The Sap is Rising

An exploration of Wood energy in Chinese herbal energetics

For the past twelve months I’ve been lost in the study of Five Elements Acupuncture. Although I initially embarked on this training as a way to expand my skill set, what I actually discovered was a deeper connection to my current herbal practice.

Whether you’re a clinical herbalist or a home medicine maker, you will most certainly be in the special position of knowing that herbs are way more than the sum of their parts. The “pill for an ill” approach just isn’t enough to support true healing, which can only come about when the plants we work with are respected for their energetic, as well as their phytochemical properties.

All systems of traditional medicine place emphasis on herbal energetics, however, I’m sad to say that in my experience, many herbal training curriculums here in the UK teach this as an afterthought, rather than emphasising their fundamental importance for devising successful treatment strategies.

In today’s post I’ll explore the element of Wood through the lense of Chinese herbalism - the goal being to show you how to put this into practice to elevate your own medicine making.

I hope you’ll read through to the end where I’ll share some more in-depth resources on this topic, along with free access to the first three modules of

Anne Stobart

’s marvellous course on medicinal forest gardening.

Let’s begin.