Turmeric Tonic and Fritz Perls: by Paul Manski

Turmeric Agni fire Formula and Fritz Perls

Curcuma longa: turmeric 

 Energetic Properties:Warm, bitter, pungent, and acrid.

   Inflammation is a process in the body which many may find disturbing and problematic.Yet inflammation is also a process in the body which many may find surprisingly therapeutic for healing. Perhaps the best way to understand inflammation  is to look at a mechanical process, something like a sprained ankle. When the ankle joint is injured through hyperextension the process of inflammation produces swelling, heat and an accumulation of fluid. This swelling which is obvious to the eye also indicates a host of other processes which are involved in both sealing off the injured area from further damage and mobilizing the bodies immune system to repair the damaged area. Sending nutrient rich oxygen-rich blood to the area to speed the healing process. Redness, heat, swelling, and pain are the subjective perception of the internal process of healing. Kinins, prostaglandin and histamine act as chemical messengers that attract some of the body's natural defense cells- a mechanism known as chemotaxis. Chemotaxis leads to the migration of certain white blood cells (leukocytes) to the damaged area. Two types of leukocyte are predominant in the inflammatory response- macrophages and neutrophils. This is the body's attempt to mobilize the healing process at the point of injury. There is a an increase in blood flow to the area.  It is important to distinguish between acute inflammation and chronic inflammation. The process of inflammation can when chronic encourage the etiology of disease. Yet the process of inflammation is significantly a healing process. 

   

     This turmeric  preparation has a wide range of applications for health. It addresses inflammation and also addresses the concept of chronic inflammation on a variety of levels. I think it's very central to view inflammation and chronic inflammation from beyond a physiological perspective and to look at it from a psychological perspective. I would like to share my view of inflammation from a gestalt perspective, and look at the history briefly of turmeric  in Ayurvedic  medicine. 

     Turmeric flew beneath the radar of Western herbalism until fairly recently. Our great eclectic's neglected or barely mentioned it as a medicinal herb. Turmeric  escaped the early eclectic's, and western herbal medicine until the late 1960's and early '70's. John King,  mentions it in passing in his Materia Medica from 1854. He mentions curcumin, an active constituents, as a stimulant aromatic and coloring agent. Jethro Kloss, who in, Back to Eden, brought for many of us the concept of herbal healing and health food in diet in the 60s and 70s, mentions it's cousin ginger, of the same plant family as being warming and stimulating but doesn't mention turmeric at all. Marco Polo in 1280 mentions turmeric as Indian saffron in root form. Then it seems to of slept for 700 years,  a long time later waking up with a food medicine, food/medicine paradigm in the simple food preparation curry. As a food/medicine plant, it would be difficult to abuse it so here I  address a simple formula to use this vital healing herb:Turmeric. In the formula that I outlined at the end you will see the addition of several herbs which increase bio availability. These additional herbs are important because turmeric has low bio availability and a short half-life when taken by itself.

    Turmeric has a wide range of applications in its long history in Ayurvedic  medicine in addressing chronic inflammation. In addition to its well-known anti-inflammatory use, it also has significant use as an antidepressant.

      In Ayurveda a person with kapha dominance tends to be overweight, sluggish and tends to present with allergic reactions, congested, stuck mucus and may suffer from depression. I think the key point here is depression. And I will address this soon in terms of the Gestalt approach to illness. Because while chronic inflammation has a metabolic and physical cause it manifests as a decrease in activity and this is called in Ayurvedic medicine, kapha dominance. So this kapha dominant formula addresses the multi-factorial processes of inflammation.

    This kapha dominance could best be understood as a person with chronic systemic inflammation. One of the key points of inflammation is that it manifests as loss of proper function in a particular organ  system and I think this would be a good working definition, nonjudgmental for what is often turned depression. Depression is precisely that, a depression in physical activity. A decrease in the essential inner life of the person. The person becomes involved with inner processes that would best be left to the inner flow of internal events and processes. Imagine a person, who was focused on changing an autonomic process like the heartbeat. The heart in normal conditions adjusts to an increase or decrease in activity, there is no need to control it, it controls itself. Thought and the pattern of thought is and should be for the most part an automatic process which changes with conditions. To be neurotically involved with controlling thinking is to distrust the natural movement within the psyche. The person is not 'moving', is 'stuck' and this stuck-ness and sluggishness of the body produces an over abundance of mental contents. Often these thought patterns of self-stimulation are loops of repetitive thought, that become more and more prescriptive in nature, focusing on should, what should be done, what could be done, what if scenarios.
    This is the manifestation and this formula addresses various elements of this situation. For instance in something like chronic arthritis what you have is a joint which is unable to move or is painful to move so what you have is the person not moving. You have a person who is not moving around because they have bilateral knee joint pain. you have decreased or depressed physical activity which manifests mentally. And with this pain comes a lack of movement. And with this lack of movement you have lack of movement. So what happens when you don't move around, and you eat an american rich fat diet? 

    There's no rocket science here, you become fat, overweight maybe/probably diabetic with elevated blood glucose levels. In short you have an entrance way to the ubiquitous, metabolic syndrome. Fat, insulin resistant, overweight, inflamed in one word whether this person realizes it or not, on an existential level he or she is depressed. I think it's very important for us as herbalists to look at disease processes directly and existentially. How does it feel?, What does it do? What is the result? What does this particular disease process accomplish? And the issue of avoidance or blockage. And so to answer the question, what is it doing? Not a whole lot. And that is the problem! Lack of movement. Stuck. Avoidances.

     Here I would like to take an aside on the journey to my turmeric  potion and explore the Gestalt approach to understanding illness, disease and treatment with herbal remedies.

    Firstly,  Fritz Perls(1893-1970)the founder of gestalt therapy was a German psychoanalyst, who emigrated to America and who lived and eventually became famous for his seminars at the Big Sur Hot Springs in California, at the Esalen Institute. One of the key points for understanding Fritz, is to realize and put yourself into the theatrical mode. Fritz had a strong background in the theater. This strong background in the theater led him to formulate some ways of addressing illness that could best be understood as theatrical. Fritz would ask his client to take the hot seat. To play out the illness, to play out the anxiety, to act out what they are feeling in the present moment. The client would change position and sit in a special chair, actually get up and then sit down in the hot seat as he called it, and in a somewhat theatrical sense play out the situation. Fritz would ask the client to take on the role of the other, may be the mother, the father, the lover, the boss, or the person he was having the problem with. I encourage you as an herbalist to take advantage of this approach, and give the illness room to speak. Give the illness a voice, allow the illness to speak.  Give the illness the "I". Too often in the quest for healing we silence the disease process without hearing what it has to say. We fail to hear the unique lesson and stories of the illness.

