SecretGrotto

This post aims to share recent results from Zhan Zhuang practice, and to also elicit any forthcoming advice about naming of meridian lines and general advice also. At 31 yo (male) I have increasing suffered over the years from low back pain due to jing depletion and from liver issues due to late sleeping in my student years (no alcohol). When I do get aroused sexually, I immediate feel a radiating pain to the sides of my lower back above the buttocks. Whenever I engage sexually I suffer lower back pain for days afterward with foggy memory and slow cognition in tow. Abstaining and He Shou Wu helps me to recover well, but it takes a couple of months. I have started a strict Zhan Zhuang (ZZ) regimen recently, doing 30 minutes at sunrise and 30 minutes at sunset every day. I also ensure that I am up and awake between sunrise and sunset and I do not sleep during the day. For the past 3 months I have also ensured that I do not get aroused sexually at all, so much so that I actively move away from any stimulating visuals I am confronted with. ZZ is performed at a low enough stance with enough quadricep activation to induce leg/whole body shaking in 5-10 minutes. Knees and feet are pointing in the same direction and knees do not jut beyond feet, 60% weight on back of foot, perineum tilted forward, hands in front of LDT, elbows tend upward, shoulder blades tend to be winged. Muscle pain is ok, joint pain is avoided. Tendency is for whole body position to be as if in movement, so focus, intention, work in muscle engagement with effort to relax as well. The ZZ has immediately exposed the core weakness around my lower back, which I know is primarily due to jing depletion over many years. A wider low stance with significant quad activation involves the lines starting at my lower back above each buttock snaking to the hip and down the side legs (what meridian does this correspond to?). I believe that I have tapped into these "meridians" connected to kidneys/Ming Men area to compensate for excessive jing depletion, which has significantly damaged/weakened these meridians. Weakness and sensation in these low-back/leg meridians are directly associated with jing depletion and consequently low energy/vitality/courage, and thus with the kidneys. Results from ZZ include exposure of this weakness as alternating pain/heating/comfort centered at the two points above the buttocks on the low back. Also there is at times a real feeling of overall body comfort and of, what I can best describe as, desert land enjoying welcome rain, i.e. it is as if there is a liquid quenching of the whole body accompanied by feelings of gratitude and courage. I always knew that I would have to wholeheartedly engage ZZ to heal these issues, but only recently did I muster up the courage to do what is generally an uncomfortable exercise.

Something very interesting has happened to me the past weekend. My injured lungs were acutreated by the first thunderstorm of Spring, in a quick burst whilst I was locked indoors with windows locked, with thunder occurring more than a mile away. Before and during the thunder my lungs experienced a lot of discomfort and pain, and then, the day after, my lungs felt the best it has for some time. If you were following my other thread you would have read that I injured my lungs with hot steam inhalation and subsequent long use of CLO which prevented lung recovery. My theory is that thunder is extreme in the fire element and the metal lungs are consequently agitated by it, which could act like the agitation caused in acupuncture to promote energy flow through stimulation. Given the acute lung response to energetic elements, I am hopeful that acupuncture and TCM could be a powerful treatment for me. Why haven't I gone for treatment yet? My acupressurist have retired and my efforts to get to another were delayed, I'm soon to go for treatment with another acupuncturist and we'll see how it goes. I am optimistic.

Funny, cause I thought standing in ZZ was to eat more bitter. Ok, so I have used Aloe Verox juice, available from our grocery store as an all-round remedy for various ailments related especially to the liver and kidneys. It is quite bitter, and I take half a shot in the morning and evening. I have also used two shots of wheatgrass every evening, which makes me sleep very deeply, but it is quite sweet so I'm not so sure it is good for my spleen situation. Anyhoo, I can definitely feel something starting to change in my lungs. You might recall that before, I mentioned that I can feel phlegm in my lower lungs, but that it is too low to cause a coughing reflex. Now the past day or so I actually started to cough. I can feel something happening in my middle lung area and at times in my throat. I have almost the same feeling as I have had during the start of the imbalance. There is almost like a sore spot, but energetically sore, developing in the middle of my chest. If I was optimistic I would take it as a sign that the imbalance is reverse its coarse to the beginning, and that it is the bitter juice that instigated the change. Thanks for the advice, I'll keep eating bitter, or drinking bitter. To add, this has been a great lesson for me in TCM organ theory. Firstly the counter-intuitive idea that your digestion would generate or influence your lungs so directly...far out. The suggestion for bitter does also make a lot of sense to me, if we are talking about a diet-caused damp phlegm which is something fatty, then the bitter helps to stimulate the gall bladder to release more gall and clear the fatty phlegm from the digestive system. Please let us continue the discussion, because with every post you make I appear to be getting better! Thanks so much.

