The Herbalist

🧧 Chinese New Year 2026 has arrived! 🧧
Mark your calendars—This year Chinese New Year falls on Tuesday 17th February 2026, welcoming the Year of the Fire Horse🐎🔥
✨ Celebrations begin the evening before (16th February) and last about 15 days, filled with family feasts, red envelopes (Ang Pows), fireworks, and vibrant cultural traditions.
📅 Important Dates
* Chinese New Year’s Eve: 16th Feb, 2026 – Family reunion dinner
* Chinese New Year’s Day: 17th Feb, 2026 – Fire Horse begins
* Lantern Festival: 03rd March, 2026 – Grand finale of celebrations 🏮

✅ DOs for Good Fortune
❤️ Wear Red – Symbol of happiness, luck, and prosperity
🧹 Clean Before the New Year – Spring clean to sweep away old luck (not on New Year’s Day!)
🍽️ Have a Reunion Dinner – The most important meal of the year
🧧 Give Red Envelopes (Ang Pows) – Share blessings and good luck
🍊 Give Lucky Gifts – Oranges symbolize wealth and abundance
🎉 Set Off Fireworks – To scare away bad spirits
🙏 Honor Ancestors – A meaningful tradition
💬 Exchange Greetings – Say “Gōngxǐ fācái” (恭喜发财) for wealth and happiness

❌ DON’Ts to Avoid Bad Luck
🚫 Don’t Sweep or Take Out Rubbish – You might sweep away good fortune
✂️ Don’t Use Sharp Objects – Avoid cutting off good luck
🚿 Don’t Wash Hair or Shower – Especially on the first day
⚫⚪ Don’t Wear Dark Colors – Black, white, and gray are linked to mourning
🗣️ Don’t Say Negative Words – Keep the energy positive
📚 Don’t Buy Books – The word sounds like “lose” in Chinese

1. Balance (Yin–Yang)

TCM believes health exists when Yin and Yang are balanced.

Too much heat → inflammation, restlessness
Too much cold → fatigue, poor circulation
Prevention means adjusting lifestyle, food, and habits early so imbalance never turns into disease.

2. Strengthening Qi

Qi is the body’s functional energy.

TCM prevents illness by:

Supporting strong Qi flow
Preventing blockages
Methods include:

Herbal tonics
Acupuncture
Breathing exercises
When Qi flows smoothly, illness has little chance to develop.

3. Supporting Wei Qi

Wei Qi is similar to the immune system.

TCM strengthens it through:

Proper sleep
Nutritious, warming foods
Herbs like astragalus
Avoiding overwork
Strong Wei Qi helps the body resist external pathogens (wind, cold, damp, phlegm & heat).

4. Preventive diet therapy

Food is considered daily medicine.

TCM prevents illness by:

Eating according to body constitution
Adjusting diet with seasons
Avoiding excess (sweet, cold, spicy, greasy)
Example:

Winter → warming foods
Summer → cooling foods
This keeps internal balance stable.

5. Emotional regulation

TCM links emotions to organs:

Anger → Liver
Worry → Spleen
Fear → Kidney
Long-term emotional stress weakens organs and causes illness.
Prevention means managing emotions early through awareness and calm living.

Bountiful Bulge
丰隆 - Feng Long - ST.40

This point is located on both sides of the leg, one finger width lateral to “Tiao Kou” and two finger widths lateral to the anterior crest of the tibia.

This point can help with:

Clears “phlegm” and dampness – In Traditional Chinese Medicine, “phlegm” can refer to excess fluid, mucus, or metabolic congestion. Clearing it may help reduce bloating and the feeling of heaviness.
Supports digestion & metabolism – Aids your digestive system in moving waste efficiently.
Reduces bloating & water retention – Can make your stomach feel flatter and lighter.
Improves mental clarity & cravings – A clearer mind can support more mindful eating choices.



Celestial Pivot
天枢穴 Tian Shu - ST.25

This point is located on the stomach bilateral of the navel half way from the border of the re**us abdominis muscle.

