Modified Opening Through Stasis Decoction

By way of introduction, I’d like to write a bit about women’s physiology and the tubular quality of the Ren vessel and the Bao Tai. Though I have not heard of these pathways written or spoken of as “tubular” per se, thinking of them in this way has helped me to visualize and understand women’s physiology, patho-physiology and the use of herbs in formulas.   Read more...

 

Beware the Rampaging Hun

Individually embodied spirits engage and accumulate experience through the combined agency of the five aspects of Shen (Spirit). Each of these shen is associated with the primal movement of one of the five phases (wuxing), is contained within its zang (vital organ), and expresses interactions with the world through its paired fu (storehouse). Together the five shen provide both the motive force for each individual’s life, and his or her capacity to learn and grow.  Read more...

 

Wu Wei Zi: A Great Herb, A Little Caution

Wu wei zi (schisandra) is one of the most interesting herbs in common use by physicians of Chinese medicine. It would be surprising to find it missing in any Chinese herbal shop. Its listing in the Shennong Bencao Jing as well as in twelve formulas from the Shanghan Zabing Lun (the combined Shanghan Lun and Jin Gui Yao Lue), firmly anchors wu wei zi as a stalwart component of the Chinese herbal tradition…  Read more...