It starts by being in the present moment.…

On a global level, consumption of the Earth’s resources mirrors the personal utilization of resources represented by the human body’s organ systems. In Chinese medicine, the spleen’s role in the internal ecosystem is to process, assimilate, and digest nutrients. The spleen’s nutrients come from carbohydrates, fat and protein. In addition to the digestion of food, the spleen assimilates energetic nutrients from our relationships with others. The spleen gives you the energy to relate to others and is nurtured, or diminished, by how you do so.

The spleen helps make sense of life. It is the reason why you do what you do and like what you like. The spleen tells the story of your life. It acts like the mitochondria of a cell–the powerhouse organ system that generates resources to move life forward in the direction you choose. The spleen is the source of postnatal nourishment that fuels the body’s daily needs.

One of the most seemingly challenging facets of spleen pathology pertains to self-nourishment. Unlike other arenas of organ pathology, for example the lungs, you can remove an addictive substance like cigarettes and still breathe, whereas if you stop eating, you soon perish. You have to find balance with nutrition to live. Within the spleen system lies a biological imperative to be in relationship with self-nourishment. This is true regardless of whether you want to or not.

The bond to self-nourishment mirrors a certain inescapability to face life lessons until you master them. You can end a dysfunctional relationship or quit smoking to be rid of a challenging situation. And to heal, you must learn the life lesson associated with the relationship or cigarette use. If you don’t learn your lessons, and simply remove the external source of irritation, you will magnetize similar circumstances until the lesson is learned. The spleen’s perpetual generation of resources fuels your journey to love yourself and evolve.

Try this exercise from my book, Born to Heal, to gauge where you are at with self-nourishment:

• What do I grab out of the fridge when I feel bored, sad, angry, afraid, worried, etc.?
• Have I ended a negative relationship only to find myself in a similar situation later?
• How often does this happen? How long has this pattern persisted? Can I recall its origin?
• When I eat my next meal ask, “Am I enjoying this meal?”
• Am I thinking of my to-do list, or worrying about the past or future while I eat?
• Where do I go mentally when I eat and how does that effect my digestion?
• How often do I have gas, bloating or fatigue after I eat?
• How often am I constipated, or experience loose stools?

Whether you eat organic veggies or pepperoni pizza, your degree of presence while you eat affects how nutrients chemically digest into your body. If you experience any of the symptoms listed in the previous exercise, look at how present you were while eating your last few meals. I guarantee you were thinking or worrying and not present to the smells, flavors and textures of the food in front of you. Your degree of presence while you eat impacts your ability to digest and assimilate nutrients. Furthermore, the quality of your energy impacts the degree of presence you have in your relationship with others. The degree of presence you have with food and people impacts the vibrancy of your physical health.

If you would like some guidance and support with your relationship to being present with food, yourself and others, book an appointment for Core Level Awakening. I offer one on one appointments that are exclusively focused on breaking through what is holding you back from experiencing your true essence and deep contentment. 


All Love…Luke