Calming the mind

Herbs that promote digestion, calm the mind and spread the Liver-Qi should be used in chronic disorders and when the patient is recovering from disease. 

At times of great stress and high emotion, or of severe physical exertion and tiredness, the body becomes more sensitive, and herbs should be prescribed at lower dosages than normal. For instance, to treat severe tiredness due to Spleen-Qi and Heart-blood deficiency, herbs that tonify the Qi and blood should be used in the formula but their doses should be very low because any strong stimulation and tonification may cause further disorder in the body. If the patient suffers from insomnia and anxiety, formulas that calm the mind and sedate the Heart-spirit should be used first. At the time of menstruation, or if the patient has a bleeding... 

Herbal medicines that calm the mind and improve sleep should be taken before going to bed. 

This method is used to sedate the spirit, calm the mind and regulate the function of the Heart in order to treat anxiety, restlessness, palpitations and insomnia. This may be achieved by using salty and cold herbs, especially minerals, which enter the Heart, Liver and Kidney meridians. These ingredients can... 

In these situations, treatment procedures in TCM that are similar in approach to the hypnotic and sedative drugs should not be used, or used only with caution. Instead, procedures that disperse constrained Qi, clear heat, promote digestion, and remove dampness and phlegm should be applied. Herbs and a diet that tonify the blood should be used for a long period of time. All of these can assist western drugs to calm the mind in an effective way and to reduce their side effects. TCM treatment can thus shorten the course of treatment required with hypnotic and sedative drugs and reduce their dosage. 

Ling Yang Jiao is salty and cold, and enters the Liver, Heart and Lung meridians. It can effectively reduce the lire from the Heart and Liver, calm the mind and relax the tendons. It is often used as the chief substance in formulas that reduce the heat from the Heart and Liver when the heat disturbs the mind. 

Dan Shen is cold and pungent, and enters the Heart meridian directly. It can cool the blood and reduce the heat in the blood. Its pungent nature disperses and dissolves the congealed blood and promotes blood circulation. It can also disperse constrained Qi in the chest. It is commonly used in combination with other chief herbs to reduce the heat at the Ying level and is a very effective herb to calm the mind and treat restlessness, irritability and a warm sensation in the chest caused by heat in the blood. 

Five herbs serve as assistants. Dan Shen cools the blood and disperses the blood stagnation, which are the common accompanying pathological changes when there is heat at the Yin level. Dan Zhu Ye and Huang Lian can clear heat and calm the mind. Jin Yin Hua and Lian Qiao can vent the heat to the Qi level as they are aromatic herbs. They clear heat that has been vented from the Ying level in order to eliminate the heat from... 

Herbs that can calm the mind, settle the wind and remove phlegm should be used if necessary. 

Deputy Cool the blood and stop bleeding nourish the Yin, calm the mind and settle the wind... 

Huang Lian and Zhi Zi are bitter and cold. They enter the Heart and Liver meridians. They can reduce the heat from the Heart and calm the mind so that they can treat restlessness and irritability. Since bitterness has a drying nature, these herbs should be used with herbs that tonify the Yin. 

Herbs that promote digestion, soothe the Stomach-Qi and calm the mind are often used. 

Gui Ban is salty, sweet and cold, and enters the Kidney and Heart meridians. It nourishes the Yin and strengthens the Kidney, tonifies the blood and calms the mind. It is used when the Yin, essence and blood in the Lower-Jiao are severely injured. It can also reduce the heat and treat bone steaming due to Yin deficiency in warm-febrile disease. Its function of tonifying the Yin is stronger than its function of reducing deficient heat. 

A large amount of Zhi Gan Gao is used as assistant to tonify the Qi. This stabilizes the Yin and can directly calm the mind and treat palpitations. 

The second strategy is to use a mineral substance. As it is heavy and has a descending tendency, it can better anchor the Yang and calm the mind than plants. 

As Fu Ling can also tonify the Heart-Qi, it is used for calming the mind. It is particularly useful for children with mild Heart-Qi and Spleen-Qi deficiency as it does not have a strong taste. 