Aetherous, I mulled over your words the past couple of weeks, looking for signs in my organs, trying to see the connections. I have become distinctly aware of the drastic effect of my dietary intake on my lungs: my lungs respond in varying ways after a meal as if it is "pulling in" a state of congestion from the digestion. In other words, my lungs tend to become congested more or less very rapidly depending on the food I eat. Like my lungs are absolutely predisposed toward a type of mucus congestion that starts from the bottom of the lungs upward. You know when you eat very mucus producing food you may actually cough to get the slime out? Now the congestion I am feeling is too low in the lungs for me to have a coughing reflex. If I eat sweet foods then the effect on the lungs are pronounced. This made clear to me the connection between the spleen and lungs, and now things are making more sense. The whole time the effect has been felt in the lungs, but the cause is in the digestion. The Cod Liver Oil did a number on my spleen I suppose, resulting in deeply trapped damp in the spleen. As you say, the spleen generates the lung, so that damp is now working its way into my lung. Man, it is radical how CLO f*cked my sh*t up, so to speak, driving me to the goddamned brink. I'm going to try and catch Dr Peter Yuan when I'm in NYC, apparently he is a really good TCM practitioner and herbalist. I think it makes sense, that if digesting a bad substance got me into this mess, that digesting the antidote can get me out of the mess. Blue eyed snake, excessive CLO (1tbsp/day for 3 months) and spleen apparently don't play well together. It's funny how at every turn I realize how little I understood what the f*ck was wrong with me, hopefully I can get a good karma writeoff from this ordeal. It has made me fairly stoic though, so I have learnt to curb my expectations.

Aetherous, thank you for the kind words and thoughts. I do like to believe that there is a solution and end to this trouble. I will continue visiting even other TCM doctors. I do perform daily loosening, standing and song gong exercises. I have done some qigong at times to see the effect, but it any effect is only temporary. I get the sense that my lung tissues were 'softened' for many months in the daily spoonful of cod liver oil I was taking, which clearly suffused my lungs, and that now the lung tissues have trouble in normalizing. There is still at times a clogging feeling in the lungs, and at times I can feel the incoming air being really cold and fresh. In the mornings when I wake up, my lungs feel 'rotten', heavy and 'clogged' although my breathing isn't too belaboured. At times I can sense no trace of the issue, then it insidiously returns, flares up, now already for months and months. And I have expressed my desire in thought word and emotion to let go of this disease, so I don't think it is me trying to hold on to the disease or anything like that.

There was another big thunderstorm yesterday. The discomfort I felt was notable. I have been eating more yang food, eggs and meat, and I can feel this food creating slime in the lungs and throat. I am still reeling from the storm yesterday, so much discomfort, almost pain in the chest, burning in the throat, coughing. The one TCM doctor said there isn't anything wrong with my lungs, but I can tell you I'm damn sure there is something wrong with my lungs. Probably a yin-yang imbalance. The doctor would not prescribe herbal treatment, but I have a strong sense that herbs are exactly what is needed to restore balance. It's very hard to get my diet to balance my lungs. I always have some degree of discomfort in my lungs, and my diet can greatly affect the fluctuation of discomfort. I just feel like if I don't get real healing I would not be able to ever be normal again. This discomfort is making me emotional, temperamental, and it's hard to focus on my work at times, my relationships strain as I spend so much thought on the discomfort I am in. I try to be optimistic and even forget about it, but it's always right there, something gripping my throat and lungs. Much of this imbalance was the CLO suffusing the lymph nodes and lungs, and I could feel it lift from these once I stopped, but the imbalance remains. I wish I could get to a TCM doctor that would know how to address this issue, because it is very well spoiling the little semblance of a life I have. I am going to NYC over Christmas for work, but believe me this is a once a year opportunity to get to the US. I am going to meet with Robert Peng, and maybe Zeev Kolman as well. At the worst moment in my crisis I failed to find a reason to continue this life, but for the belief that if I respawn I'll just have to basically pick up where I've left off, and for the impact on other people's lives. All because it was recommended to me to use CLO regularly by a family member, when this was wholly inappropriate for the condition I had. I don't know if I'll be able to heal fully in this life. I am working toward congenital SHO within the next 3 years, maybe that'll help. But it has just been a slow, painful grind most of the way and if it were not for me treasuring vitality I would've given in. Sounds like I'm complaining about nothing right? Many people have much more real problems and diseases, and to them go my thoughts and well wishes also.

