(Episode 26) How to Support Transformation in Your Health and Life

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. & Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac.

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — what insight from this episode inspired (or triggered) you most?

This year we’ve seen especially warm record temperatures in California and in the Pacific Northwest. In this episode we explore the phenomenom of Fire as the element of transformation and how this impacts the body and overall health.

Accordin to Chinese Medicine, anything in its extremes can turn into its opposite.

During extreme heat, people often reach for cold foods and drinks. However, when these Cold factors are taken internally, they can damage the Spleen which is responsible for producing energy or Qi — and this can lead to more lethargy and cold. 

As the Spleen weakens, the Kidneys’ core energy also starts to become depleted as it works to to support the Spleen’s digestive power. This can result in conditions such as fatigue and cold feet. Even in the Summer months it’s common to see cold feet and hands, which can reflect weakness or deficiency in the Kidneys and Spleen respectively. 

The Spleen and the Stomach are the primary organs of digestion in Chinese Medicine. When the Spleen is weak, it’s inhibited from extracting Gu Qi from food that’s necessary to produce Wei Qi, which comprises your immune system.

Since about 70% of immunity is produced in the gut, compromised digestion essentially leads to a compromised immune system. 

If you’re experiencing symptoms of Cold — including lethargy, weak digestion, soft stools, low metabolism, low motivation, low thyroid function, etc. — it’s best to focus on increasing your core temperature to support and strengthen your Spleen, instead of eating cold foods and drinks, which further weaken the Spleen. 

This is why it’s common in many ancient cultures to drink tea during warm temperatures. Tea is a great alternative that helps you cool down (especially green tea).

So instead of consuming cold foods and drinks in extreme heat, the emphasis should instead be on cooling down your lifestyle by introducing calming practices like Yoga, Qi Gong and Tai Chi.

This calms your nervous system, whereas consuming cold foods disturbs your internal systems by abruptly bringing cold internally.

We’ve discussed the effects of cold (and tips to overcome cold affiliated conditions) in greater detail in a previous episode.

How you eat is also important to support and improve your digestive health. A small shift like taking the time to chew your food properly and removing distractions while eating helps ease tension in your digestive system. 

Now, we want to hear from you! Let us know in the comments below — what insight from this episode inspired (or triggered) you most?

Now is your time — to make the changes in your life and health that’ll support you to live the life of your dreams.

2023 enrollment for the From Surviving to Thriving online course begins for a limited time on August 1st!
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(Episode 25) How to Manage Stress to Experience More Joy

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. & Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac.

Enrollment for the From Surviving to Thriving online course reopens for a limited time on August 1-18, 2023. Click here to join the VIP waitlist and get your FREE eBook, 3 Toxic Beliefs That Keep You Stuck in Survival Mode.

In the previous episode we discussed the perils of excessive Heart Fire, but the Heart is also associated with other powerful emotions like joy, passion, love, creativity, and altruism.

We experience these aspects of an open Heart through a calm and centered presence, which can sometimes seem unattainable or unreachable.

In this episode we discuss a powerful way to help you achieve a balanced state in your Heart, and in doing so, you’ll experience more joy. 

The main stressors of life are ever-present and stress is a natural and necessary part of our livelihood. In the morning, the stress hormone cortisol helps us wake up and fuel the start of our day, although high levels of cortisol can cause anxiety and discomfort. Stress in general can trigger and enable us to accomplish and move so it is needed to a certain degree. 

The question becomes how we can manage this stress so it doesn't dominate our life?

One key aspect is the Heart-Kidney relationship (discussed in a previous episode) that’s usually affected by an imbalance of stress in our lives. In order to harmonize the Heart-Kidney relationship, the in-between Wood element needs to be addressed.

Wood is a very reactive energy that needs to be tempered with harmonization of the Liver and relaxation of the nervous system.

Since the associated Liver organ of the Wood element helps with the smooth flow of Qi or energy, it essentially tempers the stress response, allowing you to settle your Heart and experience more joy.

Calming your Liver Qi changes your reactivity and allows you to cultivate peace that improves the quality of your life. 

