Through their connection to the natural world, herbs and roots of Chinese medicine imbue their resonance with these forces within us.
Regulated by the rhythms of Yin and Yang, influenced by the 5 elements (sun, soil, minerals, water, and other trees and plants), and through their ability to adapt to the climatic factors of heat and cold, wind, dryness and dampness, herbs renew our resilience.
Immortal Mágū collecting medicinal roots, fruits and plants
Chinese medicine has a long history of practices that propagate life; practices to nourish and prolong life through our mental-physical-spiritual oneness with nature. Such concepts and knowledge of creating rarified, spiritual states of being and longevity have passed through Taoist lineages, preserving the Three Treasures Jīng, Qì and Shen.
BURDOCK ROOT
The energetic nature of herbs and other organic substantive matter, in their particular parts, collected and prepared specifically to confer the essence of their elemental forces, guide and help to make whole.
In Chinese medicine we are taught from the perspective of cosmological wholeness. Humans are understood to be integral aspects of nature, embodiments of the same life force and flow as everything else in the natural order of the universe. From this holistic perspective, the wisdom of Chinese medicine advises that people undertake behaviors befitting the progression of the seasons since the influences occurring in nature have inextricable influence on human physiology. Springtime is the the season that nourishes and renews life from the contracted state of winter’s introspection and containment. It is the season of beauty and harmony; a time to roam through gardens and forests, leisurely sitting and absorbing tranquil sights, sounds, and fragrances. It is against the dynamics of nature in this time of bursting forth to dwell upon things or become morose. Spring is a time to be rid of stagnant energy. The energy that encourages budding and regeneration is experienced by all of the natural world.
Heaven and Earth are enlivened and the ten thousand things may now begin to grow luxuriantly
Renewed warmth of the sun’s rays kindles growth and the wind stirs motion. This stirring, upward energy can have influence on disease conditions that have lurked beneath the surface, activating their expression with the heightened dynamics of the wood element. In early spring [from February to April, according to the Chinese calendar] weather is erratic; cold wind at one moment then hot sun the next, and since most people suffer some form of chronic imbalance, this advancing and shifting of influences may also cause people to feel tired and weak. Chronic ailments flare easily under these conditions and therefore we should encourage suppleness of the Liver.
Artwork by Liu Yunfang, Shandong Province
Gao Lian, Ming dynasty medical scholar and poet, elaborated upon the season of spring as discussed in the Huang Di Neijing Su Wen, the doctrinal source of Chinese medicine for more than two millennia.
• Spring is the time to discharge the stale energy of winter’s storage and confinement. In spring one should behave in such a way that new life is nourished so that growth can occur in summer.
• Get up early. Walk. Let your hair down. Garden. Do T’ai chi. Relax and make your body supple.
•Reward, fortify and promote all life. Do not kill, deprive, or punish, as these contrary actions damage the Liver.
• Seek to give, not take. Be agreeable and have a benevolent bearing.
• Eat less sour food in order to prevent excess in the Liver, and eat more mildly sweet food to shore the Spleen which is suppressed by excess the wood element.
•Avoid drinking alcohol, coffee, and food and drink that agitate the harmony of Liver Qi.
• Show restraint in eating the commonly eaten foods that have a tendency to harm the integrity of the Spleen and Stomach.
•Do not simply use herbs to overcome stagnation. If there is no sign of disease the need to take medicines is lessened. [Converse to the advice to nourish with foods and tonifying medicinals in the previous two Yin seasons of winter and autumn].
There was moonlight, the trees were blossoming, and a faint wind softened the air of night, for it was spring.
~Li Bai, from ‘Clearing at Dawn’
Humans depend on Qi between Heaven and Earth for existence, and on the law of the seasons. Life destiny lies in balance.
Tranquil and highly efficient culinary and lifestyle arts are expressions from China’s antiquity. China has long-understood the ways in which the heart of human life unifies with nature – and in early spring it is all about peach the blossom! Here are 3 delicacies from the peach blossom: 1. Petals dried on hot rocks and infused into tea. 2. Dessert (milk from Liziqi’s flock, lotus root starch, rock sugar). 3. Peach blossom infused honey.
Nurturing core elemental tendencies while simultaneously balancing states of excess through a combination of diet, Chinese herbs and acupuncture and other mind-body techniques, we maintain innate elemental tendencies; transforming what may be hindrances into assets.
FIRE TYPES ☯ Are jovial pleasure-seekers. They like to relax, socialize and have fun. They often seek thrills and excitement, and love to entertain others. They are fascinated by sensory stimuli and often get carried away by the carnival of light, sound and image that the world presents. They often dislike school because it is not fun and the dislike grows as they get older and the workload intensifies. They try to make things more amusing by becoming the class entertainer.
EARTH TYPES ☯ Are all about the social world. They view their worth in terms of interpersonal relationships and they seek social contact. They want to fit in, and often play the role of peacemaker. These are the constant-talkers who get in trouble because they can not contain the need to connect with others. Quiet study periods are torture to them. Social matters are foremost in their minds, and they fret incessantly about who’s talking to whom and who will sit with them at lunch, all seeming far more important than their lessons.
METAL TYPES ☯ Are highly sensitive and detail-oriented. They see things few others do, and have an innate sense of order, beauty and perfection. They seek control and like to see their visions met. They value precision; where a Wood or Fire type might gloss over details, a metal type digs in. The Rigidity, inflexibility and getting stuck in their own sense of right and wrong, leaving no room for others, are a downside. They have difficulty letting go of small details, become anxious when something is not done ‘right,’ and they become negative when they feel out of control.
WATER TYPES ☯ Think and feel very deeply. They live in the realm of ideas and imagination and have only a modicum of interest in the physical, practical world. They are natural wisdom-seekers, and have a rather advanced interior world for their age. They often seem to be ‘off somewhere’, not particularly concerned with punctuality, and respond to time-pressures and other external demands by disconnecting, staring out the window, or retreating to their inner world. [Unlike Wood types who become confrontational, or Fire types who seek thrills, Water element types become withdrawn in chronic stress situations.]
WOOD TYPES ☯ Are very physical, competitive and want to be first. Natural leaders; they always want to win, to be in front. Pioneers who see a path and want to take it. They usually win the enthusiasm of peers. Since they live primarily in the physical world, they often act out physically when stressed, becoming aggressive, argumentative, ‘In your face.’ Under duress, they become the restless and assertive ‘Wild Child.’
*Dr. Stephen Cowan, who studied with Efrem Korngold, co-author of the modern TCM classic, Between Heaven and Earth, has spent 20 years affirming the distinctions of the Five Elements. He has amassed a vast library of work with thousands [of children] across the developmental spectrum, and believes the elemental tendencies begin to show themselves within the first year or two of life.
