ICM  Institute for Chinese Medicine, acupuncture basel, chinese medicine basel,tui na Basel, tcm basel
D E F  
  • Acupuncture
    • Acupuncture
  • TCM
    • History
    • Methods of Treatment
    • Diagnostics
  • Treatment Modalities
    • Acupuncture
    • Auricular Acupuncture
    • Electroacupuncture
    • Chinese Herbal Medicine
    • Tui Na /An Mo Massage
    • Moxibustion
    • Cupping
    • Physical therapy
    • Qi Gong
    • Tai Ji Quan
    • Gua Sha
    • Chinese Nutritional Therapy
    • Wai Qi Liao Fa
  • Team
    • Elaine Yap
    • Ava Markwalder
    • Gabi Rahm
    • Frank Hediger
    • Noriko Matsumoto-Loosli
    • Olivier Schmidlin
    • Edmundo Belloni
  • ICM Treatment Information
    • Treatment Rooms
    • Treatment at ICM
    • Treatment Costs
    • Treatment Procedure
    • Documents
    • FAQ
  • Health Insurance Coverage
    • Health Insurance Coverage
    • FAQ
  • Contact
  • DEUTSCH
  • Blog
    • FRANÇAIS

The Fifth Season

27/8/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Since a few weeks, we have entered a new season, what we sometimes define as Late Summer in Chinese Medicine. This corresponds to our theory of the 5 Elements/ Phases; hence, the 5 seasons. It is of the Earth element.
 
As the extreme heat of summer begins to climax, moisture seeps into the air, making it not only hot but humid. The summer heat transforms into clouds which produce rain, often in the form of a summer storm. This in turn triggers the ripening of the crops. It is the power of Earth, the power of transformation. Not only in the Late Summer but also in between seasons, which I will explain further on. The seeds from Spring have transformed to plants and trees, which are now bearing fruit that are ready to be harvested. The Earth is the initiator and the binder of change.
 
The 5-Element theory explains to us that there are different ways in which the 5 Phases interact with one another; the Sheng (Generating) Cycle and the Ke (Controlling) Cycle, both of which I wrote of in my first post a while back. But there is a third Cycle, the Seasonal Cycle. Often this cycle displays the 5 Phases together with its correspondences together with the cardinal directions of the Earth. The Earth is the centre of all the Elements. It links all Phases together as seen in the Seasonal Cycle diagram. An Element manifests and returns its energy to the centre, to the Earth. It is the transition-maker; the one that transforms one to the other, the one that links everything together, the one that smoothens the change. Sounds like someone we know - the Mother.
In the Lei Jing (Classic of Categories) written in 1624 by Zhang Jie Bing, it states, "The Spleen belongs to Earth which pertains to the Centre, its influence manifests for 18 days at the end of each of the four seasons and it does not pertain to any season on its own." One of our Chinese Medical scholars of the present, Giovanni Maciocia puts it very accurately by stating that the Earth corresponds to "Late Summer," "Late Autumn," "Late Winter" and "Late Spring." It is the season of Transition, the Fifth Season. 
 
We can observe this now, by the concurrent warming and cooling. Thus, creating stormy weather. It is not just here but all around the globe, August-September is a time of storms; the countless hurricanes and typhoons often peak around this time. In fact, due to the global overheating, we are experiencing the transitions and changes stronger. These "18 days" that was indicated by Zhang Jie Bing almost 400 years ago was almost 30 days this past April. What we knew of April showers in the past, is no longer true, it came in May. But that is the nature of life, change. 
 
Most of us find change and transitions challenging. But it is simple. The Elements show us, we need to come back to our centre. Begin by finding centre in your body, through movement and stillness. Somewhere between these two points is the middle but you have to find it for yourself. No one can feel it for you but yourself. How does that work? Go walking, dancing, do Qi Gong, Tai Ji Quan or Yoga. Then find the stillness in these practices. This is one of the reasons that drew me to my practice of Tai Ji Quan and Yoga, the incorporation of both movement and stillness meditation. Find breath, this links us to our inner rhythms and the environment. It also gives us a way to deal with things better when we are stressed; we breathe deeply to calm our minds, we feel more connected to our bodies and suddenly, what we perceived as a stressful situation is no longer one. Eat seasonal-ripening foods and eat in moderation. When we overeat, it is harder to feel/ find our physical centre and, thus our emotional and spiritual centres are impeded. 

​This time of transition is like a bridge into the next phase of the year and of life. If we accept that change is inevitable and move along this bridge with awareness, the journey becomes easier.


​
​Image by Mustang Joe on Pixabay 
Diagrams by Elaine
0 Comments

Echinacea: The Doorkeeper to Health

2/8/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
I remember my first meeting with Echinacea in the late 1990s. I was at the end of my Bachelor's degree in the US. I recall being totally stressed out, as many students (and other people) are, having exams, papers due, part-time job and just worrying about life. I was also involved in dance and one of my dance professors/ choreographers, who I was working closely with on a performance, introduced me to Echinacea. She gave me her bottle of almost-finished Echinacea tincture to try, when she heard that I was having another bout of sore-throat which would progress to a cough, that I often had when I was stressed out. But that didn't help my throat and I went on to have a cough.
 
