5 Major Functions of Light In Your Body: Bring Balance to the Functions of the Body Systems

More than one hundred years ago, physicists and physicians alike focused on the power of light to yield benefits for life and health. They studied its effects on life forms, the functions of the body systems and its therapeutic benefits to humans.

It’s not well known the 1903 Nobel Prize in Medicine went to Niels Finsen of Denmark for his work with light. He was using light to treat tuberculosis and certain skin problems.

Shortly after Finsen’s findings, Indian born Dinshah Gladioli, working in the U.S. with several doctors, established a relationship between colors and the functions of the body systems.

All this work corroborated the knowledge of ancient energy medicines including Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

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Phototherapy versus Chromotherapy for Skin

Phototherapy involves treating disorders with light.

Chromotherapy for skin technologies deliver specific colored light frequencies to skin or body.

PHYTO5’s Chrompuncteur, for example, is a sophisticated chromotherapy for skin device.

Beyond the typical LED lights most cosmetic devices use, PHYTO5 uses dichroic light filters. These superior filters offer a full range of nine colors plus white light frequencies. And they also ensure that no ultraviolet and/or infrared frequencies are emitted. 

The science of chromotherapy for skin and body is actually a centuries old concept. Likewise, the history of color medicine is as old as any other medicine.

The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and people of China and India employed phototherapy and chromotherapy for skin health. They utilized both sunlight and color for healing. Little did they realize they were balancing the functions of the body systems by doing so.

The Egyptians constructed temples with rooms specifically designed to radiate particular colors of light. They placed sick people in various light colored rooms according to their illness.

They also painted various colors on skin then exposing the skin to sunlight to cause the color to emanate into the body.

The Greeks designed temples that broke sunlight up into its component colors of light. They also utilized various colors to treat specific disorders.

People have used color as a tool for treating illness since 2000 BC.

Like most cosmetic devices today that only offer the primary colors via LED, people of more ancient eras used only the primary colors—red, blue and yellow—for healing. Though they were probably unaware of the science behind colors and light, they definitely believed in healing with colors.

Light As Effective Healing Agent and Balancer of the Functions of the Body Systems

Light itself, whether run through a color filter or not, offers therapy and healing to the human body.

Today’s holistic therapies very often include light light to help balance body, mind and emotions.

Light turns on the brain and the body. You can obvisously take it in through the eyes. But you can also ingest light-filled foods to improve your skin and alimentary system.

Light triggers helps stimulate the proper function of the hypothalamus—the organ that regulates the functions of the body systems. Light can help balance the autonomic nervous system, the endocrine system, the pineal gland, and the pituitary gland which is the master gland of the body.

When light triggers the pineal gland the vastly important hormone melatonin is released. This, in part, explains why people who are light-deprived and consequently lack melatonin become depressed.

Melatonin affects every single cell in the body. It turns on each cell's internal activities and causes vibrancy and vitality in the body.

When light triggers the pineal gland it’s better able to carry out its serenity-provoking responsibility. It causes us to feel at one with the universe, our inner being and environment.

With this harmony established, we feel happy and full of vitality. But without such harmony, disorders and diseases arise in our physical, mental and emotional bodies. The functions of the body systems is impaired.

Chromotherapy to Help Balance The Functions of the Body Systems: Complement to Conventional Medicine

An energetic modality rather than a biochemical one, people often only apply chromotherapy when conventional medicine can’t provide healing.

Chromotherapy will often ease the chronic issues that frequently stump medical doctors. It can offer valuable support for patients in psychotherapy and provoke harmonious expansive mental well-being.

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Endnotes:

McCulloch, Joseph M. and Loth, Luther C. Wound Healing: Evidence Based Management. F. A. Davis Co. Philadelphia, PA. 2010.

Martel, Anadi. Light Therapies: A Complete Guide to the Healing Power of Light. Healing Arts Press. Rochester, Vermont. May 2018.

Azeemi, Samina T Yousuf, and S Mohsin Raza. “A Critical Analysis of Chromotherapy and Its Scientific Evolution.” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : ECAM, Oxford University Press, Dec. 2005, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1297510/. 

15 Questions a Holistic Practitioner Should Be Asking You

Many alternative healthcare practitioners today call themselves holistic. Some medical doctors say they practice integrative medicine which is supposed to combine allopathic medicine with a holistic approach to health and wellness. Unfortunately, many provide holistic or integrative treatment in name only. Achieving balance in all your systems couldn’t be further from their minds.

It’s an interesting experience to visit a self-labeled holistic physician. He’ll record your history but only based on a finite set of physical factors.

Integrative medicine that combines holistic with conventional medicine claims to be healing-oriented. And if they truly are, those integrative M. D.s will take account of you, the whole person.

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What should you look for when consulting a holistic or integrative medical doctor? And in a related field of medicine, what might be the questions to ask functional medicine doctors?

First, let’s explore the definition of ‘holistic?’ What does it truly mean?

holistic |hōˈlistik|

characterized by comprehension of the parts of something as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole;

medicine characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the physical symptoms of a disease.

Looking at the whole person includes all aspects of your lifestyle as well as your relationship with your practitioner.

Both holistic and integrative medicine, if authentically practiced, will forge a therapeutic relationship between practitioner and patient. They’ll integrate all the evidence of conditions they discover and make use of all appropriate therapies.

Ancestral energy medicine broadly popular in more ancient China ensured doctors’ focus on the health of their patients. They only looked at sickness and disease as a sign they weren’t keeping their patient healthy.

The ancient Chinese family physician was fully paid so long as all family members were in good health. When someone became ill, the physician either tool less pay or took nothing at all until everyone in the household was well again.

In the book, Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance, by Charles A. Moss, M. D., the authro describes a rare medical school experience he had in the late 60s.

The following description summarizes how every healthcare practitioner of any kind should approach you, the patient:

I remember in 1968 hearing a professor of neurology, Dr. S. M. Megahed, discussing the importance of listening to everything the patient had to say while observing with exquisite precision how they spoke and the emotions they expressed.

He emphasized the importance of touching the patient, and the amount of information that a detailed examination would provide. His caring nature influenced me. He approached each person as unique, leading to a greater understanding of the process that resulted in the patient’s illness.

Instead of focusing solely on making a medical diagnosis, Dr. Megahed looked at the whole person.

In the spirit of taking care of the whole patient, a good healthcare practitioner should do more than collect a basic physical and hereditary history.

The authentic holistic physician should take the following issues into account when treating you.

All these factors significantly impact your state of health and well-being:

• overall stress levels

• how resilient a patient in responding to stress

• a person’s line of work; number of hours worked in a week; whether the work is sedentary or physically active; what parts of the body, mind or emotions are most taxed as the patient performs the work

• family structure; a single parent could face many more life challenges; the number of children, especially in the household, is important as this factor can seriously affect a single parent’s health

• the diet and eating habits; how many meals per day; does the patient eat on a regular schedule or only when there’s time? how much time is allotted for each meal? does the patient eat alone or in company? does the patient chew food very well?

• exercise pursuits and how consistent; assessment of spinal flexibility and ability to walk long distances both of which are key indicators of vitality and longevity

• history with and outlook on holistic therapies and remedies

• patient’s income level in order to determine a sliding scale for fees, if warranted

• mental state

• emotional state

• health goals

• level and manner of sexual engagement

• how much fun and enjoyment

• habits or addictions, good and bad, and which the patient would like to be free of

• whether spirituality or belief in a higher power plays any or a central role in the patient’s life

• how often the patient takes time to simply “be” in a quiet space and relax

The practitioner can immediately and superficially assess these in order to get a quick read of your present level of vitality:

• the state and presentation of your skin, countenance and hair

• eye brightness

• physical posture

• weight

• muscle tone

• overall emotion radiated

• the pulse: this can provide info. about key organs beyond the feedback provided by the rhythmical throbbing of blood through the arteries, especially to doctors of oriental medicine

• the tongue as indicator of healthy or unhealthy digestion and elimination

It may be challenging to find a holistic practitioner who will take the time for such an extensive yet important interview. But if your holistic practitioner gets to know who you are as a whole person she or he will quickly know how to serve you best.

When you find a practitioner who asks you the primary 15 holistic questions, that practitioner’s definitely a keeper.

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Photo courtesy of RODNAE Productions at Pexels

Moss, Charles A. Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance. North Atlantic Books, 2010. 

What Is Buckwheat Good for in the Body? It's a Magic Beauty, Health and Longevity Seed.

The extract of buckwheat (also known as beech wheat) has nothing to do with wheat at all because it’s neither grain nor grass. It’s naturally gluten-free and a relative of sorrel, knotweed and the rhubarb plant.

Buckwheat’s not a grain at all. The buckwheat fruit seed produces starchy seeds. It gets its name from its triangular seeds which resemble the much larger seeds of the beech nut tree and. It also gets is name because the seeds can be ground and used a lot like how we use wheat in cooking.

It’s a superfood with a mild nutty flavor. When toasted, we call buckwheat seeds kasha.  

Buckwheat is believed to have been introduced from Manchuria where it grows wild. A  native of central Asia and originally cultivated in China from the tenth to thirteenth centuries buckwheat was then introduced into Europe by the crusaders.

In terms of buckwheat for health only, its unique nutritional profile makes it important for health conscious consumers. High quality protein, fiber and minerals make this gluten-free seed an overall excellent health food.

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What else is buckwheat good for in the body?

A powerhouse of nutrients, buckwheat is one of the healthiest foods you can consume internally or topically on the skin or hair.

We see buckwheat for health but very much also for beauty and longevity.

“People who love buckwheat live long.” —Tanveer Bilal Pirzadah and Reiaz Ul Rehman in Forgotten Crop for the Future: Issues and Challenges

You can grow buckwheat greens from sproutable seeds. They’re a plentiful source of chlorophyll, enzymes and vitamins. Buckwheat seeds, high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, support skin's elasticity.

This is why we formulate many of our quantum energetic Water element products for more mature skin with buckwheat extract. We do that because of buckwheat’s elasticity encouraging action.

The flavonoids(1) in buckwheat amplify the action of vitamin C and act as antioxidants. This is another easy why buckwheat for health is also for beauty. The extract of buckwheat is an important anti-aging ingredient in skincare.

PHYTO5’s Water element line is very much designed for mature skin and anti-aging. And buckwheat extract is an important ingredient in many of the line’s products.

Buckwheat for health stakes its main claim to fame: Its Rutin or vitamin P Content

Rutin is a natural anti-inflammatory bioflavanoid which protects against skin damage from the sun and environment. Rutin also blocks free radicals which in turn slows the effects of aging and promotes longevity.

Rutin in buckwheat supports blood circulation so important for skin’s healthy youthful glow and strengthens and repairs small capillaries in the skin.

Buckwheat’s high magnesium content also works alongside rutin to relax blood vessels and promote circulation and skin’s glow. This factor also helps to improve circulation in cold hands and feet.

Vitamin B in buckwheat benefits skin, nails and hair enormously. It also helps reduce skin damage caused by sun and environmental factors.

Buckwheat’s high concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids helps enhance skin’s elasticity.

And buckwheat’s zinc and magnesium content is very important for skin and hair condition as well as healthy sleep. Buckwheat extract can be used externally for skin eruptions, inflammations and burns.

Buckwheat is 75% complex carbohydrates, a feature exceptional for proper growth of hair. Rich in vitamin A, B-complex vitamins and zinc, buckwheat for health promotes hair growth. Vitamin B6 or pyridoxine is vital for hair growth and health.

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Besides beauty benefits, what is buckwheat good for in the body?

In addition to skin and hair health, think ‘buckwheat for health’ in general.

Buckwheat also contains vitamin E,  riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3), pantothenic acid (B5), thiamine (B1), B6 and folate all important for everyone and especially people with liver disorders.

What is buckwheat good for in the body? Here’s a good list.

• Its saturated fat content combined with high protein and fiber content aids in appetite suppression and weight loss. Buckwheat’s very high quality proteins and all eight amino acids help lower cholesterol; its amino acid composition surpasses all cereals.

• Buckwheat consumption may lower the risk of fatal stroke and heart attack because it helps balance blood pressure, circulation and vascular integrity.

• A certain type of antioxidant in buckwheat called lignans assists post-menopausal women by helping to prevent breast cancer and other forms of cancer related to hormone imbalance.

• The high levels of vitamin E and magnesium present in buckwheat protect against childhood asthma.

• Because buckwheat is high in insoluble fiber it helps prevent gallstones by facilitating the movement of food through the intestines.

• The manganese in buckwheat helps form healthy bones and connective tissue and can help prevent osteoporosis. 

• Buckwheat also facilitates the transmission of nerve impulses and assists in energy production.

• The amino acid tryptophan in buckwheat elevates mood.

• Less acid forming with a well balanced mineral composition (phosphorus, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, manganese) combined with a high flavonoid(1) content, buckwheat assists us to combat colds and flu.

When it comes to health and beauty buckwheat is hands down a vital ingredient for your diet and anti-age skincare regimen.

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Endnotes:

(1) Flavonoids are phytonutrients responsible for the vivid colors in fruits and vegetables and are potent antioxidants with anti-inflammatory and immune system benefits.

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Sources:

Murray, Michael T., et al. The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods. Time Warner International, 2006.

Pitchford, Paul. Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition. North Atlantic Books, 2009.

Verheyen, Yes. Enjoyvity, Your Full Spectrum of Life. Verheyen Consulting, 2010.

Pirzadah, Tanveer Bilal, and Rehman, Reiaz Ul. Buckwheat: Forgotten Crop for the Future: Issues and Challenges. United States, CRC Press, 2021.

Photo by Sage Kirk on Unsplash

Verbena Essential Oil and Flower Water: Most Excellent in Skin Cleansing and Anti-Age Formulations

The verbena flowering plant has an incredibly rich history of healing and well-being properties. Verbena has historically been used in folk medicine to treat everything from headache to heart failure. It helps firm and tone skin and is an excellent anti-age agent. PHYTO5 makes organic verbena essential oil a unique ingredient in many products of PHYTO5’s Earth element and Ageless lines of skincare.

Origins of verbena’s distinctly lemony fragrance

Lemon verbena (Lippia citriodora) starts with a refreshing, pronounced lemon-like scent that gradually transforms into a sweet, fruit aroma. It smells so lemony it would remind you of lemon sherbet.

Verbena gets its fragrance from the terpenes(1) geraniol, neral and limonene.

• Geraniol is an anti-age free radical fighter, an anti-inflammatory and an acne fighting antibacterial. It’s also quite mentally relaxing.

• Limonene is also antioxidant and anti-inflammatory with the added benefit of reparative action.

• Neral aids in acne prevention. It helps purify, soothe and tone skin.

Researchers believe the terpene content of the plant helps calm people suffering from anxiety.

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Verbena essential oil and the flower’s extract offer very many health benefits.

“Behind the sunny, uplifting scent of lemon verbena lies some serious healing properties. It has a toning and strengthening effect on the nervous, digestive, respiratory, and immune items. Its antiseptic action aids healing, while anti-inflammatory properties restore tired postworkout muscles.” —Susan Curtis et al in Essential Oils: All-Natural Remedies and Recipes for Your Mind, Body, and Home

For the skin

• helps soften and tone the skin

• reduces skin puffiness and inflammation

• tightens the skin because of astringent properties

• cleansing to the skin; very beneficial for acne prone skin

• slows aging of skin because of antioxidant richness

• helps heal eczema and other skin disorders because of antiseptic properties

• speeds wound and sore healing

PHYTO5 products containing verbena essential oil and/or flower water are anti-age products in the Ageless line: Cleansing Foam, Perfection Cream, soothing pink Clay Mask, and Nourishing Cream.

Earth element Day and Night Creams provide toxic skin with verbena’s healing and cleansing properties.

For the body

• supports immunity

• soothes irregular digestion

• promotes good liver function

• helps relieve fever by encouraging perspiration

• fights colds and flu

• loosens congestion in sinuses and lungs

• eases irritating coughs

• tones muscles and relieves buildup of lactic acid

• lowers abnormally high breathing and heart rates

• encourages repair of weak connective tissue

• speeds healing of joint-related injuries

• lessens pain of arthritis

• increases mobility

• relieves upset stomach and nausea

• alleviates menstrual cramps

For the mind and psyche

• alleviates lethargy and apathy

• stimulates creativity and concentration

• improves study retention 

• grounds the receiver to the present moment

• eases feelings of panic and calms nerves

• offers pleasant aphrodisiacal properties

• bolsters the spirit when dealing with stressful situations

• assists with insomnia

Verbena’s centuries long history demonstrates how powerful a healing cleansing agent the flower is.

Very interchangeably called vervain, verbena goes by many other names.(2). The name verbena comes from the Celtic term ferfaen. Fer means to drive away and faen means stone. The Celts gave the flower this name because they found the flower effective for treating kidney stones.

Vervain was historically also named Tears of Isis. As legend has it, wherever Isis’ tears fell as she grieved over the murder of Osiris, vervain grew.

Historical lore recounts places verbena growing at the foot of the cross where Jesus was crucified. Many believe verbena flowers were pressed into Jesus’ wounds to stop the bleeding. This is why verbena is also called Herb of the Cross.

Hippocrates himself applied verbena flower to wounds and prescribed it for fevers and nervous disorders. 

The ancient Egyptians and Chinese believed vervain to have hidden powers.

The magi, the mystic sages of Persia, used verbena as an herb to help them see the future and the unseen.

Cleansing detoxifying verbena has long been used in purification rituals. King Solomon cleansed the temple with verbena and the Romans placed it on altars to honor Venus and Diana.

The Druids’ highly revered verbena. They utilized it in divination practices, consecrations, and ritual cleansing of sacred spaces. 

Priests and heralds carried verbena with them everywhere. Heros and poets wore head wreaths and garlands made of the flower.