I went to see a TCM doctor who previously worked some time in Chinese clinics after graduating from Cheng Du TCM college in 1992. Did the full organ pulse readings, tongue reading, hand reading and proceeded with acupuncture, cupping and rub down. My main complaint was my lung troubles. Said I was too yin/cold and that I needed a higher energy input like sunlight; said I didn't have to do so many things to try and stay healthy; said I had clear digestive issues and that would be the main thing to treat; couldn't find anything wrong in the lung pulse. Told me that eating an apple for breakfast was a no-go and that I needed a more warming yang meal like eggs. Then I realized I continued making a mistake with my diet that contributed to yin-related lung troubles even after stopping CLO months ago: I ate an apple for breakfast, whilst I could feel myself coughing up moisture especially after eating the apple. The cognitive dissonance was the web telling me apples are good for the lungs, I failed to see that it would mostly be good only for lungs which did not have enough moisture to begin with/ lungs that are yang. I am making an effort to get in a proper warming breakfast around 7am now everyday, and skipping apples and yin foods with the exception of a couple of shots of wheatgrass juice in the evenings. I'd love to go keto to be less moody and not to be swayed by my blood sugar so that I can achieve equanimity. I had an amazing experience last week when fasting where I could do focused work for 5 hour stints. Problem is that I get eczema/psoriasis on my lips as an inflammatory response to a number of foods: eggs, milk protein (milk, cheese, yogurt), nuts, gluten, which makes it pretty hard to go full keto. TCM doctor says that these types of allergies can be cured as it is just a defect of the digestive system, and I asked her what if it's genetic and she maintains that it doesn't matter, it can still be cured, but she couldn't tell me how. Most important lesson for me was then to ensure yin-yang balance in my diet. I'm hoping I can balance my lungs. The TCM doctor didn't want to prescribe any herbs to balance my lungs. Acupuncture didn't do much that I could notice, nor did the cupping, but hopefully it took some excess iron out since I rarely donate blood. The thunder/lightning is an extreme yang fire element, so if my lungs were excess yin then what was experienced sorta makes sense.

Vitamin K2 appears to enhance osteocalcin production, which interacts with the Leidig cells in the testes to produce more Testosterone. I felt the heightened levels of testosterone with 3000% RDA K2 supplementation as an overall body energy as well as semen leakage. Testosterone is naturally converted into DHT, which binds to receptors in hair follicles thus choking them and producing thinning hair. I felt this pronouncedly in my scalp during K2 supplementation, seeing thinning and receding hair. However, with more moderate K2 supplementation, it's hard to see these effects.

Thanks Orion, great recommendations and suggestions, I didn't know about the effectiveness of hyaluronic acid so I'm definitely keen to start experimenting with the combination of supplements you suggest. I actually had to stop taking separate vitamin K2 supplements because it just generated too much testosterone and consequently DHT which exacerbated hair loss. I have reduced my bone supplement intake as it appears (thank God) that my teeth have stabilized enough, still brushing with saliva only and teeth sensitivity is way down. Constantly suffusing my brain with brahmacharya literature to brainwash myself into complete lifelong abstinence, the alternative would be as good as death for me. Sexual desires are never satisfied - and in trying to satisfy them life is lost.

It's 4 videos a month, one every week. I live in too remote an area to get regular access to Taiji teachers, so I'm more than happy to pick up some things from the online video course so that I am more prepared when I do get chance to attend a seminar.

