When energy runs low at the source
Deep fatigue that rest does not shift, a lack of drive from the morning on, sensitivity to cold, a lower back and knees that tire quickly, a feeling of drawing on your reserves… In TCM, these signs may be associated with a Qi deficiency that, as it lasts, ends up depleting Kidney Yang. According to tradition, the Spleen is the root of the acquired constitution (后天之本): it draws Qi from food. The Kidney is the root of the innate constitution (先天之本): it stores the Jing, the Essence, the body’s deep reserve, and sustains the Yang of the whole body.
Yang Source is a Calebasse formula. It does not reproduce a classic recipe: it brings together five substances from the Chinese pharmacopoeia around a simple idea, expressed by its name. To regain drive, first support the Qi, then go back to its source, the Kidney. Astragalus, ginseng and atractylodes take care of the first stage; eucommia bark and ganoderma, the second.
Supporting the Qi, then going back to the Kidney
Astragalus, which makes up more than two fifths of the formula, sets the tone: warm and sweet, it supports the Qi and raises it. Ginseng and atractylodes form a trio with it, focused on the Spleen, the source of Qi. Eucommia, warm, carries the action to the Kidney, and ganoderma, neutral, completes the whole without warming it further.
Tonifies the Qi: Astragalus and ginseng support the Qi; atractylodes helps the Spleen draw it from food.
Tonifies Kidney Yang: Sweet and warm, eucommia bark nourishes Kidney Yang. Tradition regards it as the herb of the lower back, which is called “the residence of the Kidney”.
Strengthens the Jing: According to tradition, the acquired nourishes the innate: the Qi that the Spleen draws from food sustains the Essence stored by the Kidney. Ginseng, which supports the Original Qi, links the two.
Supports day-to-day vitality and energy: Ganoderma, a gentle, neutral tonic for the long term, enters the Heart, Lung, Liver and Kidney: it supports the Qi without forcing, for energy that returns gently.