Roman soldiers carried verbena with them into battle for good luck and protection. They sprinkled their homes and temples with verbena petals to keep out evil. They buried verbena in their gardens to bring them prosperity.

The polymath and herbal healer Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179) prescribed a decoction(3) of vervain and vermouth for toxic blood infections and toothache.

In the Middle Ages, the people used vervain as a treatment for acne. They found it so effective they began to use vervain to treat other skin problems.

The 17th century herbalist Nicholas Culpeper found many medicinal purposes for verbena.  He prescribed to cleanse toxic skin cleanser and to lessen dandruff by mixing with vinegar. Culpeper used verbena to treat many serious conditions: jaundice, gout, cough, bleeding gums, shortness of breath, fever, kidney stones, congestive heart failure and even the plague.

The Aztecs used mashed verbena roots as a diuretic.

In 18th century Spain, the Jesuits prescribed vervain as remedy for headache, jaundice, and other ailments.

During the Revolutionary War, military physicians used vervain for pain relief and to induce vomiting.

Many Native American tribes found all sorts of medical treatment and curative uses for verbena. They used verbena for fever, gastrointestinal problems, stagnant circulation, headaches, insomnia and hepatitis.

Many modern day people of Mexico use verbena tea to treat bad colds and flu.

“Contemporary herbalists recommend vervain as a tranquilizer, expectorant, menstruation promoter, and treatment for headache, fever, depression, seizures, wounds, dental cavities, and gum disease.” –Michael Castleman in The New Healing Herbs: The Essential Guide to More than 125 of Nature’s Most Potent Herbal Remedies.

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Endnotes:

• Terpenes are vibrantly fragrant molecules that occur naturally in plant life, especially in conifers, bearing pigment, scent and flavor.

• Other names for verbena include Dragon’s Claw, Tears of Isis, Herba Veneris (herb of Venus), Persephonion, Demetria, Pigeon Grass, Simpler's Joy, Altar Plant, Herbe Sacrée, Holy Plant, Herb of the Cross and Herb of Grace.

• A decoction is the liquor resulting from concentrating the essence of a substance by heating or boiling, especially a medicinal preparation made from a plant.

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Sources:

Curtis, Susan, Pat Thomas, and Fran Johnson. Essential Oils: All-Natural Remedies and Recipes for Your Mind, Body, and Home. New York, New York: DK, 2016. Print.

Castleman, Michael. The New Healing Herbs: The Essential Guide to More than 125 of Nature's Most Potent Herbal Remedies. Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2009. Print.

Bonyani, Atousa et al. “Anxiolytic effects of Lippia citriodora in a mouce model of anxiety.” Research in pharmaceutical sciences vol. 13,3 (2018): 205-212. doi:10.4103/1735-5362.228941

How Can I Let Go of the Past, You Ask?

If you keep asking yourself the question, How can I let go of the past? you’re not present to life. Getting yourself grounded in physical, mental, emotional and spiritual balance is when you’re more able to let go of the past. It’s because you’re living rooted in the now.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) teaches you how to live fully in the now by connecting with your soul. You let your soul—the spirit of TCM’s Metal element called P’o guide you into this serene state of being.

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The word P’o literally means soul.

We write the word P’o with an apostrophe between the P and the o to signal pronunciation. Make a breathy puff of air just after the P and before the long ō.

Every time you ask yourself, How can I let go of the past?understand P’o is ruler of your body. When you live in synchrony with this P’o ruler of your body, you have dominion over your life and emotions.

You’re in charge and not plagued revisiting energy wasting memories of the past.

The Chinese use the term P’o li to describe people in charge of their beings— deeply, fully and presently involved in an activity. They’re rooted, ‘with it,’ excited, maybe even extra-animated. Active with life, the thought of the question, How can I let go of the past? usually doesn’t even enter their minds.

Understand the mechanics of P’o so when you ask, How can I let go of the past? you have your immediate answer.

Both TCM and Taoism believe humans have two souls or aspects of souls.

They believe every living person has both a yin and yang aspect to the soul. And each soul aspect has a name.

As complement to yin P’o, we have yang Hun. Hun is the spiritual ethereal yang soul that leaves the body after death.

This soul aspect is the spirit of the Wood element's organ of Liver. The Chinese gave the name Cloud Spirit to ethereal Hun and formless consciousness.

TCM tells us actual substance composes P’o and it remains with the body after death. The ancient Chinese appropriately gave the name White Spirit to the corporeal soul and tangible consciousness‚ P’o.

Like breath, yin is inward drawing, quiet, softly flowing, and gentle.

“The Spiritual resource is P’o, translated as the animal-soul, which enters our being with the first breath from heaven.”— Gary Dolowich, MD in Archetypal Acupuncture: Healing with the Five Elements

How can I let go of the past, you ask? Start with the breath.

The P’o spirit of Lung is closely linked to the breath. Both P’o and Lung work in harmony to keep us grounded here now through the breath. Once you get grounded in the here now, you’re better able to let go of the past. You are free.

P’o encourages us to draw breath in and inward—deeply, fully and consciously.

TCM considers breath the pulsation of the P’o spirit of Lung. And breath is vitally important to not just healthy body but healthy P’o.

Good breathing roots your soul P’o into the body. Present breathing animates and grounds you in the here and now.

When you develop strong Lungs you create good breathing.

When P’o spirit and Lung are strong and in balance, you’re able to feel bodily sensations. P’o and Lung help you register physical sensations from what you feel, see and hear.

Weak Lung and P’o causes shallow breathing. You’re much less aware of bodily sensations. You feel distanced or cut off from others because you can’t feel.

Lung is very much associated with our innate survival response. P’o guides our instinctive reactions.

For example, when you instinctively reach out your hand in order to catch a falling leaf, your instinctive reaction is your P’o spirit in action.

If your Lung capacity and consequent P’o spirit of Lung are weak, you’re out-of-balance in Metal. You’ll experience disorder in your instinctual drive. With a diminishing instinct for self-preservation you start to feel vulnerable and useless.

The converse of How can I let go of the past? is How can I be less fearful of the future? Weak P’o leads many to obsess and grieve over a future that hasn’t even arrived. It also reduces the ability to bounce back from stress.

Grief is the emotion of TCM’s Metal element. The P’o spirit of Lung gives us the ability to accept the inevitable losses we experience in life as we grieve them. It also gives us strength to let go of what no longer serves us.

In alignment with the Metal element and to help bring balance to grief and worry emotions, PHYTO5 offers you the quantum energetic Metal line of skincare. It works to balance skin, the energy of circulation as it balances these emotions.

As you use the Metal line for skin, you’ll also experience an emotion balancing effect and know that all is well. The products in the line brimming with the fragrance of healing and balancing terpenes will help restore you to center. You’ll be more able to let go of the past.

P’o inspires us to breathe deeply and fully and live life to the fullest.

An aware connection to our P’o spirit of Lung support you to participate stop asking the nagging question, How can I let go of the past? and start living rooted in the here and now.

The constant question, How can I let go of the past? means you may not be allowing your P’o Spirit of Lung to bring you to spiritual balance.

The P’o spirit of Lung can help you strike balance between your spiritual life and material desires. Let the breath of Lung and the still small voice of your P’o soul guide you into balanced spirituality.

Spiritual balance means you have balance in all aspects of your life: emotional, mental and physical as well as spiritual.

Most Metal Types—people primarily dominated by Metal’s aspects—relatively naturally achieve spiritual balance.

But anyone who completely shuns the material world to become a full-time spiritual seeker often develops P’o imbalance.

Such people need to fill a gap they feel within. They wander from guru to guru and seminar to seminar looking to fill that sense of emptiness. They often are never able to find the deep inner spiritual connection they seek.

“Metal is very much associated with clear awareness and P’o is intricately involved in the understanding of the impermanence of the form/physical but is death within life and relates to the calmest of all aspects of being.”—David Nassim in The Nature of Classical Chinese Medicine

Support P’o spirit of Lung with physical and mental exercise. These will also help you let go of the past.

Exercise helps us maintain a balanced Metal energy and Lung chi balance.

If you’re a Metal Type or if today’s date falls between August 7 and October 20 inclusive (TCM’s energetic Fall and Metal season):

Exercise outdoors to help you contact the heavenly chi through the breath.

Metal Types often crave being outdoors for this very reason whether they realize it or not.

Exercise for Lung chi balance doesn’t have to be strenuous.

Walk briskly outdoors. That’s adequate. Many Metal Types find stepping outside an antidote to the frequent mental and physical staleness they feel.

Charles A. Moss, MD,(1) offers the following breathing technique to strengthen Lung spirit of P’o:

“… inhale thinking of the Chinese word P’o, which represents the positive qualities of Metal, and exhale [thinking] one of the following words:

inspiration, acceptance, value, respect, appreciation, endurance, resilience or letting go.

The qualities embodied by these words are key aspects of the healthy Metal Adaptation Type. Repetition of the concepts can reinforce their strength within Metal Types. If other thoughts intrude as [you] do this exercise, simply observe them and bring [your] attention back to the breath and the word repetition. Alternate these words while exhaling and inhale P’o each time.”

P’o encourages all of us to be dependable, conscientious, respectful, virtuous and spiritual balanced. These often come easier to the Metal Type.

Whether you’re a Metal Type or not, you can tap into the energetic gifts of the element.

These energetic gifts will assist your P’o to guide you into a more present moment happy and good life. The perennial question, How can I let go of the past? will become a distant memory.

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Endnotes:

(1) Author of Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance. United States, North Atlantic Books, 2011.

Sources:

Hicks, Angela, et al. Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture. United Kingdom, Elsevier Health Sciences, 2010.

Moss, Charles A. Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance. United States, North Atlantic Books, 2011.

Nassim, David. The Nature of Classical Chinese Medicine (Book 1 of 2). N.p., HI Publishing, 2013.

Clogstoun-Willmott, Jonathan. Western Astrology and Chinese Medicine. United States, Inner Traditions/Bear, 1985.

Dolowich, Gary. Archetypal Acupuncture: Healing with the Five Elements. United States, North Atlantic Books, 2011.

Jarmey, Chris. The Foundations of Shiatsu. United Kingdom, Lotus Pub., 2007.

The Fine Pure Salt Crystals of the Bex Salt Mines Are Switzerland’s White Gold

Switzerland is famous for its Alps, beauty, exacting purity and manufacturing standards and wealth. These factors play a big role in Switzerland’s lesser known salt Bex (pronounced bay) salt mines. The Bex salt mines have actually played a major role in the development of Switzerland. They provide valuable premium salt for chemical and pharmaceutical companies all over the world. And Bex salt (Le Sel des Alpes) hugely contributes to Switzerland’s own wellness tourism industry. Swiss-based PHYTO5 chooses Bex salt the main wellness ingredient for its five element Selextreme exfoliation products. PHYTO5 takes Le Sel des Alpes and perfectly saturates it with high grade essential oils. This process creates five exquisite exfoliation products, each with a specific mission:

• Wood Selextreme for vital energy support and skin lightening.

• Fire Selextreme for calming and soothing sensitive, irritated skin.

• Earth Selextreme for detoxification and encouraging circulation of lymph.

• Metal Selextreme for mineralization and blood circulation support.

• Water Selextreme for improved hydration and balance of water retention.

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“The history of Swiss Saltworks goes back over 450 years. Salt embodies typical Swiss characteristics such as innovation, tradition, reliability and quality.”—houseofswitzerland.org

Salts from the mines of Bex are considered Switzerland’s impeccable white gold.

How Did the Alpine Salt Form?

When the planet was born many billions of years ago, salty oceans covered the planet. Between 200 to 60 million years ago, the present Rhône Valley was a shallow sea. As continents began to form, the sea withdrew from the land. Salt layers up to 330 feet thick formed in northwestern Switzerland, the Jura and Central Plateau.(1)

In the area that is now Switzerland, rock which eventually formed the Alps trapped the salt within. There the salt remained pure and protected from all pollution for at least 200 million years. The salt deposits of Bex come from the sea where the Rhone Valley exists today.

The Tiny Town of Bex Is Now Famous Because of Its Salt.

In the Alpine valley of La Gryonne, a train runs through. It connects the tiny village of Bex to the slightly larger Aigle, five and half miles south.

The entire region would be historically unremarkable without the discovery of Switzerland’s only working salt mine.

“A steep road, but practicable for chars-à-banc,(2) leads through most beautiful scenery to the entrance of the mines. The salt is obtained either from the brine-springs, six or seven of which, of various degrees of strength, burst forth in different parts of the interior of the mountain, or from the rock salt…” —John Murray in the 1838 book, A Handbook for Travelers in Switzerland and the Alps of Savoy and Piedmont

The Swiss had to rely on expensive imports of salt all through the Middle Ages. They bought salt mainly from Franche-Comté, a cultural and historic region of eastern France.

This Is the Legendary Story of the Discovery of Bex Salt In Switzerland

But then came the discovery of their own salt supply.

The legendary discovery happened in the fifteenth century when the shepherd Jean du Bouillet pastured his goats one day. He took his goats to Panex and also to the Fondement just North of Bex. Du Bouillet noticed his goats preferred water from these two springs at these sites.

He tasted the water and found it salty. The farmer filled a cauldron full of this water, boiled it and let it evaporate. Du Bouillet noticed a pinch of salt at the bottom of the pot after evaporation. And so the discovery of salt at Bex was nearly complete. Nearly.

In the mid-sixteenth century, the original merchant family Zobel from Augsburg purchased the land. They mined salt only from the brine-springs(2) in Bex.

Aware of health benefits of the brine, the region opened wellness brine baths. These baths attracted people from all over the world.

But around the year 1823 the brine-springs began to fail. The German-Swiss geologist Jean de Charpentier got involved. He suggested driving shafts and galleries into the mountain to search for rock salt. By doing so they discovered a very large and rich vein of salt within the mountain.

For centuries ownership of these salt mines meant wealth and power. Today, ‘les Mines de Sel de Bex’ belong to the canton(4) of Vaud.(5)

How Is Le Sel des Alpes Extracted?

A 30+ mile labyrinth of passages and tunnels yields 30,000 tons of salt per year. 

Mine operators at Bex extract rock salt by means of evaporation or leaching. They use the latest technology and green energy to preserve the environment’s delicate balance.

They drill holes 160 to 1300 feet deep and pump in crystal clear Swiss mountain water. Next, they pump the salt solution (brine) created back to the surface to heat it. As the water evaporates, a pure fine salt crystallizes.

The mountain also holds a number of reservoirs of briney water. Miners harvest salt from these reservoirs, too, through a process called graduation.

The salt mines of Bex give us many beautiful minerals. These minerals include very clear crystals of selenite(6), muriacite(7), and anhydrite.(8)

42 valid minerals have been detected in the salt residues of the Bex salt mines.

Le Sel des Alpes is very elevating to well-being. It naturally offers perfect amounts of iodine and fluorine to the human body.

Bex Salt Mines Offers Unique Tours.

The Bex salt mine Le Bouillet(9) offers a museum and a two hour long tour. An audiovisual display shows visitors the evolution of salt mining techniques from 1684 to today.

A long underground narrow-gauge train takes visitors into the low-lit subterranean world for firsthand observation. The train also transports visitors to the inner mountain restaurant located 1300 feet below the surface. 

Le Bouillet contains a gallery driven horizontally into the bowels of the mountain. The gallery travels a distance of 6636 feet, seven and a half feet high and five feet wide. 

Tours offer subterranean on-foot treks into the mines and tunnels that still exist to this day.

Over the centuries, the Salt Mines of Bex have been visited by many illustrious guests.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau visited in 1754 and Alexandre Dumas visited the mines in September of 1832. Dumas wrote an epic and now famous report on his experience. Napoleon’s second wife, the Empress Marie-Louise, also toured the mines. Le Grand Reservoir was named after her.

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Endnotes:

1. The Swiss Plateau or Central Plateau is one of the three major landscapes in Switzerland, lying between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps. 

2. Chars à banc: horse drawn carriage or early motor vehicle

3. Brine meaning salty water

4. Canton: A state of the Swiss Confederation; a subdivision of a country established for political or administrative purposes. 

5. Vaud is a mountainous district in western Switzerland bordered by Lake Geneva to the south and France to the west. Lausanne, the capital, is known for its medieval cathedral and Olympic Museum in Ouchy port. 

6. Selenite: Also known as moonstone, selenite is a form of gypsum occurring as transparent crystals, sometimes in thin plates.

7. Muriacite: Also known as halite, muriacite is a term applied to the crystalline varieties of anhydrous sulphate of lime; sodium chloride as a mineral, typically occurring as colorless cubic crystals; rock salt.

8. Anhydrite is a white mineral consisting of anhydrous calcium sulfate. It typically occurs in evaporite deposits.

9. Named for the shepherd who discovered the salt; story above.

#####

Sources:

Murray, John. A Handbook for Travelers in Switzerland and the Alps of Savoy and Piedmont, Including the Protestant Valleys of the Waldenses. Germany, John Murray & Son, 1838.

Teller, Matthew. The Rough Guide to Switzerland. United Kingdom, Rough Guides Limited.

Tourismus, Schweiz. “Mines de Sel de Bex.” Switzerland Tourism, www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/experiences/salt-mines/. Accessed 6 Aug. 2023. 

“Notre Histoire.” Notre Histoire | Schweizer Salinen, www.salz.ch/fr/notre-histoire.

“Salt – the Raw Material from the Swiss Alps.” House of Switzerland, 22 Apr. 2020, houseofswitzerland.org/swissstories/history/salt-raw-material-swiss-alps.

Bergamot Essential Oil: Powerful Skin Purifier, Conditioner and Balancer

Bergamot essential oil (Citrus bergamia) is an oil widely used in cosmetics not just because of its cooling and refreshing nature but because of the wide array of skin and health enhancing benefits it offers. On the physical level, bergamot makes skin resistant to microorganisms that can compromise skin’s purity. This is one reason why PHYTO5 has formulated bergamot essential oil into Earth element Yogi Body Gel. On the mental/emotional level, bergamot is nervous tension relaxing. For this reason, bergamot essential oil can be enjoyed in PHYTO5’s organic certified Yin Massage Oil.

