Bowtie Acupuncture

  In this second edition of Chinese Medicine formulas that can assist with your mental work, we have the legendary Tian Wang Bu Xin Dan. Again, this article is not intended to diagnose or prescribe the use of any herbs, it is only intended for educational purposes. Let’s get to the formula! Tian Wang Bu Xin Dan: The name of this formula translates to “the Emperor of Heaven’s Special Pill to Tonify the Heart”. The story of who exactly received this formula is debated, but it is still a fun story. From Bensky’s Formulas and Strategies (2015) “It is said that once, when the Buddhist monk Zhi Gong was exhausted from the chanting of scriptures, he was given this formula in a dream by the Heavenly King Deng…Although (this) account is mythological, (it) refers to this formula’s magical effect in treating exhaustion from too much thinking.” Whether or not you believe that a divine Emperor can appear and dispense herbal knowledge, the fact that this formula originated from Buddhist ...

After three years of TCM school full of studying, connecting with classmates and professors and contemplating what I can learn from my time in school, I have arrived at three simple ways that can make a student’s journey through the rigors of Chinese Medicine school a little bit easier. So without further ado, here are my three tips for success in TCM Graduate school! 1) Study everyday!             From highschool through most of my undergraduate program, I never studied more than looking back over my notes from class or talking to a classmate about the topics the exam may cover. It was not until I encountered my favorite French professor in the latter half of my junior year of college that I began to actually study on a daily basis. I was a sociology major, a field that has more emphasis on understanding and citing previous theories without any rote memorization needed. When I started learning French, I was useless. Languages h...