Bitter Love, Love of Bitters
Welcome Spring Equinox, Teach us!
Light cannot see inside things. That is what the dark is for: Minding the interior, Nurturing the draw of growth Through places where death In its own way turns into life. (From "For Light" by John O'Donohue)
How do you mark this seasonal threshold? Take a moment to reflect on what you notice in yourself - your body, your emotions, your behavior, your cravings - at this time of the year. Typical things might include fatigue, restlessness, heightened mood, irritability, colds or flu, feelings of overwhelm, creativity, excitement, arousal.
Ahh, the spring sap is rising!
This is a perfect time for raising our awareness of spaces of easy flow and spaces of blockage, stagnation or weakness. So I'll take this moment to laud the powers of BITTERS.
That's right: Bitters as Spring Tonic.
Remember the taste receptors on our tongues we learned about as children: salty, sweet, sour and bitter? We are designed to detect these four primary tastes because our body needs the array of foods that span these tastes. But for many of us, there is an avoidance of bitter and an over-fondness of sweet. But our bodies are made to take in and use all kinds of bitter!
Taste receptors are actually distributed throughout the digestive tract. Most of these receptors are not about taste, but serve specific functions based on their location. Research in the last 10 years shows that these receptors are key to triggering hormones that stimulate digestion of fat and proteins while limiting absorption of toxins.
