CHINESE HERBS.

Raf has been struggling with sinus headaches for a while, and has tried many routes for relief. He finally decided to just go as natural as possible, and has been going to acupuncture 1-2 times a week at the Berkeley Acupuncture Project. This place is really wonderful, as it is a community-based practice. This means that everyone is treated in the same room, with multiple acupuncturists doing their work to multiple patients, where everyone is there, healing together. The setting is serene; folks lounging in reclining chairs, soft Chinese music in the background, dim lights, and the sound of water flowing from little fountains around the room. We go to see Julia, and she is as sweet as can be, and very present with you during your treatment. She is terrific! (Oh, did I forget to mention that I have been going every once in a while too?) They also operate on a sliding scale basis, you pay what you can afford, from $15-$45 a treatment. This is great as it allows students, people without health insurance coverage or folks on a lower income to seek multiple treatments without breaking the bank.

Anyway, back to the title of this post...Julia suggested Raf go see an Oakland legend, a man named Henry who operates an herb shop in Chinatown. He has been doing his thing at his shop, Draline Tong Herbs for 33 years! So, we recently went, hoping to have Henry add herbs to complement Julia's treatments. It was pretty cool, and definitely old school. The shop is in the heart of Oakland's Chinatown, and Henry was standing outside of the entryway (just as someone said on Yelp!) and he greets you and welcomes you in. The place has a very strong herbal scent that smacks you in the face upon entering. It looks like an old fashioned apothecary, with beautiful antique wooden drawers that house myriad bulk/loose herbal concoctions, and floor to ceiling prepackaged herbs and teas and various Chinese products. Henry asked what we were looking for and took us back into his office for a consultation. He pulled out his pen and a piece of paper that says "Henry's Herb" and began frantically writing in beautiful Chinese characters as Raf described how he has been feeling.

After the consultation, we went out into the main room with all of the drawers and Henry's assistant appears out of nowhere. These two old boys really must know one another, because they barely speak as they pull handfuls of herbs from this drawer or that that drawer and lay them into piles on squares of white butcher paper, every once in a while consulting with Henry's notes. Once they finish, they wrap the little bundles and secure them with rubber bands.


Henry then gave us the following instructions: Boil one entire packet with 4 cups of water until it reduces to 1 cup of water. Strain and drink. Set aside the left over herbs and reuse in the same way the next day. Each packet is 2 days worth of tea. Repeat this for 6 days until the tea is gone. Well, folks, he drank all of it. According to Raf it tastes like you are drinking the forest floor. And he figured out pretty quickly that an almond milk chaser was necessary.




We aren't sure what the effect of doing it once was, and he is interested and willing to go back for another round. It was certainly quite an experience. I really believe in the power of herbs and acupuncture and Chinese medicine in general, so fingers crossed...