    Fritz worked extensively with dreams. He had a unique approach to working with dreams or dream analysis. He would also ask the client to reveal his dreams and in the process embody and play out the various elements of the dream. So if for example, a person had a dream of a cluttered desk, sitting at a "cluttered desk". Fritz would ask the person to take the hot seat and speak AS the cluttered desk. He would ask the person to speak AS "the clutter" on the desk. In the process of the dream analysis the cluttered desk would speak, the clutter on the desk would speak and in speaking we move away from avoidance. To allow the individual elements of the dream to speak and allow that hidden elements of consciousness to be exposed. The power of avoidance functions through neglect. He felt that there was a unique vitality to allowing these hereto for hidden elements to have a voice and acknowledge what they were saying. I call this, 'owning the dream', speaking for various elements of the dream with the voice of 'I'. In the same sense we have 'owning the disease' or 'owning the illness'. I think the same approach that Fritz Perls used with dream analysis has got to be used with intractable illness on the part of the person desiring resolution, and on the part of the practitioner facilitator. The basic concept behind bringing to the surface these previously unvoiced elements, is that in the being itself whether the psyche or the body, there is an infinite potential for healing. It is not so important to quantify what the healing process is as it is to experience healing. 

    The gestalt approach centers on "I"-ing the disease process.  As herbalists we must develop a gestalt approach to illness. We must develop techniques and therapies to encourage the client to come to a personal knowledge of the owner state and re-own and re-integrate this disease state into the modality of health.  Rather than get down into new diagnosis. Rather then get into infinitely more complex elements of the disease process housed in scientific jargon, why not experience the bodies own ability to heal itself through helper herbs. All the while knowing that it is the body itself that is doing the healing not the herbs certainly not the herbal practitioner. Healing is rooted in the process of homeostasis which is continually happening at every level of the authentic person. Look at the illness personified. This is what I call the Gestalt approach to illness. So in the case of inflammation, in the case of a person with two arthritic bad knees, what we have is a person who is not doing very much. So that's what we have to look at, this lack of activity. Yet when we are looking at this 'lack of activity', we're not looking at the lack of activity as a separated scientist, as in the medical model, we're looking at a person who is not doing things. We are looking at a person, a human being in front of us who has an illness and that illness is accomplishing something. So we have to ask, 'what are you doing?' We have to ask, 'what would you be doing if you weren't ill?' And then we have to ask, 'what are you avoiding?' 'What does the illness accomplish.?' We can use the theatrical approach of gestalt to have the person speak as the illness, speak as the joint itself in pain, speak as the inflammation, we can have the bad arthritic inflamed knees speak by utilizing the hot seat. In this case we need not so much a hot seat but a therapeutic presence. It is important that the person with inflamed joints comes into a personal relationship with the inflammation  and incorporates this darkside  into the healing. We don't eliminate darkness we simply bring light to the situation.

     All too often in Western medicine there is an acknowledgment of the disease process, arthritis or inflammation as a dynamic three dimensional something. Yet there is not enough freedom to give the disease itself, a voice. In order to give voice to an illness you require space, light, and awareness. It is important to see what is there acknowledge what is there and to be with what is there. to see where the disease is going in that particular person, not so much on a cellular level but what it's doing in the person's daily life. Especially in terms of avoidance, it is critical to find out what it is that the person is avoiding. And it is most important that we facilitate this seeing into the avoidance from a personal perspective. We need to allow the disease the freedom to be a living being within the person, within the whole person. We need to become facilitators so that the person can acknowledge and understand the disease not so much from a physical or medical or cellular component but from a psychological perspective of activity or non-activity. The person has to come to grips with avoidance and it is impossible to follow merely a mechanistic I will pathic mode of healing because what is required is growth, and growth is a painful. There are strong forces the key person bound to an illness in terms of lethargy sloth and torpor.

    So let's explore briefly how the herbalist can facilitate a gestalt approach to the illness at hand.

    According to Fritz Perls, there are six factors causing psychological discomfort. I would like to translate these factors that cause psychological discomfort into healing factors and factors which cause physical discomfort in the sense of illness. The six factors are:

1) The lack of contact: no social support. In terms of psychology there is a lack of awareness often times in the disease process and a quality vicariousness living that is highlighted by an extreme avoidance. Often times if you meet someone in a disease process you will find someone able to rattle off complex and sophisticated terms, often highly scientific and specific to their condition,  chemical conditions,  blood work and what not yet they don't have a personal connection to the disease in terms of their own minute to minute feeling in mind states. There is lack of contact with the physical body, with the emotional body often times there is serious grieving and soul-searching and there is an avoidance of the inner work that must be done to gain healing. In terms of the body and health this factor involves issues which could be related as in proper nutrition. Not nourishing the body. Having the body means feeding the body, if you are not feeding the body you are avoiding the body. You were not connecting to the body because you were not taken seriously the bodily needs and responsibilities of owning a body. And by this I don't mean going into some sophisticated process of of diet, some new elaborate dietary regime. I am talking about here is eating,  eating food and drinking water on those most basic of terms, tasting the food. Chewing the food. Swallowing the food. There is a lack of contact with the bodily senses. Nursing the body could be a diet that includes whole fruits, vegetables, a departure away from things like diet sodas and processed food which have empty calories, and promotes mindless eating. 
      Tasting the food, chewing, taking time to give thanks and be aware and give voice to the ultimate exchange that goes on with eating. Whatever the food stuff, animal or plant, the plants have been harvested, the animals killed so our bodies can live. All forms of life are sacred, whether a slab of meat or a bowl of carrots. It is important to to cultivate reverence and gratitude and acknowledge the gift, the exchange.

2) Confluence: the environment takes control. In this case the most therapeutic dimension has to do with awareness. Often in a person who is chronically sick, with chronic inflammation or an intractable disease process, there is a confluence from a fixation on the disease process. Often this is facilitated by medical practitioners who focus on intricate, minute  aspects of the disease process.

