Course description
Pulse and Tongue diagnosis dates back several thousand years and has been used by practitioners of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine as a diagnostic tool to help determine the condition of disease or health of an individual. The tongue and pulse indicate a person's state of health and paint a picture of the internal situation a person is dealing with at any given moment. Matthew has been practicing herbalism for thirty years and pulse and tongue diagnosis for 25 years. As the author of "Traditional Western Herbalism and Pulse Evaluation" co-written by Francis Bonaldo and Phyllis Light he is one of the foremost experts in translating these practices into tools for the western herbalist!
Pulse
The pulse evaluation methods that will be taught are based on both Chinese and Greek antecedents, with the emphasis on the basic, simple, important pulses showing basic tissue states: high/low, fast/slow, quick/rare (a Greek pulse), long/short, wide/narrow, regular/irregular, tense/relaxed, tight/loose, full/empty, hard/soft, strong/weak, choppy/slippery, thick blood/thin blood, and others.
Tongue
Matthew Wood's tongue evaluation is based on Chinese antecedents, with two important additions from Ayurveda: differentiation of tongue types by tridosha: vata (dry, thin, medium to long), pitta (elongated, pointed, carmine red, muscular), kapha (thick, round, moist, sub-pink); and the differentiation between watery and oily secretions. Throughout we will refer to specific indications for herbs, mostly Western.
Class participants were generous in giving video participants an unabashed look at their tongues and keen descriptions of what they were sensing and seeing in others - along with Matthew's input.
This class also include a solid review of material covered for Lyme's Disease from the prior class. (See section 1.5)
This class took place at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum - June 24th and 25th, 2017
This is a 90-day pass. No downloads - streaming only.
We welcome you to discuss topics with other students in the "Student Discussion" section below.
Matthew will not be moderating the discussion section - but encourages herbalist of all levels to share their questions and insights.
Join one of the monthly classes to participate in the Q&A and get answers to your herbal questions!
If you are having technical issues please see the FAQ - contact information is there as well.
"A Real Live Herbalist"
Matthew Wood has been a practicing herbalist since 1982. In a period when many authors and lecturers are merely "arm chair herbalists" who offer theories and opinions based on book learning, and others have turned to the exotic traditions of India or China, he has been an active practitioner of traditional Western herbalism. He has helped tens of thousands of clients over the years, with many difficult health problems. While Matthew believes in the virtue of many other healing modalities, he has always been inspired to learn, preserve, and practice the tradition of herbal medicine descending to us from our European, Anglo-American, and Native American heritage. He is a member of the American Herbalists Guild (registered herbalist) and has earned his Masters of Science degree from the Scottish School of Herbal Medicine (accredited by the University of Wales).