Within Traditional Chinese Medicine lies a fundamental and unique concept, that of the Three Treasures. The Three Treasures lay at the foundation of how TCM works – build up your Jing energy for a long life and strong resilience; improve your Qi so as to have plenty of day to day energy; and enhance and build up your Shen energy, that faculty of mind that leads to wisdom, peace and tranquility.
We already discussed one of them, Jing, in some detail, but what I want to focus on today is Shen, that faculty of your higher mind. Shen can be defined in many ways, but is commonly described as being the seat of the higher mind, your spirit, consciousness, and the domain of thought, memory and emotion. To have strong Shen is to be mentally quick, happy, joyful, and content, and to not be forgetful, lethargic, depressed, angry or anxious.
What I find really interesting about things like Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, the equivalent Indian system of healthcare, is how they are able to understand all the effects a substance is having on the body, without ever being able to isolate certain compounds or measure acute changes within a person’s biochemistry.
Luckily for us today, we are able to accomplish this and measure all the minutia within a substance and the subsequent changes occurring in our body. This is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.
Reishi Mushroom
Reishi is the star of the show when it comes to Shen substances, and in fact is the number 1 ranked herb out of 365 medicinal substances within TCM. First described over 2,400 years ago, it was said of Reishi that “if eaten customarily, it makes your body light and young, lengthens your life and turns you into one like the immortal who never dies.”
Of red Reishi, it was said that “it is good for the Qi (functional activities) of the heart including mental activities, it tonifies the Spleen, increases wisdom, improves memory so that you won’t forget, long-term consumption will lighten your body, you will never become old, it lengthens years, it has spiritual power, and it develops Shen so that you become a ‘spirit-being’ like the immortals.”
That’s some lofty descriptions of a mushroom, I’d say.
So I dug deeper. On PubMed alone, there are 1,195 studies on Ganoderma Lucidum, and that’s just one strain of reishi mushroom. And while it has proven benefits on everything from the liver, to the immune system to allergies, we’re here to focus on its possible Shen-enhancing effects.
Reishi mushroom has BDNF- and NGF-like effects within the brain. Both BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and NGF (nerve-growth factor) promote the growth of new brain cells, enhance synaptic connections between existing neurons, and serve to protect neurons from damage. Both BDNF and NGF enhance learning and memory. Further, many studies show a link between low levels of BDNF and depression.
So from Reishi’s BDNF- and NGF-like effects alone, it’s able to help with depression, memory, and learning, as well as help prevent damage to the brain from stress, drugs or alcohol, and help ward off cognitive decline as we age. Not bad.
A simple hot-water extract of reishi exhibited anti-depressant effects in mice, as well as helped to prevent freezing up in the face of fear, and pretreatment of a hot water extract proved to be neuroprotective.
All in all, I’d say reishi mushroom fits the bill of a Shen-enhancing substance, and remember, this is all in addition to proven anti-cancer, anti-allergy, liver-protective and immune-enhancing benefits. I’ve used plenty of reishi products over the years – I suggest getting a liquid dual-extracted tincture, so that you get both the water- and the alcohol-soluble components, as they all have different functions in the body. You can also get a powdered extract that contains reishi mushroom spores – these spores have the same effects as the alcohol-soluble constituents, but are hundreds of times more potent.
When it comes to Reishi supplements, you really get what you pay for. Dragon Herbs carries some really interesting Reishi products, all of which are also concentrated to be even more potent –
- they have a dual-extracted Purple Reishi, as the purple variety is said to have the most Shen energy;
- a dual liquid extract of 22 different varieties of reishi, which I promise you can not find anywhere else;
- a Wild Reishi dual-extracted tincture – this is cool because wild herbs are almost always more potent than those grown by humans, but are much more difficult to collect;
- as well as an extremely potent bottle of Reishi Spore Oil – if anyone really likes my website, feel free to buy me some of this, as it is not cheap.
Polygala
Polygala is another premier Shen-enhancing herb. It has sometimes traditionally been called the “Will Strengthener“, helping both spiritual practitioners and common folk alike increase their will power. What biological effects this herb would have to have upon the body to increase will power, alas, I do not know.
It’s also traditionally been said to be able to connect the sexual energy of the reproductive system with that of loving, altruistic energy of the heart. As such, polygala has been used as one of the premier Shen-enhancing herbs used throughout the ages. Does it hold up to Western scientific scrutiny?
One 2009 study concluded that treatment with polygala led to improved memory and learning, and even ameliorated some of the deleterious effects of the amnesia-producing drug scopolamine. The authors noted that “the expression of BDNF was also greatly enhanced in the hippocampus.”
A 2014 study found strong anti-depressant effects, noting that the main constituent studied, Yuanzhi-1, had a stronger affinity to dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine receptors in the brain than a commonly prescribed pharmaceutical anti-depressant. This means it improves depression through 3 distinct pathways more effectively than a drug approved by the FDA, without side effects.
Do you often have trouble finding motivation to get things done, even if they are activities that should excite you? Another 2014 study found that polygala administration not only had “rapid-onset anti-depressant” effects, but also that it helped reverse anhedonia, the scientific term for having a lack of motivation for, and lack of pleasure in, common every day activities.
Polygala is neuroprotective; enhances memory; attenuates beta-amyloid plaque build up (one of the main factors in Alzheimer’s disease) and promotes neurite growth; and also improves synaptic transmission, or the ability of cells within the brain to communicate effectively.
Polygala is a bit harder to find than reishi mushroom, but don’t despair – Dragon Herbs offers a very nice product I’ve used in the past called Will Power. Polygala is the main herb used, but the product also has a number of other Shen-enhancing herbs.
If you’re looking for straight polygala, you can buy 100 grams of a 5:1 extract here, which is the product I’m currently using. I gotta say, things have been looking bright since I started taking it.
In conclusion, it seems those ancient Chinese sages were on to something when it comes to “Shen” substances that improve emotions and enhance the intellect. There are plenty of other Shen herbs out there as well – pearl and dragon bone, which have Shen-grounding effects, albizzia flower, which is one of the most uplifting herbs I’ve ever used, spirit poria, and more – I’ll try to have more info up soon about some of these herbs.
For now, get your hands on some reishi and polygala, and let me know what you think in the comments below. And don’t forget to contact me if you’re interested in learning how to take a multi-targeted approach to beating depression and anxiety, or how to enhance learning, memory and mental acuity.