Want to learn easy ways to calm your Liver so you can bring more joy & calm to your life—even during the most turbulent times?
Join us for the From Surviving to Thriving online course. 2023 enrollment begins for a limited time on August 1st!
Click here to join the VIP waitlist and get your FREE eBook, 3 Toxic Beliefs that Keep You Stuck in Survival Mode, now!

(Episode 24) 4 Tips to Reduce Anxiety by Cooling Your Heart Fire

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. & Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac.

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — which takeaway will you apply to balance the Fire element in your life?

In this episode we discuss the role of the Fire element as it relates to anxiety. This is especially relevant during the Fire season of Summer but also to for anyone generally struggling with anxiety yearlong.

During Summer, Fire energy is naturally more exuberant and conditions like insomnia and nervousness become much more prevalent. 

People in the Southern Hemisphere who are not in the Fire season may also experience Fire related imbalances. Diet, life stressors and challenging life circumstances can all determine whether Fire energy becomes more pronounced, leading to anxiety. 

In Chinese Medicine, this imbalance is attributed to the Heart and Kidney relationship. In Western medicine, we often accredit this to an imbalance of the hormone cortisol caused by overstimulation of the adrenal glands. In Chinese Medicine the Kidney organ system also encompasses the adrenal glands, which produce cortisol, and govern the reproductive and urinary systems. The Kidneys also play a major role in controlling energy output to the Heart.

Excessive Fire in the Heart creates heat or inflammation that can also thicken the blood over time leading to clotting or stagnation.

Ultimately these imbalances can lead to cardiovascular disease, one of the leading causes of death in the United States. 

Diet is a major force in creating excess Fire—driven by high sugar content in our modern diet as well as excessive protein consumption in high protein diets such as the ketogenic diet.

In fact any diet advocating for excess amounts of a specific food can create energy imbalances so focusing on a personalized nutrition with your current health condition in mind is the best approach.

Since excess amount of anything — be it carbohydrates, protein, exercise, stress or even sex — can exacerbate Heat, moderation is the key to a balanced and healthy body. 

The natural state of Fire energy is to be calm, present and centered. More often than not we find ourselves burned out by doing excessive activities or taxing our adrenal glands and Kidneys and compromising their ability to temper the Fire of the Heart. This can lead to insomnia, anxiety and restlessness. 

Although Fire imbalance is especially prevalent in our modern society, there is still hope in addressing the root causes of the imbalance with Chinese Medicine.

Heart-Kidney communication is essential as the Kidney Water cools Heart Fire and the Kidneys are in turn stimulated by the Heart to encourage self-love and healing. 


4 Tips to Cool Heart Fire:

  1. Stay hydrated to support proper circulation of Qi and blood. It also helps keep the Heat balanced. 

  2. Eat more leafy green vegetables including spinach, chard and dandelion greens to cool your Heart and help it relax. Keep in mind to cook the vegetables.

  3. Add adequate sea salt or other natural mineral salts to your food or water to support the Kidneys. We’ve discussed the essential role of salt in a previous episode. 

  4. Eat more root vegetables to nourish the Spleen and help anchor your Qi. 

Joy is associated with the Heart element so when you help the Heart relax, you can naturally experience and express more joy. 

Want to learn easy ways to bring more joy and calm to your life, even during the most turbulent times?
Join us for the From Surviving to Thriving online course. 2023 enrollment begins for a limited time on August 1st! Click here to join the VIP waitlist and get your FREE eBook, 3 Toxic Beliefs that Keep You Stuck in Survival Mode, now!

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — which takeaway will you implement to balance the Fire element in your life?

(Episode 22) 2 Must-Dos During this Change of Seasons

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. & Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac.

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below —which of these takeaways will you implement during this seasonal transition?

As the Northern hemisphere welcomes the hottest season of the year, we enter the season of the Fire element.

Positively associated with nourishment of the Earth and transformation, an imbalanced Fire, on the other hand, is notorious for digestive problems. In today’s podcast we discuss the importance of gut health and ways to keep you healthy as we embrace the upcoming season. 

Living with the seasons means being aware of the changes in your surroundings and environment. As we transition into a new season on June 20th, we’re again reminded to adjust our lifestyle to accommodate change of seasons.

