Chinese Medicine and Chi Gung

If you are going to teach the integration of the Body-Mind and Inner-Self (whatever the method) you need to able to make the student comfortable in their body, emotions and mind as much is practically possible. It is difficult and frustrating when you are committed to your training but your health or other issues unnecessarily hold you back. Unless a teacher is prepared to do this, the student can spend too much time and personal effort in overcoming the road-blocks on the way to the path instead of actually walking it. Chinese herbal medicine and chi gung are one of those perfect marriages that we all would want to be a partner in. A chi gung teacher who knows how to competently prescribe or recommend the correct herbal formulas can really help their clients and students make much faster progress in their practice of chi gung. This is true whether the chi gung being taught is for reasons of improved health, increased well-being or for martial vitality and skill. In any class mix there will always be students who embody the following pictures of clinical signs and symptoms. These clinical pictures that students often suffer from are very easy to alleviate or successfully treat, and body-work practitioners and teachers should learn to be competent in discerning and treating them. The young martial fellow who is rather hot and tight in their body-mind The young martial fellow who is big in stature and is excessively hot both in his internal environment and his body surface The person who always has indigestion and feels tired and heavy because of their inability to digest their food The person who is doesnt have enough vitality and blood volume for their physical and emotional needs The person who has a warm torso but frozen hands and feet The person who looks rather emotionally pent up The person who cries at the drop of a hat The person whose energy is blocked

In my work, I see many young men who are doing intensive and generally hard style methods of martial training. When I get them to stand in even a shallow horse-stance for a quarter of an hour to an hour they start to violently shake and sweat so intensely that within a short space of time their clothes are absolutely sweat saturated and there is a growing puddle of sweat on the floor around their feet. These fellows come in two basic types. The first type is those that are hot and tight and tend to carry quite a load of unresolved anger, heat and rage. When they take the Chinese formula known as Long Dan Xie Gan Wan they soon become cooler, calmer and significantly more in control of themselves. Young men who generally are unable to control their violent urges respond very well to Long Dan Xie Gan Wan, especially when they are also

participating in anger management classes. The second type, are those who are big in their stature and are excessively hot both inside and outside of their body-mind. These people respond very well to the formula known as Fang Feng Tong Shen Wan and in a short while feel much more comfortable in them-selves. When someone is unable to digest their food they are always tired and heavy because their digestive dis-comfort greatly affects their over-all sense of well-being. By recommending that this person takes a combination of Bao He Wan and Jian Pi Wan and later Xiang Sha Yang Wei Wan, their life feels truly transformed. You will be their treasured friend for life. Have you ever gone out to dinner with a babe and you really want to share the enjoyment of the good food with her, and all she eats is a teaspoon of something and you end up eating alone. Makes you roll your eyes and loudly sigh doesnt it. Unless she is a nut -case dieter, she probably has a case of stagnant food in her stomach and intestines which the above Chinese formulas will quickly remedy. When a person has very cold hands and feet but their torso is rather on the warm side it shows that they are emotionally very tight. Recommending the formula known as Si Ni San or Chai Hu Shu Gan Wan will emotionally and energetically unlock them. For people who are pent-up emotionally, tell them to get a bottle of Ban Xia Hou Po Wan. This person will generally have a feeling of their being a lump in their throat most of the time, and especially when they are upset. For people who cry at the drop of a hat for no apparent reason and you sense that this person is way too sensitive to cope with the world, the medicine called Gan Mai Da Zao Wan will greatly help their spirit to settle within their body-mind. When the vitality is weak particular signs and symptoms develop. These include shortness of breath; weak voice; spontaneous perspiration; perspiration on little exertion; no appetite; loose stools; tiredness and general weakness as well as weak digestive power. When there isnt enough blood volume in the body there will be signs and symptoms such as pale lips; sallow or pale lustreless facial complexion; dizziness; emaciation; poor memory; numbness; blurred vision, and insomnia. When the blood poorly circulates signs and symptoms of cold hand and feet; aversion to cold; and stiffness in the muscles and joints, especially in the morning upon rising will be experienced. There are two medicines to immediately consider. These are: Ba Zhen Wan which is the foundation vitality and blood restorer, and Shi Chuan Da Bu Wan which is the same as Ba Zhen except for having an additional two ingredients like astragalus and cinnamon bark that together warm the body when it isnt producing enough metabolic heat.

When the vitality is blocked from being a free flowing entity it creates pain and discomfort with the following features such as a sensation of distension; discomfort that moves from

place to place; blocked emotions; constant sighing; mood swings; depression; and all other symptoms aggravated by emotional upset including digestive problems. There are two medicines to consider here as well. They are: Xiao Yao Wan will free up the blocked energy within and around the bodymind and harmoniously re-circulate the re-freshed vitality. Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan does the same job but has two additional herbs that will remove any signs of excessive heat from the body-mind.

If the laws of your part of the world forbid you to prescribe anything but a scratch on the arse, you can find other means of directing your students and clients to the right medicine.