     It seems everyone has become a medical professional on some level and has amazing knowledge about their illness. They have blood tests, CT scans, x-rays, allopathic  and alternative therapies all describing and informing the reality of, Why i am sick. All in elaborate terms. The person is held hostage by data, by facts, made all the more powerful and inescapable because they are scientific. In terms of confluence the person is swallowed. In terms of confluence the person is drowned. In terms of confluence the disease is and in is capable fact made clear and in evitable buy a fate composed of DNA, genetics, and other forms of paranoia and gloom. From this perspective one of the most therapeutic aspects of healing has to do with the plants themselves, sometimes it can be the aromatic qualities of an herb. Smelling the herb in its natural form with its aromatic essence there is a certain freedom in all our aromatic plant medicines because they have that ability to bring one back into the body. Aromatic herbs are especially useful in this regard. Likewise pungent foods, garlic, onions, aromatic spices. Digestive bitter tonics, and or bitter salads before meals can both awaken the digestive juices and awaken the body to promote digestion. Lavender essential oil can do this by just bringing the person back into their body. Confluence is a psychological shock because you were swallowed up by these inescapable facts and at that point you were powerless and can do nothing but be sick. Visual cues can be powerful. the beauty of a wild place to reenable sensitivity -. This can take the form of spiritual affirmations or it can be simply time in a beautiful place

Contact with the non-human beautiful place is extremely important to awaken healing modalities.
3) Unfinished business: inability to gain closure. The patient is not only not living in the present moment, the patient is reliving reenacting events from the past. Often the illness itself is a time for transformation where the person due to the illness has withdrawn from a toxic situation. The idea of that illnesses itself part of health is very important. The idea of a self regulating organism with the potential for healing must be encouraged. Often something good, something new is happening in embryo, and this new life needs to be taken seriously. It is important for the patient to take seriously their goals, their ambitions, and their dreams into a cohesive plan. Often times it can be healing for a person to realize that the sickness that they suffered enabled them to grow and reach a new world in a sense. To see a new heaven and a new earth,  to send to a new world, to climb up the ladder to a new place. Herbal therapies are often ways to allow for a more courageous self to emerge from the disease process. In our society and in in our culture there is a subtle idea that there must be continuous growth for health, continuous activity. The truth is that the times of sickness can be regenerative and bring this new insights. The reality is that things cannot expand infinitely, sometimes in the advancement of a goal there has to be withdrawal, and often illness can be a portal into this new self development. 

4) Fragmentation: Denied or fragmented self. The body sick, is a fragmented person. The central part of fragmentation is avoidance. The fragmented self is a self that avoid seeing itself. It is precisely the fragments that are creating avoidance. So it takes seeing and often times the act of awareness brings unification. It's important to practice attention and cultivate attention. It's important to not focus on the medical model of intricate cellular level mechanics, because this somatic focus on molecular structure doesn't engender health. It's often a further movement into fragmentation, just because something is sophisticated and scientific doesn't mean that it leads towards healing. We all know the client who knows so much more than we do about the realness of their illness. So it's important to involve the client in the process of getting better and this can be the simple process of making herbal teas, tinctures and formulas preparing simple wholesome foods and the whole process of doing something rather than talking about being ill. It is imperative that for health to unfold we must become participants rather than watchers. We have to engender in the client the confidence that he or she can be a participant in their own health and well-being.

5) Winner/Loser: conflict of values and expectations. The idea that you're a loser because you're sick, and that you're a winner because you're healthy is part of this duality which creates in itself sickness and health. Health is a dynamic state that is continually evolving and sometimes illness and disease or part of that process of health. Anxiety is very much a exit from the present moment into a nebulous past or an uncertain future. Being tense and overextended can become a habit and it leads to a chronic condition of avoidance. A lot of this culture of avoidance has become rooted in our technology especially the technology of the smart phone, the computer, the automobile, recorded music. A lot of this technology is actually a support for our anxiety, and unplugging from this technology of avoidance can bring a great deal of peace rather quickly. A great deal of our cultural energy is used in supporting impossible expectations. Part of the cultural fuel is based on dissatisfaction.  It is of paramount importance that the clients acknowledges that awareness is the key. So often it is better to ask a good question than to receive a good answer. The question comes from the questioner, it is something real and dynamic. We need to encourage the client to ask questions, to feel, to experience what ever it is they are experiencing rather than seek out a solution. It's important to understand that you don't need any information to ask a good question. Everything that you need to know regarding your question is right there. So much of the culture of dissatisfaction is based on seeking answers because answers are always in the future where as the question is right and available. There is a kind of power in being present in the real situation of what's happening without posing an answer. Not to be an expert, but to be a beginner, that is where we need to go to the beginners mind.

6) Polarities: never seeing gray, always black or white. It's important to encourage a shift from perfection, or even cure to activity. Activity engenders further activity, where as non-activity does the same in that the more non-active you are the more nonactive you become. No one is seeking a perfect cure or absence of disease, that's beyond what anyone can do,  all we are asking or hoping for is dynamic activity. The key point is that the organism itself in the act of awareness has a great potential for health and that is what we are harnessing with our herbal preparations.

The Gestalt Prayer by Fritz Perls

"I do my thing and you do your thing.
I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,
And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
You are you, and I am I,
and if by chance we find each other, it’s beautiful.
If not, it can’t be helped."

-Fritz Perls 1969

     In Ayurvedic medicine, "The Kapha Dosha is comprised of the earth and water elements. It is the heaviest of the doshas and is associated with slow metabolic processes, congestion, blockage of circulation, lethargy, procrastination, and excess weight." Within this paradigm Asian medicine sought way to stimulate the vital fire or Agni, and balance the bodily and mental systems with therapeutic herbs chief among them ginger, turmeric and Piper spp or black pepper. These three food/medicine or spices are called trikatu. As food/medicines we already know that they are essentially safe. They're safe because they're eaten his food daily and that is reassuring. 

    Trikatu is also a respiratory stimulant and helps to warm the body aiding in recovery. Trikatu – Tri – means three, katu – herbs that are hot and pungent.  – overall, Triaktu powder is a fine powder mix of three spices. Trikatu literally means the three pungents as it is composed of equal proportions of Black Pepper (Piper nigrum), Indian Long Pepper (Piper longum) and Ginger (Zingiber officinale). 

