Just at the start of last week, my 17-year-old son woke up with a runny nose, a sore throat and headache. He had had an activity-packed weekend, as the sunny, warm, Spring inspired action: going out on a trip to another city with friends, working out hard at the gym and not having enough sleep. However, when action is not balanced with rest, then we pay a price for it. Since I had spent time in the garden on the weekend, I had noticed that a plant that I have grown in containers for years now, is returning in full growth, after its winter dormancy and this plant would help my son get over his ailments. This is none other than the common Mint.

Mint is one of those common herbs that we find almost everywhere in our modern world. Go to the grocery store and you’ll find it on the herbal tea shelf, probably with many brands offering the same herb. You will also find it in the fresh herb section, packed in neat little boxes ready to be used. Move through the store and you’ll find Mint in so many of the products, from mint stracciatella ice-cream, to toothpaste, to chewing gum and candy that are called mints. Go to a bar or restaurant, order a cocktail and it’s used as a garnish. In Malaysia, where I come from, we use it in food as a garnish, to enhance the flavors; for instance, in Assam Laksa, a spicy, sweet, sour fish noodle soup dish.

Mint is a perennial, grows outside in almost all the continents of the world, except Antarctica, as long as there is sunlight and enough moisture in the Earth. It is an aromatic herb, as such it is often used fresh as a garnish and should not be cooked, in order to maintain its essential oils. If you are not careful to plant it in a container, it will take over your garden. This is the resilience of Mint, its growth will spread throughout the garden, coming back year after year, with little care; as long as conditions are suitable.

In Chinese Medicine, we call this herb Bó Hé  薄荷.Herba Mentha haplocalys or Mentha arvensis or Field Mint is the species of Mint that is used in Chinese Medicine, but there are at least 25 Mint species and numerous hybrid species in existence today. This herb enters the Lung and Liver channels, is spicy, cool and aromatic. It is used to clear the head, eyes and throat, as well as what we call Wind-Heat conditions, which includes the common cold/ flu symptoms, like sore throat, headache, fever, etc. It vents rashes, like in the case of early-stage measles. Mint disperses the turbid in the abdomen, meaning dampness with heat symptoms like abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea, as in the case of a gastrointestinal virus. Finally, it soothes and relieves Liver Qi Stagnation, which manifests as tension in the chest/breast and hypochondrium (rib area), headaches and emotional instability, which are common symptoms in PMS. One of its functions that I learned from my own personal experience but is often not stated as a function is that it slows down breastmilk production, especially useful when one wants to wean a child off the breast. So many functions for such a small, common, rather under-estimated plant, isn’t it?

I hear from new patients drinking the infusion of Mint often, but are unaware that it is cooling. If you are someone who tends to feel cold, this is not the infusion that you should be drinking too often, especially not in winter. Drink it in late Spring or Summer, like now, where days are longer and the sun is shining, and the leaves are in full-growth. If you experience PMS, then drink Mint regularly in that phase of the menstrual cycle. It is by the way, one of the herbs in the famous Free and Easy Wanderer Powder (Xiāo Yáo Sǎn) which I wrote about in previous blogposts.

As in the case of my son, he spent the day resting, taking the famous Wind-Heat formula, Yín Qiào Sǎn, which has Mint as one of its herbs, and drinking fresh Mint infusions, as our plants are right at our front door, guarding the entry to our home. The next day, he was well again ready to go back to school and everyday life. Even though I know the power of Mint, it never ceases to amaze me how this simple, common plant can provide such relief and healing in those moments that we so need. This is the magic of the simple and the everyday. You just have to know when to apply it and it reveals its magic to you.
 


Images by Elaine

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