How do I know if I need a liver cleanse? — ‘Even smile in your liver’

Click here to see the full article in Nature's Pathways magazine!

I’ve been inspired by the book (and movie), “Eat Pray Love.” In the book, the main character is given a simple meditation by a Balinese medicine man. 


She is told to smile with her face, smile with her mind, and even smile with her liver.

Here's a quote:

“Why they always look so serious in yoga? You make serious face like this, you scare away good energy. To meditate, only you must smile. Smile with face, smile with mind, and good energy will come to you and clear away dirty energy. Even smile in your liver.”

—Ketut from Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love”

To me, true happiness comes when you can be truly happy in every cell of your body — when you can even smile in your liver. But is it that simple? Can you still smile in your liver if your liver isn’t happy? As it turns out, there are many reasons your liver might not be smiling, both emotional and physical reasons.

Emotionally, when your liver isn’t “smiling,” you likely have pent up anger. Anger and rage covers the full range of associated emotions including resentment, irritability and frustration. You might experience feelings of impatience, of being overly critical or over reactive. You may feel feelings of not being heard, loved or recognized. When you are feeling a lack of joy and an inability to be honest with yourself and others, not only will a liver cleanse be helpful but you need to release the anger.

Physically, when your liver isn’t “smiling,” you likely have a buildup of toxins in your liver. The problem is, it’s not always easy to know if your liver needs a little love. It isn’t known for giving advanced warning of problems coming. A poorly functioning liver may not always reveal itself to your doctor during a physical examination or through blood tests. In fact, it may take years for an unhealthy liver to manifest a disease such as hepatitis or cirrhosis.

If you are experiencing digestive problems, allergies, circulation problems, red dry eyes or puffy eyes, retention of water or edema, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, shoulder pain, pain across the entire back below the shoulder blades, lack of energy and an overall feeling of not feeling well, a liver cleanse would be helpful.

Make your liver smile!
Start with Nutrition. While there are dozens of different liver cleansing programs, they all include basic dietary changes and some health-enhancing supplements.

First, drink plenty of water. Half your weight in ounces is a good rule of thumb. Water helps the kidneys flush out toxins.

Second, try vegetable juice fasting with beets, celery and carrots. If juice fasting isn’t possible for you right now, emphasize high-fiber fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts and legumes in your diet.

Heat it up
Your fat and muscle cells can store up to five grams of toxic environmental chemicals, drugs, and thousands of other poisons. Collectively, these have been termed xenobiotics (chemicals foreign to the body). Some of these are toxic to the liver, the immune system, the nervous system or the kidneys. These toxins eventually damage all your organs, including the liver. No diet, coffee enema, colonic irrigation, chelation therapy or nutritional supplement alone can clear these out of your system.

However, thermotherapy, high level “sauna heat” mobilizes these toxins out of the fat and muscle cells into the skin, which then sweats them out of the body. People who do not tolerate saunas due to heart or circulatory problems usually do well using far infrared. Far infrared is more effective and does not stress the cardiovascular system. Using the Amethyst BioMat, you also get the convenience of home use and variability in temperature settings.

Release the anger
We tend to think of emotions as good or bad, and we tend to think that anger is a bad emotion. The truth is that no emotion is negative unless we refuse to feel it. That’s when it becomes destructive. We are only required to feel our emotions and release them. So when you repress your anger because you want to be a nice person, over time your body might respond with symptoms of pain and inflammation as it is trying to say to you that it is not able to put up with the anger that has been stuffed down.

One technique to smile, even in your liver, is to release all judgments and criticisms about yourself. The purpose of judgments is to make younot feel, and not feeling is exactly what got you here in the first place. Send love and your liver will thank you — with a smile!

Sonya Sullins
Sonya Sullins, MBA, CRHP, is the owner of Luminous Lotus Healing. Luminous Lotus Healing offers natural and alternative methods to heal - in mind, body and spirit. Healing therapies include Far Infrared Therapy with Amethyst BioMat, Bio Electrotherapy with Wellness Pro, Reconnective Healing, Access Consciousness BARS, and Divine Guidance Business Coaching. Experience healing treatments on the BioMat and with the Wellness Pro, and you can also purchase for home use. Gift certificates available online. Check back regularly as she offers classes and holds events. Visit www.luminouslotushealing.com, call 608-620-5171 or email sonyasullins@gmail.com for more information.

Website: www.luminouslotushealing.com

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