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Bergamot is a type of orange although its exterior color is not orange at all. The fruit looks more like a lemon or lime than an orange. It is three to four inches in diameter and has a uniquely distinct scent and flavor—a combination of lemon and bitter orange. According to Alan Davidson's The Oxford Companion to Food (2nd ed.), unlike its other orange cousins, bergamot is too bitter to be eaten raw.

The essential oil of bergamot is a greenish to yellow clear thin and viscous liquid. It has a sparkling citrusy sweet green and fruity-floral odor. It’s cold expressed from the pericarp or peel of the fruit of the dwarf variety of the Seville orange tree.

Bergamot blossoms during the Winter and grows naturally in northern Italy in the Lombardy region but it’s commercially grown in the southern Italian region of Calabria. There are many small cultivators of bergamot throughout the world but more than 90% of the world’s production occurs in Calabria. Argentina and Ivory Coast production are a distant second and third to Italy.

Among all the citrus peel oils, bergamot essential oil is the most valuable.

Bergamot is almost exclusively grown for the production of essential oil and not for juice consumption although the fruit is an ingredient in traditional Mediterranean cooking.

Bergamot essential oil serves as flavoring for sweets, tobacco, Curaçao liqueur, teas (Earl Grey), baked goods, desserts, chewing gum and soft drinks.

More than 200 chemical constituents have been identified to make up bergamot oil including very many terpenes.(1)

For example, the terpene linalool in bergamot offers analgesic action while promoting relaxation and stress relief. This is in addition to linalool’s calming fresh, floral fragrance.

Bergamot essential oil is an excellent skin conditioner and soothing agent. It fosters healing and regeneration of skin and is all around beneficial to skin.

It is best suited for oily and acne prone skin because it makes skin resistant to microorganisms killing facial bacteria before skin has a chance to create blackheads and pimples. It also controls excess oil production. Conversely, bergamot will stimulate or balance sebaceous gland production if skin is too dry.

Because of its antiseptic and antibacterial properties, bergamot is utilized in the pharmacopoeia of a number of countries. The pharmaceutical industry also uses bergamot essential oil in sanitary preparations.

Bergamot essential oil has been successfully used to treat conditions like nicotine addiction, acne, ringworms, depression, out-of-balance stress response, urinary tract infection, fever, headaches, muscle aches, anxiety, insomnia, constipation, scars, body odor, cracked heels, wounds, coughs and colds (antiviral properties).

Bergamot essential oil is known to help fight skin conditions of acne, eczema,(2) cold sores, herpes, shingles, psoriasis, dark spots, dull and dry complexion, dandruff, seborrhea, and excessive perspiration.

The properties of bergamot are many:

• analgesic

• antidepressant (also helps relieve anxiety and unbalanced stress response)

• antiseptic (mouth rinses that contain bergamot essential oil are especially beneficial to combat bad breath and infection)

• slightly astringent

• antispasmodic

• cicatrisant (reduces or prevents appearance of scars)

• digestive

• deodorant

• expectorant

• febrifuge (fever inducing)

• vermifuge (worm killing)

• vulnerably (wound healing)

• sedative

Bergamot essential oil should not be used by pregnant or breastfeeding mothers, children or persons with sensitive skin or sensitivity to ultraviolet light. Since bergamot makes skin more sensitive to ultraviolet light (phototoxic), bergamot accelerates tanning of the skin as do all citrus oils.

Bergamot as Spiritual and Emotional Healing Agent

A study with animals showed bergamot essential oil to affect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity by reducing the corticosterone(3) response to stress. Bergamot essential oil was found to create a balancing effect on the activity of the hypothalamus gland.

The hypothalamus gland is the center of our more intense emotions such as terror and rage. This gland works in synchrony with the pineal and pituitary glands to help regulate and balance hormonal cycles including natural sleep and wake cycles. It is believed that bergamot’s ability to balance natural sleep cycles may make the essential oil helpful for relieving symptoms of jet lag.

Bergamot Essential Oil and Lymph(4)

Bergamot essential oil helps reduce swelling in tissue by stimulating improved flow of lymph. It is very decongesting.

Earth element skincare by PHYTO5 has a primary function to support flow of lymph in the action of detoxification. This creates skin that is purer, normalized and more radiant.

“Metaphysically, the lymphatic system and immune system are related to a strong sense of self-worth and a feeling of ‘I can do it.’ When you doubt your ability to take care of yourself and lack confidence, your immune function can be affected. Energetically, your psychic defenses to protect against foreign invaders are lowered. Bergamot oil may be helpful for building morale and self-esteem and can help you to rebuild strength and regain self-confidence.” —K. G. Stiles in The Essential Oils Complete Reference Guide: Over 250 Recipes for Natural Wholesome Aromatherapy

Two Precautions When Using Bergamot Essential Oil

Never consume bergamot or any essential oil without it being properly diffused by a carrier oil.(5) Good carrier oils include fractionated coconut oil, apricot kernel or sweet almond oil. You must also know how to use bergamot essential oil in the right proportion to the carrier oil and this really should be left in the domain of a cosmetics chemist. This is because essential oils are highly concentrated. Bergamot essential oil is not only highly concentrated, it’s highly photosensitive.

Most essential oils that can be ingested—and bergamot essential oil is one of them—must be infused with a carrier oil and then only in very small and appropriate amounts. Any essential oil applied or consumed without delivery by means of a carrier oil may cause a healing crisis or at best, very uncomfortable symptoms. Essential oils are very potent and not all of them can be taken internally.

High grade and natural essential oils perfectly and precisely mixed in PHYTO5 skin and body care is a safe way to enjoy many of the benefits of a whole array of essential oils. The amount of bergamot essential oil in Earth element Yogi Body Gel and in Yin Massage Oil is determined by PHYTO5 expert chemists who know the proportions and manner of formulation to safely and healthily achieved the desire effect.

Because of adverse reactions called berloque dermatitis experienced by a number of people since the 1950s, much bergamot essential oil used today in the cosmetics industry is synthetically produced. Berloque dermatitis is a phototoxic reaction on the skin created by exposure to long-wave ultraviolet (UVA) radiation on bergapten, the only photoactive component of bergamot oil. This combination of exposure induces an intensification of both hyperpigmentation and melanin production in the skin.

Bergamot essential oil can easily be found on big box store shelves for aromatherapeutic purposes. But you may want to research if the bergamot essential oil you’re using is naturally grown and produced with integrity.

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Endnotes:

1. We have published two extensive articles on the topic of terpenes:

• The Terpene: Most Fundamental Flavor, Fragrance and Healing Component of Essential Oils

• Scent, Flavor and Healing Are Found In All Plants Because of Terpenes

1. for treating dry and not moist eczema

2. Corticosterone is a hormone secreted by the adrenal cortex in response to stress.

3. Lymph is a colorless fluid containing white blood cells, which bathes the tissues and drains through the lymphatic system into the bloodstream.

4. A carrier oil is used to dilute essential oils and absolutes before they are applied to the skin in skincare applications, massage and aromatherapy. They carry the essential oil onto the skin. Diluting essential oils is a critical safety practice when using essential oils because of the very high potency of quality essential oils. Essential oils used alone are volatile because they begin to dissipate as soon as they are applied. The carrier oil slows the rate of dispersion which varies based on how light or heavy the carrier oil is. Carrier oils often do not contain a concentrated aroma and they do not evaporate like essential oil. Excellent high integrity skincare products will use carrier oils that are completely natural and free from adulteration.

#####

Sources:

Kinai, Dr. Miriam, Bergamot Essential Oil. N.p., Booktango, 2013.

Zulpa, Amy. Essential Oils - The Ultimate Resource: A Beginner's Guide to the Use of Essential Oils. N.p., Jela Properties LLC, 2014.

deGroot, AntonC., and Schmidt, Erich. Essential Oils: Contact Allergy and Chemical Composition. United Kingdom, CRC Press, 2021.

Keller, Erich. Aromatherapy Handbook for Beauty, Hair, and Skin Care. United States, Inner Traditions/Bear, 1999.

Stiles, KG. The Essential Oils Complete Reference Guide: Over 250 Recipes for Natural Wholesome Aromatherapy. United States, Page Street Publishing, 2017.

Davidson, Alan. The Oxford Companion to Food. United Kingdom, Oxford University Press, 2014.

Perna, Simone et al. “Efficacy of bergamot: From anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative mechanisms to clinical applications as preventive agent for cardiovascular morbidity, skin diseases, and mood alterations.” Food science & nutrition vol. 7,2 369-384. 25 Jan. 2019, doi:10.1002/fsn3.903

How the Yi Spirit of the Spleen Contributes to Our Clarity of Mind and Well-Being

According to the Five-Element Theory of traditional Chinese medicine, our organs each have a spirit:
Wood element  •  Organ: Liver  •  Spirit: Hun
Fire element  •  Organ: Heart  •  Spirit: Shen.
Earth element • Organ: Spleen • Spirit: Yi
Metal element  •  Organ: Lung  •  Spirit: P’o
Water element  •  Organ: Kidney  •  Spirit: Zhi.

Understanding the spirit energies of each element helps us to better know how to live in harmony with the season we are in and even transform our health. We can learn to become well adapted to our “Type.”(1) In this article, we discuss Yi, the spirit of the Earth element’s organ, the Spleen.(2)

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Defining Yi
Yi is roughly translated as thought and intention.

In Chinese ethical philosophy Yi is more fully defined as faithful performance of one's indigenous duties to society. Intent or intention is the drive we feel within ourselves that compels us to be of service to others, to be empathetic, and to be part of a community offering support to those in need. In its deepest sense, Yi is service to others given in the unique ways that each of us individually can offer. By serving others, Yi gifts us with the byproduct of that service: contentment and satisfaction.

Yi is also defined as righteousness and justice, morality and meaning. And in traditional Chinese medicine Yi is considered to be the intellect.

The direction of the Earth element in traditional Chinese medicine is center. Likewise, Yi is found in our core, our center—the stabilizing and grounding influence we derive from past first memories of feelings, smells and touch—whether they are the warm loving experience of being on our mother’s breast or the cold fearful feelings of being in the sterile hospital room at birth.

Yi also represents nourishment from and connection to the Original Universal Mother, giver of the breath of sustenance, support and security that we first experienced as newborn babies.

One aspect of Yi and the Earth element is introspection—a balanced but not excessive turning inward to learn about the self and one’s place in the world. When we have grounded Yi within us we become better able to follow our own hearts and be true to ourselves.

Spleen Supports Nourishment On the Physical and Mental Levels
Spleen is the origin of chi and blood and it is responsible for nourishment and nurturing.

In our former article, The Earth Element and the Spleen: How a Balanced Spleen Is Vital to Digestion, Nourishment, Mental Function and Vitality, we said:

“The Spleen is responsible for the intake, processing, sorting and distribution of nutrients from food. Nutrients are then transported upwards by the Spleen to the Lungs where both Heart and Lungs take over generating chi and infusing the body’s blood with these nutrients.

The Spleen both transforms food into nutrients and then transports these nutrients through the pushing/ascending action of the spleen chi.”

The Spleen is controller of transforming and transporting nutrients(3) but this doesn’t only apply to nutrients from food. It applies to intellectual nourishment as well. From a mental-emotional perspective, the Spleen is involved in issues of nourishment not just on the physical level but on the psychic level, too.

Yi and the Mental Processes
In traditional Chinese medicine, it is said that the Yi spirit of Spleen provides housing for the intellect which is responsible for applied thinking, memorizing, focus, concentration, mental application, study and the generating of ideas.

The nature of Yi means that the Spleen, together with Heart, is responsible for our ability to think and study with clarity. Cramming for exams, for example, or spending an inordinate amount of time each day writing or thinking can weaken Spleen.

“One of the major problems when the Spleen is imbalanced is the tendency for the person to become preoccupied, or at worst obsessed. Si or knotting of the qi (chi) occurs and diminishes a person’s ability to think one thought and then move on to another. This inability to think clearly can diminish a person’s creativity, spontaneity and happiness.” —Angela Hicks in Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture

From the perspective of emotions, the Spleen is adversely affected by pensiveness, worry, rumination and in severe cases, obsessive thinking.

The French writer-poet Voltaire perhaps unknowingly described a pathology of the Yi when he said:

“Madness is to think of too many things too fast or of one thing exclusively.”

Strong Yi allows us to dream our thoughts and ideas clearly so that they will coagulate and manifest in our world.

When the Spleen is weak we become unable to accomplish our goals causing us to feel unfulfilled. We feel unable to get things done leaving projects started but not finished.

This is why we define the positive, in-balance emotion of the Earth element on our website as ‘creative self-expression.’ All of the products in each of our five element quantum energetic lines of skincare are formulated to help balance emotion with the highest degree of concentration of that energy found in the Phyt’Ether serums. The negative, out-of-balance emotion of Earth is feeling overwhelmed, excessive rumination, causing a state of scatteredness.

Well known British classical acupuncturist, J. R. Worsley,(4) called this called the inability to think clearly and decisively an inability to reap a harvest, harvest being completely symbolic of the Earth element and its functions.

Strong Yi helps us follow through with our intention. We have the ability to focus the mind on something we desire. Harvard Medical School professor of medicine Ted J. Kaptchuk(5) has described the aspect of this intention embodied by Yi as the “consciousness of potentials.”

Yi enables chi to move. We must often first form a mental image of chi moving for it to move. And that initial image is assisted by Yi.

We also need Yi for self-motivation. If Spleen is weak, so are Yi and chi and also our ability to concentrate on work, execute a project to its completion or even be present to a conversation we are having with a friend.

Weak Yi diminishes our ability to remain steadfast to our purpose in life.

A deficiency in Spleen makes a person who is not psychologically centered and grounded lose self-confidence. When we feel unable to accomplish a life goal or pursue what we’d really love to do, it can often lead to depression, anxiety and despair. We feel a sense of unease, unhappiness, and loss of direction. Agitation, insecurity or lethargy of the spirit can make it difficult for us to stick to our chosen paths.

…

Endnotes:

1. A person exemplifying the ideal or defining characteristics of one or more of the five elements of traditional Chinese medicine; the Type is not always in balance or adapted to his or her Type in which we call it out-of-balance or maladapted. To learn more about each element Type, click through below:

1. Wood

2. Fire

3. Earth

4. Metal

5. Water

1. Click through to read our former article on the Spleen and the Earth element: The Earth Element and the Spleen: How a Balanced Spleen Is Vital to Digestion, Nourishment, Mental Function and Vitality

2. “The Spleen functions to control the digestive system and as such is as ordinary or common as a cook who is on duty 24 hours a day. Its work is basic. It does not have the glamor of the Liver which is a general, or the Lung which is a chancellor. We can compare this job to that of a mother who is always available to care for and support her family. A mother’s job is an important one, often unacknowledged until she is ill or away.” —Angela Hicks in Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture

3. J. R. Worsley (14 September 1923 – 2 June 2003) was a British acupuncturist who is credited with European five element acupuncture which is termed 'classical acupuncture.’

4. Ted J. Kaptchuk is professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Harvard-wide Program in Placebo Studies and the Therapeutic Encounter (PiPS) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.  He is also a professor of Global Health and Social Medicine.

…

Sources:

Maciocia, Giovanni. The Psyche in Chinese Medicine: Treatment of Emotional and Mental Disharmonies with Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs. United Kingdom, Elsevier Health Sciences, 2009.

Moss, Charles A.. Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance. United States, North Atlantic Books, 2011.

Hicks, Angela, et al. Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture. United Kingdom, Elsevier Health Sciences, 2010.

Acupuncture in Practice: Case History Insights from the West. United Kingdom, Churchill Livingstone, 1997.

The Thymus Gland–Producer of Anti-Age Hormones and Powerhouse of Immunity

Our bodies’ hormones are made by the tiny(1) but mighty glands of the endocrine system. Though the amounts of hormones our glands secrete into the bloodstream or the fluid surrounding our cells are minute, these hormones are incredibly powerful and determine how long and well we live. All glands and hormones work in concert and exquisite balance with each other but some glands become weak as we get older. One such gland is the very important immune system regulating thymus gland positioned near the Heart, the yin organ of the Fire element.

Hormones regulate our digestion and the transformation of nutrients into blood, bone, and tissues. They regulate our heartbeat, liver and kidney function, fertility, sexual behavior and even our personality. And they are very well known for mobilizing our bodies’ defenses against human or germ attack.

“Much like a lock and key, many hormones act by binding to receptors that are produced within cells. When a hormone binds to a receptor, the receptor carries out the hormone's instructions, either by altering the cell's existing proteins or turning on genes that will build a new protein. The hormone-receptor complex switches on or switches off specific biological processes in cells, tissues, and organs.” —Environmental Protection Agency, Overview of the Endocrine System

Though hormones circulate throughout the body, they will only affect their target organs and according to how much the body needs, provided the body is relatively in balance. The more hormone in the blood the more active the target organ becomes.

In traditional Chinese medicine hormonal balance is closely associated with yin and yang energy balance. 

We wrote in our former article, Balance: Traditional Chinese Medicine’s Simple Must-Have Key for Total Well-Being, Enduring Health and Longevity: 

“Yin and yang chi, the fundamental feminine and masculine energies, respectively, help establish the balance and harmonious flow of vital energy which is crucial to maintaining balance throughout the body.”

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Both hormones and yin and yang energies depend on one another to function properly. Too much or too little yin or yang energy in the body and imbalances occur which, in turn, affect the hormones.

Hormonal imbalance doesn’t happen overnight but as we age. It takes time for the symptoms of hormonal imbalance to become apparent.