This point can help with:

Regulating intestinal function
Reducing bloating and abdominal fullness
Helping with constipation or diarrhoea
Supporting overall gut motility

ST-25 can be useful if:

You overeat due to feeling sluggish or bloated
Digestive discomfort impacts your diet consistency
Stress affects your gut

This pressure point doesn’t burn fat—but it does support digestion.

大雪
Da Xue - Major Snow

07th December - 21st December

Da Xue is the 21st of the 24 solar terms in the Chinese calendar.

The snow falls on a larger scale and covers a wider range during this term, compared with that in Minor
Snow.

There will be a significant temperature drop and like Xiaoxue, Yushui & Guyu, it also directly
indicates rainfall.

To Eat:
Radish, lamb, black beans, lotus roots, water chestnuts, yam, courgette, oats, asparagus, dumplings.

To Do: Consume a balanced & nutritious diet, mind your step, moisturise your skin, and hot foot
baths before bed.

Customer reviews are always welcome at The Herbalist.

We would love to hear what you have to say:

If you have any questions please drop us a message and we will endeavour to answer you as soon as possible.

07984 659196
[email protected]

www.herbalisthealth.co.uk

How can we help?

Acupuncture - points such as: feng chi, feng fu, shu fu, ying xiang, ju liao, xue wei & da zhu.

Cupping - removes congestion and stimulates the flow of qi and blood to promote wellness and detoxification.

Herbal medicine - Herbs such as:

金银花   - Jin Yin Hua - Honeysuckle

Jin Yin Hua is associated with the Large Intestines, Lungs, and Stomach Meridians. 

This herb has a slightly sweet flavour profile and it is cold in nature.

It is often used for:

* Clearing Heat and Reducing Toxins - Helps with fever and any type of hot boils, sores, or swellings, especially in the breast, eyes, and throat
* Expelling Pathogenic Wind-Heat - Aids recovery of a common cold with fever, sore throat and headache, also used in treating summer heat.
* Expelling Damp-Heat in the Lower Jiao -Relief and recovery of diarrhoea, dysentery, intestinal abscesses, and painful urination.

连翘  - Lian Qiao / Forsythia Fruit

Lian Qiao is associated with the Heart, Lung, Gallblader/Liver meridians. This herb enters through the San Jiao Meridians which consist of the Upper Jiao, Middle Jiao, and Lower Jiao.

This herb is astringent, it has a bitter and slightly acrid flavour profile and is slightly cool in nature.

Lian Qiao is often used for:

* Clearing wind-heat and reducing toxicity particularly in the upper jiao - for wind-heat, common cold and flu, with high fever, chills & sore throat.
* Reducing lumps, nodules and abscesses - targeting toxic heat sores,  swelling, pustules beneath the skin, carbuncles, scrofula and lung abscesses.
* Dispersing blood heat and promoting urination - for dysuria, hematuria & acute nephritis.

Lesser Metal

少商 Shao Shang - LU.11

This point is located on the radial side of the thumb, at the corner of the nail. It lies at the junction of the lines formed by the radial border of the nail and the base of the nail, approximately 0.1 cun from the nail’s corner.

Dispelling invasions of wind-heat benefitting the throat for acute sore throat and cough, and helping to relieve pain and swelling.
Supporting the immune system to regulate and improve immune function and clear lung congestion.
Clearing excess heat and reducing fever which can help with symptoms like headaches, fever, and skin irritation.
Balancing the large intestines and regulating qi to stabilise digestive issues such as constipation, gas and bloating.



Great Hammer
大椎 Da Zhui - DU.14

This point is located on the midline of the spine at the base of the neck, in the depression below the spinous process of the seventh cervical vertebra & the first thoracic vertebra level to the shoulders.

Da Zhui is the meeting point of all yang meridians - it can help with:

Expelling pathogens, improving yang, clearing heat, reducing fever & tonifying yang
Acupuncture & Cupping is used on this point to dispel acute wind-cold or wind-heat, colds and flu, especially with fever/chills as it opens the pores to promote sweating.
Aversion to cold, redness, swelling and pain of the eyes, pain and rigidity in the neck, cough & epilepsy.
Releasing the exterior, regulating wei and ying qi & treating malaria.

党参  - Dang Shen / Codonopsis Pilosula

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Dang Shen is associated with the Lungs and Spleen Meridians. 