Excessive pensiveness and worry use Fu Shen [Poriae cocos pararadicis), Bai Zi Ren [Platycladi semen), Bai He [Lilii bulbus), Long Yan Rou [Longanae arillus) and Zhi Gan Cao [Glycyrrhizae radix preparata) to calm the mind and tonify the Spleen. 

Treatment principle Tonify the Heart-Qi, nourish the Heart-blood, regulate the blood circulation and calm the mind... 

Second, herbs that are sweet and slightly warm, enter the Heart, Spleen and Liver meridians, are able to nourish the blood, calm the mind and improve sleep are often selected. Third, herbs that promote the Qi movement and blood circulation so as to maintain the proper function of the Heart are often used. 

Zhi Gan Cao is sweet and slightly warm, which are the principal properties of herbs that can tonify the Qi. It enters all the ordinary meridians, can tonify the Qi, moderate the speed of Qi and blood, and harmonize the functions of the internal organs. It is particularly selected in the formula with a large dosage as chief to calm the mind and relieve the palpitations and restlessness caused by Heart-Qi deficiency. 

Lou Yan Rou is a sweet and neutral fruit. It enters the Heart and Spleen meridians and can gently tonify the Spleen-Qi, the Heart-Qi and the blood. At the same time, it can calm the mind and treat... 

Fu Shen is neutral and bland, and enters the Heart and Spleen meridians. It is able to tonify the Heart-Qi and Spleen-Qi and calm the mind, thereby treating restlessness and insomnia. Since it is neutral and bland, and gentle in property and action, it is often used in the diet for chronic conditions of Heart-Qi deficiency. 

These three substances are all able to calm the mind. Of the three, Long Chi is the strongest and is used in acute conditions Fu Shen can be used over a longer period of time and it can also gently tonify the Spleen-Qi Xiao Mai is cold in temperature and it is principally used to treat restlessness with irrita-... 

These two herbs are pungent, bitter and warm, and enter the Heart meridian. They are able to eliminate the invisible phlegm, open the chest and calm the mind. They can be applied in the formula if phlegm is generated by deficiency of the Spleen-Qi and Heart-Qi, and the phlegm covers the mind and leads to insomnia, palpitations and restlessness. 

Dang Gui, Suan Zao Ren, Long Yan Rou and Da Zao form another group of deputy herbs that particularly tonify the blood of the Heart and therefore strengthen the Heart-Qi and calm the mind. 

Middle-Jiao to prevent tonifying herbs obstructing the Qi movement the latter can remove the invisible phlegm and connect the Heart with the Kidney, thereby calming the mind. 

Moreover, Zhi Gan Cao and Wu Wei Zi stabilize the Qi and blood, and can reduce the speed of the tonifying herbs and warm herbs. They insure the stable effect of calming the mind of the formula. 

Suan Zao Ren is sweet, sour and neutral, and enters the Liver, Gall Bladder and Heart meridians. Since sweet and sour may generate the Yin and stabilize the body fluids, it is also able to nourish the Liver blood. It is a perfect herb to calm the mind and improve sleep. It is often selected in the formula to treat anxiety, sweating, restless sleep and dream-disturbed sleep due to Liver-blood deficiency. 

Magnetitum) to calm the mind directly in an acute condition use Ye Jiao Teng (Polygoni multiflori caulis), He Huan Pi (Albiziae cortex) and Bai Zi Ren (Platycladi semen) to calm the mind in a chronic condition. 

Furthermore, Suan Zao Ren and Bai Shao Yao can calm the mind and improve sleep, and are also effective in treating restless sleep and an uneasy feeling of the body during sleep due to Liver-blood deficiency. 

These are two sweet fruits. Long Yan Rou is neutral and Da Zao is warm. Both enter the Heart and Spleen meridians. They can gently tonify the Spleen-Qi, nourish the Heart-blood and calm the mind. As they taste nice and have few side effects, they are often selected in formulas or added to the diet for long-term use in a mild case or a chronic condition of Heart-blood deficiency, such as after a surgical... 

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