Hormonal imbalance does, however, occur faster in some people than in others. And if the feedback our glands are receiving from the body is faulty or the glands fail to produce enough of the hormone required, we develop physical and even mental conditions.

Courtesy of Environmental Protection Agency; “Overview of the Endocrine System,” EPA, www.epa.gov/endocrine-disruption/overview-endocrine-system.

The word hormone is derived from the Greek hormao meaning “I arouse to activity.” Hormones are messengers of physiological information inciting the body to activity in one way or another. The biochemical information carried by hormones creates an energetic impetus which directly affects the way we feel not just physically and mentally but even spiritually if we are attuned to sensing it.

This is because the esoteric/spiritual energy chakra points and the physical endocrine glands pretty much line up with each other in their positions in the body. By virtue of these alignments, chakras and glands communicate with each other in important ways.

The ancients, especially in Egypt, were very much aware of how the energy systems in the body were connected to glandular function. They found these energy systems or chakras to be sensitive contact points where the spiritual world touched the physical world. They even had a holistic understanding of the significance of glandular function and its central role in reproduction and also in consciousness itself.

The thymus gland is located in the upper chest, behind the sternum and between the lungs. The thymus being a physical counterpart to the Heart chakra, the ancient Egyptians found the Heart to be a critical activator of consciousness.

This lines up with how traditional Chinese medicine of antiquity and today view the Heart as shen, the higher universal consciousness in every person which regulates emotions and many mental functions.

“Yoga looks at chakras as the body's energy points.(3) And they are located almost exactly where the hormone-secreting glands that connect our mind, emotions and body are situated,” writes Shikha Sharma of Hindustan Times in What You Must Know about Your Body and Its Chakras

For example, the fourth chakra seal located in the region of the Heart is associated with unconditional love and the thymus gland. When this seal is activated or when Heart is healthy and in balance, a flow of love is expressed and felt. And as a result, the thymus gland releases its hormone thymosin. This hormone has been directly related to the aging process by University of Texas medical researchers.

Thymosin is a hormone that helps keep the body young and healthy. Many call this hormone the anti-aging hormone.

But thymosin levels in the blood have been found to decrease dramatically with age. This is probably because the thymus atrophies over time with the process beginning when we’re quite young.

The thymus is most active when an infant is in utero. It is large in early childhood and at around age eight or ten it begins to decrease in size until at about age 20, it is only five to ten percent of its original size. By age 50, just a small portion of the thymus remains with fatty tissue replacing it somewhere around age 75.

The thymus gland provides us with a built-in immunity. It helps to activate the body’s defenses against infection.

Dr. Glen Rein of HeartMath Institute(2) has been able to prove that an irregular heartbeat caused by emotional upset produces erratic thymus function which in turn suppresses the immune system. Dr. Rein also found it possible to train people to control their heartbeat through biofeedback and raise their level of immune function.

The shriveling of the thymus gland is scientifically believed primarily responsible for aging and the destruction of the body.

The thymus gland offers us protection against diverse pathogens, tumors, and antigens, while it is mediator of tissue damage. Though the thymus has the capacity to regenerate itself, it is often insufficient to reconstitute a fully intact thymic function. 

The great disturber of all endocrine function including the thymus gland is stress. Stress can be defined as a physical, chemical, emotional, or electromagnetic pressure which goes beyond the safe reserves of a person and his or her ability to respond resiliently to that pressure.

Stress of any kind and possibly in any amount may stimulate any endocrine gland to excessive or deficient production of that gland’s hormones. For this reason, over- or under-activity of glandular function is a fairly common condition. 

Dysfunction of the thymus gland leads to an increased risk of opportunistic infections, autoimmunity, tumor relapse and adverse clinical outcomes. It is proven associated with severity of atherosclerosis.

One of the functions of the thymus is to process and mature killer T-cells. In effect, these T-cells are the immune system’s warriors. 

The T in T-cell stands for thymus. A T-cell is a a white blood cell occurring most especially in the lymphatic system. Also known as lymphocytes, they actively participate in the immune response. They fight viruses and malignancies.

A T-cell began as a stem cell which then became a lymphocyte in the bone marrow. Through the action of the thymus hormone thymosin, the lymphocytes, having migrated to the thymus gland, now multiply and mature in the thymus to become cells capable of producing an immune response.

What can we do to shore up our thymus gland and immune response? 

Though you may be older and have deduced after reading this article that your thymus is virtually non-existent, you should know that no vital part of the body ever truly vanishes. An energetic imprint of your thymus gland remains where there may now be fatty tissue.

First, consider the power of your mind and intention to will the thymus into robust action. Also remember that, as mentioned above, the thymus has the ability to regenerate itself.

Second, consider that thyme is believed to stimulate the thymus gland. The terpene thymol in thyme essential oil is an anti-age antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial. It has proven effective in treating colds, flu, and respiratory viruses. It works as an anti-microbial for lungs.

Third, no matter your age or thymus gland condition, you can perform simple thymus tapping to activate the gland and boost your immune system. The vibration you create by tapping gently on your thymus for several seconds helps to stimulate the release of T-cells.

With your fingertips or the side of your fist, gently tap two to three inches up and down your sternum, between and above your breasts for 15 to 20 seconds. Breathe normally through the exercise.

…

Endnotes:

1. The largest of the glands, the pancreas, which is very involved in digestion, weighs on average less than three ounces and is about the size of your hand. The smallest gland is the pineal, about the size of a grapeseed. The combined weight of all the other glands in the human body is between four and seven ounces. In addition to pancreas and pineal glands, the other glands are thyroid, four parathyroids, twin adrenals, pituitary, thymus and paired ovaries of women or testes of men.

2. https://www.heartmath.org/

3. The first or root chakra is associated with the gonads (male testes and female ovaries).
   
   The second or sacral chakra is associated with the adrenals.
   
   The third or solar plexus chakra is associated with the  pancreas.
   
   The fourth heart chakra aligns with the thymus from which anti-aging hormones are released.
   
   The fifth throat chakra aligns with the thyroid and parathyroid.
   
   The sixth third eye chakra is associated with the pineal gland which unveils the knowingness of the subconscious mind.
   
   The seventh crown seal chakra associates to the pituitary and hypothalamus glands which work together to regulate the entire endocrine system and encourage enlightenment.

…

Sources:

Dispenza, Joe. Evolve Your Brain: The Science of Changing Your Mind. United States, Health Communications, Incorporated, 2010.

Winter, Ruth. The Anti-Aging Hormones: That Can Help You Beat the Clock. United Kingdom, Crown, 2013.

“Ancient Egyptians: ‘Your Glands Are Your Chakras!’” YouTube, 21 Sept. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2No07yt-IA.

Hammoudi Halat, Dalal et al. “A Focused Insight into Thyme: Biological, Chemical, and Therapeutic Properties of an Indigenous Mediterranean Herb.” Nutrients vol. 14,10 2104. 18 May. 2022, doi:10.3390/nu14102104

Thapa, Puspa, and Donna L Farber. “The Role of the Thymus in the Immune Response.” Thoracic surgery clinics vol. 29,2 (2019): 123-131. doi:10.1016/j.thorsurg.2018.12.001

Shealy, M.D., Ph. D., C. “The Endocrine System - Edgar Cayce Health Care.” Edgar Cayce Health Care - Education And Information Relating To Edgar Cayce Health Readings, 16 Oct. 2017, cayce.com/health-information/edgar-cayce-the-endocrine-system/.

Dai, Xianliang et al. “The Pivotal Role of Thymus in Atherosclerosis Mediated by Immune and Inflammatory Response.” International journal of medical sciences vol. 15,13 1555-1563. 20 Oct. 2018, doi:10.7150/ijms.27238

“Overview of the Endocrine System,” EPA, www.epa.gov/endocrine-disruption/overview-endocrine-system. Accessed 26 June 2023.

Remedy, My. “Thymus Tapping.” My Remedy Natural Medicine, 7 June 2018, myremedy.co.nz/articles/thymus-tapping/#:~:text=Thumping%2C%20or%20tapping%2C%20your%20thymus,and%20boost%20your%20immune%20system.&text=Gently%20tapping%20on%20the%20thymus,release%20of%20white%20blood%20cells.

Sharma, Shikha.“What You Must Know about Your Body and Its Chakras.” Hindustan Times, 2 Aug. 2014, www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/what-you-must-know-about-your-body-and-its-chakras/story-a4XKHxkAHJZ5yVBoicJeeJ.html.

Biosaccharide Gum-1: Beneficial Polysaccharide In Anti-Aging Skinca

Polysaccharides(1) are increasingly formulated into skincare products that are geared toward wellness and healing. They are used in cosmetics for film-forming, texture-enhancing, soothing, humectant (water-binding) and anti-aging properties for skin. PHYTO5 incorporates a number of polysaccharides into the five element Yogi Body Gel products (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) because of such excellent skin conditioning properties and benefits.

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A saccharide is a carbohydrate or sugar biomolecule consisting of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Carbohydrate chains come in different lengths and biologically important carbohydrates belong to three categories: monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides.

A polysaccharide is a kind of carbohydrate or sugar ingredient created from vegetable substrates. The principle polysaccharide or assembly of sugars in PHYTO5’s Yogi Body Gels is known as Biosaccharide Gum-1 (trade name: Fucocert or Fucogel). It is obtained from brown algae by a fermentation process involving sorbitol.

Because it’s a ferment, Biosaccharide Gum-1 works synergistically with other well known ferments like  hyaluronic acid, inulin (a prebiotic) and xanthan gum.(3) Xanthan gum is not only a gelling agent, it’s a fermented sugar with its own moisturizing properties. Xanthan gum is also an ingredient in all five element Yogi Body Gels by PHYTO5.

Biosaccharide Gum-1 can also work synergistically with other actives such as collagen, aloe vera gel, many botanical extracts, certain types of vitamin C esters, niacinamide (a form of vitamin B3 and cell repair antioxidant), and panthenol (provitamin B5).

Biosaccharide Gum-1 is used as a moisturizing active that creates a biofilm or breathable screen to protect skin against dehydration while stimulating cell renewal. Its potent anti-aging activity is often compared to the similar action of hyaluronic acid. In fact, the gum helps to stimulate the production of skin's own hyaluronic acid.

Biosaccharide Gum-1 owes its biological effectiveness to its affinity for fucose receptors—a type of carbohydrate receptor site on the skin—and also from its unique ability to modulate skin sensitivity response through the ASIC (acid-sensing ion channels) pathway of the nervous system.(4)

With an innovative molecular structure the polysaccharide improves adhesion and interaction with other molecules, essentially forming a barrier over the skin and shielding it from exterior stressors that lead to aging of the skin. It very effectively limits penetration of damaging ultraviolet light and pollutants into the skin.

Biosaccharide Gum-1 works to bind water to the epidermis, creating that moisture-binding film on the skin to yield a soft smooth feeling.

Biosaccharide Gum-1 is now well known for being a catalyst for skin’s well-being. For skincare, it’s a comfort and softness boosting ingredient.

The manufacturer of Biosaccharide Gum-1 labels it a S.M.A.R.T. sugar meaning it is:

• Soothing

• Moisturizing

• Anti-aging

• Restructuring

• with a soft-to-the-Touch effect on the skin.

Soothing
Biosaccharide Gum-1 provides an anti-inflammatory response for irritation and sensitive skin. The manufacturer tested for its soothing properties in vivo by first creating an irritation on the skin using lactic acid. With a 3% solution of Biosaccharide Gum-1 applied to human skin, the irritation was decreased by 47%. Biosaccharide Gum-1 in Fire element Yogi Body Gel, for example, helps skin repair after superficial damage from sun exposure, cooling skin by keeping the skin moist.

Moisturizing
A kind of biofilm is created on the skin encouraging greater moisturization ability. The end result moisturizing effect of Biosaccharide Gum-1 is said to be quite similar to that of hyaluronic acid. While hyaluronic acid offers a quicker moisturizing effect within approximately one hour, a stronger hydration effect is observed from Biosaccharide Gum-1 three hours after application. After eight hours both hyaluronic acid and Biosaccharide Gum-1 become equalized in their ability to moisturize skin.

Anti-Aging
Biosaccharide Gum-1 helps protect skin cells from premature breakdown by stimulating the production of certain proteins like sirtuin-1(2) and collagen making skin firmer, stronger and younger. Ex-vivo tests conducted by the manufacturer showed Biosaccharide Gum-1 to stimulate a skin protein called sirtuin-1. This protein is known to help skin cells live longer and function better. 

Resurfacing/Restructuring
The stimulation effect of sirtuin-1 mentioned just above offers quicker cell renewal, a function that continues to occur in skin but which slows down as we age. This cell renewal leads to restructuring of the skin assisting in the regeneration of skin’s barrier function. This action is very beneficial for fragile and sensitive skin.

soft-to-the-Touch
Biosaccharide Gum-1 creates a very obvious and pleasant soft touch feeling.

Though you won’t be able to distinguish it in the Yogi Body Gel products, Biosaccharide Gum-1 is lightly viscous with a colorless to light yellow liquid. It’s non-sticky with a gel consistency and absorbs quickly and easily into the skin.

All five element Yogi Body Gels contain the polysaccharides Biosaccharide Gum-1 and xanthan gum however Metal Yogi Body Gel, whose primary purpose is to provide mineralization to skin, contains several unique polysaccharides as follows:

Saccharomyces/copper, -/iron, -/magnesium, and -/zinc ferment (glucose polysaccharides)
Minerals are converted by a yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae into a bioavailable, low molecular weight glycopeptide.(4) The yeast Saccharomyces provides the base onto which the metal is attached. The yeast is then removed so that the mineral peptide can penetrate the skin as a skin conditioning agent.

The Cleveland Clinic notes that studies have shown that copper peptides, in particular, act as antioxidants and promote collagen and elastin production.

All four mineral ferments (copper, -/iron, -/magnesium, and -/zinc) are used to promote good skin condition providing anti-aging, moisturization, and anti-inflammatory effects.

The ferment itself, even before a mineral is introduced, is also healing, protective and a good antioxidant. It acts as a stabilizer for other compounds, particularly enzymes and minerals. Because of its stabilizing activity and ease of use, it is increasingly utilized in the formulation of skincare products.

“Live yeast-cell derivatives have been shown to stimulate wound healing, but ‘much of what is known about yeast’s effects for skin is theoretical, and concerns yeast’s tissue-repair and protective properties.’”

— truthinaging.com

For more on the importance of certain minerals for skin, please read our article, The Best Ways to Mineralize for Skin’s Radiance and More Youthful Appearance, here.

#####

Endnotes:

1. Energy is stored in plants in form of carbohydrates, including sucrose (i.e., saccharose, a disaccharide) and starch (a polysaccharide).

2. Sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) is member of seven protein families that function in the cellular response to inflammatory, metabolic, and oxidative stressors.

3. “Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide, a type of sugar that is made from a bacteria called Xanthomonas campestris, through a process of fermentation. Xanthomonas campestris infects a wide range of cruciferous plants, such as cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, causing diseases such as black rot and bacterial wilt. product does not contain any viable bacteria, so there is no risk of xanthan gum causing infections.” —medicalnewstoday.com

4. Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) can detect a broad range of physiological pH changes during pathological and synaptic cellular activities.

5. A glycopeptide is an amino acid polymer (a substance that has a molecular structure consisting chiefly or entirely of a large number of similar units bonded together) consisting of one or more residues with sugar molecules covalently attached to some of the side chains.

Sources:

https://www.truthinaging.com/ingredients/biosaccharide-gum-1

Michalun, M. Varinia, and DiNardo, Joseph C.. Skin Care and Cosmetic Ingredients Dictionary. United States, Cengage Learning, 2014.

“Xanthan Gum: Uses, Health Information, and Substitutes.” Medical News Today,www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320272#_noHeaderPrefixedContent. Accessed 19 June 2023.

“Sirtuin 1.” Sirtuin 1 - an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/sirtuin-1. Accessed 19 June 2023.

Kweon, Hae-Jin, and Byung-Chang Suh. “Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs): therapeutic targets for neurological diseases and their regulation.” BMB reports vol. 46,6 (2013): 295-304. doi:10.5483/bmbrep.2013.46.6.121

Péterszegi, G et al. “Studies on skin aging. Preparation and properties of fucose-rich oligo- and polysaccharides. Effect on fibroblast proliferation and survival.” Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie vol. 57,5-6 (2003): 187-94. doi:10.1016/s0753-3322(03)00031-3

DiNardo, Joseph C., and Michalun, M. Varinia. Skin Care and Cosmetic Ingredients Dictionary. United States, Cengage Learning, 2014.

The Traditional Chinese Medicine View on Balancing Heart and Spirit with Mindful Speech Practices

According to traditional Chinese medicine,(1) the Heart, the yin organ of the Fire element, is considered the home of Shen—the higher universal consciousness which descends from ‘heaven' and resides within every person. The Shen regulates emotions, consciousness, and many mental functions.

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Heart and small intestine, Fire’s yin and yang organs, respectively, are connected to the Shen and to our chi (vital energy) and link the Spirit with the body’s physical processes.

We can assess Shen by observing the eyes because Shen is especially projected through them. We can see Shen in eyes that are lively and express love.

We can also assess Shen through the degree of vitality that resonates from the exterior tissues and a facial expression that is calm.

We bring vitality and balance to the Heart through the more obvious methods of cleansing and balancing Fire’s other organs (small intestine, circulatory system and autonomic nervous system), but there are less obvious very important Shen-clarifying practices we can perform that will benefit the Heart.

Heart and our speech are inextricably linked. In traditional Chinese medicine,(1) the Heart is said to flower into the tongue. An internal branch of the Heart channel connects with the tongue, therefore it is responsible for our ability to speak appropriately. This refers to emotion charged speech such as insults that stem from an angry Heart and to speech impediments such as the lisp.