In Chinese Medicine, the transitional period between each seasonal change, called Doyo, is greatly emphasized. Mentioned in one of the Classical Chinese Medicine texts, Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen, the 18 day period (Doyo) is considered a delicate period for the Spleen energy and the associated Earth element. Therefore it’s important to take special care of the Earth organs—the Spleen and Stomach. 

Supporting Your Earth through Hydration

We need to tend to our Earth element. Using the analogy of a garden as our Earth element, we realize the importance of water in keeping plants healthy.

Too much water can create dampness and kill plants while too little water will dry out plants and result in a similar fate. In the body, excessive sugar intake can cause dampness to accumulate and stagnate the energy of the Earth organ systems.

Living in California and being surrounded by the abundance of fruits all year round – whether imported or locally grown – can encourage a diet enriched with fruits, which supports hydration. However, fruits should eaten in moderation to prevent excessive accumulation of dampness internally. 

Spleen Qi 

The Spleen’s function is interconnected with the pancreas, and helps with the transformation and transportation of food into Qi in Chinese Medicine. 

We can think of Spleen Qi’s function as the enzymes produced by the pancreas — helping with the breakdown of food particles and essential in digestion. 

Spleen also helps transform and transport our thoughts and is closely associated with the Yi, or the aspect of the mind. Processing information by our mind relied heavily on Spleen Qi therefore it becomes even more important to strengthen your Spleen Qi to support mental clarity. 

Strong Earth energy supports healthy boundaries

The Earth organs are the Stomach and the Spleen. Stomach Fire is a natural aspect of the digestive system and is related to the hydrochloric acid that helps break down proteins. Pathological fire, on the other hand, is related to toxicity in the stomach — such as an infection from H. pylori bacteria.

It’s fundamental to keep Stomach Fire in balance to support digestion but also help keep unhealthy bacteria in check. 

In order to keep the concentration of hydrochloric acid in our stomach balanced and combat a mild case H. pylori infection, a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar can supplement a protein enriched meal and support digestion. 

Small Intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is also caused by excessive gut Fire. SIBO requires careful attention to your diet so the overgrowth of bacteria is not further encouraged.

Since the excess Fire will also damage the Spleen Qi, physiological boundaries are also compromised — resulting in a common condition called leaky gut syndrome. 

When the Spleen is not able to maintain boundaries internally, you’ll also have trouble maintaining social boundaries.

If you find it difficult to say “no” or feeling as if all your energy is leaking into other people’s issues, it’s a good idea to examine the status or health of your gut. When you’re able to strengthen your gut, you’ll find your relationships flourishing as well!

2 key takeaways to help support your Earth energy:

  1. Don’t overeat — overeating will cause the Spleen and Stomach energy to stagnate and make you feel lethargic and bloated. 

  2. Avoid cold foods and beverages — since Cold damages the Spleen causing dampness and digestive issues, it should be avoided or at least lessened. 


Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below —which of these takeaways will you implement during this seasonal transition?

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(Episode 15) How Resistance to Change Can Cause Illness: 3 Ways to Temper Wind & Protect Your Health

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. & Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac.

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — where are you resisting change that could be creating Wind in your life?

The only constant in life is change and yet change is something we all at times resist, however inadvertently. In Chinese Medicine, this resistance is said to create Wind in our life. More broadly, Wind sets the foundation for what is referred to as the “100 Diseases” or the root of most health problems. 

Before delving into the pathogenic factors of Wind, it’s important to define Wind. How is Wind defined from the Chinese Medicine perspective? In nature we observe wind shake trees and rattle leaves. In the same way, Wind causes disruption in our body—leading to tremors, shaking and dizziness, among other things. Associated with Spring and the Wood element organ of Liver, Wind disruption often takes form as nerve irritability. 

Wind related symptoms become more apparent during important changes in our lives. It’s the resistance we experience to the change as we become uncomfortable or uneasy. 

Seasonal change from the very Yin state of Winter to the active Yang season of Spring also introduces discomfort if we don’t adjust well to the shift in seasons. 

Since Spring naturally brings a lot of Wind, we also witness some common health problems during this time. As a Yang and active phenomenon, Wind can cause allergies, itching and dryness. Other conditions like sciatica and pinched nerves are also common problems associated with Wind. Extreme state of Wind can exhibit paralysis or even stroke.

