth"): stored in the throat, can cause thyroid diseases (e.g. thyroid cancer, hypothyroidism)
-insecurity: stored in the solar plexus, can affect blood circulation and oxygenation, can cause digestive disorders ranging from gas and bloating to more serious problems
-stress: stored in the colon, can cause digestive disorders and colon diseases (e.g. cancer, polyps, constipation), can lead to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, adrenal fatigue, lack of menstruation in women, and fibromyalgia
-trauma with our mothers or offspring: reproductive area, can cause fibroid tumors and other uterine issues for women and infertility in men
-trauma with our fathers: can cause spleen abnormalities, liver disease, and pancreatic illness
-trauma with our mothers: can cause spleen abnormalities
-trauma with romantic involvements: can cause chronic hip and thigh pain, lower back problems, sciatica, knee issues, menstrual disorders for women
It is important that when we look at our physical symptoms, we consider their emotional and psychological components. Without these considerations, we may treat the symptoms of illness but neglect the cause. In Ayurveda, we use Yoga, meditation, chanting, and energetic healing to clear the body of stored emotions. Emotional cleansing also happens when physical cleansing happens, as with the seasonal cleansing I wrote about not too long ago. Cleansing emotions does not keep us from feeling them. With practice, we can feel emotions as they come, allow ourselves to feel them fully without denying the experience, and then let them go. We often store emotions “for later use” as it were, without meaning to do so. For example, we may feel angry at something when we know our anger is irrational and inappropriate. Instead of just allowing ourselves to feel angry, we deny it and stuff it inside, where it will then resurface when we least expect it. Over time, we add other angry experiences to it, creating heat and inflammatory processes in the body. Those inflammatory processes can lead to accumulation of plaque on the arterial walls, and then heart disease.
It is alright to feel emotions. We cannot control what we feel, but we can control how we act in response to what we feel. Feel the emotions as they come, good or bad. Make an effort not to stuff things deep down where they can cause trouble later on in life. Accept that you are human and will therefore make mistakes and have feelings of which you are not proud. Our experiences make us who we are. We learn from them and become wiser. However, we need not carry the physical memory of them with us at all times.