    "Composed of water and earth, the Kapha dosha is responsible for maintaining the structure and lubrication of your mind-body physiology. When Kapha becomes aggravated or excessive, you may experience congestion, sinus problems, weight gain, diabetes, excessive sleepiness, and fluid retention, among other symptoms. You can use herbs that have light, heating, and aromatic qualities as part of an overall Kapha-balancing lifestyle."

    "Known for its concentrated heating potency, ginger is often used in Ayurveda to treat Kapha disorders such as sinus congestion, sluggish digestion, and obesity. Ginger strengthens the digestive fire or Agni and helps remove accumulated toxins."

I consider this formula an alterative  warming stimulating aromatic formula.

It is useful as an antidepressant, anti-inflammatory and tonic for the whole body system.

Here is the formula : The standard preparation for fresh alcohol tincture is 1 to 5 with 60-75% alcohol. My research indicates that the active components of these plant materials are best extracted in a mixture of water and alcohol as some of the components are not alcohol soluble but are water-soluble.

The general recommendations here or to take the fresh Tumerick chop it into very find pieces along with the ginger. Then to crush the dried pepper, cardamon and coriander. Place all ingredients in a quart mason Mason jar and allow them to sit for 7 to 10 days, keeping them in a cool dry place and checking them once or twice a day. After this time strain them and then place in 1 ounce medicine dropper bottles. When pulling up the medicine from the dropper bottle you'll notice that by squeezing the rubber ball you'll get about half of a dropper full, so I would take three of these half droppers three times per day mixed in either water or tea. Due to the stimulating the effect  I would not take this formula after say 3 PM if you plan on sleeping at a normal hour.

/div>

The Turmeric Formula 

Wild Herb Ways

9 part turmeric fresh, 2 part ginger fresh,  1/2part each(black pepper ground)piper nigrum, coriander, fennel; cardamom- and 1 part honey

1:5 ratio fresh plant

60% alcohol 

it is potent. 

- See more at: http://www.chopra.com/ccl/light-and-aromatic-herbs-to-balance-your-kapha-dosha#sthash.7xt2bYE5.dpuf

 - See more at: http://www.chopra.com/ccl/light-and-aromatic-herbs-to-balance-your-kapha-dosha#sthash.7xt2bYE5.dpuf

References

"From traditional Ayurvedic medicine to modern medicine: identification of therapeutic targets for suppression of inflammation and cancer."

-Aggarwal BB, et al. Expert Opin Ther Targets. 2006.

Authors

Aggarwal BB¹, Ichikawa H, Garodia P, Weerasinghe P, Sethi G, Bhatt ID, Pandey MK, Shishodia S, Nair MG.

Authors

Aggarwal BB¹, Ichikawa H, Garodia P, Weerasinghe P, Sethi G, Bhatt ID, Pandey MK, Shishodia S, Nair MG.

http://www.chopra.com/ccl/light-and-aromatic-herbs-to-balance-your-kapha-dosha#sthash.7xt2bYE5.dpuf

Aggarwal BB. Curcumin-free tumeric exhibits anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities: Identification of novel components of tumeric. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2013; 57:1529-42.

Davis JM, Murphy EA, Carmichael MD, Zielinski MR, Groschwitz CM, Brown AS, Ghaffar A, Mayer EP. Curcumin effects on inflammation and performance recovery following eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Ph

Jayesh Sanmukhani, Vimal Satodia, Jaladhi Trivedi, Tejas Patel, Deepak Tiwari, Bharat Panchal, Ajay Goel, Chandra Bhanu Tripathi. Efficacy and Safety of Curcumin in Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Phytother Res. 2013 Jul 6. Epub 2013 Jul 6. PMID: 23832433

[2] GreenMedInfo.com, Animal Research on Curcumin's Anti-depressive Properties

- See more at: 

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/groundbreaking-study-finds-turmeric-extract-superior-prozac-depression

King, John. The American Eclectic Dispensatory 1854,

Moore, Wilstach & Keys

 publisher

http://www.awaken.com/2013/01/fritz-perls/

Northwest School for Botanical studies

Tumeric monograph

http://www.herbaleducation.net/tumeric-monograph

Perls, Frederick (1947). Ego Hunger and Aggression: A revision of Freud’s theory and
Method. G. Allen & Unwin ltd. London.
Perls, Frederick, Goodman, Paul, & Hefferline, Ralph (1951). Excitement and Growth in
Human Personality. Julian Press; New York.
Perls, Fritz (1969)

Antioxidant Activities of Orange Peel Extracts
A.E. Hegazy and M.I. Ibrahium World Applied Sciences Journal 18 (5): 684-688, 2012 ISSN 1818-4952© IDOSI Publications, 2012

University of Maryland Medical Center

https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/turmeric

Kesarwani, Kritika, and Rajiv Gupta. “Bioavailability Enhancers of Herbal Origin: An Overview.” Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine 3.4 (2013): 253–266. PMC. Web. 26 Jan. 2016.

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/groundbreaking-study-finds-turmeric-extract-superior-prozac-depression?page=2#sthash.cy07ai42.dpuf

Shen, Wei (2006) The Role of Inflammation in Skeletal Muscle Healing.Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh

Wassung, Keith: http://cichirowc.com/uploads/2012-01-30_Inflammation_and_the_healing_process.pdf

Wulf, Rosemarie: The historical roots of gestalt therapy theory: http://www.gestalt-annarbor.org/reading_room/historical_roots.pdf

Wild Herb Ways, The medicine Road

Going Directly to the plant: The purpose and intention of Wild Herb Ways is to provide fresh, pure plant extracts, and dried or fresh herbs, from the south west to people who may not have access to the pristine desert, forest and sky islands of Arizona and New Mexico.. I live in an especially unique part of the south west where the traditions of native, Anglos and Latinos has combined to produce a unique approach to herbalism. Putting fresh plants in the hands of people who need them is my goal. 

      One of the most important techniques I share with others, when they ask, is the direct approach to plant medicine. Outside of any framework, the direct approach to the plant medicine involves going directly to the plant where it grows in its natural habitat. This is what I do to make healing remedies of "remedies".