This herb has a sweet flavour profile and is neutral in nature.

Dang Shen is often used for:

* Tonnifying qi and the middle jiao - for chronic illness due to spleen qi deficiency with fatigue, tired limbs, digestive issues & vomiting.

* Nourishing blood and promoting the production of body fluids - for deficiency of qi, blood and body fluids particularly due to chronic illness.

* Expelling pathogenic influences - for boosting the immune system, beat cold & flu and improve vitality.

* Tonnifying and improving lung function - for chronic cough, and shortness of breath due to spleen qi deficiency.

Dang Shen is frequently paired with Fu Ling, Huang Qi, Qian Hu and Zhi Ban Xia.


黄芪 - Huang Qi / Radix Astragali

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Huang Qi is associated with the Lungs and Spleen Meridians.

This herb has a sweet flavour profile and is slightly warm in nature.

Huang Qi is often used for:

* Tonifing qi and blood - postpartum fever due to qi and blood deficiency & recovery from severe blood loss, including blood clots and stroke. 

* Tonifing wei qi, stabilising the exterior and aiding the circulation of moisture downward from the head - dampness in the head and qi, yang & yin deficiencies including dizziness, sallow or pale face, vertigo & inability to speak. 

* Strengthening the spleen & raising yang qi - lung and spleen qi deficiency, qi failing to contain blood, cough, people that easily bruise or bleed, severe blood loss, hematemesis, hematochezia & uterine bleeding.

* Generating blood and bodily fluids and expelling pus and regenerates tissues - aiding with numbness of the limbs, paralysis and pain due to deficiency of qi and blood.

Huang Qi is frequently partnered with herbs such as Sheng Ma, Chai Hu and Fang Feng.

 

Sea of Blood
血海 Xue Hai - SP.10

This point is located on the inner thigh, 2 cun proximal to the superior border of the patella in a tender depression on the bulge of the vastus medialis muscle. It is often used for skin problems such as eczema, and also gynecological conditions like irregular periods, PMS and painful me**es.

This point can help with:

Benefits the skin and relieves itching, for dermatological conditions including urticaria, ezcema, rosacea and hormonal skin conditions.
Invigorating the blood and dispelling stasis.
Regulating blood circulation and cooling the blood.
Dispels wind and cools internal heat.
Tonifies the blood and harmonizes menstruation

Joining the Valley
合谷 He Gu - Ll4

This point is found on the back of your hand between the base of your thumb and index finger. This point is used to cool the blood and clear heat from the body.

This point can help with:

Releasing the exterior to clear wind-heat, reduce eczema, achne, hives & allergies etc.
Improving the flow of qi & blood to nourish skin & clear stagnation.
Regulating wei qi, body temperature & reduce sweating.
Conditions specifically involving “Blood Heat,” which manifest as skin disorders & gynecological issues.

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Lumbar Yang Gate
腰阳关 Yao Yang Guan - D U . 3

This point is located on the lower back midline, in the depression below the spinous process of the 4th lumber vertebra.

This point can help with:

Tonnifying kidney yang.
Strengthens the lower back and legs.
Dispelling wind-damp.
Regulates the lower jiao.
Reduces pain in the lumbosacral region.
Addresses numbness and pain of the lower extremities.

Middle of the Crook
委中 Wei Zhong - BL.40

This point can help with:

Alleviating lower back pain and motor imparement of the hip joint.
Activating the channel and reduces pain.
Cools the blood and reduces summer heat.
Benefits the lumbar region and the knees.
Helps stop vomiting and diarrhoea.

Customer reviews are always welcome at The Herbalist.

This is what our clients have to say...

The space created as well as the treatments, knowledge and experience is just amazing. The Herbalist prescribed a herbal liquid to help with my stomach problems and it really helped to reduce my discomfort. I am looking forward to coming again.

S. Miah

Edison is extremely welcoming and professional. I have been treated using massage, acupuncture and cupping and started to feel the benefits immediately. I also drink a fabulous mixture of herbs, specifically blended to help with my skin, digestion and stress. Edison and his team can help with any ailment and you leave feeling relaxed and revived, using natural and traditional Chinese medicine and treatments.

R. Marsala