Just a quick update from me. You may see in my previous posts that I was quite depressed about my lung injury, after breathing in hot steam in May. My condition appeared to worsen and to such a degree that I was grief-stricken and had to find the will to keep on (with life). I actually started using cod liver oil, as I was told by multiple people that constant use of CLO has helped them with their lung infections. Little did I know that CLO would, in fact, worsen my condition and through constant use I ascribed the worsening condition to the original injury and not the CLO. Things were to get worse before it got better, as I started to increase my CLO dosage for an entirely different reason: Vitamin A boost for teeth sensitivity I have been experiencing. I have used Sensodyne for many years because of teeth sensitivity, even though I did not previously have crownings done and only had one or two cavities filled in as a child. Then I started experimenting with Vitamin K2, but I could only get it in cheese in the beginning, brie to be exact. After consuming close to 50g brie per day I could soon tell that the perforated texture of my teeth began to become more glass-like. So I did have some eroded enamel and apparently as a non-organic substance it cannot grow back, yet the lower layers of dentine does. Vitamin K2 appears to provide glass-like, enamel-like finishing to teeth. Now I'm using a 1000% K2 supplement and a bone-booster supplement (which smells like semen, which is a good sign) and my teeth sensitivity appears to be gone. I do not brush with toothpaste anymore, just with saliva, but I do cleanse my mouth and tongue with baking soda (which is a god-send for my life-long case of halitosis due to a very matty tongue that deserves a TCM reading). And, as fate would have it, I would increase my use of CLO at every sign of my lungs getting worse, thus snowballing the effect, until two weeks ago when the realization hit me and I dropped CLO completely. It might seem silly now in retrospect. CLO has an incredible affinity to the lungs and I realize that it suffuses the lungs, and I could feel over the last week how the iron grip of CLO evaporated from my lungs. My lungs are still recuperating, but daily are there new sensations in the lungs, which makes me hopeful that recovery is in progress. I also started training song with Adam Mizner's online training program, upon recommendation by Damo Mitchell. This has improved my ZZ and the sensations of pain I had in the very beginning are now completely gone. I have started to integrate song into my daily bodily conduct and it really is amazing how much tension the body can hold onto. When I started letting go of the bulk of the tension I could feel my fatigue lessen and the efficiency of movements improve. I am very much intrigued by the thought that proper taiji relies primarily on song and ting as its core functional operations and how that can lead to a very effective fa jin martial application that confounds common sense. I have maintained a high level of celibacy for four months now and my spine is warming up nicely now with LDT sensations heightened especially around midday and at full moon. I would say that my jing is stabilizing enough for me to start attempting the firing process soon. I am doing my first 10 day retreat over Christmas this year, and if everything works out I may start the process. I have been training in the Yu Xian Pai school for more than a year now, but I feel that The White Moon on the Mountain Peak is adequate guidance in proper alchemy. Thus far I have been lacking proper jing stabilization so I could not really engage in alchemy, but conditions appear to be aligning for me in the near future to work on congenital SHO. The Hawaii seminar of Wang Liping is just too expensive for me, but I might catch his European one next year. I am also signed up for Damo's neigong seminar next year. My sincere hope is that I can present fertile soil to whichever teacher I attend, through my daily practice of ZZ and my mindful accumulation of jing. It was a difficult past three months for me because of my lung injury and my self-inflicted subsequent poising with CLO, and I experienced some religious turmoil, you could say, because my prayers didn't appear to have much effect. But in the meantime I was my own worst enemy and I suppose there was a lesson in there for me to learn. I know that was by far not the biggest curveball life was to throw at me, so I just hope I can be more resilient when the next battle strikes. Thank you for all the advice and pm's you have made, it is appreciated.

I had a very supportive grandmother, and I always felt that without her I would also have ended up much worse than I have, I am very grateful for that. I have been doing the asian squat daily and over the weekends I get to see some sun so I squat with the sun on my back for some time and that seems to help a lot. Also with my recent depression. I am starting to dread the night and I cannot wait to fall asleep, mostly because of my recent lung injury. I breathed in hot steam over two days in May and it scorched my lungs, even though nothing happened to my nostrils or nasal passages. I could almost not breathe for a good 50 days afterward. It seemed to get better after 2 months but now it is flaring up again. It is like I have an impending cough, my throat and lungs feel constricted. I have had to make peace over the last year that I would not be able to have sex or a romantic relationship until I have a real healing breakthrough. Even now, after more than a 100 days of no sexual indulgence whatsoever, the slightest sexual thought brings pain to my lower back. I am actually still a virgin at 31 and never had any real romantic relationship due to my introverted nature and focus on academics in my youth. How can I have a romantic relationship if I cannot have any sexual thoughts without pain? I will need to seriously work through my healing, probably over many years before I can become normal again. So I've had to make peace with that, which may seem difficult, but that's ok. What I do find hard however is not having my full lung function anymore, and having this constant constriction of my airways. I don't know what's going on in my lungs and if full recovery is even possible. I like to believe that it is, and that I have to keep positive. It is hard to live with this injury because it is felt at every breath, and this has caused some depression. During the worst of it I had suicidal thoughts and every way I sought to get real healing became unavailable to me. I told my father about the affliction, but not about the desperation as he was going through hardships with his health as well and my mother is also bipolar and suicidal at times so I did not want to concern him. Just an update on my zhan zhuang practice also. The pain centered at the hip joints actually disappeared, it is almost like it moved downward. Now the only discomfort is in the quads and glutes in a lower stance. There is less shaking overall and I can feel when the muscular quad tension invokes qi flow around the LDT and this morning it felt like it was moving over my chest as well. I can sense the connection between shaking and lack of dopamine response as mentioned before. It is like the endocrine systems are slowly balancing and more dopamine is released instead of the body shaking. I think it might be possible at the end to have a full body bliss in ZZ if everything is balanced.

