Ziziphus jujuba, aka Jujube, or Dà Zǎo was our plant meditation subject this week. We had this as a tea. It is a food herb that can be eaten raw or prepared in the many ways fruit can be cooked or baked. Boiling brings out several times more of the beneficial properties. We consumed this as a tea from dried fruit.
Pre Meditation
Taste: "mild smoked gouda in need of salt", smokey and dank, musty, sweet aftertaste, the sweet flavor was more prominent as it cooled.
Energy: Warming and sinking, bringing the energy downwards in a comforting way.
Meditation 1
-Pleasant stable pressure at the third eye and across the forehead near the brow. I also noted/the herb pointed out that my brain was improving, as the energy of on my forehead was as balanced as it has been in a long time. There was slightly more energy on the left, but not much difference.
-I was feeling a little sick, like a cold, this tea improved the symptoms. I felt cleared out, but also like my insides were soothingly coated. So it felt like happy mucosa, at the same time as less mild post nasal drip. I mostly felt calm, which was a relief from how I had been feeling with the mild irritation from the head cold.
-On the plank of a ship. Everything was in black and white. There was a big cheese on the plank, it looked like pound cake with fuz on the top, but it was indeed cheese. There was a Nightmare before Christmas style pirate character, He looked like a skeleton, and was bouncing up and down on his toes, like a ballerina. He was over-the-top weird/freaky. During my vision I kept flashing back to falling asleep last night, this made me tired and I fell asleep. I dreamed the herb transported me into the dream.
-Calming, soothing, sedating, heavy, syrupy--like cough syrup. This felt releaving as it descended.
-Sedating, making me sleepy, mostly feeling quiet and stable.
-Slight pressure between my brows
Meditation 2
-It felt like a fog lifted, with my focus.
-Lightness in spleen area, this feeling spread out and was creating lightness in my lower left lung too. My lungs felt better.
-I had a nice deep meditation this time, it was deep and restorative. I had the same slight pressure on my third eye. I felt relaxed, peaceful, and stable.
-My sinuses cleared a bit.
-I saw the skeleton pirate again. He finished his dancing, he was tired and holding his back because it hurt him. He was thumping his peg leg everytime he walked. He started coughing and hacking. He coughed out a tooth and it landed on the deck of the ship. He picked up his tankard and downed it all in one go. It was all cough syrup. I could see it going down his body.
-My spleen felt warm.
Summary and Traditional Use
This herb is sweet and sticky and is considered contraindicated when there is dental disease. Don't eat too many or you could end up spitting out a tooth.
This herb is considered an adaptogen. Its sweet taste gives it an affinity towards the spleen and stomach, but it works through all meridians.
Jujube syrup (try this Italian recipe) is calming for asthma and coughs. Studies show that using jujube syrup (if you are scientific use the recipe in the linked study) can reduce medication induced hepatotoxicity in Tuberculosis and reduce the severity of the cough.
This herb is used to treat insomnia. It is helpful for stress and anxiety.
On another note this herb is very high in iron and vitamin C which improves utilization of the iron. It is used to treat anemia and is a supportive food during menstruation. Low iron can cause or increase insomnia.
While not a stand-alone treatment for back problems, (few herbs are used independently in Chinese medicine), it's ability to sooth and replenish the blood can be a supportive part of a larger treatment plan.
Though it didn't come up in meditation, this herb helps with constipation and is a digestive aid. Though it is sweet it can be used to help with diabetes and blood sugar managment. It can moderate or harmonize the medicinal herbs in formula (Wilms, Divine Farmer's Classic of Materia Medica).
Jujube nurtures the spleen (we all felt it!) (also, Wilms, Divine Farmer's Classic of Materia Medica). I love having my spleen nurtured.
Invitation
Have you played around with Dà Zǎo? Aside from syrup and tea, it is used in many Chinese recipes for flavor, nutrition, and as a decoration. Cook something up and let us know how it goes. Have you noticed this supporting your menstruation or sleep? Please share your knowledge and/or the recipes you have tried below. I have been procrastinating the dentist, but once I am in the clear (coughing out a tooth sounds really bad, lol), I think I will play around more with this pleasing food herb. :)