     The definition of herbal medicine is change. Herbs bring change. Herbs as we take them into our bodies create change, they create meaningful patterns that engender well-being in the bodies inherent move towards homeostasis. The herbs are gentle reminders to the body to heal and return to wholeness. In this way A person who works with herbs for any amount of time sees that the herbs as they are taken into the body work in a cyclic way in the same way that change comes in many forms, we have linear change with the progression towards a goal and we have cyclic change that flips back-and-forth from one opposite to another. The cyclic change is the change of day to night, of sickness to health, of spring to winter, of hot to cold, of love to indifference. As we see the patterns of herbs as they move through the body the herbalist knows that the herbs will bring change in certain predicted ways in certain patterns of change this is how we know the herbs.

       All you need to do is to taste the plant, listen to the song and smell the power that is in the plant. The plants have subtle songs that we hear and share with others. This is singing for power, singing for health. I often think I work primarily with songs, songs each plant has given me. This is the same power that is in us and all living things. We see the plant rising up in the spring sending it's energy upward from the roots. Making leaves, flowers and seed. Then the great life force rising peaks and flows back down. Storing itself in the roots. Then in autumn the same energy returns to the roots. And in this lesson is our own balance and restoring quality that we seek, that we use, that we understand and relate to in this plant medicine. All of the great plant medicines like redroot, Ceanothus fendleri, have the same story, the same song, the same action of rising in the spring. Then the energy in the fall returns to the roots. This is how we harvest our plant medicines. We follow them and let them guide us through their changes. Herbal medicine is the practice of change, bringing change into our own bodies with these plants. Herbal medicine is change. And this is how we relate to the plants on our own journey through our own lives.

      A crucial and important part of herbal study is the actual tasting of plants, this is called the organoleptic approach so that we engage our senses of touch, taste, smell, sight, where the plant is growing. We work with the plant to develop a sense of the energetics of the plant in the human body. So as herbalists we spend time looking, seeing, touching the plant and tasting the plant in various locations to find out the medicinal properties of the plant. One particular plant can vary greatly in its medicinal qualities through different seasons of the year. One specific plant can vary greatly in its energetic and medicinal qualities with regard to where it's growing, what type of year it's been in terms of wetness and warmth. Based on this hands-on, organoleptic approach to plant medicine we begin to understand that specific plants can be vastly different depending on where they're growing and what time of the year we encounter them.
Within this folk tradition, because of this, we have plants that have developed a reputation within the historical context of bioregional herbalism of nourishing and protecting and nourishing the body in disease states, yet also nourishing the spirit.

    Plant energetics: our organoleptic journey with the plants is to engage the plants with our senses. We touch the plant and journey to the place where the plant is growing . We examine the forest and the cool moistness. We allow our tongue to wrap around the roots and use our nose to smell the strong aromatics. We taste the bitterness, saltiness or sweetness. However we also study within the oral tradition, gathering with teachers who share stories from their teachers. Often we visit the same medicine gardens where others have come before. We study the ethnobotanical records, botany and go back to the eclectic tradition of American Herbalist physician.

    Each person due to their unique situation has inherited a kind of tendency towards disease, a pattern of illness in connection with the body systems. The tendency for weakness in a particular body part, the tendency for blockages to occur within a body system is going to be different for each individual. It is fundamental to know and identify the area of inherited weakness. We are born with an accumulation of vital energy that protects us in adolescence and into our 20's. As we age in our 30's and 40's, this protective energy becomes less and less. We can get insight into our pattern of disease by remembering our childhood illnesses. Did we have broken bones? Sore throats? Ear aches? Traumatic health challenges in childhood? Were we in general strong and of good health, or frail and often bed ridden. Where were those diseases, in what part of the body. It is important to see these patterns in ourselves and in others that we care for with our herbal medicine.
    Remember that the definition of herbs of herbal medicine is change, herbs are agents of change that we use consciously, that we select and use to bring into the body, to lead the body away from the disease state into health. Often the basis of sickness is a stuck condition, a blockage, so we use herbs to create that flow, create the flow, unblock that blocked area. In terms of sickness and health, and disease states we have or inherited tendency towards disease which we inherited from our mother, our father, grandparents, our great parents and even further in terms of our racial, cultural, national trans-personal history. Because this portion of our being is inherited it's not something that we can move away from deny or even affirm. It's just something that's there that's in the background that we have to deal with. These inherited patterns of illness and disease are where you are going to break down in terms of living in terms of time, through time. There is a way of looking at the world which is intensely hopeful and positive in terms of never growing old, of never dying, of never breaking down and in fact this is a delusional state because as human beings we can look around and you know that each person that is alive will die. No one anywhere at anytime has maintained health throughout their life or else they would still be living. We all will break down and as herbalists it's important to see the pattern of where this breakdown will occur based on the inherited factor, the environmental factor, and takes steps to minimize illness, maximize function, vitality and health.

     One of the most important elements of health is to feel safe. As human beings we continually seek feedback from the social environment. We are seeking affirmation. We are also alert to negation. Just as our bodies are in a feedback loop which leads to action. So that when we are thirsty we seek out fluids and seek out water. When we feel hunger we want to seek nourishment. our body is saying eat. when we breathe we are seeking air. when we're running and moving we breathe deeply to satisfy our need for air. we can't hold our breath. We have to be in flow. we are in the process of exchange, things coming and going in and out of the bounded whole. When we are tired and sleepy we lay down to sleep, we rest our body. Our body is continually in this feedback loop where things arise and we meet their needs we take action, skillful appropriate action based on that feedback loop of listening and then acting on that information.

   
     It is important as herbalists to engage in encounter with the plant. We must meet the plants. So when you see the plant you see it growing where it is. Where it is, is a lot of the work of what it is. Where it is can answer the question of what is it for. It is important to slowly spend time with the plant, and spontaneously make mental notes as to its pattern of growth. We must examine the plant in its growing environment. Asking questions, does it grow in the low desert? Is it in shade? In shadow, direct sunlight? What plants is it growing with, what is the plant community? Is it a wet riparian zone, a high alpine meow, or far away from standing flowing water? These are questions that can only be answered in time. One particular plant may grow in many different environments. In these different environments it will make different medicine.
   Yet even with all this sort of good questioning it's still very hard to answer who is it for. You have to look deeper and look away from the plant to see what nourishes the plant. The most important part of her medicine in this way is that slow gentle shift and although heroic medicine with herbs is done and will be done,  it's better to go with this slow change, it's going to last a long time. You can go from symptom symptom and analyze the symptoms with a microscope even down to the level of the blood cell and then take it further take a bigger microscope and look beyond the blood cell to the actual chemical components all these elements that are in the blood. Yet whatever it is that is what it is so we can really only go so far with heroic medicine and then we have to say OK feed the body, nourish, rest and re-create the body, hydrate the body, get the body ready for action, activate the body, act, move,  do! Become!  This nursing and nourishing of the body with the plant medicines comes from the relationship that the plant had with where it is, how it's growing and what it's doing in the place where it is.