Geez Andrei, this is the sort of diagnosis one pays for, wow, thanks. It'll take me some time to digest it's full meaning, but I am highly appreciative of your advice.

I have actually been wishing you would also respond, as I have received much wisdom from your posts. Thank you.

Thanks for your post, I really appreciate it, and it was not the answer I was expecting. I also had cold clammy hands increasingly from age 16 onward. Which - ion generator would you recommend I buy, I definitely want to try it out. Also, I am curious, what is the basis upon which negative ions can influence jing/qi?

Great advice all-round, thanks BES. At times I do make a long coherent sound and focus on the vibrations, and it helps. The slow gentle erosion of blockage is also a sensible idea. I'm starting to remember more of this low-back pain issue now. It has actually been a problem I've been struggling with increasingly from age 20 onward, exacerbated by frequent jing depletion and stressful days at university. What I remember is that the low-back meridians are directly tied to the fear impulse to defecate, or to shit one's pants when confronted by terror. I would often had to have bowel-movements before exams and such, as it relieved the nervous impulse, AND this fear impulse always worsened after jing depletion. When I would abstain from jing depletion then the problem would mostly go away. So I really feel as if all of this is connected, the low-back pain, kidney/jing deficiencies, lack of courage, defecation impulse, stress and fear, all of these are tied together. My 5 element natal chart shows very strong water element, but I am very weak in the other elements. I think maybe my kidneys could cope with the jing depletion and abuse/disregard, and that I tapped into other organs/meridians to fuel/cope with the excess demand, and now my energy body is deeply hurt/damaged around my lower-back/SJ.

I almost want to say that my condition is sciatica, except that there is no pain moving down the leg. The pain is concentrated around the sacroiliac joint. Standing in ZZ most of the pain sensation is felt around the sacroiliac joint (SJ) and it becomes amplified in proper low position. Last night, before bed, sitting in meditation I could feel a new sensation of energy flow from the SJ down the thighs. Although I still feel a lot of pain during the day, alternating with feelings of comfort. The pain is now so much in ZZ that I had to cut 5 minutes from the stand this morning. My whole body shakes involuntarily within 5 minutes and I have to make sounds to get through the experience. I know what you're thinking, my position must be wrong and I'm stressing the joints, but I really don't think that's the case. The SJ pain is associated more with quadricep activation and my stance is actually not that low at all. Feet slightly wider than shoulder width, and I bend the knees just enough to activate the legs. I feel it is an energetic/weak meridian issue rather than any joint issue. I do conservative stretching before ZZ to stretch the quads, hamstrings and so forth. As I've said before, I definitely think this is an energetic issue as the SJ pain always becomes aggravated after jing depletion and at the end of stressful days. I have no musculoskeletal issues to speak of, with the exception of some bad posture tendencies perhaps. Also, after 3 months of celibacy the SJ pain was very far in the background, it's only when I started ZZ that the pain started to gradually surface again. I wish there was a local Tuina/energy practitioner that I could work with, but the only guy we had left for Asia so I'll have to weather the storm by myself. I visited the best acupuncturist I could find, but I believe a couple of ZZ sessions gives far better results than the treatments I had with him.

