For the blood stasis constitution: unpick what is stuck and move more lightly through the day

Feeling the cold, stiff shoulders, bruising easily, heavy periods. If you have a sense that something inside is blocked, it may be a sign that the circulation of blood has stalled. Chinese medicine calls a state where blood does not move smoothly blood stasis. When blood does not flow properly and stagnates, it can show as dull skin, chronic pain and a fogged mind.

This article covers what marks out the blood stasis constitution, how to settle it, and gentle yakuzen care you can practise in everyday meals.

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What is the blood stasis constitution?

Blood stasis means the blood circulating through the body has stalled and no longer flows smoothly. Blood carries oxygen and nourishment, and when it does not flow properly, all sorts of trouble appears throughout the body.

Unlike simple poor circulation, Chinese medicine treats blood stasis as a state where there is a problem with the quality or the flow of the blood. Because blood stagnates somewhere in the body, signs of stalling appear readily: pain, dullness, cold and heaviness.

What marks out the blood stasis constitution

• Cold hands, feet and abdomen
• Chronic stiff shoulders, back pain or joint pain
• A dull complexion; dark lips
• Bruising easily and healing slowly
• Strong period pain; clots in the flow
• Headaches, a heaviness behind the eyes, difficult PMS

These are the body's message that the blood is not flowing well. The blood stasis constitution is also readily tied to blocked feeling, irritability and impatience, and is said to come more easily to people who push themselves and keep things in.

Self-care for the blood stasis constitution

1. Make warming and moving a habit

The basis of easing blood stasis is warming and moving. In a cold body, blood congeals more easily. Warming the centre of the body, the belly and the sacrum, brings circulation back naturally.

• Make warm drinks a habit (hot water, ginger tea)
• Soak properly in the bath (a shower alone will not do)
• Go easy on cold food and drink
• Use a belly warmer, leg warmers and a heat pack

Warming the body gently from within is the first step to circulation.

2. Do not leave stiffness or pain alone

For the blood stasis type, pain is a major signal. Stiff shoulders, a heavy lower back and cramps during a period often mark where the blood has stalled.

• Move the blood with stretching and light exercise
• When you feel stiffness, warm it and loosen it
• Massage and moxibustion are worth trying too

Rather than putting up with pain, bring in care that gets things circulating, little and often.

3. Do not store up stress; let feeling flow too

Blood and feeling are deeply connected, and storing up anger, impatience and stress stalls the circulation of qi, which affects the flow of blood as well. People of the blood stasis constitution are often the serious, hard-pushing type.

• Acknowledge your feelings rather than denying them
• Make an outlet for them: write, talk, cry
• Relax through breathing, meditation or herbal tea

Releasing what is stuck in the mind is self-care for moving the blood too.

Yasai Yakuzen for the blood stasis constitution

The keywords for eating to ease blood stasis are warming, circulating and thinning. Bring ingredients that warm the body while helping the blood flow into everyday meals.

Ingredients to try	What stands out
Onion-Chinese chives and rakkyo	The classic vegetables for helping blood flow and warming the body
Eggplant, green pepper, shishito	Circulating ingredients, what yakuzen calls getting blood moving
Black wood ear, black soybeans, safflower tea	Replenish the blood while thinning it
Vinegar, ume, citrus peel	Sourness helps circulation and supports clearing

See all vegetables and their benefits

How to eat it:

• Stir-fried onion and black wood ear
• Vinegared dishes or ume dressings, for clean-tasting circulation care
• A cup of safflower tea or herbal tea before bed
• Add a bite of spice, sansho or shichimi, to warm things further

Living so things circulate makes you lighter from the inside

The blood stasis constitution is a state where the flow inside you has stopped. But that may be evidence that you have pushed hard, and that you have carried your feelings properly. Which is exactly why warming the body, letting feeling flow and getting the blood circulating again is the short route to drawing out your lightness and your brightness. Why not start days that let go of what is stuck, with Yasai Yakuzen alongside you?

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