Greetings!

Now that the 2011 calendar year is off to a start, the Chinese New Year is just around the corner. We have passed through the fall season (see what I had to say about the fall season and our bodies in my 2008 newsletter below).

After clearing and storing our bodies of the nourishing and toxic metal elements from the fall, the body is ready to receive pure-life-giving water. When our reservoirs are balanced and full of water, there is no reason to fear the winter; we have enough flowing through us to nourish us for the budding of spring around the corner. (Here in Northern California, we are enjoying our annual January warm spell where the bulbs are already sprouting).

It is the perfect time of year to plant those emotional and subconscious seeds of resolution (as in New Year's Resolutions- it's not too late!). I recommend taking time in these short days of light to ask your subconscious what you need to allow your river of health to flow freely in your body.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) these water energy channels are the bladder and kidney meridians. The bladder meridians flow in two parallel lines from the inner corner of the eyes, up and over the crown of the head, then down the back of the legs (parallel to the sciatic nerve) to the 5th toe. The kidney meridians begin on the sole of the foot, then run up the instep and ankle to the inner thighs and terminate in the kidney organs. Just like the bladder and kidney organs, the meridians regulate fluid in the body. If we lose too much water, we become dehydrated; if we retain water, edema and swelling results.

Do you have chronically tight hamstrings or adductor (inner thigh) muscles? Maybe you are not getting enough water and exercise. If you just groaned (the sound of winter in TCM) perhaps I have touched on what your subconscious is already trying to tell you. TCM asks you to double check your salt and sugar intake in this season (too much will cause excess bloating; not enough can cause muscle cramps). It is a lifetime challenge to find the flow of balance and moderation.

or call me to sign up for a tune-up session for your body or your home exercise routine to help you reach your New Year's resolutions and get you ready for spring.

If you have not been here in a few months, then you have not met our furry canine greeter named Chinook to make you feel right at home. He would love to meet you.

Hope to see you soon! In health and wellness, Liz