I had a healing session with Zeev Kolman today at his Manhattan office in a 120 yo building which used to be the tallest hotel in the world at one stage, with a farm on the roof in decades past. Things were in mild disarray in his office as his accountant was getting his taxes ready, and by the amount of documents in the office I could tell that he has been using that location probably a long time. Zeev is very friendly and he shared a lot of information on his dealings with patients. Zeev started by doing an aura reading, explaining a long the way that there are three parts to the aura. The inner part being related to something like life vitality, but the outer part and middle part I don't recall that he mentioned what they signify. I had a 20 cm aura on my right but a 3 cm aura on my left side, but the outer edge was smooth with straight lines which is a good sign. A sick person would have a waving or broken outer edge to their aura. He mentioned that he could sense that my father was unhealthy, which is true as he had skin cancer and is somewhat overweight. I have never met or talked with Zeev before, and none of my family history is available online even through private fb data. He also said that he could sense that a deceased relative has taken a protective role over me, and this relative's death anniversary is within two months of today. I'm not sure about the death anniversaries of my various grandparents, but this is possible. (Edit: I believe he was sensing Hariharananda! He did not strictly say that it was a relative, but it was as if he assumed it. I was initiated at the Hariharananda ashram on the Mahasamadhi anniversary in December 2010 (so in the stated 2 month window). Atmavidyananda was adamant that it was not he that was initiating me, but his guru, Hariharananda. It was a proper, authentic yogic initiation involving tying to the chakras. I do not believe any of my own deceased relatives were conscious enough to take a 'protective' role over me after death. I am quite surprised that he could sense Hariharananda, as I have not kept up with my Kriya Yoga practice for many years, but instead started Taoist practices. The initiation, it seems, creates a strong bond not easily broken.) I mentioned to him that a recent ultrascan showed cysts in my liver and kidneys, but he said that there is nothing malignant and his estimate of the cyst size is smaller than it was 2 months ago. It is possible that the cysts have shrunk as they were probably caused by acute cacao poisoning. I also told him that I have inherited food allergies, gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, but he told me that he has healed genetic afflictions many times before, so he actually did affirmations during my healing to address these allergies. He said that all my life I have had to fight for my place in the world, which I told him is probably true although I never thought of it as being anything dramatic. After the aura reading, I was ushered to lay down on my back and to breath deeply. He started a guided meditation with his voice and then he started the healing. My eyes were closed and the moment he started the healing it felt like sand falling all over my face and body. Instantly I opened my eyes, like WTF, I didn't know what was going on because it seriously felt like sand falling on my face. It also felt like someone was pulling a sheet over my face, or spiders webs. At times it feels like pop rocks on your skin, almost like static, but sparkling, ephemeral yet very physical, very tactile like something is touching your skin. It is the most visceral real feeling, unmistakable, I opened my eyes several times to see if Zeev is not really throwing sand on me. But I could feel it even through my clothes, sparkling, scintillating spiders webs being pulled over your skin. This feeling was most strong toward the end when he worked on the face and eyes. The feeling so real, so literal it is shocking and undeniable. He also did periodic transfer of mild heat into the body. At no point did he actually touch the body. I have had healings before from a tuina master, an acupuncture master and Jim Nance (SFQ). The tuina master could accurately read the state of my organs, and Jim Nance could read a rough state of energy congestion in the head, but none of these treatments had any noticeable effects other than driving me to seek more effective treatments. Zeev Kolman's treatment is by far the most potent experience I have ever had. If any doubt the possibility of bio energy healing those doubts will be dispelled instantly if they feel his power, it's undeniable. At one point during the treatment my mood heightened so toward bliss that it felt like I was roaming free on a Taoist mountaintop, enlightened and extremely blissful. After the treatment Zeev said my aura has balanced and now is 35 cm on both sides. I will see what persisting health effects I have, also with regards to my allergies, in the weeks to come.

I used to drink Schizandra berry powder, but the dried berries are so much more potent. The berries are small, but I have to literally count how many I eat because they pack one heck of punch, seriously. You have to respect Schizandra or she'll kick you in the nutters, figuratively speaking. The moment you eat too much nausea results, but that's just Schizandra and your body telling you that you had enough. They are smart like that. You have to crack open the two kidney shaped seeds with your teeth to release the bitter and aromatic flavours, that's very important. Let the digestion start in the mouth, savour and embrace her full, pungent flavour. Very powerful. Improved night vision. Improved focus and energy. If you're sleepy it'll wake you the way not even caffeine can, and if you want a good night's rest you'll get that too, it's an adaptogen conforming to the unique requirements at the time. You'll feel the wei qi protective field activate and the qi will surge and move where it knows best. A dozen berries/day is almost too much, it's hella potent. My new best friend.

