About a month ago, we were still in the throes of Summer. It got up to 35 degrees Celsius  even in August, which is unusual for us here in Switzerland. But this has become the norm all over the world. We are in the midst of big change, of our Earth overheating but it is not new; the heating and cooling of the Earth has been happening for 4.54 billion years but us humans are sure contributing large amounts to the current overheating in a short amount of time by how we choose to live.

Not so far back in the past, in 1989, the American singer, Billy Joel released a song – “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” In this song, he lists some of the events in world history from his birth year, 1949, till that year when he turned 40; he released the song in September 1989. Little did he know that in November of that year, the Berlin Wall fell, signifying the end of the Cold War; thus helping this song to catapult to the top of the music charts around the world. When I heard this song then as a teen, I didn’t quite understand it. He lists many things that was significant to the Western world, but most especially to an American; I was an Asian teen with little experience and knowledge of world events at that point in time.

Since I began studying Chinese Medicine, I have been fascinated by the Theory of the 5 Phases or Elements, Wǔ Xíng. This theory is not just applied in Chinese Medicine, but also in Chinese philosophy, science, politics, education, music, martial arts and probably anything to do with life. In medicine, we are taught that there are 12 Regular Channel/ Meridians, which are connected to 12 organs. All of these 12 have 1 of the 5-Elements associated with them; each Element has 2 partner organs except for Fire, which has 4. Just with this circumstance, one can assume that Fire is a very important element in Chinese Medicine. These organs are the Heart, Pericardium, Small Intestines and Triple Burner, Sān Jiāo; the Heart being defined as the Emperor of the organs. Just with this detail of having 4 Fire-Element-organs in the body, we can imagine that Chinese Medicine views humans to have a tendency to build up heat in the body.

Fire is important for life but too much of it would create an imbalance. We need a certain amount of warmth in the body in order that our natural body functions work. However, when we have too much heat, it would make the functions go into overdrive and burn out. Is this not the dis-ease of our time? In Qi Gong manuscripts, there are referrals from the Eight Trigrams (Bā Guà) to Kǎn, Water and Lí, Fire. Qi Gong Master, Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming describes in his book, The Root of Chinese Qi Gong:

“Kan is Water and represents Yin in relationship to Li, which represents Fire and Yang. Qigong practitioners believe theoretically that your body is always too Yang unless you are sick and have not eaten for a long time, in which case your body may be more Yin. When your body is always Yang, it is degenerating and burning out. It is believed that this is the cause of aging. If you are able to use Water to cool down your body, you will be able to slow down the degeneration process and thereby lengthen your life […] Fire and Water mean many things in your body. The first concerns your Qi. Qi is classified as Fire or Water […] The Qi which is pure and is able to cool both your physical and spiritual bodies is considered Water Qi.”

Therefore, many of the Qi Gong forms are for developing Water Qi, to cool and balance Fire Qi within our beings. A balance between these two kinds of Qi is what creates health. According to Dr. Yang, this can be achieved by having proper food and fresh air, regulating the Mind and Breath, steadying the Spirit and some special Qi Gong meditative practices.

Dr. Yang also hints that our thoughts and Intention, Yì, is shaped by Kǎn and Lí, Water and Fire; if we are fiery in our beings, we begin to have fiery thoughts and actions. This is often what we observe in Chinese Medicine, if someone has an imbalance of heat in her/his body, s/he will begin to manifest irritation, anger, obsessive and manic behavior, to the point of being violent toward the people around her/him. I believe this imbalance, within many individuals, is one of the causes that drove societies to seek to dominate and conquer others. I came across a very good documentary many years ago about fossil fuel, its origins as well of its effects on our planet and its living beings, called Crude: The Incredible Journey of Oil. It traces how the tiny phytoplankton from 160 million years ago, floating in an ancient ocean that makes up what is now the Arabian peninsula, stored the power of the Sun in the state of carbon and with the pressures of the Earth, became “fossilized Jurassic sunlight” deep within the Earth to conceive what we know as crude oil. It also creates an awareness of how our modern lives have been shaped by crude oil; from petrol in the car that transports us around, to the plastic of our kids’ toys to the skincare products that we put on our faces. We have become so detached and disconnected from life around us, that we may be unaware that the excess Fire within us is devouring us and all around us.