 Because disruptions caused by Wind are so widespread, it’s crucial to temper and remedy Wind.

3 tips to Help Temper Wind & Protect Yourself from Dis-ease

  1. Become more aware of your circumstances and how you’re handling life situations. Are you resisting or becoming frustrated in your life? These are important questions to ask in order to increase your awareness. This awareness can help you let go of the urge to control every aspect of your life and become more accepting of experiences with simplicity so as not to allow mental, physical or emotional discomfort. 

  2. Temper and manage your emotions in order to avoid extreme aggression. Dietary changes like avoiding coffee, alcohol and other stimulants can help cool down your nervous system as well. 

  3. Manage stress. If there are aspects of your life that are causing great stress, learn to deal with them if they’re within your control—such as leaving a stressful job or relationship. For stressful situations out of your control, gather and look for tools to help you feel at ease. This is especially important to control your cortisol level as too much cortisol in the system can lead to development of Wind symptoms that can disrupt your health.

    Acupuncture is also a great tool that’s beneficial in inducing a calming effect on the mind and the nervous system. To learn more about acupuncture, click here.

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — where are you resisting change that could be creating Wind in your life?

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(Episode 14) Balancing the Wood Element Archetype

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. & Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac.

Once you’ve listened, click here to take our Five Element Personality quiz to find out which of the Five Element personality types, then leave your insights in the comments below.

Wood Energy

The Wood element naturally dominates the Spring season. In Japan, the Wood element is often called “tree” and this is fitting because trees ascend to the sky. Likewise, Wood energy ascends its Yang Qi or energy upwards to the head. When this Yang Qi is exuberant in spring, it can send too much Qi to the head causing allergies, hypertension, dizziness and headaches as the Yang Qi exerts a lot of heat when it becomes very active. 

The emotions associated with Wood can also become more prevalent in Yang seasons of Spring/Summer, especially when Qi is pent-up. In extreme cases, we witness rage, anger and frustration as signs of overexertion of Yang Qi. 

For these reasons, it’s important to address the energetics of the liver and gallbladder since they’re the main organs associated with the Wood energy. 

3 simple ways to balance Wood energy:

  1. The liver tends to accumulate a lot of heat. An effective way to counter some of the heat is through liver detoxification. Simply preparing cooked leafy vegetables or supplementing your diet with dandelion and burdock root can also help cool down the liver. 

  2. Avoid or reduce substances that may add to the heat, such as alcohol and coffee

  3. Practice meditation—especially practices focusing on improving the breathing mechanism that can help cool and relax the nervous system. 

Yin Wood & Yang Wood Personalities

We can also look at the Wood element from the Yin/Yang perspective.

A Yang Wood personality will often be expressive—they’re the leaders and commanders of society.

A Yin Wood personality, on the other hand, will often be intelligent but shy and less assertive with their dreams.

While wonderful when Wood personalities are in balance, like all Five Element personality types, off balance Wood personality types can become intolerable. Yang Wood type can become angry or temperamental when out of balance and Yin Wood type will resort to withdrawing and excessive daydreaming. 

Although each of us possess a dominant personality type among the Five Elements, we’re all comprised of all five elements. Our individual personalities arise from the unique combination of the elements and it may change over time.

As the influence of the environment around us increases—especially during childhood—we may experience a shift in our personality. A person who was more Wood as a child may be reshaped by parents or those around them if they’re told to suppress some of the emotions as they are expressing their natural personalities.

Certain environments may also force us to take on attributes that are more suitable such as CEOs that strongly favor the Yang leadership and assertive personalities. 

Tips to balance Wood personalities

  • Yang Wood types can temper bright clothing with pastel colors to express themselves. 

  • Taking public speaking classes or expressive activities may help Yin Wood types that are feeling out of balance. 

  • Exercise is generally a great way to keep Wood types in balance. Yang Wood types will find more gentle forms of exercise such as yoga and Tai Chi helpful while Yin Wood types will benefit from participating in more active sports such as martial arts. 

  • Massage, acupuncture and meditation are beneficial to both Yin and Yang Wood personality types as a way to relax the nervous system and temper the common emotions witnessed in those with Wood energy imbalance. 

Once you’ve listened to the episode, click here to take our Five Element Personality quiz to find out which of the Five Element personality types you most resonate with and leave your insights in the comments below.