/div>

Ocotillo: Healing Heart on the Medicine Road

Ocotillo the Plant:
Fouquieria splendens.

Sometimes the Latin names of plants speak deeply to the nature and essence of the plant, in this case I will have to say maybe. Ocotillo is named for                Pierre Eloi Fouquier  1776-1850 a French physician, translator and writer. The 'splendens'- refers to the impressiveness of this desert plant, and though some might say the flower, yes it is splendid and spectacular! The whole plant from its base to tip is absolutely resilient, hardy and empowering and inspiring.

     Ocotillo has a wide distribution in the mojave, sonoran and chihuahua deserts from California, through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, also going further south into Mexico into the states of Baja California Norte, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Durango, and Sinaloa. It's display of tubular bright red, orange flowers rivals all for its towering ruling aspect, the inflorescence is a panicle at the tip of the spiny flexible branches.

      Ocotillo: the Place:

Ocotillo itself in its occurrence defines a broad specific bioregion, the South West, the south west low desert. Beginning in the Mojave desert of California, crossing the Colorado into Arizona, across much of southern New Mexico, and to the Rio Grande in Texas. In California around the Salton Sea grows below sea level, in some of the mountains of Arizona and New Mexico it will grow sup to 4000ft. 

     Ocotillo is drought deciduous plant and opportunes to conditions, leafing out in emerald green with rain. It can do this 3 or 4 times a year. Flowering occurs in late spring in May or June often synchronizing with saguaro within its range. 

     In the old tradition of the Apaches a medicine of ocotillo roots was used for open wounds on both horses and human wounds, a paste of the ground powdered roots placed directly on open wounds as a poultice. The Cahuilla of Southern California used the flowers and bark for cough with sore throat, its place in modern western herbal medicine understands ocotillo to aid lymph movements so as a treatment for tonsillitis this makes sense. 

      The flowers placed in water make an exquisite tea with a mild astringency like rose or raspberry leaves combined with a flowery honey like sweetness. It's best made as a sun tea, filling a quart or half gallon mason jar and placed in the sun for several hours. Drunk fresh it informs one of our place in the great south western desert province.

     Ocotillo, the person: In the modern western herbalists repertoire ocotillo is known and valued as a lymphatic mover keyed to the pelvic area. It especially combined with Redroot, Ceanothus fendleri, Cleavers, Galium acarine, and Alder bark and is useful for all conditions associated with pelvic congestion, stuck menses, hemorrhoids, and poor veinous return and veinous stasis in the legs, prostate enlargement and the need to urinate frequently. In the modern western herbalists material media this translates as macerated 1:2 fresh plant tincture in alcohol. As a formula,  each individual plant tincture could be combined as part of the formula. 
     

Liver: The lymphatic system transports 'clean' fluids back to the blood, drains excess fluids from tissues, removes 'debris' from cells of the body, and transports fats from the digestive system The liver is the largest gland in the body, lies in the right upper quadrant. It conforms to the right dome of the diaphragm. the liver has a double blood supply from the hepatic artery 30% and portal vein 70%. The portal venous system, a system of venous blood vessels from the GI tract to the liver, the portal vein supplies about 75% and about 60% of its O2 supply. Superficial and most deep lymph vessels converge at the porta and end in the hepatic lymph nodes. Innervation from the sympathetic and parasympathetic supply from the hepatic plexus, from fibers from the left and right vagus nerve, and right phrenetic nerve. 

Ocotillo stimulates improved lymphatic drainage into the thoracic duct, and helps with dietary fat absorption into the lymph system. "The idea and real quality of an organ system being stuck, like congestion in the lung, bronchitis, pneumonia, inflammation heat, swelling  has a psychological component. It produces a mental effect. Pelvic congestion, pain, stuck menses, painful cramps- these bodily states impinge on our thought processes. There is a way of being well and a way of being sick. A disease state within the body calls forth a subtle mental attitude. Of course we have to distinguish between chronic and acute. The length of time the disease state has effected consciousness. So that the treatment of disease is also the adjustment of mental states." - quote from my previous blog post 

     Red Root Ceanothus fendleri,

"Ceanothus has a history in western herbal medicine notably during the time of it's flowering from the 1830's to the early part of the 20th century. In the colonial period Red Root,  was called 'New Jersey tea' and was a substitute for the imported Chinese tea which was in short supply, as in the revolutionary act of dumping tea into the Boston harbor, the Boston Tea Party and was considered patriotic to part ways with the British, during the Revolutionary War time.

     "The Family Flora and Materia Medica", by Peter P. Good, A.M written in 1847 speaks of it being astringent and slightly bitter. Useful as an astringent in dysentery and as a febrifuge in Mexico. Good describes it as appropriate for sore throats, and the congested symptoms of impaired circulation in the throat area, here we are building a case for its use in the lymph transport of waste material from the throat into the surrounding tissue. In addition red root was described as an expectorant in relation to lung congestion. He also acknowledged its use in the portal system and 

uterine/menstrual pelvic stagnation.

     "Specific Symptomatology—It has a specific influence upon the portal circle, influencing the circulation. In lymphatic patients, with sluggish circulation and inactivity of the liver of a chronic nature, with doughy-sallow skin, puffy and expressionless face, pain in the liver or spleen with hypertrophy of either or both organs, and constipation, it has a direct and satisfactory influence, especially if the conditions are of malarial origin...or in general glandular disarrangements, the agent is indicated. Bronchitis, chronic pneumonitis and asthma are found present with the above general symptoms. Ovarian and uterine irregularities with such conditions will also be benefited by its use." -American Materia Medica:

Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy: Developing the ...
 By Finley Ellingwood, John Uri Lloyd 1915.

