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So, here's the Winter season! According to the Classics, 7th December marks the beginning of the second month of Winter. This middle month of Winter represents to us the festive season in which we celebrate light (December being the darkest month of the year) and our humanity. It comes from our innate need to come together on dark and cold evenings to create and share heat and light. We withdraw from much outdoor activities to rest and recover after many busy months. We are supposed to accumulate energy during the next couple of months or so. So, avoid doing harsh eliminations or energy wastage, i.e. detox or rushing around without stopping, in the next couple of months.


In some ways, we have adopted that innate need to withdraw and accumulate energy into acquisition of goods as presents and foods for the festive season. But remember that this is really our instinctual urge to accumulate and recharge our batteries. Look at trees, all their energy is withdrawing from the external parts (branches) into trunks and roots. Hence they lose their leaves. Look at animals; they either hibernate or look for warm shelter and sleep a lot.


In Chinese Medicine this energy, our batteries, is called Jing and it is placed in our Kidneys. We have two Kidneys, one is related to our pre-natal energy and the other to our post-natal energy. This means that the Kidneys are a kind of a bridge between our living energy and the energy we had brought in with us: ancestral or reincarnated. So, this month we reconnect with our roots, our families, to renew the connection to who we are and where we have come from. I encourage you to take time off to yourself to reflect on what you feel your human identity is here on Earth.


The next two months will give us this possibility to dive deep into our essence and identity. If, in that process, you rediscover or re-identify some aspects of yourself you have, but you have not realised you have had, it has the potential to give you a new shot of life, a renewed will to live. Sometimes it is simply a family connection, going back to your roots and feeling that connection can reignite life. Whether you feel part of the family or not (you feel more of an outcast), facing them up still reinforces the message about who you feel you are. Other times, it is slowing down and reflecting that gives us more clarity on your identity. In any case, make time to reconnect and reflect.


In Winter we should be like the stormy waters which calm down and reveal their transparency all the way to the bottom of the sea. You will benefit immensely on the mental level too! Physically, it will give you tranquil sleep, good body circulation, physical strength (especially in the lumbar back) and improved immunity to cold-borne diseases (such as viruses).


The post-natal Kidney "batteries" are further renewed during these Winter months by taking care of our "renewable" physical energy. The best way to renew it is to keep the body warm, circulation stable and resting sufficiently. If you suffer from cold, do warm up with hot coarse salt compresses and warming herbal teas (ginger, cinnamon, etc) and soups (especially with winter root vegetables). Brisk walking or jogging and winter sports are also indicated in this season to keep the circulation going and building up the body's strength and determination.


To keep you warm, nourished and sustained during this Winter I have prepared special herbal teas, meticulously made from personally harvested herbs and according to the principles of Classical Chinese Medicine. If you are interested in getting this special herbal tea edition, please contact me below:




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You wouldn't look twice at Cocklebur discarding it as another infestatious plant. Children, however, seem to be drawn to its prickly fruits. By coincidence, it was just at the time I was studying this herb when my daughter came back from school with a pocketful of Xanthium fruits. I felt immediately attracted to its smell, which seemed tabacco-like at first but I later realised (when toasting them) that they have a roasted coffee smell.


It came to me as no surprise, when I dag into the literature on Cocklebur, that it includes "seven caffeoylquinic acid (CQA) derivatives"**. Yes, the same that are in your espresso and they are a type of antioxidants. Studies confirm that CQA have "protective effects against type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease"* meaning for prevention and treatment of these diseases and other, which I will mention later.


So, the first thing I did after collecting its fruits, toasting them and cleaning meticulously from the spikes (which unfortunately contain most of its toxic substances) I brewed them into a tasty tea, which resembles more a coffee in effect. And out of all the coffee alternatives I have ever tried I must say this one has the closest aroma to the roasted coffee out of all. Its bitter and acid levels are contained, unlike chicory, which is predominantly bitter and lacking the coffee aroma for satisfying my olfactory senses. It is said that precicely its aroma is what traditionally gave Xanthium its use in openeing up the nose passages.


In fact, it has such an intense aroma that more contemporary use of this plant has been tested as an essential oil. One study has confirmed the Xanthium EO "inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger"***


It is not an intention of this post to list all the studies on Xanthium strumarium, which seem to be truly abundant. However, to give you an idea of the wide-range of compounds and effects this plant has I quote this study:

"Up to now, more than 170 chemical constituents have been isolated and identified from X. strumarium, including sesquiterpenoids, phenylpropenoids, lignanoids, coumarins, steroids, glycosides, flavonoids, thiazides, anthraquinones, naphthoquinones and other compounds. Modern research shows that the extracts and compounds from X. strumarium possess wide-ranging pharmacological effects, including anti- allergic rhinitis (AR) effects, anti-tumor effects, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, insecticide and antiparasitic effects, antioxidant effects, antibacterial and antifungal effects, antidiabetic effects, antilipidemic effects and antiviral effects."****


Despite it being seemingly a perfect, local alternative to coffee there are two problems here. The first one is the time it takes to clean the fruits of its spike manually if you have no industrial equipment and intend to harvest your own Cocklebur. The second reason is that this herb should not be consumed for long periods of time, due to its toxicity. Even after removing the prickly spikes from the fruits it is still classified in the Materia Medica of Chinese Medicine as a mildly toxic herb.