Billy Joel’s song chorus goes:

 “We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it.”

But I disagree, we may not have started the Fire, but we are fueling it. It is time to stop. We can choose to balance it out with the Element of Water, in how we live and what we practice in our everyday.
 
 

Reference
Yang, J.M. (1997) 2nd.Ed. The Root of Chinese Qi Gong. Wolfeboro, NH, USA: YMAA Publication Center.
 
 

Image by ulrikebohr570 on Pixabay

This morning, like many other mornings over the past years, I took my herbal medicine. One of these is called “Xiāo Yáo Sǎn - Free and Easy Wanderer Powder.” I am reminded of the first time I became aware of the English translation of this formula’s name almost 25 years ago. I was in clinical training at the American College of TCM in San Francisco and I was instructed by my clinical supervisor to obtain this formula in pill form for one of our patients at the clinic. I entered our herbal pharmacy to look for the bottle of pills. I found it on a shelf and looked at the bottle; on it I saw an image of an older Chinese man in traditional garb with his walking stick and small pack, looking out from high into the horizon that spreads over mountains, rivers, waterfalls and trees. Both Chinese in Pin Yin and English names were printed on the bottle, so I was able to distinguish the formula, which I was taught to memorize in Pin Yin. But what stood out for me is the English name and image of the Wandering Daoist; since then it has been embedded into my consciousness.

Not too long ago, I finally got around to attaining the classical Daoist text of Zhuang Zi (365-290BCE), one of the famous scholars/ masters of Daoism. As I looked through the book, I came across the title of the first chapter - “Free and Easy Wanderer.” I found out that this is no coincidence. The Chinese medical experts, who compiled the Tai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang (Imperial Grace Formulary of the Tai Ping Era), in the Song Dynasty period (960-1279 CE) were themselves scholars of Daoism. They named this formula “Free and Easy Wanderer” for precisely the effect that it should invoke in the individual with her/his use of this herbal combination.

In our modern-day Western society, Xiāo Yáo Sǎn is one of the most prescribed formulas. In my clinical training in the USA, almost every second patient was receiving this formula in her/his treatment. These days, I still prescribe Free-and-Easy-Wanderer Powder regularly to my patients, as well as take it regularly myself. Why? This is due to its function to move Liver Qi Stagnation and prevent Qi congestion, harmonize Liver (Wood) and Spleen (Earth), as well as tonify Blood. Life in our modern-day world appears to make us feel tight and blocked, as shown in the muscles and joints of our bodies; unable to access our “free nature,” our minds too become stuck. Many of us feel restricted, stuck in a “box” too small for our bodyminds with constraints of time and space, leading to us feeling stressed: get out of the door on time so you get your tram or else you’ll be late for work, which would then make your superior angry with you and may dock your salary or worse fire you, then you wouldn’t be able to buy your basics like food or to pay your bills and rent…the list of things could go on and on, if we let it. But pay attention to what has happened to our jaws, necks and shoulders; they contracted together and tighter as the list went on, manifestation of our Liver Qi congesting. Over a longer period of time of reduced circulation, this would lead to a depletion of Qi and Blood, affecting our Spleen’s ability to digest food and make Blood which is needed to nourish our bodies. Another common modern usage of Xiāo Yáo Sǎn is for Pre-Menstrual Syndrome PMS. This is once again a case of being “forced” into a container too small, too restrictive and undernourished, that the body begins to rebel by causing mental irritation, mood-swings, physical tension and pain.

Xiāo Yáo Sǎn - the formula of over a thousand years, helps with all these and more, but it is not and should not be the sole remedy. What we need is Free and Easy Wanderer mentality, find the Wandering Daoist within ourselves. “Unbox” our bodies and minds! Go out into Nature, breathe, move, walk, dance, sing - release and unbind our Qi and our lives regularly from the constraints of the human world. Let it flow free and easy!
 
 

 
Image by Ansgar Sheffold on Pixabay