Loved this episode?

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(Episode 13) Persian New Year & The Magic of Springtime

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. & Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac.

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — how do you like to celebrate the onset of this new season?

Sofreh Haftseen is a traditional altar created to symbolize the bounty of the new year. At least seven items starting with “s” are included on the Sofreh, including sabzeh (sprouts), samanoo (wheat germ pudding), sombol (hyacinth), sekeh (coins to s…

Sofreh Haftseen is a traditional altar created to symbolize the bounty of the new year. At least seven items starting with “s” are included on the Sofreh, including sabzeh (sprouts), samanoo (wheat germ pudding), sombol (hyacinth), sekeh (coins to symbolize wealth), seer (garlic), and senjed (Persian olives).

The Persian New Year, or Norouz, translates to ‘new day’ and is marked by the Spring equinox. It’s a beautiful celebration of new beginnings and opportunities that’s rooted in Zoroastrian and Iranian heritages but celebrated across a diverse range of cultures and communities in Asia. 

On the eve of the last Wednesday before the new year, families gather for a celebration known as Chaharshanbeh Souri. This purification ritual occurs with a mantra family members and friends state as they jump over fire in the backyard: zardiyeh man az to, sorkhiyeh to az man, which essentially means that I give you my ill health in return for your light, warmth and healing.

Preparation for Norouz starts at home. Families organize and deep clean their homes, removing clutter and getting ready for upcoming celebrations with family and friends. A special altar called Sofreh Haftseen is created to display seven symbolic items starting with the Farsi letter “S” to represent everything that you want to bring into the new year and beyond. Some of these items can include seer, or garlic, to symbolize good health and ridding of evil, seeb, or apple, for beauty, and sabzeh, or sprouted grains or beans, symbolizing growth and rebirth. 

Norouz is a 13-day celebration that ends with Sizdeh Bedar, an outing on the 13th day to parks in order to air out and get rid of bad energy from homes. Another tradition on the last day of celebration is to take the sabzeh, or sprouted grains, to a stream of running water and make a wish as you release the grains into the water. This symbolizes the release of the past and the welcoming of the new season. 

In Chinese philosophy, this transition to Spring—from the Yin season of Winter to the very Yang season of Spring—is also witnessed in a shift in our energy level. We go from the dormant and quiet season of Yin to the active spring/summer seasons of Yang.

The concept of the Five Elements is also relevant as the Wood Element, representing growth and new beginnings, is marked by the Spring season. Providing momentum and drive, Wood supports the necessary energy to push through obstacles and pursue new goals during springtime so it becomes an ideal time to initiate new projects and hobbies. 

Practices like decluttering and clearing your home or “Spring cleaning” can spark inspiration and restore the flow of Liver Qi to support your body and life.

It’s also an especially important time to eat leafy green vegetables and avoid or reduce foods that overheat the liver—such as alcohol and coffee. 

We hope this episode inspires you to welcome new beginnings.

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — how do you like to celebrate the onset of this new season?

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(Episode 11) 3 tips to Have a Healthy Transition Into Spring

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — what’s the biggest insight you took away from this episode?

The transition between each season is known in Japanese as the Doyo period. According to one of the foremost classical texts of Chinese Medicine, Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen, this 18-day period leading up to each Solstice or Equinox is one of the most important times to make dietary and lifestyle adjustments to support your health.

In Five Element theory this period is governed by the Earth element, which is why the Earth element organs — the Spleen, Stomach and Pancreas — are most vulnerable to imbalance and disease, and therefore especially need protection and support during this time.

People who already have Earth element-related problem need to take extra care as cases such as diabetes, ulcers and gastrointestinal issues in general can all worsen during this time if their lifestyle is not supported.

During the Doyo period in particular it's important to eat meals at regular times and without distractions. Staying away from too much sweet food and other damp-producing foods like dairy and fried foods is also important to keep the Spleen and Stomach energies in healthy balance.

The Spleen, as the largest lymphatic organ in the body, indicates this is a good time for acupuncture and massage to support lymphatic circulation. If you only get these treatments a few times a year, it's best to do them during the Doyo periods.

The Spleen is especially important as it supports your immune system.

