Rhodiola

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On Thursday, June 24, 2004, at 06:00 AM,

ayurveda wrote:

 

> Message: 3

> Wed, 23 Jun 2004 17:40:34 -0000

> "childofdevi" <childofdevi

> Re: TCM and Ayurveda

>

:

>

> Rhodiola is one of latest popular adaptogens. According to TCM it is

> balancing to both yang and yin; can this be intrepreted to mean that

> this is tridoshic as well?

>

> -yogaman

 

dravyguna is not a speculative process

you need to put the time in to understand it

since Rhodiola (rosea i presume) is not commonly used in Ayurveda, you

need to do some research

in five minutes you can learn all kinds of things about Rhodiola on the

internet, but what can you trust?

 

first off, what are its traditional uses? to understand this, you will

need to understanding something of these cultures and how their medical

systems work

 

next, get a sample of the herb, and study it, noting its taste and smell

take a small amount for a couple weeks and see how you feel, keeping a

journal

listen to it speaking to you in subtle ways, in dreams, visions, in

subtle physiological and mental changes

 

if you can, find a living specimen and look at its leaf, flower and

rooting structure - what do these suggest? use your intuition. what

kind of ecology does the herb grow in? wet/dry, cold/warm, light/dark,

high elevation/low elevation, north/south aspect etc. what do these

things tell you?

 

once you have this information, give the herb to others for the

specified indications, and note the effects

 

herbal medicine including Ayurveda is not simply an intellectual process

unless you have some magical capacity to inuit medicines this is the

process you must go through, as have all herbalists from time immemorial

 

but for some solid info, here is a good place to start:

 

http://www.herbalgram.org/herbalgram/articleview.asp?a=2333

Caldecott

todd

www.toddcaldecott.com