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

The principles of Chinese Medicine tell us that a human being comes into the world with Pre-Natal Jing (Pre-Birth Life Essence) and Post-Natal Jing (Post-Birth Acquired Essence). Pre-Natal Jing determines the individual’s constitution basis, strength, vitality and its amount is finite; which means that we can’t choose what kind of genetics we get from our parents as well as ancestors, and what amount of “good” Essence we possess. Post-Natal Jing comes from us eating food, drinking fluid and breathing air, which our Spleen, Stomach and Lungs extract as well as refine the Essence of food, fluid and air for its creation. In contrast to Pre-Natal Jing, Post-Natal Jing is deeply rooted in our choices; we may not be able to change our genetics but we are able to choose the foods, drinks and environment that we live in as well as with our everyday habits. In fact, if we understand and accept the boundaries of our constitution, we will be able to influence the unfolding of our Jing, both Pre and Post-Natal, that we may flourish and thrive in this lifetime.
 
One of the pillars of Chinese Medicine is Chinese Nutrition and Dietetics. It is a part of the medicine that requires action and/ or modification in habits from the individual; hence, is challenging. Many a time, patients come in with an enthusiasm to change the way they eat and often ask me what they should or shouldn’t eat, as they want to lose weight. Often times, they are looking for a “simple quick fix.” Then we discuss strategies from the Chinese Medicine perspective and they realize that it isn’t going to be as simple as they had imagined. Why is this? I believe one of the reasons is because food is related to culture and social conditioning, which we inherited from generations that came before us and the patterns that shape its production as well as availability are dictated by what is around us. So it is not just the individual constitution that we need to look at, but the environment, the practices of the culture, the emotional connection of this particular individual to food, their habits with food shaped early on in their lives by upbringing, etc. Short answer - THERE IS NO QUICK FIX. Food and nutrition shouldn’t be a quick fix. If we understand that food shapes our Post-Natal Jing and therefore the development of our being, then we realize that it is essential for survival and living a life of quality. Is this not worth time and effort, instead of a look-like-simple diet fad that we saw on some social-media post which may help us lose a few kilograms of weight today but gain it all back next week and some, as it was never really addressing our true essence?

I recently came across a treatise on Daoist practice by Jampa Mackenzie Stewart, Daoist-Buddhist and Chinese Medicine practitioner, which I find gives a good summary to Daoist Nutritional Therapy. First and foremost, moderation, flexibility and a diet that matches your constitution; this also means you should get to know your body well, in order for you to know your constitution. Eating and drinking in excess “dulls the mind and strains the body.” He discusses a way, and there are many other ways, to classifying food into building foods and cleansing foods:

“Building foods are those that help build the body’s substances; foods such as meats, grains, and the more starchy vegetables and fruits are building foods. Cleansing foods are the more watery fruits and vegetables; foods such as green leafy vegetables, celery, bok choy, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers and the like. In general, a diet should be made up of both categories to stay in balance, with a higher ratio of building foods eaten during the fall and winter to provide warmth and energy, and a higher ratio of cleansing foods eaten during the spring and summer for cooling and flushing.”   

Another theme that often comes up for many patients I treat is that they eat healthy but are still feeling unwell. Mackenzie Stewart distinguishes between a mountain yogi and a city Taoist.

“The mountain yogi, undisturbed by the hectic pace of the city, living in the pure air and sun with few distractions to stir the passions and emotions, usually eats a pure and light diet of simple vegetables and fruit, and eventually consuming only tonic herbs (…) If a city person tries to eat too rarefied and pure a diet, he or she may become overly sensitive to the gross influences of the city environment and may be too easily thrown out of balance and become ill. Thus city dwelling Taoists often practice “strategic impurity,” ingesting moderate amounts of meat, alcohol, caffeine, white flour or sugar in their diet. Again, moderation is the key word, and this is never to be construed as advice for those with a propensity for addiction.”