Since speech issues forth from the Heart, we must pay better attention to it by listening to and observing the content and quality of our speech in order to either maintain or reestablish a healthy Heart and Shen.

Since speech is said to issue forth from the Heart, we must pay better attention to it by listening to and observing the content and quality of our speech in order to either maintain or reestablish a healthy Heart and Shen.

When Heart is out-of-balance, we can be sure the Shen is disturbed. This disturbance can potentially lead to insomnia, nightmares, and emotional disorder. We can’t concentrate, our memory is compromised, and we’re irritable and anxious. We are mentally hyperactive.

Excessive thought and worry racing through the mind creates an impoverishing energy to Heart. In severe cases, the yang aspects of the Heart—heat, vital energy and Spirit—flood upward into the head causing fever, headache, irritability, insomnia and mental disturbances. And with all this mental disturbance going on, we tend to lash out at others with our words.

The traditional belief(1) is that balanced Shen gives us the ability to transform, accept change, be malleable, and go with the flow. By doing so, we are at peace and so is our self-expression through speech.

Understanding that our words issue forth from the mind, we can see the condition of our Heart and Shen in the reflection of our spoken words resulting from our thoughts. Our words possess the power to be received as truth and alter life.

We can’t see our Shen but when it and Heart are balanced, we think clearly and rationally, we feel calm and peaceful, and we’re able to cultivate healthy relationships with other people. We speak from the Heart which is honest and true and loving. 

A scattered mind and spirit will produce scattered words and hurtful and/or self-disempowering language.

By heightening our awareness of the words that come out of our mouths, we actually can strengthen the Heart. The scattered mind and its Spirit can be collected and organized by way of mindful speech patterns.

Shen- and Heart-focusing practices include:

• prayer

• meditation

• devotional singing

• mantra recitation (in any language)

• chanting

• affirmations and decrees

• quiet contemplation on uplifting images

• out loud recitation/reading of poetry or sacred texts.

Any of these balancing practices should be done in a mindful and deliberate way. They will not only help calm and clear the mind and elevate our speech, they will help bring balance to all our other organ systems as well.

Well known for calming the Heart and Spirit before an energy healing or acupuncture treatment is the practice of first calming and centering the mind of the patient.

Acupuncture physicians will initiate a treatment on the area of the upper back at the Heart associated acupuncture point.

As ancient as the Inner Classic text, we read:

“All proper needling [and healing] first treats the Spirit.”

In energy medicine sessions, the healing practitioner will always first offer a prayer to heighten spiritual awareness and bring calm to the patient.

Once spirit becomes sufficiently concentrated in the Heart, the mind will stop racing and integrated thought (as opposed to superficial flighty thought) begins. The person receiving the healing becomes more fully present, participatory and receptive. 

By using basic speech awareness practices like the ones listed above along with some dietary discipline(1) we are better able to balance our mental wellness, our Shen and our Heart. We can improve the yin energy of Heart so that our Shen is held in the Heart by a protective barrier of yin essences.

#####

Endnotes:

1. Traditional Chinese medicine references in this article reveal practices and beliefs of antiquity in their historical context.

2. A simple diet with occasional light fasting is wonderful for creating deep, peaceful thinking. Avoiding food habits that scatter the mind or overheat the body will help prevent depletion of yin fluids. Meals with few ingredients, simple and less spicy foods, and refraining from eating in the evenings can encourage healthy sleep and a clear mind during the day.

The following foods are beneficial for Heart and Shen balance according to traditional Chinese medicine(1):

• Oyster shell: excellent for building the yin of the Heart; can be consumed in the form of oyster shell calcium as a nutritional supplement.

• Grains: whole wheat, brown rice, and oats; these grains gently but profoundly calm the mind

• Mushrooms: nearly every form of fungi offer cerebral effects; reishi mushroom is an immune tonic and directly nurtures Heart, soothes the Spirit and calms the mind.

• Silica rich foods: oat straw tea, barley gruel, oat groat tea, cucumber, celery, lettuce; excellent for improving calcium metabolism and strengthening nerve and heart tissue.

• Fruit: mulberries and lemons for calming the mind with mulberries being the stronger of the two. Schisandra berries calm the Spirit and are prescribed in Chinese herbology for insomnia and to add memory recall and concentration.

• Jujube seeds: very widely used remedy in traditional Chinese medicine for calming the Spirit; believed by traditional Chinese medicine to directly nourish the Heart.

• Dill and basil: for a calming effect.

• Chamomile or valerian:  helpful for the nervous person or insomniac until the diet is improved to the extend that herbs are unnecessary; rose hips with these herbs supplies vitamin C for soothing the nerves.

• Animal products like quality cow and goat milk and ghee (clarified butter): to nourish the spirit of the Heart in people who can tolerate these foods.

Sources:

Pitchford, Paul. Healing with Whole Foods. Poland, North Atlantic Books, 2003.

Best Eating Practices for Healthy Heart, Digestion and Balanced Fire Energy

The Fire element’s organs are Heart (a solid and yin organ), Small Intestine (Heart’s hollow counterpart and yang organ), and the circulatory system and autonomic nervous system (including the parasympathetic(1) and sympathetic branches). The Small Intestine transforms food into nutrients and energy and then provides that nourishment for Heart to deliver throughout the body by way of the blood. The relationship between our diet and the balanced function of Fire’s organ’s and thus, prevention of heart disease cannot be overstated.

Summer is the season of abundant variety of produce and it offers us the opportunity to vary our diets more with healthful produce that supports the Heart. Our Summer diets should reflect the bounty of the season.

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Cooling Food Consumption Practices
It may seem illogical as practices during hot Summer, but instead of drinking cold beverages and sitting in icy cold air conditioned spaces, drink hot liquids and take warm showers. These induce sudden sweating and actually cool the body down.

Certain foods that are cooling to the body are fresh salads, sprouts, fruit, cucumber and tofu. Flower and leaf teas like chrysanthemum, mint and chamomile will also help cool the body from within.

Too many cold beverages and too much icy food will cause an inner contraction of the digestive system, holding in sweat and heat, thereby weakening the digestive organs.

Cold food and drink is really best avoided during Summer.

Dispersing hot spices are very beneficial during Summer and though they will initially create warmth they ultimately bring body heat up to the surface to be dispersed. You won’t really feel that heat very much because your body is already well accustomed to mirroring Summer's heat.

Examples of heat dispersing spices include:

• red and green hot peppers

• cayenne pepper

• fresh ginger (not dried)

• horseradish

• black pepper

Don’t be overly liberal with the use of hot spices though because doing so could cause a loss of yang energy resulting in weakness. It can even impact your ability to stay warm in future Metal (Fall) and Water (Winter) seasons.

In Summer, the healthful rule of thumb is to eat light and eat less. Heavy foods, especially on the hotter days of Summer, will cause you to be sluggish.

Such heavy foods include meats, eggs and an excess of nuts, seeds and grains.

A dietetic tenet of traditional Chinese medicine is that of avoiding too many cold and raw foods. A “digestive fire” exists within the digestive system that “cooks” the food you consume.

If we consume too many cold or raw foods, this dampens that fire making the small intestine much less effective at breaking food down into the nutrients needed for nourishing the body.

“Use plenty of brightly colored Summer fruits and vegetables, and enjoy creating beautiful meals—make a dazzling display with the colors of the food, and design a floral arrangement for the table. Cook lightly and regularly add a little spicy, pungent, or even fiery flavor. When sautéing, use high heat for a very short time, and steam or simmer foods as quickly as possible. Use little salt and more water.”

— Paul Pitchford in Healing with Whole Foods

The Fire element relates to bitter flavor as we commonly find in herbs, but green leafy vegetables and most lettuces have some of this bitter quality also. Unsweetened coffee, tea and cacao have a bitter quality, too, and these are helpful when consumed in moderation.

The property of bitter foods is descending and centering.

The bitter flavor of any food “enters” and affects the Heart. There that bitter food has a number of functions:

• The bitter cleanses deposits from the physical heart and associated arteries.

• Bitters cool an overheated Heart. They also help tone up a stagnant Liver which in turn makes more energy available for the Heart.

• Bitter foods sedate and lower yang qualities in the head (an overactive mind) and draw them down and concentratesthem in the Heart so a person may become more centered.

If Your Fire Is Too Strong

If you are an overheated person with a red complexion, full of energy and very busy, talkative, and one who finds it difficult to slow down and relax, you may be out-of-balance with Fire. You have too much yang Fire energy.

Foods that will help to bring you back to balance are cooling juice- and water-rich fruits and vegetables. Citrus fruits, cucumber and melons are good examples of Fire balancing foods.

If Your Fire Is Weak and You Have Too Much Yin
When a person is overworked and denies the body and mind periods of time to slow down and rest, fatigue, weakness and anxiety are the result and these indicate a Heart yin deficiency.

Traditional Chinese medicine says that Heart’s function of pumping blood doesn’t just help keep the physical body in balance, the Heart as source of consciousness and thinking helps keep thought processes and mental activities in balance, too.

When Heart’s yin or yang energy is out-of-balance, symptoms of anxiety, insomnia and restlessness can result.

Often when Fire is not in balance, circulation slows resulting in extreme coldness and a pale face indicating a Heart yang deficiency and a yin energy excess.

During hot Summer, minerals and oils also get sweated out of the body and losing them can cause us to become weak. But certain foods can be utilized to replenish your Fire if you’re feeling weak and fatigued.

If your Fire is weak, a more warming and cooked food diet that includes whole grains like buckwheat, millet, oats, brown rice and rye will help.

Grains also have a helpful bitter aspect which is in their germ and bran. Unfortunately, these are removed in the processing of refined wheat flour and white rice so consume grains with their germ and bran intact.

Spices, too, like cayenne, ginger and curry help add Fire to your blood.

A weak Fire is also often caused by a poorly functioning small intestine (Fire’s yang organs).

The small intestine is responsible for sorting and separating food in the digestive tract and for proper blood formation.

When food is improperly digested it creates damp mucus in the body which may cause obstructed blood flow. It creates an effect where too little yang energy is available to move the blood.

Stagnant blood flow often occurs in people who develop coronary artery disease, inflammation of the heart and angina.

If your small intestine needs a jumpstart, some traditional Chinese medicine practitioners offer an a time honored recipe to help cleanse and tone the small intestine. It involves an approximate two week practice of consuming a daily cup of equal parts simmered brown rice, lentils and sunflower seeds in one and half times the amount of water. This recipe is an excellent heat producer and should benefit the assimilation function of the small intestine.

Years of consuming red meats, animal fats, sugars and starches, without regularly pausing to cleanse the toxins those foods feed the body will clog up blood vessels.

“The greatest cause of all heart trouble is a wrong diet, which causes impure blood and weakens the heart… other causes are lack of exercise and poor circulation. Often palpitations of the heart are due to gas and fermentation in the stomach.

… When so much food is eaten that is robbed of its life-giving properties, and since the real health-giving properties that have refined out of foods are the properties that strengthen our bodies and heart, the heart gets weaker and weaker. ”

— Jethro Kloss in Back to Eden: A Human Interest Story of Health and Restoration to be Found in Herb, Root, and Barkce

Nutrients That Support a Healthy Heart and Balanced Fire Energy
Magnesium very importantly supports calcium to function properly in the heart and nerve tissues. An interesting benefit of magnesium is that it also restrains the “anxiety peptide” in the brain which appears to contribute to anxiety.

You can get the magnesium you need with a healthy leafy green and whole grains based diet.

Magnesium in foods that are healing to and balancing for Heart are virtually depleted when grains are milled or refined so again, consume whole and not overly processed grains.

Green foods are magnesium rich. The mineral magnesium is uniquely positioned at the center or “heart” of every chlorophyll molecule.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that consuming food that is red in color is good for not just your heart and small intestine but also for your brain.

These foods would include carrots, tomato, sweet potato, strawberry, chili, red beans, red pepper, jujube (2), goji berry, dragon fruit, apple, brown sugar, and any other food that is a shade of red.

Do consult your traditional Chinese medicine health practitioner (or alternative health physician) before engaging in practices mentioned in this article.

…

Endnotes:

1. The parasympathetic(a) nervous system is also known in traditional Chinese medicine as the Triple Heater. The Triple Heater is believed to be a body cavity of some kind which has the ability to influence other organs, and overall health, mainly through the free movement of chi, the fundamental energy or life force.

(a) Parasympathetic relates to the part of the automatic nervous system that counterbalances the action of the sympathetic nerves. It consists of nerves arising from the brain and the lower end of the spinal cord and supplying the internal organs, blood vessels, and glands.

(2)  Jujube seeds (Ziziphus jujuba/spinosa) are a widely used Chinese herbal remedy to calm the Spirit and nourish the heart.

Sources:

Haas, Elson M.. Staying Healthy with the Seasons: 21st-Century Edition. United States, Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed, 2012.

Kloss, Jethro. Back to Eden: A Human Interest Story of Health and Restoration to be Found in Herb, Root, and Bark. Bahrain, Back to Eden Books Publishing Company, 2004.

Pitchford, Paul. Healing with Whole Foods. Poland, North Atlantic Books, 2003.

How and Why to Increase Yang Energy Activity During Energetic Summer and the Fire Element

One of the foundational tenets of traditional Chinese medicine is that of adjusting our lifestyle habits to align with the seasons. These lifestyle habits include how we eat, move, and live throughout the year as we experience the changes of each of the five seasons of traditional Chinese medicine. This is a mindful practice and a rhythmic approach to living where we learn to adapt, flow and enjoy life more. We ease into ways of living that work very well in support of body, mind, and soul. This type of rhythmic living helps us avoid stress and its harmful effects and it elevates our well-being.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, energetic Summer which begins May 6 and runs until July 19 every year is the season of the Fire element. Summer is the most yang period of the year—a time of expansion, peak vitality, and outward and upward movement.

At the Summer Solstice is when this Summer yang energy peaks. Yang represents the day while yin represents the night and at the Summer Solstice we mark the longest day and the shortest night of the year. On the Summer Solstice we have the most yang day of the year and the peak of yang Fire energy.

Balance of Yin and Yang
In traditional Chinese medicine, balance is always sought in order to achieve and maintain wellness. The ancient Chinese recognized the duality of our universe and saw that all things were composed of energy and that energy was composed of two complementary yet opposing actions. These two forces are yin and yang and they're interdependent and interconnected.

The ancient Chinese and we today can see that a natural ebb and flow of yin and yang energies is constantly occurring throughout all of life. We must acknowledge and embrace this ebb and flow as part of the cycle of life if we wish to live harmonious lives as part of the natural world. Balancing yin and yang energies is essential for balance of body, mind and spirit.

Summer Is Yang
The five seasons of the year each represent either a yin or yang energy primarily and for Summer, its energy is primarily yang—the energy associated with action, movement and change. Yang is the moving, dynamic, warming aspect within nature and our bodies.

Even if we don’t have background in traditional Chinese medicine, we sense all this, because we feel this expansion of energy in different ways during energetic Summer. The days become longer. We enjoy more sunlight and energy. We feel like engaging in more activities and we find it easier to gain momentum. We even feel more outwardly social and instinctively look for ways to engage with the world.

Both yin and yang principles play an important role in how active we are at any point in the year. There are types of exercise or movement that will best suit each season’s yin or yang expression. 

In Summer, since the Fire energy is very yang and all about action, movement and change, we’ll want to align the movement of our physical bodies with a similar kind of energy and action. Activity and exercise are especially important at this time to keep the pores open and chi flowing smoothly throughout the body. 

“To increase yang, spend more time in active, ambitious pursuits. Cultivate your outer expression, physical strength, firmness and personal interactions. Initiate projects. In your home, use warm colors - yellow-green, yellows, oranges, and reds.”

— Hope Karan Gerecht in Healing Design: Practical Feng Shui for Healthy and Gracious Living

Our bodies’ chi and energy are at their peaks during the season of Fire so we can take advantage of the window of opportunity the season provides for getting projects we were planning all Winter and Spring finally done.

Yang Tissues and Exercise
The body itself has yin and yang tissues. Yang tissues are the ones we are most familiar with—our muscles. It’s no coincidence that Summer yang activities and exercise target the muscles and involve rhythmic repetitive movements. Our Summer exercise should tend to push us a little more, needing to use more force to achieve our health and fitness goals. An aligned fitness goal for Summer would be to build strength or endurance in our muscular tissue.

Activating our yang tissues by exercising will definitely provide a plethora of health benefits, however if we solely focus on yang activities during Summer, this can wear our bodies down and heighten the fight-or-flight response in our nervous systems. A yin practice like walking to balance a gym workout invites us to slow down, be more present in our bodies and relax into the moment.

How to Work with and Benefit from Summer Yang

• Cultivate your yang chi energy by sunbathing, but be sure to use sun protection.

• Avoid prolonged stays in air conditioned cold rooms. This causes chi and blood stagnation.

• Avoid excessive sweating when exercising.

• Get sufficient sleep. You can go to sleep late but by 11 p.m. is best. Get up early. Do not be tempted to sleep too long in the morning. A midday nap is also very beneficial during Summer.

• Augment your regular exercise schedule with a short period of morning exercise when your yang is rising. This practice also nourishes the mind. Do not exercise immediately on rising. First, drink a cup of warm water and then do not too strenuous morning exercises for about 20 to 30 minutes. Qi gong, yoga and tai chi are perfect for this.

Types of Summer Yang Exercise

Exercise every day enough to just break a sweat, but do not overexert and drink a good deal of water when you’re finished.

• Enjoy any sort of outdoor activity.

• Practice strength training, muscle building, core exercises and short high-intensity training(HIIT) sessions.

• Make sure you include cardiovascular/aerobic exercise:

“Cardiovascular fitness goes a long way in maintaining adaptation for the Fire Type. At the least, a brisk walk every day of at least thirty minutes can make a huge impact. If health and age allow for it, jogging or other aerobic exercises should be part of a daily routine. Many of my patients state they don’t have the time to set aside for this type of commitment, to which I reply that they don’t have any choice. Studies have shown that walking for shorter periods twice a day accomplishes the same training effect as one longer session. For the Fire Type especially, caring for the Heart is the first priority.”