It’s also an organ that assists in the transformation of food into energy and thoughts into purpose, so a healthy Spleen will support you to stay focused on your goals and be able to transform your dreams into reality.

Weakness in the Spleen can result in problems with digestion and elimination and cause the body to accumulate dampness. Dampness is a fungal terrain, often resulting from a diet heavy in carbohydrates, fried foods, dairy and sugar (even in the form of fruits).  A fungal terrain can also develop from using various drugs such as antibiotics, sulfa drugs, chemotherapy, birth control pills, corticosteroids, antacids and acid blocking medications.

Dampness is reflected in our lives through the feeling of being stuck or lacking clarity.  Dampness is also associated with psychological imbalances such as Obsessive Compulsiveness Disorder and hoarding.

The Earth element organs thrive on a simple diet based on warm unprocessed foods, a calm mind, and a regular daily rhythm with meals, exercise and rest.  

3 Tips to Support Your Earth for a Healthy Spring Transition

With the transition into Spring, it’s important to reduce the burden on the Spleen and Stomach organs systems, strengthen your digestion and cool the heat in the Liver in order to prevent irritability and allergies. Here are three tips that can support a healthy transition during this Doyo period:

  1. Reduce or avoid sugar and other damp-producing foods. Foods like cheese, nuts (especially peanuts and cashews) and especially sugar can produce a fungal terrain in the body which impairs your digestion and immunity and therefore should be avoided as much as possible during this time.

  2. Avoid eating cold foods. Too much cold food compromises the strength of your Spleen Qi, which is essential for transforming the food you eat into nutrients. Click here to learn why this tip is especially important in episode 10.

  3. Get Acupuncture treatment. This is the ideal time to support your core Earth energy and immunity with Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine. (If you're in our area, you can schedule yourself online here).

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — what’s the biggest insight you took away from this episode?

Loved this episode?

Please subscribe and consider rating & reviewing our podcast on Apple Podcasts. Five star reviews help us reach & support more listeners like you. You can also follow us on Spotify to be the first to hear about new & bonus episodes!

Thank you!

(Episode 7) How to Open Your Heart to Experience True Love

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. & Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac.

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — how did the two tips we shared in this episode impact your life?

Not a fan of Valentine’s Day? You’re not alone. In the midst of a pandemic, it’s easy to feel more isolated and more alone than ever. And when we’re triggered, it’s especially important to cultivate tools to help us feel better about our lives.

In this episode we’ll discuss how opening your heart can help you experience the truest and most authentic love — self-love — and how experiencing this love can allow you to experience miracles and endless possibilities.




A Brief History of Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day was created to replace a pagan holiday called Lupercalia that was practiced February 13-15 in Rome. The focus was purification that would help ward off evil and removing curses that were causing infertility.

The Catholics eventually made a celebration of St. Valentine in its place. St. Valentine was a healer who is said to heal his jailer’s daughter of blindness.

This can be used as a metaphor for Chinese Medicine’s idea of vaporizing phlegm, which is a process that occurs when you open your Heart to then be able to experience miracles.

It can be more challenging to experience an open heart during holidays like Valentine’s Day when you may feel you’re being forced to open your heart.

So what’s necessary? Forgiveness.

It’s also important to focus on the love you feel for yourself — the depth and truth of the meaning of self-love; to know yourself, to feel self-esteem, self-confidence and self-worth. Because your relationships with others are rooted in your relationship with yourself and the love you feel for yourself.

If you don’t feel good about yourself or you’re judging yourself or feeling guilt about something you’ve done in the past then you inhibit the Lungs from expressing their virtue, which is forgiveness.

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The Fire & Metal Elements

According to the Five Element system of Chinese Medicine, the Heart is part of the Fire element and the Lungs are encompassed in the Metal element. These two elements have an important relationship. In an optimal state, the Fire energy of the Heart helps to control the Metal energy of the Lungs which tends to be critical and even judgmental.

But when there’s an imbalance of Metal energy, which can cause feelings of regret and judgment of oneself and others, this can insult the Fire energy, oppressing the Heart’s ability to open and therefore give and receive love.

The Metal energy is also associated with forgiveness, which reflects your ability to let go. The Lungs let go of the breath and the Large Intestine, or colon, which is the other Metal element organ, lets go of toxins through the excretion of waste.