Many, if not most of the people I know and treat are city or at least urban dwellers. As such, I believe this view provided above is very applicable. Until we, including myself, city-dwelling Taoist can retreat into the mountains, it would be beneficial for us to be moderate in our intake of food as well as information, if I may add.

Many blogposts ago, I mentioned that cooking our food is actually the beginnings of the digestive process. Mackenzie Stewart supports this by providing an analogy that I find is very appropriate for our current entry into Spring. “Lightly cooked foods are preferred to raw foods. Eating raw foods is compared to burning green wood: hard to burn, lots of smoke and waste, and little heat.” As Spring arrives and the warmth of the Sun returns, our beings will show us the need for more cleansing and lighter foods, maybe even a fast. We’ll get into that in further blogposts, stay tuned. Until then, stay warm, eat in moderation, be well.
 
 
Reference
Jampa Mackenzie Stewart: Foundations of Taoist Practice. E-Book on www.holybooks.com.




Image by Ruttikal Chularom on pixabay

This past week, we experienced what it is like to have summer after a cool, wet Summer; it was scorching hot and humid. It reminded me a little, and I mean really just a little ;-), of the tropics. We were all feeling the heat as well as heaviness, sweating, and it felt like no one really had an appetite. This is what we call Summer-Heat in Chinese Medicine.
 
Growing up, I never really thought about how food affected me. I remember my mother making foods to cool us down, due to the ever-constant warm temperature in Malaysia. We ate and drank lots of fruit/ juice in general. I never really thought about it until I began studying Chinese Medicine. Fruit in general has a cold temperature and is often sweet in flavor, as they ripen in the heat of Summer. This means most fruit will cool down heat and influence the Spleen and Stomach, as the sweet flavor is associated with the Earth element.
 
One fruit that comes to mind for this season is the Watermelon, Fructus Citrullus vulgaris. It's juicy, refreshing and cooling. This is one of the most common fresh-made juices one can get when you are in Malaysia, because it cools Summer-Heat. It grows locally all-year round there and in the Summer in most warm-weathered countries. One of my teachers called it the "Chinese aspirin," as it clears heat from the body like when we experience feverishness, though I must emphasize it's not the best herb for fevers. The Chinese call it Xī Guā, 西瓜 , which translates as "Western Gourd/Squash/ Melon." This was because in ancient China, Watermelon grew in its Western regions. Interestingly, I found out that Watermelon has been found to have originated in North Africa, possibly Sudan, and even in ancient Egypt there were seeds found in the pyramids and references in carvings dated 2000 BCE. Africa is West of China and it may be that it made its way to China through trade. 
 
Watermelon is one of those fruit that almost all parts can be eaten and act as medicinal food. The part which we all eat is the red-juicy-sweet core enters the Urinary Bladder, Heart and Stomach channels in Chinese Medicine. Hence, it functions to cool the Summer-Heat, generate fluids, expel jaundice and promote urination. The peel is used for its stronger effect on promoting urination. Watermelon seeds are eaten regularly as a snack in Asia; it is first sun-dried and roasted with salt. The skin of the seed is peeled off and the inside is eaten. This is said to help clear urinary tract infection and lower blood pressure. Watermelon is sweet in flavor and cold in temperature. Therefore, if one has blood sugar imbalances or a cool digestive system, tending to loose stools/diarrhea, then be careful to keep the Watermelon intake to a minimum, or for that matter fruit/juice as well.
 
Like so many of our foods, Watermelon's journey on the Earth from Africa and its transformation from a water-bearing possibly bitter/bland fruit into sweet, red nectar is a fascinating story of migration and resilience; just as us humans migrating to greener pastures, surviving and adapting. It not only nourishes and heals us but also inspires our creativity. I watched the famous jazz musician and composer, Herbie Hancock describe how and why he wrote his famous song, "Watermelon Man" in 1962. So as you eat your Watermelon next time, listen to the Mongo Santamaria's version of the song and get into the Watermelon groove.
 


Image Watermelon by Jorge Furber on Pixabay
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