— Charles A. Moss, MD in Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance

• The more active practice of yang yoga works on the yang muscles and blood flow while building strength, stamina and flexibility. These types of yoga include power vinyasa (provides rhythm and repetition), ashtanga, and Bikram.

• For the really athletic, there’s high jumping, running, and sprinting.

• Take an evening walk. The mind can become easily distracted in Summer and an evening walk can help nourish the mind with quiet and tranquility not to mention it will help balance your more strenuous activities of the day.

• Do some Summer evening stretching to loosen muscles and movement. This can help promote systemic blood circulation, thereby reducing your cardiac burden and improving your quality of sleep.

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Sources:

Yin and Yang: Unlocking the Power of Harmony. N.p., Xspurts.com.

A TCM Way to be Healthy, Inside and Out. N.p., FriesenPress, 2017.

Moss, Charles A. Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance. United States, North Atlantic Books, 2011.

Gerecht, Hope Karan. HealingDesign: Practical Feng Shui for Healthy and Gracious Living. United States, Journey Editions, 1999.

Beech Tree Bud Extract of Everlasting Youth: How It Helps Mitigate Signs of Aging in the Ski

The powerful extract of the beech tree bud (Fagus sylvatica) found in Ageless La Cure’s firming Eye Serum is created from naturally fallen buds which occur at a precise point in the more than 200-year-old life of the beech tree. The beech tree, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America, is also known as the 'Tree of Everlasting Youth.’ Understanding the botanical aspects of beech assists us to understand why its extracts promote cell renewal and youth. This article primarily focuses on the extract of the beech bud only.

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The beech tree is a member of the Fagaceae family which includes oak and chestnut trees. Embodying strength and elegance, the height of this deciduous tree can exceed 115 feet. It reaches maturity at 60 years and can live up to two and half centuries. The beech tree can continue to grow almost all its long life and is able to prevail very well against all other species.

Beech tree actually shares its longevity genes with you when you use Firming Eye Serum. This is the science of nutrigenomics in action: the interaction of nutrition and genes, especially with regard to the prevention or treatment of disease and degeneration.

Taking this concept one step further, the relatively new understanding of a principle called xenohormesis asserts that certain molecules in plants when shared with the human body can have significant health- and longevity-enhancing effects that could possibly turn out to surpass anything current pharmaceuticals can achieve.

The skin is the largest organ of the body and it absorbs more than 60% of what we put on it. The ingredients of our skincare penetrate the body and join the bloodstream either nourishing or toxifying not just skin but body. It’s common sense that nutrigenomics and xenohormesis also apply to the ‘nutrition’ we topically provide to the skin and that beech tree bud extract has the potential to share its coded energetic, survival and longevity information with your genes. (Read our more exhaustive blog on the topics of nutrigenomics and xenohormesis here.)

The buds of the beech tree are highly energetic. This means they are full of alive vibrational potency. They can produce an abundance of plant material (leaves) as large as a 14-inch stem producing close to a dozen leaves. The buds grow alternately, one at a joint (not in pairs), on the twigs. Each bud is naturally arranged to ensure that every leaf that sprouts from it gets the maximum amount of sunlight.

It is because of this intense energy of growth and strength that its extract increases activity of skin cells.

Beech tree bud extract contains hydroxyproline(1)  that helps build collagen and elastin in the skin. In fact, beech tree buds’ hydroxyproline content is the primary reason for harvesting the buds for use in skincare.

The extract is vitamin-rich and contains powerful plant growth hormones. These hormones assist in active cell turnover and help to reduce wrinkles and fine lines which is why beech tree bud extract was chosen to be a unique ingredient in firming Eye Serum. The extract of beech tree buds improves cellular oxygen consumption and the synthesis of keratinocyte protein which strengthens the architecture of the epidermis.

Beech tree bud extract is found to perform equally as well, if not better than, niacinamide, a form of vitamin B3 and cell repair antioxidant that has the potential to improve an array of skin concerns including acne and hyperpigmentation. This is not to infer that beech tree bud extract contains vitamin B3. It does not but it provides very similar skin repair actions to those of the vitamin.

Beech tree bud extract:

• improves cutaneous moisturization and is especially good for thirsty skin;

• helps prevent wrinkles and fine lines;

• reduces the depth of fine lines;

• revitalizes skin by boosting protein synthesis;

• firms and tones the skin by strengthening the epidermal structure;

• oxygenates the body and skin and fights free radicals critical for health and the natural slowing of aging;

• stimulates cell oxygen consumption increasing oxygen uptake (+71%);(2)

• soothes inflamed skin;

• inhibits the buildup of dead skin cells.

The famed youth-promoting buds are harvested for their intense concentration of polyphenols,(3) amino acids, and other primary metabolites (substances necessary for metabolism) that will enhance the effects of the extract.

The high energy actives, flavonoids(4) and peptides(5) found in the extract, are the key elements responsible for improving the epidermal structure of the skin that results in firmer, younger skin that presents a more even texture.

Beech tree bud extract also, and just as importantly as all of the above, has a large glutathione content. This antioxidant is a major part of the tree’s own defense mechanism. Glutathione is a master antioxidant and an ancient metabolite able to perform modern tasks in the body. (Antioxidants are responsible for fighting free radicals in the body that cause premature aging.) Glutathione is generally produced by the body, however its production does decrease with age. The beech tree’s gift of glutathione can be an important adjunct to your age-mitigating strategy.

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Endnotes:

(1) A metabolite of proline both of which are unique amino acids and comprise approximately one-third of collagen protein in the body.

(2) One beech tree alone can provide enough oxygen for 10 people for one year.

(3) Polyphenols are naturally occurring compounds found largely in the fruits, vegetables, cereals and beverages. They are secondary metabolites (substance necessary for metabolism) of plants and are generally involved in defense against ultraviolet radiation or aggression by pathogens

(4) Phytonutrients (plant chemicals) found in all vegetation.

(5) Naturally occurring biological molecules found in all living organisms and playing a key role in all manner of biological activity.

Sources:

Wohlleben, Peter. Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World. Greystone Books, 2018.

Pandey, Kanti Bhooshan, and Syed Ibrahim Rizvi. “Plant Polyphenols as Dietary Antioxidants in Human Health and Disease.” Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, Landes Bioscience, 2009, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2835915/.

Wu, Guoyao, et al. “Proline and Hydroxyproline Metabolism: Implications for Animal and Human Nutrition.” Amino Acids, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Apr. 2011, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3773366/.

Barefoot Walking and Grounding Methods: How Earth's Electrons Can Help You Can Slow Aging and Elevate Your Health and Well-Bein

Grounding, also known as earthing, is a freely available and accessible way to tap into the highly effective and natural medicine known as Earth’s restorative and incalculable energy. It can help rebalance your body to restore you to greater levels of health and vitality. The best most direct way to get grounded by the Earth is to go barefoot as often as you can. Going barefoot has been shown by many a devotée of the practice to significantly slow the process of aging. It offers a whole host of other remarkable benefits as we’ll discuss throughout this article.

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There’s a reason why most of us kick off our shoes when we get home from work or an outing and it isn’t just to save our carpet: It feels good.

“Research shows that going barefoot strengthens our feet, makes them more flexible and improves body alignment. Why, then, are we buying shoes for infants who can’t yet walk? Wearing high heels that hurt with every step? Spending hundreds of dollars on running and hiking shoes? Some of us are following social conventions or fashion trends. Most of us think we’re protecting our feet and keeping them clean.”

— barefoot walking guru, Dr. L. Daniel Howell in The Barefoot Book: 50 Great Reasons to Kick Off Your Shoes

At the least, wearing most shoes can:

• upset natural weight distribution

• overload joints

• decrease foot flexibility

• reduce shock absorbtion of the arch

• cause bunions and in-grown toenails

But even more than these, our disconnect with nature along and our innate ability to heal caused by our present day modern lifestyle is proving to be a major contributor to overall physiological dysfunction and lack of wellness. But barefoot walking is a simple practice that can help reverse that disconnect.

By barefoot walking, we literally reestablish our connection to our Earth Mother while our body utilizes Earth’s electrons for healing. It has been said that Earth functions as a “global treatment table” when we connect to Earth in this way.

If you prefer not to go barefoot, there are other ways to ground yourself such as sitting, working, or sleeping indoors while you’re connected to earthing devices. These devices bring the Earth's electrons from the ground outside and transfer them through the device into the body.

But going barefoot does so much more than grounding. It not only takes advantage of Earth’s abundance of electrons, it properly and naturally adjusts the body’s posture and internal organs to say nothing of the greater sense of well-being and self-esteem that is achieved simply by being out in nature.

Two hundred thousand neurotransmitters in the soles of the feet send messages about the terrain you are trampling under your feet via neural pathways to the brain. This information assists both body and Earth to work together to heal, protect, strengthen and rejuvenate the body, mind and spirit. The brain literally responds to the sensory feedback received by the soles of the feet and direct physical contact with the vast supply of healing electrons on the surface of the Earth help to supply energy to the body.

An example of earthing’s restorative effects on the body is the one of acclaimed author and expert on Colorado flora, Dr. Bill Weber. On his best days he’d have to walk with either a walker or two walking poles, but he began walking barefoot at age 90 and within months ditched both walker and poles for the freedom of walking on his own two legs doing laps barefoot around his neighborhood. He died March 18, 2020 but he’d made it past 100 years of age.

In Sue Regan Kenney’s delightful book, How To Wear Bare Feet, she recounts her personal story of feeling the ravages of degeneration at just age 55.

Says Kenney:

“I began thinking about how our First Nations people had stayed so healthy. They wore moccasins with no support, slept on hides on the ground, used herbs for medicine, did ceremony and ate food foraged from the forest. Was something in the Earth missing in our holistic approach to wellness? From that place I researched barefooting and learned about earthing, human movement, foot function, anti-aging, footwear dangers, and why I was afraid of falling.”

The intimate account Kenney shares in her book along with Dr. Bill Weber’s story above prove that anyone can get started walking barefoot at any age and enjoy a significant range of natural health and vitality benefits.

Scientific studies are finding that the influx of free electrons absorbed into the body through direct contact with the Earth neutralizes free radicals and thereby reduces acute and chronic inflammation and slows aging, in many cases, actually reversing certain symptoms of aging.

“Throughout history, humans mostly walked barefoot or with footwear made of animal skins. They slept on the ground or on skins. Through direct contact or through perspiration-moistened animal skins used as footwear or sleeping mats, the ground’s abundant free electrons were able to enter the body, which is electrically conductive. Through this mechanism, every part of the body could equilibrate with the electrical potential of the Earth, thereby stabilizing the electrical environment of all organs, tissues, and cells.”

— Gaetan Chevalier et al in Earthing: Health Implications of Reconnecting the Human Body to the Earth's Surface Electrons

Chevalier adds,

“Modern lifestyle has increasingly separated humans from the primordial flow of Earth’s electrons.”

We’ve been increasingly wearing insulating rubber or plastic soled shoes since the 60s and during recent decades, chronic illness, immune disorders, and inflammatory diseases have also increased dramatically so much so that some researchers who cite environmental factors as the cause are beginning to also cite a lack of environment as cause.

Major benefits from grounding have been scientifically found to include:

• pain reduction

• reduction of primary indicators of osteoporosis

• improvement of glucose regulation

• enhanced immune response

• improved heart rate variability (HRV)*

• reduction in tension and overall stress levels

• improved healthy sleep

Our bodies are being constantly bombarded by electrical fields. Many people report becoming chronically ill from the constant insult of these frequencies. Earthing actually reduces such electric fields imposed on the body.

A 2005 study by electrical engineer R. Applewhite:

“… showed that when the body is grounded, its electrical potential becomes equalized with the Earth’s electrical potential through a transfer of electrons from the Earth to the body. This, in turn, prevents the 60 Hz mode from producing an AC electric potential at the surface of the body and from producing perturbations of the electric charges of the molecules inside the body. The study confirms the ‘umbrella’ effect of earthing the body explained by Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman in his lectures on electromagnetism. Feynman said that when the body potential is the same as the Earth’s electric potential (and thus grounded), it becomes an extension of the Earth’s gigantic electric system. The Earth’s potential thus becomes the ‘working agent that cancels, reduces, or pushes away electric fields from the body.”

— Chevalier et al. in Earthing: Health Implications of Reconnecting the Human Body to the Earth's Surface Electrons

Chevalier’s research finds that going barefoot outdoors or getting connected to grounded conductive systems indoors may be a simple but profoundly effective health strategy for dealing with chronic stress, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, inflammation, pain, poor sleep, disturbed HRV,(1) hyper-coagulable blood, cardiovascular disease and more.

In the journal article, The epidemiological Revolution of the 20th Century, by De Flora et al. we read:

“Since the late 20th century, chronic degenerative diseases have overcome infectious disease as the major causes of death in the 21st century, so an increase in human longevity will depend on finding an intervention that inhibits the development of these diseases and slows their progress.”

Grounding ourselves consistently just may be one of the most effective tools in our arsenal to combat degenerative disease.

Go barefoot outdoors as much as you can especially when weather is most cooperative in Spring, Summer and Fall. Let the sensory receptors in your feet help you to feel your happiness and vitality. Take your shoes and socks off. It’s good natural medicine and it’s free.

The simple act of going barefoot has the potential to provide the following advantages to your quality of life:

• more efficient movement of the body

• slowed aging process

• sharpened brain function

• increased physical energy

• improved posture

• Achilles’ heal can be healed

• core muscles strengthen

• chin naturally settles into proper position

• shoulders relax

• better postural alignment can be achieved [both knees should touch each other when you stand up]

• the back strengthens

• the body becomes better able to focus on important functions other than maintain alignment and posture

• reduced inflammation

• improved balance

• reduced stiffness and increased flexibility

• regulated body temperature

• arches in the feet returned to a more youthful height and spring

• lessened, if not eliminated, bunions and calluses (calluses come from the wearing of shoes)

• eliminated athlete’s foot or smelly feet

• improved dental bite

• reversed vaginal atrophy

• decreased allergies

• improved digestion

• more balanced body weight

• increased physical strength and muscle definition

• strengthened gait and more even stride (Many people tend to shorten their steps as they grow older for fear of falling or for other reasons.)

• improved reaction time (reflexes)

• relaxation into a more natural state of being

The skin on the soles of the feet adjusts to the barefoot environment quickly. There are no real side-effects to going barefoot.

In summary, the benefits of barefoot walking come from two primary sources:

• the electrons when walking on bare earth and

• simply from allowing your feet to walk free wherever you walk (so barefoot walking is good to do even on pavement).

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Endnotes:

(1) the physiological phenomenon of variation in the time interval between heartbeats; reduced HRV has been shown to be a predictor of mortality after myocardial infarction, for example; a measurement of the heart's response to autonomic nervous system regulation.

Sources:

Howell, L. Daniel. The Barefoot Book: 50 Great Reasons to Kick Off Your Shoes. Hunter House, 2010.

Sandler, Michael, and Jessica Lee. Barefoot Walking: Free Your Feet to Minimize Impact, Maximize Efficiency, and Discover the Pleasure of Getting in Touch with the Earth. Three Rivers Press, 2013.

Chevalier, Gaétan, et al. “Earthing: Health Implications of Reconnecting the Human Body to the Earth's Surface Electrons.” Journal of Environmental and Public Health, Hindawi Publishing Corporation, 2012, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3265077/.

de Flora S, Quaglia A, Bennicelli C, Vercelli M. The epidemiological revolution of the 20th century. FASEB Journal. 2005;19(8):892–897.

Applewhite R. The effectiveness of a conductive patch and a conductive bed pad in reducing induced human body voltage via the application of earth ground. European Biology and Bioelectromagnetics. 2005;1:23–40

Feynman R, Leighton R, Sands M. The Feynman Lectures on Physics. II. Boston, Mass, USA: Addison-Wesley; 1963.

Regan Kenney, Sue. How to Wear Bare Feet. CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2017.

Stress and Liver Chi Stagnation: What It Is and How to Bring the Flow of Chi Energy Back Into Balance

Liver chi stagnation is a syndrome(1) of the buildup of emotional pressure. It manifests outwardly not just through emotional expression but via physical symptoms as well. Traditional Chinese medicine understands liver chi stagnation in terms of vital energy.

What is vitally important is that we become aware of stress in our lives and learn ways to manage and prevent it otherwise this syndrome can deteriorate into still other syndromes and finally degenerate into chronic illnesses.

The quantum energetic Wood element line of skincare by PHYTO5 is formulated to support your vital energy flow and the most concentrated effect can be found in Wood Phyt’Ether serum for skin, body, scalp and emotions.

In a previous blog entitled, “How the Liver is Directly Involved in Energy Flow, Emotional Balance and Life Planning According to Traditional Chinese Medicine,” we said:

“In traditional Chinese medicine one of the principal roles of the liver, the organ associated with the Wood element and energetic Spring, is to help chi (vital energy) and emotions flow smoothly throughout body and mind. Its physiological function is to dynamically bring smoothness to the flow of chi. If it doesn’t, liver stagnates causing mental, emotional and physical problems.”

And we further explained:

“Liver chi stagnation may also lead to overstimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, elevated cortisol levels and higher stress levels, and these, in turn, compromise the immune system.”

There are many types of stress. In addition to heart pounding, shallow breathing, forehead sweating stress, sinking into more volatile emotional and darkly depressive states are also forms of stress equated with liver chi stagnation.

“To Chinese medicine, these states into which people get themselves were described over 3,000 years ago. We have just invented new ways to reach them.”

