Nature: sweet, astringent, neutral
Enters: Spleen, Kidney, Heart
Actions: Tonifies spleen Qi; stops diarrhea; tonifies kidney Qi, controls Jing; nourishes the heart, calms the Shen.
Indications:
• Spleen Qi deficiency: chronic diarrhea, poor appetite (caution when Qi deficiency has led to Qi stagnation).
• Kidney Qi deficiency: spermatorrhea, premature ejaculation, excessive uterine bleeding, vaginal discharge.
• Heart deficiency: restlessness, insomnia, palpitations, irritability.
• Especially useful for lack of communication between the heart and kidneys.
• Common dietary therapy (use up to 60g).
• Lian zi should have its heart (Lian xin) removed.
• All parts of the lotus plant are medicinal. The lotus is the source of at least eight distinct herbs.
Yoga of Herbs (Frawley & Lad): (see also Ou jie, Lian xin, Lian fang) Padma, Kamala, Pushkara, more names (this is India’s most sacred plant, the symbol of spiritual unfoldment).
• Sweet, astringent/cooling/sweet
• P, V-; K+ (in excess).
• Nutritive tonic, rejuvenative, aphrodisiac, astringent, hemostatic, nervine, cardiac and seminal tonic.
• Calms the mind, subdues restless thoughts and dreams.
• Helps open the heart [fourth] chakra: for heart chakra disorders [PLB: e.g., afraid to love, to feel with the heart, to connect with others, to listen to the heart, difficulty being compassionate, emotionally closed, no sense of boundaries around intimacy, impropriety, especially around intimacy ““ see also five element interpretations of fire imbalance].
• Good for devotion and aspiration, improves speech, helps stop stuttering and improves concentration.
• Diarrhea, bleeding disorders, menorrhagia, leukorrhea, impotence, spermatorrhea, venereal disease, heart weakness.
• As a food, 5g can be taken three times daily, with basmati rice or other tonics such as Shatavari and Ashwagandha, suitably spiced and sweetened.
• The lotus is sacred to Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, and brings spiritual and material abundance.
Hong-Yen Hsu (Oriental Materia Medica): Relaxes smooth muscle; dilates coronary artery.
Dose: 6-15g