Herbs and Healing

Had a really fun day today learning about herbs and healing. In the morning, traveled to Samuel P. Taylor State Park to meet a Curandero, a Hispanic Healer by the name of Charles Garcia, and he took us on a trail through the woods to identify native wild herbs that we can use for healing and for wounds!

Following that, met up with David Williams in Berkeley where they were having Spring Cleaning at the monastery. Met so many old faces of Drby. Met Estee too! Been 4 years since i last met her... Then took off with David and headed for Los Gatos to meet a Thai healing monk - Luang Por Prasert who gave a dharma talk about healing.


Pic 1: Curandero Charles and the group.
Pic 2: Herb to the left is Thistle, root is used for clearing the lymphatic vessels. Herb to the right is Red Dock, also a good lymphatic cleanser, cleanses fats from vessels. And can be used to relieve Stinging Nettle's sting too.


Pic 1: Usnea (green moss on the ground) - Nature's penicillin. Can be grounded in placed into open wounds. Also good for pneumonia & urinary infections.
Pic 2: Cleavers (coz they cleave onto u) Bladder and Kidney problems.
Pic 3: Brooke Mint. Least tasty of mint family, but used to lower fevers and wash rashes.


Pic 1: Dutchman's Pipe/Arrow root - strong herb to kick start digestive juices
Pic 2: Redwood Sorrel - Astringent to cuts
Pic 3: Californian black berry - treats Diarrhea/dysentry


Pic 1: Cow Parse Nip - helps regenerate nerves in trauma
Pic 2: Mugwort - Sedative, psycho-altering drug that helps with fevers and insomnia. Chinese Medicine uses this alot as moxa. Known as 哎葉.
Pic 3: Wild rose - high in vit C, combats scurvy, blood tonic.


Pic 1: Periwinkle (This I know! Charly taught me to eat the nectar in the flowers!) The leaves are good for high blood pressure and varicose veins. Its a Vaso-dilator.
Pic 2: Miner's Lettuce (This I know too! Ate it with Charly & Tommy in Cttb) High in Vit C and helps with blood pressure.
Pic 3: Last but not least, Indian cucumber... this is not a herb. Its used in homeopathy thou... extremely lethal. A few drops of its sap can kill a person.

We also went through some others, such as redwood bark which is an astringent for skin sores, and Trillium leaves that helps in ovarian cysts and endometriosis. Pretty cool morning.

For the afternoon with Luang Por Prasert, some pointers he gave to good health are these: Diet, Bowel, Exercise, Air, Emotions.

For Diet: 1) Eat Slowly; 2) Know what your body needs; 3) Moderate Amount 4) Before Sleeping, drink a glass of warm water. After waking, drink a glass of warm water again.

For Bowels: 1) Don't do it before 6am; 2) Don't read while doing your business

For Exercise: Don't exercise after meals. Don't SLEEP after meals! Morning exercise when sun is rising is best. When waking up, rub hands together and give face and head a massage before getting up. This gives an energy boost.

For Air: In the day, trees give off Oxygen, good to rest under trees. At night, trees give off Carbon dioxide, not as good. Try to get as much fresh air as possible. If always in aircon, leave a bowl of water in the room to moisturize the air.

For Emotions: Watch your emotions, Do meditation, Practice deep breathing.

The best time for meditation... is when you are still breathing...