Forgiveness is a virtue of the Metal element. When you’re able to forgive, you free the Lungs and allow the Heart to open.

Through the action of letting go, we can experience the depth of forgiveness to allow the vaporization of phlegm in the Heart so you can experience miracles.

Letting go also anchors us fully into the present moment. Fire energy is about being in the moment. This is reflected in love, in being in the zone, in being in a flow state — all experiences that only happen when you’re fully present.

When people have Heart Fire manifesting as anxiety, nervousness and overstimulation of the mind they often reach for active exercise. But this creates a lot of heat in the body, which creates an acidic state in the blood that then exacerbates anxiety.

We reach for this type of exercise to release stress but also since the Lungs are overwhelmed, subconsciously we may be wanting to do intensive exercise to open the diaphragm and free the Lungs and this often doesn’t help in this way.

Chinese exercises like Qi Gong and Tai Chi are slow because the idea is to quiet the system and quiet the mind to reduce the static energy in the body and allow for the smooth flow of Qi to circulate.


2 Tips to Cultivate a Feeling of Self-Love

Tip #1 Alkalize Your Diet

Cultivating self-love involves freeing the Lungs to open the Heart to experience self-love and therefore endless possibilities and miracles.

When there’s Heart Fire, you can’t settle the mind and be still in the moment very easily. Heart Fire is a state of heat in the blood that manifests as an acidic terrain in the body. This is a concern when people are utilizing a ketogenic diet because establishing ketosis creates an acidic state in the body.

Heat generated by your diet can spread to all the organ systems.

We often think we’re healthy and on trend with diet, but nutrition and diet is highly personalized so not all trends will be pertinent to your particular body.

Fat can generate dampness and protein generates heat and too much of either creates an acidic state which can be dangerous for people with weak Kidneys as the Kidneys try to clear this acidity.

Greens are especially important to clear this heat, especially the bitter greens like dandelion, chard and spinach.

In Chinese Medicine, we say it’s important to cook your foods so avoid kale and spinach salads which can damage your digestive system and impede the function of the Spleen and Stomach organ systems. It’s better to cook greens and eat them with any meal throughout the day.

Fresh water algae have a cooling effect and are also high in protein for those looking for additional protein sources. These can include chlorella, spirulina and phytoplankton. You can also have more seaweed in your diet.

Drinking chlorophyll or chlorella or any of the fresh water algae help to cool down the system so they can calm your nervous system but should be taken moderately especially during the cooler Winter months.

Chlorophyll is made from alfalfa sprouts and can help start your day with an alkalizing effect.

If you have a busy mind, this can indicate excessive Fire that can also be accompanied by a lot of thinking and processing. Meditation and relaxation practices are also important, but diet is most important.

Placing your tongue on the tip of your mouth during Meditation can also help you cool Heart Fire.

If you have a cherry tip tongue, this indicates Heart Fire.

To learn more about the topic of Heart Fire, go to acenterfornaturalhealing.com/blog and type in “heart fire” in the search bar for more support.

Tip #2: Breathe Deeply and Retain Your Exhalation

When a person is nervous or anxious, they breathe shallow and this causes a buildup of carbonic acid.

When you take a deep breath and hold your exhalation, this helps release the carbonic acid and it helps you settle more into the moment.

Salvador guides this breathing exercise. Breathing out of the mouth helps clear heat and clear the Fire from your Heart.

Remember that it takes time to calm a body that’s acidic. Give yourself time to do a daily practice and you’ll see how your day will change — you’ll be less anxious, the day will seem to go more slowly and your life won’t pass by so quickly. As you can imagine, this is a technique of longevity and to reduce the aging process. This is why tortoises are one of the longest living creatures on earth, because they’re so slow.

As you slow down, yo’ll be able to naturally experience self-love, which is the natural state of Fire energy when it’s in balance.

You may feel a sense of joy begin to bubble up, which is a reflection of this balance in the Fire energy.

We hope holidays like Valentine’s Day can feel like an opportunity rather than something that triggers you to feel bad about yourself because you can change your experience of any experience to change the experience itself.

Now, we want to hear from you — how have these tips impacted your life? Let us know in the comments below!

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