    While current south west herbalists, strongly influenced by Michael Moore, tend to view Red root as a lymphatic remedy, aiding the portal liver system, which was acknowledged by the eclectics of the time. 

     The herbalists of the period saw in red root a remedy for..." with my application of this shrub to diseases of the lungs. In 1833, while out botanizing one day, my attention was directed to this shrub, by its beauty while in full bloom, and the peculiar appearance of the root. I gave it the name of wild snowball, knowing no other name for it at that time. I tasted and chewed some of it, and I conceived the idea that it would be good for coughs. I gathered some of the shrub, dried it, and added some of it to my compound, used at that time for coughs. I was successful in treating coughs...In such cases I keep a syrup to suit. It is made as follows: Take ceanothus two parts, asclepias tuberosa one part, boil down till you have a very strong decoction; strain, and add refined sugar, and boil down to form a thick syrup; add the tincture of Tolu, to give a flavor, and bottle. Dose—one tablespoonful three times a day." -The New England Botanical and Surgical Journal, by Calvin Newton MD 1849.

     Besides the possibility of combining red root with pleurisy root for lung congestion, it is fascinating to see the renaissance scientist Dr Newton exploring the fields and forests, directly tasting the herbs and plants and developing an intuitive treatment from the forests of New England. 

     Ocotillo and Red root because how they mobilize how waste products are removed and facilitate transport throughout the body. This is possibly what Dr Calvin Newton in 1849 had encountered and utilized in his formula to treat  tenacious coughs, and lung stagnation, expediting the transport of accumulated waste products in the lung. 

     The idea and real quality of an organ system being stuck, like congestion in the lung, bronchitis, pneumonia, inflammation heat, swelling  has a psychological component. It produces a mental effect. Pelvic congestion, pain, stuck menses, painful cramps- these bodily states impinge on our thought processes. There is a way of being well and a way of being sick. A disease state within the body calls forth a subtle mental attitude. Of course we have to distinguish between chronic and acute. The length of time the disease state has effected consciousness. So that the treatment of disease is also the adjustment of mental states. 

      Herbs and plants like red root and ocotillo are both 'heart' medicines, medicines of the emotional spiritual heart. These medicines while not 'psychological' deal with our healing journey. They address the soul and our way of becoming in the place. Plants can be a way back to a place of balance. Our bodies may be out of balance with disease yet our hearts and minds are also stuck in the paradigm of disease states. Part of the process of healing is acknowledging the psyche and mind states through plant medicines."   Quotes from my previous blog post 

     http://pgmanski.blogspot.com/2016/01/red-root-ocotillo-and-approach-towards.html

     Healing the Wounded Heart: 

Regardless of how far I go into physiology of disease I am always reminded of the living plant medicine. Even the question of, "what is medicine?". The plant medicines I work with are living beings. As are the people taking the medicine. The key point is life, living, growth and movement. 

     Ocotillo has come to the surface, speaking, in the same way it's grey stems sprout with green after a rain, offering itself to us as a way to transform the heart. That our hearts are wounded is no doubt. That these plant allies and helpers are here among us is also no doubt.

     In conversations recently at the Traditions in Western Herbalism Conference, Coudcroft, New Mexico, 2016, it was no surprise that those testing my plant medicine offerings from the South West US across the board, regardless of gender, sexual orientation or background had a similar reaction to the Ocotillo tinctures I had brought. In conversation after conversation people said that, ocotillo opens the heart, brings a softness.

      Often the healing journey of the heart is so difficult precisely because of this softness. Healing requires an atmosphere of acceptance, a nonjudgmental space of allowing things to be. In that allowing things to be, brought by ocotillo there is a greater complexity. Ocotillo has that gentle quality that allows growth and nurturing green to emerge after a rain, yet if also has the fierceness  of thorns, of boundaries, of setting limits. Maybe all these tender sweet desert plants have that aspect of rose. A rose has the sweetest fragrance, the softest petals, yet it to has thorns, barbs. With healing its often both moving towards our good and moving away from that which holds us back.

     

With ocotillo there is a clarity and space. It inhabits great space gracefully. In order to heal the heart there needs to be space to move beyond repetition. In repetition there is convenience, there is a mindlessness which lacks awareness of space. Ocotillo allows us to energize and invigorate the heart without jumping into action based on the repetitive mind, which wants to maintain the comfort zone, even if it is painful and lifeless. 

     Those who use ocotillo and are drawn to its healing spell often describe a history of trauma in the pelvic area, sexual exploitation, rape, violence in connection to painful circumstances. Abusive families, the feeling can manifest as fear, as an inability to follow their highest good. They are seeking a resolution to that trauma, a way to move forward. They have described to me a movement towards healing and forgiveness that is facilitated with ocotillo as a medicine. Often there is a movement that occurs spontaneously of forgiveness of self and forgiveness of other. Often times the 'other' is the male dominated power structure, the privileged view of the those who run the show, with property and power. The way of continuing to carry the trauma is to carry that burden and then move into self loathing, self destructive lifestyle, not loving yourself enough to care and take care. 

     One of the predominant motifs of this trauma is the feeling that nothing can be done, hopeless and helpless. Often when taking ocotillo there is a sense that, even if I don't know exactly how, I will move on from this, not as a victim, not seeking revenge, but as the loving strong and powerful person that I am.

      Ocotillo is a heroic medicine that invokes trust, just as the ocotillo will leaf out any time rain comes in abundance, there is in that leafing out a trust. It's precisely that time, when the bark is invigorated with life that the ocotillo is gathered, carefully, with intention and gratefulness for its gift. 

      In time spent with the plants I  go directly to the plant, to find its use, its message, its purpose relation to us. I ask of the plant, "Can you heal these broken hearts?", "Help me to help others with these plant medicines." 

     One of the ways I go to the plants is directly. I go directly to the plant with intention. The herbal medicine road is often pleading and asking. It is admitting my own lack of knowledge, in some sense I am unknowledgeable, incapable of knowing. My wits are dull. Yet the plant teachers are willing to share when one admits a lack and acknowledges a need.  

      Going directly to the plant:One of the most important techniques I share with others, when they ask, is the direct approach to plant medicine. Outside of any framework, the direct approach to the plant medicine involves going directly to the plant where it grows in its natural habitat.  

