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
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