— Jonathan Nigel Clogstoun-Willmott in Qi Stagnation Signs of Stress: Ancient Chinese Secrets–The Way to Master Stress

In the body, stagnant chi energy for many people though not all, causes a sensation of fullness—a feeling of swelling, distention, stuffiness and being blocked up.

As the pressure of stress builds up, the signs of liver chi stagnation may include a number of the following physical and corresponding emotional symptoms:

• The Adam’s apple seems to want to push up into the mouth. You have the urge to swallow. The throat tightens and your voice feels strangled. Emotionally speaking this means you feel stuck, challenged to express yourself both generally and creatively. You feel challenged to handle conflicts in a positive way.

• Your bladder feels full accompanied by a sudden urge to urinate. The emotion is that of feeling ‘pissed off.’ The rectum tightens creating the urge to pass a stool. You feel damn angry. You lash out.

• For women, the breasts feel swollen similar to how they feel pre-menses. The woman cannot offer her innate nurturing compassion to others.

• Breathing feels tight and more labored. Your nose may feel narrower on one or both sides. Emotionally, you feel claustrophobic. You want to get away, run away. You’ve lost your confidence.

• The ears feel blocked as if you are in a fast ascending elevator. The pressure of stress is so severe you will not or cannot hear truth. In denial, you refuse to hear what you need to hear.

• Your eyes feel larger and you need to blink more. This also translates into a lack of clear vision or purpose in life. You “cannot see the forest for the trees.”

• The forehead feels pressured and squeezed as if you’re trying to force something from it. Your third eye chakra is blocked. You’re stuck in your head and your calculating, rationalizing ego mind.

• Your intestines feel tight and you get cramping. And as the intestines are located in both the sacral and solar plexus emotional regions of the body, you feel angry, frustrated, irritable. You may even experience mood swings and feel depressed and negative. Your creativity is blocked.

• The heart pounds as if it’s too large. You feel constricted, unable to make decisions. You can’t give love or receive it. The emotion of gripping fear or panic ensues. You feel stuck. You want to flee, to get away. 

• Your jaws stiffen, your shoulders tighten and your limbs feel rigid. Your hands are either too hot or too cold. This also translates into an attitude of inflexibility. It’s “your way or the highway” and you leave no room to learn something new.

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One way to begin to resolve these stresses before they evolve into something bigger is to tackle what is obvious and more tangible through the simple vehicles like 1) breathing, 2) eating, 3) drinking, 4) exercising, and 5) slowing down. Take care of yourself on this base level and the benefits you derive will tend to cascade into the less visible emotional and energetic levels.

Breathing

In our previous blog entitled, “Six Breaths a Minute to Slow Aging and Its Causes,” we discuss a very simple breathing technique anyone can do to live better and in greater health and ultimately reduce the body’s negative response to stress. (Premature aging is often caused by the ill effects of stress when we are unprepared to respond resiliently to it.) Right breathing, in particular, delivers much required nourishing oxygen to all parts of the body including the Wood element’s organ, the liver. 

If you’re really intrigued with learning different breathing techniques, look into the pranayama techniques of yoga.

Eating and Drinking

Green is the 5-element color for the Spring energetic season, the Wood element and the color of plants that begin to sprout in Spring. It's also the color of the food we should consume during the season.

Consuming green foods, especially during energetic Spring, will support your vital energy flow and not just liver but also gall bladder balance.

Green produce, especially when fresh, is imbued with solar energy and light. When you eat green whether it’s spinach, broccoli, green apples, or kiwi, you’re actually also consuming the light they absorbed while growing to energize the body and stimulate your vital energy flow. 

Drink green juices made of leafy greens, cucumber and a bit of green apple. Simply by drinking no more than one ounce of wheatgrass juice, you’ll derive enormous cleansing and balancing health benefits.

Many believe that one green smoothie a day will significantly improve your health. The entire smoothie doesn’t have to be made from green ingredients to be a green smoothie. Just add chlorophyll-rich foods to your smoothies like barley grass, chlorella, spirulina, blue green algae, ceremonial grade matcha green tea, parsley, kale or spinach.

Eat green bitters like rye, romaine, asparagus, endive and dandelion greens. They improve digestion, help to alleviate springtime allergies and balance the liver.

Drink dandelion tea. It’s the celebrated liver cleanse tea. Wash the dandelions, snip off the flowers, immerse in hot water and steep for 15 minutes. Or drink hot mint tea to soothe the liver's chi energy.

Slow down with conscious breathing such as the “six breaths a minute” technique mentioned above immediately helps us to slow down and relax the body so that vital energy may flow more freely.

Slowing down doesn’t mean kicking back on the couch and watching television as your only means of relaxation. The Japanese practice called shinrin-yoku or forest bathing can be an exceptionally beneficial practice for melting the effects of stress away, almost immediately.

Surrounding yourself with negative ions which naturally occur in nature will also uplift mind, emotions, body and spirit. For negative ion sources and how to enjoy them, read our viral blog entitled, “8 Ways to Expose Yourself to Negative Ions,” here.(2)

Essentially, participating in the more yin energy oriented activities in nature such as walking meditation, sitting on a park bench and taking in the sights around you, sunbathing or enjoying the feeling of a breeze as it blows across your skin and body are simple exercises you can take pleasure in to reduce an adverse response to stress and support your liver chi.

Finally, by ensuring the routine of your Circadian Rhythm or Cycle—the natural, internal process that regulates the sleep–wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours—you will support the systems, fluids and organs of your body, including the liver and vital energy, to function at their best.

Shut down your computer and stop consulting your smartphone at least three hours before you go to sleep. Establish a routine of going to bed and waking up at roughly the same times every day. If you have trouble getting to sleep or sleeping through the night, it is possible your body is deficient in melatonin and you need to reestablish a healthy Circadian Rhythm.

…

Endnotes:

1. A syndrome is defined as a group of symptoms which consistently occur together. 

…

Sources:

Clogstoun-Willmott, Jonathan Nigel. Qi Stagnation - Signs of Stress: Putting Chinese Medicine Into English this Book Explains Stress from Its Earliest Appearance Right Through to Severe. United Kingdom, Frame of Mind Publishing, 2013.

Six Breaths a Minute to Slow Aging and Its Cause

In the progression of aging, many of our bodies’ systems become starved of nutrients and oxygen. As a result, blockages occur in blood vessels and nerve fibers in the form of plaque, inflammation and compression that frequently tend to lead to slowly failing tissues and organs. One ultra simple technique to deliver much required oxygen to all parts of the body is through our manner of breathing.

Most of us tend to breathe shallowly and quickly. This is a learned or conditioned behavior arising from repeated situations that present stress in our lives. This is very understandable. It has happened to almost all of us.

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Many of us may be well acquainted with pranayama, the form of yoga devoted to the manner and practice of breath. Pranayama asanas (techniques) involve many forms of breathing configurations and methods and can be extremely valuable as a practice in contributing to our levels of youth, vitality and well-being. 

At the same time, we can pare down to the very core essence of the breath. After all, there is great truth in simplicity!

Just the mere act of self-regulating by slowing our number of breaths per minute can create what Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School has coined as the relaxation response.

“The Relaxation Response is a helpful way to turn off fight or flight response and bring the body back to pre-stress levels. Dr. Benson describes the Relaxation Response as a physical state of deep relaxation which engages the other part of our nervous system—the parasympathetic nervous system. ”

— Marilyn Mitchell, MD, Psychology Today

In this vein, authors Richard Brown and Patricia Gerbarg call this form of breathing “coherent breathing.” They say:

“‘Coherent breathing’ is a simple way to increase heart-rate variability [HRV] and balance the stress-response systems.”

Twelve to eighteen breaths per minute seems to be the average unregulated rate of breathing for most adults. Scientists have tested people at a whole range of possible breathing rates and concluded that the ideal breath rate is somewhere between three and a half and six breaths per minute. At this rate, the electrical rhythms of the heart, lungs and brain synchronize with each other coalescing in a kind of synergy that delivers expanded levels of vitality.

This self-regulated, slowed, deliberate manner of breathing is actually a concept known for many centuries by spiritual adepts. When Zen Buddhist monks, for example, enter into zazen (deep meditation), they breathe at six breaths per minute.

Very tall people will want to breathe on the low end of the scale–close to three and a half breaths per minute while children under ten years of age will optimally breathe at the rate of six to ten breaths per minute. An easy rule of thumb to accomplish six breaths a minute is to do five-second inhales and five-second exhales. Each five-second increment multiplied times six equals 60 seconds. 

Dan Brulé, author of Just Breathe: Mastering Breathwork for Success in Life, Love, Business, and Beyond says,

“Studies show measurable benefits with just five minutes of paced breathing at a rate of six breaths per minute, three times per day. You can reduce heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol levels (that’s the stress hormone!) by up to 20%.”

HeartMath Institute shares valuable information about a whole variety of self-regulating techniques for physical, mental and spiritual vitality including the “six breaths a minute” technique sharing that,

“… studies have shown increases in parasympathetic activity (vagal tone),(1) reductions in cortisol and increases in DHEA,(2) decreases in blood pressure and stress measures in hypertensive populations, reduced health-care costs and significant improvements in the functional capacity of patients with congestive heart failure.”

It is important to note that the DHEA increase mentioned in the previous paragraph is known to be responsible for the prevention of aging, improvement of sexual function, enhancement of athletic performance, and the treatment of osteoporosis.

HearthMath Institute counsels us to look at this kind of breathing as heart-focused even though we breath with our lungs and diaphragm. They say,

“Heart-focused breathing is about directing your attention to the heart area and breathing a little more deeply than normal. As you breathe in, imagine you are doing so through your heart, and, as you breathe out, imagine it is through your heart. (In the beginning, placing your hand over your heart as you breathe can help you in directing your focus to your heart.)”

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“That breathing is essential for survival is common knowledge but proper breathing is a highly important key to mental and physical health. ”

— Vijai P. Sharma, Ph. D., Mind Publications 

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(1) Vagal tone is an internal biological process referring to the activity of the vagus nerve (the tenth cranial nerve), which originates in the medulla oblongata of the brainstem. The vagus nerve serves as the key component of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system, which homeostatically regulates the resting state of the majority of the body's internal organ systems that operate on a largely subconscious level, such as the heart, lungs, eyes, glands and digestive tract.

(2) DHEA (dihydroepiandrosterone) is a naturally occurring weak androgenic steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands with benefits such as the prevention of aging, the improvement of sexual function, the enhancement of athletic performance, and the treatment of osteoporosis.

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Sources:

http://naturalsociety.com/breathing-better-for-anti-aging-disease-fighting-happiness/#ixzz4na4qj9pJ 

Mitchell, Marilyn, MD. "Dr. Herbert Benson's Relaxation Response: Learn to Counteract the Physiological Effects of Stress." Psychology Today 29 Mar. 2013: Web. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/heart-and-soul-healing/201303/dr-herbert-benson-s-relaxation-response>.

Brown, Richard P., and Patricia L. Gerbarg. The Healing Power of the Breath: Simple Techniques to Reduce Stress and Anxiety, Enhance Concentration, and Balance Your Emotions. Boston, MA: Shambhala, 2012. Print.

McCraty, Rollin. Science of the Heart: Exploring the Role of the Heart in Human Performance. Boulder Creek (CA): HeartMath, 2001. Print.

The Reparative and Age-Mitigating Benefits of Marine Algae Skin Care Products

Marine algae skin care products can be high value anti-age skincare solutions. This is because marine algae nourishes, detoxifies, protects and lends its life-extension properties to skin. It’s why PHYTO5 formulates various types of algae into a number of our natural skincare products.

PHYTO5’s Wood element Skin Toner is a good example of a high value marine algae skin care product. (Wood element skin Toner helps lighten age spots while energizing skin.)

The brown algae in Wood Skin Toner is Laminaria digitata extract. Brown algae are most often used for masks, creams, shampoos, lotions or toners. It’s an extract rich in trace minerals, proteins, vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids. This seaweed mineralizes, revitalizes and moisturizes skin. It also firms and tones skin working to prevent wrinkles and fine lines.

Another type of brown algae is Fucus vesiculosus, commonly known as bladderwrack, is formulated in Algoderm base Mask. The brown algae powder reduces wrinkle depth, corrects small skin imperfections, and improves skin’s texture. Fucus vesiculosus helps stabilize moisture in skin drawing it to the surface from deep within the skin's layers.

Fucus vesiculous is anti-age antioxidant rich and works to defend skin’s surface from harmful effects of airborne pollutants. The algae is mineral rich and composed of a full array of essential amino acids. This helps facilitate the movement of water through skin’s uppermost layers.

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Marine algae skin care products combat radiation and its damaging effects.

Skin is constantly exposed to ultraviolet radiation and other environmental aggressors and toxins. These stressors often lead to cell membrane and DNA damage. They deactivate enzymatic action while they encourage a host of acute and chronic disorders.

Bioactive compounds in marine algae protect skin from ultraviolet radiation.

“Microalgae are useful to protect the population from the damage caused by UVA, UVB, UVC, and UV-vis radiation with high risks such as outdoor works, high-grade burns, skin cancer, etc.”

— Rafael G. Araújo et al in Effects of UV and UV-vis Irradiation on the Production of Microalgae and Macroalgae

Marine algae offers properties for skin you might not get from your diet.

It’s challenging to consume a perfect diet replete with every nutrient the body needs. And so skin often suffers because it doesn’t have the raw materials it needs to remain beautiful, radiant and youthful.

“The information available on the protective effects of microalgae on human skin suggests that they can be implemented in the dermatological field as cosmetics and sunscreens since some of the main advantages are that they stimulate and improve blood circulation, revitalize and firm the skin, they are toning, they are rebalancing, detoxifying, and naturally moisturizing.”

— Rafael G. Araújo et al in Effects of UV and UV-vis Irradiation on the Production of Microalgae and Macroalgae

Marine algae skin care products at their core benefit from the amazing action of the single-celled bioforms of algae.

Algae and micro-algae are simple, nonflowering aquatic plants including seaweeds and many single-celled bioforms.

These organisms have had to develop strategies and mechanisms to defend themselves against the challenges of their environment. This natural and never-ending quest for survival has forced them to produce beneficial secondary metabolites.

Secondary metabolites in marine algae zero in on defeating a number of challenges including:

• solar radiation

• predators

• having to compete with other plants for resources

• the innate urge to establish themselves as well rooted non-displaceable residents of their environment.

In our blog on nutrigenomics, xenohormesis and longevity codes we get from plants, we discussed exactly these concepts. Plants like algae found in marine algae skin care products work to pass their survival and longevity codes on to you. You can consume them through the mouth or through the skin. This is the primary unhailed benefit of consuming algae and using it in marine algae skin care products.

Marine algae skin care products benefit from the algae’s very diverse composition and functions.

Algae brims with vitamins and minerals like magnesium and zinc. But highly potent antioxidative enzymes like beta-carotene(1) and lutein(2) give marine algae its power.

Though both are known for protecting eyesight, they boost algae’s ability to improve skin’s hydration and elasticity.

Marine algae offers many distinct phenolic antioxidative substances all possessing a wide scope of important physiological properties.

And because algae have been naturally exposed to oxidative stresses as mentioned above, they’ve adapted by developing several bioactive compounds extremely useful in marine algae skin care products.

Seaweeds contain many bioactives as recent scientific studies have proven. These biologically active compounds include:

• polysaccharides(3)

• proteins and peptides(4)

• phenolic compounds and polyphenols(5) and

• phlorotannins (6), pigments and amino acids.

Without adequate proteins, for example, aging is accelerated. It shows up in the face more quickly than anywhere else in the body.

But the amino acids in marine algae fill and maintain skin cell membranes helping achieve a more youthful appearance through these actions:

• helping prevent rough skin texture

• lessening wrinkles

• toning up flaccidity of skin.

While algae offer calming properties to human health, they are hostile to:

• substances that are allergenic

• fatty plaque in arteries

• microbes

• blood clotting and

• carcinogens.

Marine algae skin care products are composed of algae of several colors.

Not all marine algae are green.

Brown and a number of red algae, along with green and blue green algae, are all rich in vitamins, minerals, amino acids, sugars, lipids and other bioactive compounds. Brown algae demonstrate eight interconnected phenol rings (phlorotannins[6]) that trap electrons to search for and neutralize age-causing free radicals.

Japanese brown algae, Undaria pinnatifida, or wakame, is a principle ingredient in PHYTO5’s Face Exfoliation product.

This Japanese brown algae is rich in fiber, nutrients, minerals and vitamins. It boasts a calcium content ten times that of milk. It intensely nourishes, revitalizes and restores radiance to skin.

We formulate wakame algae in Ageless Perfection Cream. This Japanese brown algae and other ingredients work to reduce and eliminate brown spots associated with aging or sun damaged skin. Perfection Cream works to inhibit melanin production that causes new spots to form.

An active ingredient in wakame called coben decreases and regulates the production of melanin in skin leading to hyperpigmentation (dark spots).

The high mineral content of marine algae is incredibly important for skin.

Marina algae minerals help create an epidermal barrier that protects skin from environmental aggressions.

They’re also instrumental in preventing and soothing inflammation of the skin. This is important for people who suffer from psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, hyperpigmentation, acne, wrinkles and even hair loss.

Marine algae also contain starch, vitamin B, iron, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper and calcium. All provides important skin firming and moisturizing benefits.

Marine algae skin care products are all around skin protective and restorative.

Marine algae skin care products provide a strengthening effect for skin making it more resistant to abrasions.

Some algae like aphanizomenon flos aquae or spirulina, when applied directly to skin as a paste constituted with a bit of water, hasten skin healing. Use it for rashes and bug bite reactions.

Marine algae skin care products provide a myriad of skin benefits:

• anti-age

• skin texture conditioning

• hydration

• nourishment

• detoxification

• mineral replenishment(7)

• reduction of puffiness

• protection against solar radiation

• pore refining

• lessening of fine lines

• blemish prevention

• skin damage repair

• collagen repair

• treatment of seborrhea

• anti-inflammatory action

• hair conditioning.