In fact it is the millennial use of Xanthium strumarium, in Chinese: Cang Er Zi, 苍耳子, that has inspired so much of the modern research. Cang Er Zi means "Deep Green Ear Seed", however, the lower part of the character contains the word granary and the upper part the word plant/herb. So, we could translate it as Plant Granary Ear Seed. "Plant Granary" explains the relation to the western name Xanthium, xanthos from Greek meaning blond/yellow. It refers to the Cang Er Zi fruits turning from green to yellow as they mature, the same as the grains.


"Granary" already suggests its uses for Damp conditions (granary refers to Stomach which is damp in nature); the Deep Green refers to its Liver affinity and its ability to treat Wind conditions and eye conditions that result in headaches; Ears to its ability to open the orifices, particularly the ears and the nose, the last one giving it affinity to Lungs. Cang Er Zi is warming so it is used to treat Cold conditions.


In fact, the ancients have found the best use of Xanthium in opening up the blocked sinus cavity (sinusitis) with the Xanthium Powder/Cang Er Zi San formula. According to the Classical Chinese Medicine if your cold becomes sinusitis (cold plus phlegm) and continues unresolved it will result in aches and pains in your limbs, aka rheumatic pains. Hence it brings me to suggest that Cang Er Zi is perfect for this cold season in cases you cannot get rid of your blocked nose and especially if you start noticing musculoskeletal aches at the same time.


Its bitter taste makes it duretic and its slightly spicy taste makes your skin breathe and eliminate. This aids Wei Qi, which are your defences. The sweet taste of Cang Er Zi is relaxing. My final judgement of Xanthium is that it is a potent and balanced herb if used in acute conditions for a short period of time. It may not be my everyday coffee alternative but at least when I need it I will look forward to its coffee aroma.


If you would like to find out if Xanthium is the right herb for you, book an appointment for a consultation.


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I had known Red Clover (Trifolium pratenseas) as one of the women's herbs for a long time but it wasn't until I tried it that I really appreciated how gentle, tender but effective this plant was.


It is one of the most utilised plants across the globe, cultures and traditions.


It is considered women's herb as it is essentially Yin in nature although it is holding Yin to nourish Yang. It is associated with Bladder and Kidney (Water element) and Lungs and Large Intestine (Metal element). Hence it goes deep to ancor and hold energy (Qi) and essence (Jing) in our body just as it fixes nitrogen into the land. Nitrogen is an element that builds strong roots of any plant.


So, it nourishes body fluids, from vaginal dryness, dry cough, dry skin to brain function and memory. By clearing the fluids it is also diuretic.


As it has a balancing effect on body fluids, it balances hormones, and quenches the menopausal hot flashes. In reality, it aids both female and male hormones. It is particularly useful in peri-menopause phase for women and in early signs of prostate disfunction for men.


Since it clears blood, it clears skin problems, including chronic conditions such as eczema and skin cancers.

As you may have noticed it works on both lymph and blood, which is rare to see in one herb. It is synergetically working with the Yin and Yang liquids of the body.


It is so gentle in detoxing both fluids and blood that I would consider it as the first herb to take in the detox program.


It is even neutral in its temperature, although some say it is slightly cooling due to its Yin nature.


There is a numerical curiosity about this plant. It comes only in two distinct colours, white or red, it is largely presented with three leaves but on rare occasions (apparently one in a thousand) it presents four leaves. Numerological links then are 2, 3 and 4. Two represents Yin and Yang; three represents completion and change; four represents Earth and stability.

So, Clover has it all. The energy of equilibrium, the capacity to change (your fortune perhaps) and gives a grounding and strength to four limbs. Therefore, it can be used in situations that are destabilising, to feel more sustained, supported, calm and at the same time able to change in a balanced way. It is a kind of an energetic rescue remedy.

These are pretty powerful energetics for one tiny, common plant.


Doing a numerological I Ching on 234 number, it comes up as the Lake trigram, which is the Metal element. The plant numbers further confirm its energetic function.


To find out more...









Thank you for joining in!

Dorota Anna Kowal
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P.IVA.:07443590489
via San Francesco, 3
Fiesole (FI) , Italia

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