Thai Retreats info
Thai Herbal Medicine |
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 The rich cornucopia of Thai herbal formulations is largely a legacy of the rural hill-tribes. A significant variety of indigenous herbs are found here. Herbs commonly used in herbal formulations are Piper chaba (Deeplee in Thai), Piper sarmentosum (Chaa-Ploo), Piper sp. (sakhaan), Plumbago indica (chetamoolpleang), Piper nigrum (black pepper), Cyperus rotundus (haew moo), and Zingiber officinale (dried ginger). Apart from these, other indigenous berbs such as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, mint leaves, and holy and sweet basil leaves are used extensively both in Thai cooking and as medicine in herbal decoctions.The underlying principle in Thai herbal medicine is to maintain the balance of the Four Elements namely Air, Water, Fire and Earth. Everything in the universe, including the human body, is made up of these elements. When one of these elements is out of balance in our body, symptoms arise corresponding to the vitiated element, and if left unchecked, a full-fledged disease could manifest. |
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 The herbal principle is directly derived from Ayurveda, where the Five Great Elements (Ether is the fifth element) are considered the elemental building blocks of the universe. They are expressed in the human body as the three doshas or bio-energies namely Vata (Air + Ether), Pitta (Fire) and Kapha (Water + Earth).Traditional Thai Medicine lays stress on herbal formulations rather than administering single herbs to treat a disorder. To understand which herbs are to be used for a particular disorder, it is important to understand the heating and cooling attributes of the herb. Let we illustrate with a simple example. A cold with mucus congestion and running nose is a condition where there is excess ‘water’ in the body. Hence, a Traditional Thai Medicine practitioner (even an Ayurvedic or Chinese one for that matter) would make herbal tea with some ‘heating’ herbs such as ginger, basil and black pepper. The ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ aspects are fundamental in Chinese medicine as well, where the concept of Yin and Yang is the underlying principle in understanding matter, including herbs and the human body. Many Traditional Thai Medicine practitioners today use the Ayurvedic dosha analysis to understand the constitution of a patient. This is combined with methods of diagnosis using pulse, iris, urine, tongue and nails, which are common to both Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. |
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