Sunday, March 2, 2008

An Energetic Approach on Herbs

Energetics is an interesting and complex approach to herbology, but once you get the hang of it, it can be fun and very effective in choosing the right herbal remedy for your body. Used in this context, energetics is considered the energy, the nature, or the personality of an herb and the effect it has on you when you take it. When you assess the nature of your illness, you can choose a herb with a more balancing or complementary energy.

For instance, if you don’t take into account the energetics of a cough, then you might assume that a cherry bark cough syrup is what you need. After all, cherry bark has been used successfully by many to tame coughing. However, if you have a dry cough and you take cherry bark, your cough will worsen because cherry bark has a very drying effect on the tissues. It works great for those with a loose, phelgmy cough, but you are better off with a different remedy for a dry cough—you might try slippery elm or licorice root, which soothe dry, irritated tissues.
Energetics is a very deep subject that’s just briefly introduced so that you can understand why not just one herb works for everyone’s cough. Where appropriate throughout this book, I have provided suggestions for each ailment to help you choose the best remedy for your needs.

This quote, by Leonardo da Vinci, explains quite eloquently the holistic view of an energetic approach to healing:
“You know that medicines when well used restore health to the sick: they will be well used when the doctor together with his understanding of their nature shall understand also what man is, what life is, and what constitution and health are. Know these well and you will know their opposites; and when this is the case you will know well how to devise a remedy.”

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