Spring has Sprung!

Spring has officially sprung in Minnesota. We often forget how our bodies are tied to the ebbs and flows of the seasons. Chinese medicine is a great guide to the intertwined relationship we have to the natural world.

In Chinese medicine, the Liver is the official organ of Spring. Just as plants grow and blossom in the spring months so does the Liver, moving Qi and Blood throughout our body nourishing and keeping us in balance.  Often we see the Liver overacting in the Spring and not flowing properly which can wreak havoc and cause many physical and emotional imbalances. 

So how do we deal with this in Chinese medicine? Let's look closely at a very popular Chinese herbal formula that many of the patients at Family Tree Acupuncture use, Xiao Yao San or Free and Easy Wanderer.

Xiao Yao San helps decrease stress responses, regulate menstrual cycles, decrease pain and boost energy. To achieve these actions we use dried herbs to create this formula, a couple of which you may have in your kitchen today. There's fresh ginger (Sheng Jiang), dried mint (Bo He), licorice fried in honey (Zhi Gan Cao), a Chinese mushroom (Fu ling), dried peony root (Bai Shao), angelica root (Bai Zhu) female ginseng (Dang Gui), and a root in the carrot family (Chai Hu).