Schizandra does have an affinity for all five meridians, including the Kidney meridian and can help with a Qi deficiency. However, think of Schizandra as a lock. What do you want to lock into the body? If there is nothing good or sufficient to lock in then locking is pointless. So the usual recommendation is to first replenish Kidney Yin (with Goji), then Kidney Yang (with Cinnamon), balance Yin and Yang with He Shou Wu, only then do you use Schizandra to support Kidney Qi and to lock in the Qi. Locking the Qi makes it harder to lose the Qi frivolously by the body, hence the stopping of nocturnal emissions and premature ejaculation by using Schizandra. The Qi can be thought of as a primary energy source that 'locks' in the Jing, thus saving the prenatal and postnatal Jing from being spent, because the body first utilizes the available Qi which is constantly replenished through breathing that roots in the Kidneys.

That's why I use cinnamon with Goji, since cinnamon is a Kidney Yang tonic that provides the Yang needed for the body processes of heating, generation and transformation. Kidney Yang steams the Kidney Yin, and when they are in balance no damp will form. That's why you should use cinnamon when you use Kidney Yin tonics like Goji. Sour foods also astringe, but in general you have to make sure your body is not unbalanced or sick when you use an astringent, to prevent locking in the unwanted condition.

Good advice Orion, hope you are recovering well from your brush with death. My (gut) feeling about gluten is that it is, well, a glue. In my body, when I eat gluten, it feels like my skin and lips are thickening and 'glueing' up from the allergic reaction of gluten. The overall feeling when I get a reaction is that I'm glueing up.

You wouldn't believe this, but I am definitely allergic to the following: 1) Milk protein 2) Gluten 3) Nuts (Peanuts and all tree nuts) 4) Eggs 5) Coffee beans When I eat any of the above, in some degree or another my lips thicken and become hard as nails, my Eustachian tube skin begins to perforate and my nasal passages dry out. I also developed a nodule right on the large intenstine acupuncture point left of my nostril, which itches like a motherf*cker if I eat gluten. With eggs especially my lips crack and bleed. I've had this extensive allergy all my life, not knowing what it was. I often used nail clippers to trip my lips, because I could not tear off the dead skin fused to my lips without tearing off flesh. I wanted to go Keto, but the exclusion of milk protein and nuts makes it incredibly hard to get a sustainable Keto diet. Also, I'm a programmer and I can't drink coffee or my lips crack and bleed. I wish it is just an energetic imbalance or something similar that TCM can fix, but I fear this is genetic as my mother and mother's mother have similar issues. The only remedy will be an esoteric DNA upgrade or something.

I eat 100g goji berries in cinnamon tea per day and a heaped teaspoon of He Shou Wu as tea per day. I'd like to eat 200g goji berries but then it gets too expensive. He Shou Wu is a mild laxative, but after 2 weeks of daily use the body regularizes. Ceasing use of He Shou Wu then would cause mild constipation with fast regularization after a couple of days. My question is why these TCM medicinal ingredients are special compared to a five-flavour diet approach. To clarify, sour foods like pickles astringes like Schizandra, but why is Schizandra medicinal and what percentage of its Qi storage power can be gained from ordinary sour food like pickles?

I'm really glad to hear that, I recently made a related post that describes my logic on this further (but I'm no expert): As an ageing male I have recently focused a lot on boosting the kidneys as follows: Jing -> Yin + Yang -> Grasp Qi -> Store Qi 1) Replenish jing and yin jing with Goji. 2) Replenish yang jing with Cinnamon. 3) Balance yin and yang with He Shou Wu. 4) Grasp and retain qi with Walnut. 5) Store qi with Schizandra. Dean Rehmannia says that available Qi protects the Jing, so I understand it as Qi being a more readily used form of energy. Schizandra is an astringent so it helps to store the Qi that is produced through the interaction of Yin and Yang, after Walnut grasped the Qi that arose from the sufficient Yin and Yang bolstered by Goji and Cinnamon and brought into balance by He Shou Wu. Using the Walnut produces a very distinct sensation, which is different from the sensation of Yin and Yang replenishing. Walnut grasps the Qi and it causes an unusual warmth just beneath the surface of the skin. On the scalp it feels like it is feeding the hair follicles and circulating through the brain. Taking Cinnamon to replenish Kidney Yang feels like a more usual type of heat, like you are just hot. The feeling from Qi is different, since it's heat is more calm and healing.