Marine algae skin care products generously share the benefits of algae without discrimination to any skin type.  This makes marine algae skin care products perfect for natural and sustainable skin treatment aiming to truly nourish skin and mitigate the effects of aging.

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Endnotes:

(1) Beta-carotene is a plant pigment that is an isomer of carotene, important in the diet as a precursor of vitamin A. (An isomer is each of two or more compounds with the same formula but a different arrangement of atoms in the molecule and different properties.)

(2) Known as the “eye vitamin,” the term lutein comes from the Latin luteus meaning yellow, lutein is a xanthophyll (an oxygen containing yellow carotenoid plant) and one of 600 known naturally occurring carotenoids (any of a class of mainly yellow, orange, or red fat-soluble pigments, including carotene, which give color to plant parts such as ripe tomatoes and autumn leaves). Lutein is synthesized only by plants, and like other xanthophylls is found in high quantities in green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale and yellow carrots.

(3) Polysaccharides are carbohydrate molecules with the ability to mimic the natural carbohydrate fraction found in the top layer of skin. They replenish skin and help skin to naturally hydrate and retain water. They are also vital for skin repair and skin renewal.

(4) Peptides work to rebuild and repair damaged cells and signal skin to produce collagen thereby slowing the aging process.

(5) “Phenolic compounds constitute a group of secondary metabolites which have important functions in plants. Besides the beneficial effects on the plant host, phenolic metabolites (polyphenols) exhibit a series of biological properties that influence the human in a health-promoting manner. Evidence suggests that people can benefit from plant phenolics obtained either by the diet or through skin application, because they can alleviate symptoms and inhibit the development of various skin disorders. Due to their natural origin and low toxicity, phenolic compounds are a promising tool in eliminating the causes and effects of skin aging, skin diseases, and skin damage, including wounds and burns.” —Magdalena Działo et al in The Potential of Plant Phenolics in Prevention and Therapy of Skin Disorders

(6) “Research on seaweeds provides a continual discovery of natural bioactive compounds. The review presents new information on studies of the potential and specific antiviral action of phlorotannin and their derivatives from marine brown algae. Phlorotannin is a polyphenolic derivative and a secondary metabolite from marine brown algae which exhibits a high quality of biological properties. Phlorotannin has a variety of biological activities that include antioxidant, anticancer, antiviral, anti-diabetic, anti-allergic, antibacterial, antihypertensive and immune modulating activities. These phlorotannin properties were revealed by various biochemical and cell-based assays in vitro. This distinctive polyphenol from the marine brown algae may be a potential pharmaceutical and nutraceutical compound.” —V. Maheswari et al in Phlorotannin and its Derivatives, a Potential Antiviral Molecule from Brown Seaweeds, an Overview

(7) Though all algae are mineral rich, the composition of minerals depends upon the mineral composition of the seabed source from which the algae is harvested.

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Sources:

Araújo, Rafael G et al. “Effects of UV and UV-vis Irradiation on the Production of Microalgae and Macroalgae: New Alternatives to Produce Photobioprotectors and Biomedical Compounds.” Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 27,16 5334. 22 Aug. 2022, doi:10.3390/molecules27165334

Jorge Miguel, Goncalo Paxe. Natural Skin Care Tips. Germany, epubli, 2020.

Handbook of Cosmetic Science and Technology. United Kingdom, CRC Press, 2014.

Balasundram, N., Sundry, K., and Samman, S. (2006) Phenolic compounds in plants and agroindustrial by-products: Antioxidant activity, occurrence, and potential uses. Food Chemistry, 99, 191-203. Beauchamp, C., and Fridovich, I. (1971).

Microalgae Biotechnology for Food, Health and High Value Products. Germany, Springer Nature Singapore, 2020.

Działo M, Mierziak J, Korzun U, Preisner M, Szopa J, Kulma A. The Potential of Plant Phenolics in Prevention and Therapy of Skin Disorders. Int J Mol Sci. 2016 Feb 18;17(2):160. doi: 10.3390/ijms17020160. PMID: 26901191; PMCID: PMC4783894.

Algae Materials: Applications Benefitting Health. United States, Elsevier Science, 2023.

Energetic Winter and Transcending the Emotion of Fear: The Kidneys are the Root of Life, Regeneration and Vitalit

The energetic Winter season is associated with the element of Water according to traditional Chinese medicine, and Water’s associated organs are the yin kidneys and the yang bladder. 

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In traditional Chinese medicine, the kidneys are where our core vital energy is located so when kidney is strong and in balance, we promote regeneration of the body, youth, vibrancy and vitality. We could say that the kidneys contain our blueprint for health. They are considered to be the body’s most important receptacle of essential energy, known in traditional Chinese medicine as the “Root of Life.” The kidneys are also the root of all yin and yang energy in the body.

Consider how important the kidneys’ function is by the following:

• They filter waste metabolites from the blood.

• They control sexual and reproductive functions.

• With the large intestine, they control the balance of fluids in the body.

• They regulate the pH balance (acidity/alkalinity) of the body by either retaining or filtering out certain minerals.

• They control the growth and development of the skeletal system and nourish the bone marrow.

Kidney chi is approximate terminology for the functional combination of kidney energy. It is almost never in excess but it is frequently deficient. 

A good lifestyle helps ensure good kidney health.

Simply do all the things you would think are good for you and refrain from the things you know are not:

• Keep hydrated.

• Eat healthily, especially fresh organic fruits and vegetables; aside from their nutritional content, they tend to have a high water content beneficial for the kidneys and entire body.

• Get an appropriate amount of exercise that is enjoyable to you.

• Get friendly flora into your intestinal system by eating naturally fermented foods.

• Drink green juices and smoothies.

• Detox in epsom salt baths to help detoxify the kidneys.

• Moderate your use of over-the-counter drugs.

• Refrain from smoking.

• Don’t overdo sugar, salt and fat.

• Moderate your alcohol consumption.

Physical stressors compromise the Water energy and lead to imbalance. This can then exacerbate the fears and mistrust that lie under the calm waters of the well adapted Water Type person. Do not physically overextend yourself through excess of exercise, sleep, sports, or work.

Causes of kidney deficiency may include:

• overwork over a long period of time

• too much brain work

• a long vitality-draining illness

• overindulgence in sexual activity

• acute fever

• prolonged hemorrhage

• overconsumption of drugs

“During the winter months all things in nature wither, hide, return home, and enter a resting period, just as lakes and rivers freeze and snow falls. This is a time when yin dominates yang. Therefore one should refrain from overusing the yang energy. Retire early and get up with the sunrise, which is later in Winter. Desires and mental activity should be kept quiet and subdued. Sexual desires especially should be contained, as if keeping a happy secret. Stay warm, avoid the cold, and keep the pores closed. Avoid sweating. The philosophy of the Winter season is one of conservation and storage. Without such practice the result will be injury to the kidney energy…”

— The Neijing Suwen

The Spirit Quality of Water
Water’s spirit quality is known in traditional Chinese medicine as zhi. It may be expressed as the mental abilities of will and intent including the concepts of will power, ambition, and self-actualization.

Zhi, the energy of will, purpose and destiny, is the will we tap into in order to survive ordeals, persevere through challenges and overcome obstacles. With zhi we utilize our will to overcome our greatest fears, to transform ourselves and to create healing. It assists us to persist in life against all odds.

The Water element is considered the root of our constitutional energy. It correlates with having adequate energetic reserves bringing us the potency to overcome obstacles. Strength, determination and persistence arise and thrive in the Water element.

The Water element requires quiet and stillness to flourish. In traditional Chinese medicine, the kidney energy is considered the most interior and yin with the greatest power and potential for change. Tapping into that energy gives the courage to try, even when the outcome is unknowable. 

Emotions of the Water Element and Kidneys
Fear is the primary emotion associated with the Water element and the energetic Winter season which runs from November 8 to January 7 every year. 

While fear is the negative emotion of Water, will power is the positive emotion of the kidneys.

The kidneys control our short-term memory and provide us the capacity for strength and industriousness.

When the kidney energy is strong, we’re able to work hard and diligently for long periods of time. We have the will power to live life with focus and a good sense of direction.

When kidney energy is weak, we lack strength and endurance. We become susceptible to fear and anxiety.

The Water element stores the memory of who we are and the potential of who we can become. All of our accumulated experiences are stored in the Water element and therefore enhance our survival, adaptation and balance.

“In a sense, this element contains stories of survival and triumph passed down through the generations that can be used to ensure our own adaptive powers.

With any chronic condition, loss of the memory of wellness complicates recovery. Deep in the pool of the Water energy are the renewal and revitalization needed to recover wellness. Deep within the brain lies potential for change, knowledge, and wisdom.”

— Charles A. Moss, MD

The Water element corresponds to determination, energetic reserves, faith and trust.

On a physical level, it’s important to note that having a strong sense of faith affects regulation of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol release is necessary but left unregulated, it directly and negatively impacts our health and even our weight.

By connecting to our zhi, the power of the kidney energy and the root of life, we reconnect to the spirit of life and are better able to restore our enthusiasm, confidence, and sense of direction in life. Connecting with the power of the kidney energy and our zhi may also assist us to recover from trauma or medical challenges.

Spirit storehouse that kidney is, it provides us with a reservoir of energy we can tap into to regain self-assurance, trust, and faith in surviving our challenges in life.

For zhi to flourish, we must have a strong trust and faith in the process of life, in ourselves and in other people. When we are balanced in the energy of the Water element, our zhi assists us to overcome abnormal fears.

Some fear, as we know, is necessary to reinforce our survival instinct. It simply must be used wisely and in balance with heightened awareness but not hypervigilance, otherwise that hypervigilance will lead to imbalance.

If you feel you lack faith and trust, search your daily experiences to see how often the mistrust and fear you have felt were actually unjustified. We can all recall a times when we were fearful about something only to find out afterwards that there was nothing to be afraid about after all. Coming to this realization will help rebuild your faith and trust. This simple practice will prove especially valuable for when the next situation arises.

We can also dispel doubts and fears through meditation, prayer, and practicing self-awareness. In meditation, conjure a connection to your deep reserves and potential of the Water energy. Doing so can reinforce the faith you need to overcome obstacles and trust that you’ll not only survive but flourish in life just as Water does.

Another way to strengthen your faith and trust is by accepting reassurance from others. It can help to neutralize the fear-based experience and will strongly encourage all the positive attributes of the Water element within you. 

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Endnotes:

This blog was originally published November 21, 2017 but has been expanded here for freshness and comprehensiveness.

Sources:

Clogstoun-Willmott, Jonathan. Western Astrology and Chinese Medicine. Aquarian, 1985.

Ni, Maoshing. The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine: a New Translation of the Neijing Suwen with Commentary. Shambhala, 1995.

Moss, Charles A. Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress Resistance. United States, North Atlantic Books, 2010.

The Earth Element and Spleen Digestive Function: A Balanced Spleen Is Vital to Digestion, Nourishment, Mental Function and Vitality

In traditional Chinese medicine, the between seasons period of Earth is the season of balance, nourishment, nurturing and grounding. It corresponds to the stomach and spleen digestive function and energy. The spleen harvests nutrients from foods.

There are four 18-day periods in the year that occur between energetic seasons according to traditional Chinese medicine. The time period between October 21 and November 7 is the last of the year. The element of the five elements of traditional Chinese medicine associated with this season is Earth.

The spleen is the yin organ of the pair of organs associated with the Earth element and the Earth energetic season. The yang organ of Earth is the stomach.
 
What is the spleen and what is spleen digestive function?

“Among human solid organs, the spleen seems to be an orphan. With most other organs, such as the brain, heart, and kidney, much has been written on their history, anatomy, function and surgical treatment… Why has the spleen lagged behind other organs in published works? In the popular mind, many people are unaware that they even have a spleen. Still others do not know where in the body it is located. Almost no one knows what it does.”

— Leon Morgenstern, UCLA School of Medicine, California

The spleen contributes to the homeostasis of the body. It helps keep harmful microorganisms and unhealthy abnormal worn out and misshapen red blood cells out of the bloodstream. The spleen also makes lymphocytes(1) and stores blood cells. It’s the principle organ defining the shape of the red blood cells circulating in the bloodstream. 

Good spleen digestive function is key to the body’s immune system. 

Traditional Chinese medicine tells us the spleen is source of chi (vital energy) and blood. The spleen is responsible for the intake, processing, sorting and distribution of nutrients from food. Nutrients are then transported upwards by the spleen to the lungs. There both heart and lungs take over generating chi and infusing the body’s blood with these nutrients.

The spleen transforms food into nutrients and then transports these nutrients through the pushing/ascending action of the organ’s chi. This is how it relays nutrients to the heart and lungs, into the circulatory system and finally throughout the body.

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The spleen ascends its chi. The ascending action helps maintain the position of the organs in the body. Stomach chi descends to facilitate digestion and eliminate undigested food from the body.

The ascending action of the spleen and the descending action of the stomach complement each other in the act of digestion.

In spleen digestive function, sometimes the ascending function of the spleen gets out-of-balance. Its chi energy flows downwards rather than upwards. Symptoms of fatigue, flatulence, loss of appetite, diarrhea and giddiness are the result. When stomach chi is out-of-balance and does not descend vomiting is the result. 

The normal adult spleen lies immediately under the diaphragm in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. It ranges in length from 2-1/3 to 5 inches approximately and in weight from 2-2/3  to 4-1/4 ounces.

Spleen digestive function and the elimination of toxins is very much associated with the Earth element. For this reason, PHYTO5 formulates the Earth line of skincare with ingredients that support spleen digestive function and the circulation of lymph(2). We do this according to principles of traditional Chinese medicine.

As the largest secondary lymphoid organ in the body, the spleen is responsible for a wide range of immunological functions.

Spleen digestive function plays several very important roles in the human body.

the human lymphatic system

1. In moms-to-be, the spleen begins producing the embryo’s blood cells gradually leaving the job to the mother’s bone marrow.

2. Spleen captures malfunctioning, abnormal or old red blood cells and expels them from the body.

3. Spleen recycles iron in red blood cells to create new healthy red blood cells. (If spleen chi is weak, bruising, blood in stools and urine, and purple-colored spots may be found under the skin, among other conditions involving bleeding.)

4. The spleen assimilates your food’s nutrients (also known as food essence or jingwei in traditional Chinese medicine) which are then conveyed throughout the body via lung, heart and blood vessels.

5. In the act of spleen digestive function, spleen absorbs water and then transports it through the body via lung, heart and urinary bladder to maintain normal water metabolism.

6. Good spleen digestive function helps protect the body from infections by producing white blood cells [macrophages and lymphocytes(1)]which travel to the infected parts of the body.

7. The spleen produces antibodies which help fight infections.

8. Lymph fluid(1) passes through the spleen where germs and other foreign bodies are captured by white blood cells.

9. Spleen digestive function contributes to good mental function when in balance. It affects intention which can be weakened by mental strain. Mental turmoil, poor memory, and irritability may be a result of impaired spleen energy.

10. Balanced spleen digestive function helps keep us free from abnormal fatigue, digestive issues and poor complexion. A deficiency in spleen chi often contributes to fatigue. It can cause symptoms like appetite loss, a sense of abdominal fullness especially after meals, loose stools, breathlessness and a pale yellow complexion. Feeling sluggish and tired may occur when a deficiency in spleen chi prevents inadequate nourishment for the organs.

11. When spleen digestive function is normal, it promotes the energy required by muscles and limbs producing a vitality filled body.

12. Spleen participates with the other energies of the body which it irrigates and moistens.

Dampness and the Spleen

Traditional Chinese medicine tells us a damp spleen occurs when the spleen can’t transport and transform body fluids properly. This leads to an accumulation of moisture within the body.

Dampness is turbid, heavy and difficult to reverse. Often originating in the legs it will move upward to the abdomen. Symptoms include a thick greasy tongue coating, loose stools, bloating, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and a heavy feeling in the body or limbs.

High and frequent intake of raw, cold and spicy foods can damage the spleen and cause dampness. Dairy products, processed foods, alcohol, sugar and sweeteners will exacerbate already existing dampness in the body.

If you’re concerned about your spleen digestive function, here are some simple actions to take:

1. Assist your digestive process by chewing your food well. Chewing food thoroughly reduces the workload on your digestive system and food is absorbed more easily. By chewing your food very well, mealtime will be naturally longer and this will help you attain a feeling of fullness and prevent overeating.

2. Refrain from drinking fluids while having a meal.

3. Try not to drink cold beverages but if you must, have some warm tea first. Too much cold beverage can damage the spleen and drinking cold beverages at mealtime will force the body to take time to warm up the food before it can even be digested.

4. Eat lots of whole foods. Nourish the spleen with sweet whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Consume red dates, Chinese yam and lotus seeds often, if not, daily. This will help nourish your spleen digestive function.

5. Avoid overeating and feasting. This makes the spleen work overtime to sort through too many nutrients at once. Overeating also results in food stagnation. The spleen doesn’t have enough time to empty your stomach before your next meal. This causes bloating and fatigue.

6. Exercise most especially the abdominals and thighs because the spleen meridian runs up the legs.

7. Take time for relaxation. Traditional Chinese medicine finds mealtimes extremely important times of the day. They should not be mixed with working, reading or watching television. Doing so may inhibit the passage of food through the body and negatively affect your spleen digestive function.

…

Endnotes:

(1) Lymphocyte: a form of small leukocyte (white blood cell) with a single round nucleus, occurring especially in the lymphatic system

(2) Lymph: a colorless fluid containing white blood cells that bathes the tissues and drains through the lymphatic system into the bloodstream

Sources:

Liu, Yanchi, Kathleen Vian, and Peter Eckman. The Essential Book of Traditional Chinese Medicine. New York: Columbia UP, 1988. Print.

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