       

The quickest and most powerful way is to go as a small group of committed seekers to the plant setting intention. You will need to step up and prepare ahead a time, either a tincture, flower essence or tea of the ocotillo. This is to be passed around the group, to each group member in silence. It's a sacred communion and needs to be understood and cherished in that way. Then after a time of careful silence and receptive watching, each member of the group will share their findings, their results out loud to the group. It's important to acknowledge the intention as a group to gather and share insights gained in a nonjudgmental way, in a spirit of reverence and love. It helps if someone in the group can set the tone based on previous journeys. It's best to be uncrushed, unhurried and make a day of it. It's important to understand that when a person speaks in the circle, it's the ocotillo speaking. We become channels for each other so the voice of ocotillo can be heard. We are ocotillo's mouth piece. 

     Someone who has gone before can set the tone by talking about the plant, it's biology, its place in the ecosystem. How it grows, where it grows, its life cycle and unique qualities. Someone who has studied the ethnobotany of the plant and can talk good plant story can make the journey easier. Looking at the plant, walking for a while in silence to the plant can often prepare the group for what's to come. 

     It's important to come together with a common purpose in this. At the beginning have each person explain who they are and what they're doing directly to the group and to the ocotillo. You'll need to find an ocotillo receptive to this, you made need to walk some ways to find the best spot. It helps to set the intention with a smudge. I like to use yerba santa, or Hyptis emori but what you'll be using is up to you. Once the smudge stick is lit, each person should hold it and make a good smoke, state aloud their intentions, it should be passed in a sun-wise way, starting in the east, then south, west and north, in a circle. This sets the tone and sacred purpose or intention, to meet understand and grow with ocotillo. To hear ocotillo's voice and allow ocotillo to speak. I met a person one time in this beautiful place, yet they were sad, and I was puzzled. She said, "Everybody passes by these plants and they don't greet them. They don't use them. The plants are lonely, sad, they need us. We need them."  that stuck with me. The plant medicines want to be a part of us. We need to make ourselves a part of them. It's always been this way.

      Of course it's not always possible to assemble a group, and good results be had by journeying alone, doing personal study on the plant, reading what others have said, then carrying out the exercise alone, allowing ocotillo to speak through you, to you.

     The main thing is to go to the plant directly, alone or with a group. As I said though going with a small group of dedicated seekers can be especially powerful. Sharing insights gained with others in the circle can facilitate a deep learning that goes beyond words, and is the best and fastest way I've found to gather insight. Often different members of the group can have different pieces of the puzzle, and the combined insights shared together often transition into that rolling deep, where the old songs and stories come to the surface.

       With ocotillo the group will assemble around a stand of ocotillo that is especially vibrant, maybe leafed out or in flower. One specific technique I've found is to sit near the ocotillo and focus awareness of breath, sending the breath into the ground and focus on exchanging energy, sharing the energy of the ocotillo. See your breath going into the ground meeting the roots of the ocotillo, mingle your breath with the roots of the ocotillo. Allow the breath to rise into the individual stems of the ocotillo, moving rising to the top of the ocotillo stalk, then descend back down into the roots. Feel the energy then move into where your body makes contact with the earth. Invite your energy as breath to mingle and mix with the ocotillo. Re-enter your body where it makes contact with the earth, and rise up through your body, to the top of your head, then back down in a circuit, into the earth. Mix and meet the ocotillo roots, rise up the stalks and branches, to the top of the ocotillo, then back down the ocotillo, into the ocotillo roots, into the earth, traveling back to your body at the point where you are sitting, then to the top of your head and back down, into the earth meeting the ocotillo roots, to the top of the ocotillo and back down, continuing the microcosmic energy exchange orbit.

      This same technique can be used for 'meeting' any plant or tree at a certain point in the process an aspect of ocotillo can be passed around. It could be a sun tea of the flowers, or a tincture of bark and leaf, or a flower essence.This is shared with the group as a sacrament. It's important to understand and ask permission of ocotillo to help us to understand her. Acknowledge that ocotillo is a living being. Ask ocotillo. Explain what you're doing and why. When people share their insights allow the silence to penetrate, there's no right or wrong. Everyone has something important to share. 

     

  Ocotillo Elixir:

The time for singing is when you hear the song. And with our bioregional medicine, with our plant medicine road, we use the plants as we find them because that is the time.

Now is the time for emotional growth, for love, for the heart, for the heart songs broken to be mended. This is the Sonoran desert spring time song of the ocotillo, the Ocotillo elixir , Fouquieria splendens, true flower medicine. A sovereign remedy. Ocotillo medicine i use every day, usually the bark and leaf tincture, lately this spring time currently using an ocotillo flower elixir formula.

I think it's fitting to look at the origins of the word elixir in connection with Ocotillo, Etymology:

 Late Greek xé̄rion drying powder (for wounds), equivalent. to Greek xēr(ós) dry 

 Arabic al iksīr , A preparation believed to turn the base metals into gold. The elixir of life keep the bowl of prolonging and enriching life, a panacea, A cure-all sovereign remedy.
This is for our wounds, our emotional wounds to stop the bleeding and to bring back life into those dreams areas of her heart that don't respond to the quickness of spring as they should.

So I gather

the ocotillo flowers, just at the point when they are open and most fragrant with their heavy smell of hummingbirds and spring time Sonoran Desert blossoms. i let them dry a bit and savor sweet fragrance.

Then I tincture the tops in alcohol, and sweeten with honey. True to the name, deals with the wounds and the bleeding , nourishing  and returns to function the-feeling heart, this is my ocotillo  flower elixir.

Formula:Ocotillo elixir 

Gather the ocotillo blossoms just at that point where they are open for what we are seeking is to nurse the open heart.

Dry the ocotillo blossoms for a day or two, then tincture  fresh 2:1 in organic cane alcohol, if you don't have this you could use a strong Brandy or vodka. In terms of our bioregional medicine it's important to engage the plant stories and songs at the time of their singing. After you tincture it for a week or so, drain and strain, you will want to add honey, three parts menstruum remaining, to one part honey, then bottle for future use. Ocotillo flower elixir for opening and healing the wounds of the emotional heart. Enjoy an experience is healing time for never will you be here again, savor this new becoming, take it into your heart grow in the way of the plant
medicine road as it leads you.