Common symptoms of Liver Qi Stagnation are frequent sighing, feeling of a lump in the throat, pain around the ribs, feeling of heaviness in the chest, feeling much better energy from doing exercise although many people with this pattern leave it so long they no longer have the motivation to do the exercise. When the liver energy becomes stuck and not flowing smoothly, pain can more easily occur. Particularly in the upper part of the body - headaches, neck and shoulder pain or chest pain.
While not always, many jobs which require extended periods of sitting can be stressful. Many executives fall into this category.
What makes the liver Qi become stuck?
Simply, too much coming in and not enough going out...excessive stress, thinking, and/or food - combined with not enough exercise, no outlet for the stress or thinking to go (leading to internal worry) makes for ideal conditions of the Liver Qi Stagnation pattern. Jobs in which a person has a predominant sitting posture often go along with the above symptoms. Office jobs of executives, high pressure business owners, students who are writing alot, and many government /office jobs are of this nature.
If your in a predominantly sitting job how can you improve? I don't' think it's enough just to get up regularly or even frequently. I've seen plenty of patients who get up frequently, even using alarms to get up but this doesn't necessarily stop the qi stagnation which happens from the sitting posture. One solution can be to create a sit-stand workspace. While you can invest in an actual desk and chair which can raise up and down, there are other less expensive options you can do straight away. Ask yourself what tasks you can do standing that you currently do sitting with little effort to change? EG taking some phone calls while standing, set up a standing bench in your office or multi use area. I got one from Ikea for one of our shops, whenever I go in our shop, I don't sit on the stool I just set up my ipad at the desk and stand there doing my work, checking emails etc.
I recently created a standing station in my office using two bookshelves. Doing your work at a bench rather than seated at a desk can give you a different perspective of things which can be another plus! You could try hold some of your meetings at a standing bench rather than sitting at the desk. You can promote the benefits of standing in your workplace to encourage a culture of standing more and less sitting...you won't look so out of place if everyone is doing it!
The Point?
To create opportunity to stand in your job more. Whichever way you do it, standing is better than sitting. Simply standing you will burn more calories than sitting so you will be doing your body a favour too. There are many other treatments in Chinese medicine (acupuncture, herbs and diet advice) for Qi Stagnation - acupuncture is particularly effective, but long term lifestyle changes like the one shared today are necessary to ensure the root of the problem is treated. Episode 2 of Marie’s new podcast on YouTube is all about self help for Liver Energy Stagnation.
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