Fast forward 10 years later and I had finished studying Chinese Medicine, became a practitioner, moved to Switzerland and my children have already been born. I wasn't so prone to getting sick but when it came, it would begin with the throat. I knew how to treat it with Chinese herbal formulae but I somehow felt that I needed something simpler, a single herb. I am often aware of my throat, how it feels and the subtle changes that occur before I actually get a cold or flu. I started to experiment on myself, I tried Echinacea tincture on myself, which isn't in the Chinese Materia Medica, by the way. It is now over 10 years that I faithfully carry my Echinacea tincture in my medicine bag when I travel or have it always in my home. My kids have grown up taking the Echinacea tablets when they had a runny nose or when we got on planes, as an immune system strengthener and instead of candy to relieve ear pressure. I have grown Echinacea now in my garden for a few years and finally this year, she is thriving in a pot at my front door, grown from seed. She hasn't been simple to grow since the slugs and snails have feasted on her in my garden every year and she never could survive.
 
Echinacea purpurea or Purple Coneflower is a native of the Great Plains of North America and is a member of the Asteraceae or Sunflower family. The name Echinacea is Greek, meaning "Spiny One," referring to spiny sea urchins and purpurea to the reddish-purple color. There are a few other species of Echinacea some have yellow or white petals, E. purpurea, E. augustifolia and E. pallida are the ones used in medicine. She, I experience her as female, is a hardy plant, with a beautiful orange-yellow-green spikey cone-shaped head in the center and a skirt of light-purple petals. Amazingly beautiful! Sometimes when I stare into the cones from above, I get a trip, observing the formation of the spikes that form the cone - spiraling clockwise, anti-clockwise in never-ending complexity inward and outward. She attracts bees and butterflies (and slugs too!). Like many perennials, she blossoms only from the second year on, if planted from seed, from July to September.   
 
The part of the plant that is often used for medicine is the root but all parts are used. As I stated before in other posts, Chinese Medicine categorizes food and medicine by temperature, tastes, organs it affects and functions. Echinacea has a cool temperature, with spicy, bitter and slightly sweet tastes. She affects the Lungs but I have found some sources that also state that she affects the Liver, Urinary Bladder and Stomach. She helps to clear Wind-Heat (TCM diagnosis for some colds and flus) and Lung Heat, where the heat has passed deeper into the Lung manifesting bronchitis symptoms like fever and yellowish nasal secretions or cough with yellow-green phlegm. I have never tried her for Bladder themes or insect/snake-bites but she has been documented to be used by the Native Americans of the Great Plains, like the Cheyenne, Kiowa and Lakota Sioux, for various ailments for over hundreds of years. 
 
It is my experience that Echinacea should be used as an individual herb only in acute situations for a short period of time, about 3 but no more than 10 days, at least 3 times a day. I have heard experiences of patients, who used Echinacea daily for over 2 years and found that it wasn't effective anymore. I can understand this; it's like overusing any substance over an extended period of time will reduce its effectiveness for acute issues. Use of Echinacea over a longer period of time should be in combination with other herbs, such as with other Wei Qi (Defensive Qi) tonics, in order to strengthen the immune system.
 
Echinacea has been my doorway-opener into Western herbs. Literally, she helps me protect my body's doorways, my throat and Lungs from invasion from bacteria and viruses. Lots of scientific research is being done on Echinacea in this field. As with all herbs and with nature, use with respect and honor them. They will respond to us as we to them.  



​Images by Elaine    

0 Comments

    Elaine Yap

    I am a Chinese Medicine practitioner at ICM, mother of 2 sons, living on my third continent. I love to share with you my perspectives on healing, TCM, gardening, social change and life.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019

