Comments

1. margulis says:

   September 19, 2010 at 1:46 am

   Thank you for teaching the importance and efficacy of genuine Aconite.

   Can the Aconite powder from your Classical Pearls be used instead of a perforated slice of Aconite; when burning moxa on a slice of Aconite on an acupuncture point, say, Ren 8? Can I make a mixture of salt and the Aconite powder and burn moxa over that?

   Thank you Heiner, for this teaching and for all of the work your doing.

   Mike Margulis
2. Heiner Fruehauf says:

   November 30, 2010 at 10:56 am

   For practitioners who are in the habit of using single herb decoctions, we generally recommend to use one of the concentrated aconite powders from Classical Pearls (Fuzi, white; Fuzi, black; Chuanwu; Caowu) and mix it into the finished decoction: 3g of 5:1 powdered extract, for instance, for an intended crude herb dose of 15g. And yes, we have successfully created moxa salts with Himalayan salt plus the ginger and aconite powders before.
3. Liliane Papin says:

   October 4, 2012 at 9:38 am

   I live in a hot desert dry climate (Arizona) although the nights are quite cold.
   I wanted to take a high dosage of Fu Zi before the winter to strengthen my adrenals and kidneys (I did that once a few years but in a damp climate like Sichuan)
   Is Fu Zi still OK? I bought the powder extract. may I take it just with gan cao in high dosage like some do in Sichuan or would it be best to balance it with herbs like Zhi Mu?

   Thanks for your advice and recommendations,

   Liliane Papin
4. Heiner Fruehauf says:

   October 4, 2012 at 12:42 pm

   In my experience, external dryness (even external heat) has little to do with whether Fuzi can be used or not. As long as there are signs of yang deficiency present, you should be able to use (genuine Jiangyou) Fuzi without side effects. The minimal environment for Fuzi, in my clinical practice, is generally Sini Tang (Fuzi plus some type of ginger plus some type of licorice). If moistening is desired to counterbalance the potentially drying effect of Fuzi, I generally use one of the Baihe decoctions from the Jingui (Baihe Zhimu Tang, for instance), or simply a variation of Shengmai San (Maimendong, Bei Shashen, Wuweizi). Among the Classical Pearl series, Vitality Pearls comes closest to this design (Fuzi Lizhong Wan plus Baihe, Huangjing)
5. Liliane Papin says:

   October 6, 2012 at 3:38 pm

   Thank you, this is very helpful.
   Have you yourself experimented with high dosages of Fu ZI…if you feel you can speak about it, what was your experience? In Sichuan, I met a student whose Chinese teacher recommended 100g or more of Fu Zi a couple of times a year for almost everyone, as he thought that pretty much everybody in our modern times has weak kidneys and adrenals. As far as I can recall it was pretty much pure Fu Zi with possibly licorice and ginger like you suggest.
   Any comment on those high dosages and your knowledge on the subject wold be helpful. You certainly do teach a lot about Fu Zi and your formulas are great…using more of Fu Zi than conventional formulas…it is hard though to find real information about that high dosage use and single use…much fear I guess about the possibility of misuse, the quality and preparation. Any light on the topic would be greatly appreciated.

   Liliane Papin
6. Heiner Fruehauf says:

   October 7, 2012 at 7:35 am

   Fire Spirit School practitioners, at least in the most important two lineages I know (the Lu family lineage in Sichuan and the Wu family lineage in Yunnan) tend to use Fuzi in most of their remedies, and generally use between 60-120g per day of genuine and traditionally processed Jiangyou Fuzi in crude herb form. They insist that high doses like this are required to bring about the downward/recharge effect of Fuzi. I have observed prescriptions like this in China many times, without apparent side effects. There are even people who boast that they take up to 500g of Fuzi per day. However, at this dosage prescriptions become very expensive, and I look at genuine Fuzi as a precious and rare commodity that I like people to take for extended periods of time. Since smaller doses of the real thing (15-30g, and even less when taking in the Classical Pearl format) appear to work just fine for the average chronic patient, I generally tend to apply the guideline of using less rather than more.

   I find that herbal practices in China exhibit the general tendency of using more (than needed) of most herbs. In my opinion (and that of several of my teachers): as long as the quality of the herbs is good, and the base formula goes into the right direction, the amount of the herbs is not so important in most chronic cases. While Fuzi should be the emperor herb in most remedies that contain Fuzi (examples for exceptions are Shenqi Wan, Guizhi Shaoyao Zhimu Tang and Huangtu Tang), it does not need to be overshadowing the other formula ingredients with multiples of their amount. Keep in mind that the Fire Spirit School practitioners not only use heavy amounts of Fuzi, but accompanying herbs as well: typically pairing 90g of Fuzi with 60g of Ganjiang and 75g of Sharen, for instance.
7. Liliane Papin says:

   October 14, 2012 at 1:45 am

   Thank you again,

   Three of us, Qi Gong practitioners, would like to do a Kidney/adrenal recharge for this winter and experiment with a rather high dosage. I have your Fu Zi in powder.
   Like you say, it can get expensive very quickly, so I was thinking of doing three times three days of high use within a three week span, with Gan Jiang, Sha Ren and Gan Cao.
   I have used and will continue to use your “Vitality”…it is a good tonic and a good ongoing one. I would like to experiment and upgrade though as I know that my adrenals are weak and I do not have the level of energy that I would like. Now that I understand the approach better, this is what I would like to do. Any comments on that?
   I’ll report the effects and results of the experimentation! I’d like to see if that is a workable way for people who do not have specific problems but that kind of overall complaint of lack of energy and our modern life weak adrenal syndrome. I have found Classical Pearls very effective for all kinds of ailments. In terms of that non-descriptive general lack of energy, though, I have not been able to cut through either for myself or the few people I have helped with herbs.
   Again thank you for your time and for your work as I find the Fire school approach fascinating.
8. Liliane Papin says:

   October 25, 2012 at 12:54 am

   No response, but re-reading my last question was …ooops…not Sha Ren of course. I meant Sha Shen…
   Maybe I’ll contact Anna to get some directions?
9. Heiner Fruehauf says:

   October 25, 2012 at 11:55 am

   My recommendation for an experimental kidney recharge to get ready for the winter, either for Qianyang Dan or Fuzi Lizhong Tang (either of which, according to the ingredients mentioned, you may want to try):

   Qianyang Dan:
   (Jiangyou) Fuzi 30
   Ganjiang 15
   (Xi) Sharen 15
   Zhi Gancao 6

   Fuzi Lizhong Tang:
   (Jiangyou) Fuzi 30
   Ganjiang 15
   Baizhu 9
   (Bei) Shashen 9
   Zhi Gancao 6

   Amounts are for crude herbs per day. if you are using 5:1 granules, including the Classical Pearls Fuzi powder, you want to use 20% of the crude amounts for each herb granule, and divide that into 2-3 daily doses. If there is any dryness present, you can consider to add Baihe 15-30g to the Qianyang Dan, or for a woman, 15g each of Baihe and Nuzhenzi. Seasonal tonics are generally taken for 3 days by overall healthy people, but if you are feeling an obvious increase in well-being, you may keep this kind of regimen up for 1-2 weeks. Happy tonifying!
10. Liliane Papin says:

    October 26, 2012 at 7:29 am

    Thank you so much…Cannot wait to try and I’ll definitely report on the experiment!
    Again, thanks for your time!

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