    Categories

    All
    5 Elements
    5 Pillars Of Chinese Medicine
    5-pointed-star
    Abdomen
    Acupuncture
    Acupuncture Channels
    Acupuncture Points
    Adapting
    Addiction
    Adventure
    Ancestors
    An Mo Massage
    Apple
    Ask
    Asking
    Assumptions
    Autumn
    Awareness
    Baby
    Back
    Bacteria
    Balance
    Ballet
    Barefoot
    Being Thankful
    Belief
    Birth
    Blessing
    Body And Mind
    Bokashi
    Bonding
    Breath
    Breathing
    Buddhism
    Bulbs
    Camellia Sinensis
    Celtic Shamanism
    Centre
    Change
    Children
    China
    Chinese Calligraphy
    Chinese Dietetics
    Chinese Herbal Medicine
    Chinese Materia Medica
    Chinese Medicine
    Chinese New Year
    Chinese Nutrition
    Choice
    Christmas
    Circle
    Common Sense
    Competition
    Complementary
    Complementary Medicine
    Congee
    Connecting
    Conscious Living
    Consciousness
    Container
    Cooling Foods
    Core
    Courage
    Crocus
    C-tactile Afferent
    Daffodils
    Dan Tian
    Dao De Jing
    Daoism
    Death
    Destination
    Diagnosis
    Digestion
    Digestive
    Digital Media
    Dim Sum
    Ears
    Earth
    Earthing
    Eating
    Echinacea
    Empower
    Emptiness
    Epigenetics
    Essence
    Everyday
    Evolution
    Excellence Of Self
    Experience
    Eyes
    Fascia
    Fasting
    Father
    Fear
    Feet
    Fire
    Fish
    Flexibility
    Flower
    Food
    Food As Medicine
    Fruit
    Gardening
    Genetics
    Gong Fu
    Gong Fu Cha
    Gratefulness
    Gratitude
    Green Tea
    Greeting
    Grounding
    Growth
    Hands
    Handstand
    Hangover Cure
    Hay Fever
    Headstand
    Healing
    Heart
    Heaven
    Herbal Decoction
    Herbal Formula
    Herbal Infusion
    Herbal Medicine
    Heroes
    Honouring
    Human
    Humility
    ICM Garden
    ICM Garden Project
    Immune System
    Information
    Injury
    Insomnia
    INternal
    Inward Movement
    Jing
    Journey
    Joy
    Kidneys
    Labor
    Lao Zi
    Large Intestine
    Late Summer
    Leaf
    Less Is More
    Letting Go
    Life
    Life Love
    Listening
    Looking
    Lung
    Lungs
    Maple
    Martial Arts
    Massage
    Medicine
    Middle
    Migration
    Mindfulness
    Mother
    Mountains
    Movement
    Moxibustion
    Narcissus
    Natural Breath
    Nature
    Nei Gong
    News
    Normal
    Nourishment
    Nourish Yin
    Now
    Nuclear Power
    Nurture
    Oil
    Olympics
    One-Size-Fits-All
    Optical Illusion
    Pain
    Parenting
    Path
    Patience
    Pear
    Pentagram
    Peony
    Perception
    Perfect
    Permaculture
    Perspective
    Plant
    Plastics
    Post-Heaven
    Pre-Heaven
    Pulse
    Qi
    Qi Gong
    Recycling
    Resilience
    Respect
    Retreat
    Rhythm
    Ritual
    River
    Romanticism
    Roots
    Rose
    Routine
    Saffron
    Science
    Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis
    Seasons
    Seeds
    Sense Organs
    Senses
    Sharing
    Shen Nong
    Shonishin
    Simple
    Sleeping
    Snow
    Sound
    Space
    Space Time
    Spicy
    Spleen
    Sports
    Spring
    Stillness
    Stomach
    Stress
    Stretching
    Summer
    Summer-Heat
    Summer Solstice
    Support
    Survival
    Sweet
    Sword
    Tai Ji Quan
    Taiwan
    Taste
    Tea
    Teachers
    Temperature
    Third Ear
    Third Eye
    Time
    Toilet Paper
    Touch
    Touching
    Transformation
    Trees
    Tui Na Massage
    Valleys
    Vibration
    Virus
    Vision
    Walking
    Warming
    Water
    Watermelon
    Wei/Protective Qi
    Winning
    Winter
    Winter Solstice
    Wood
    Words
    Wordsworth
    Work
    Wu Ji
    Wu Long Tea
    Yang
    Yellow Emperor Classic
    Yin
    Yin Yang
    Yin-Yang
    Yoga
    Zen Buddhism

    RSS Feed

Institut für Chinesische Medizin ICM GmbH

Falknerstrasse 4 | 4001 Basel
Tel. 061 272 88 89 | Fax 061 271 42 64
info@icm-basel.ch ​
  • Acupuncture
    • Acupuncture
  • TCM
    • History
    • Methods of Treatment
    • Diagnostics
  • Treatment Modalities
    • Acupuncture
    • Auricular Acupuncture
    • Electroacupuncture
    • Chinese Herbal Medicine
    • Tui Na /An Mo Massage
    • Moxibustion
    • Cupping
    • Physical therapy
    • Qi Gong
    • Tai Ji Quan
    • Gua Sha
    • Chinese Nutritional Therapy
    • Wai Qi Liao Fa
  • Team
    • Elaine Yap
    • Ava Markwalder
    • Gabi Rahm
    • Frank Hediger
    • Noriko Matsumoto-Loosli
    • Olivier Schmidlin
    • Edmundo Belloni
  • ICM Treatment Information
    • Treatment Rooms
    • Treatment at ICM
    • Treatment Costs
    • Treatment Procedure
    • Documents
    • FAQ
  • Health Insurance Coverage
    • Health Insurance Coverage
    • FAQ
  • Contact
  • DEUTSCH
  • Blog
    • FRANÇAIS