Cotton Steel Wine
- Mario Figueroa
- Jun 28
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 28

Cotton Steel Wine
We live in a world of extreme yang energy. While nature and the Universe are balanced, human society seeks all that is yang: the hard, loud, hyper-active, promoting hyper competitiveness, and admiration for hyperviolence. Our senses are engulfed with unending noise, brightness, colors, all types of smells and harsh images of aggression, pain, suffering, death both fictional and real. Our food and drink attack our taste buds and irritate our digestive system with ultra strong flavors, packed with chemicals and questionable substances that have long term effects on our health. There is more, but suffice it to say, there is extreme, excess yang energy constantly bombarding us.
As human beings, we adapt the conditions arounds and we have adapted to extreme yang. It has become normal for us and it hardly bothers us or so it may seem. However, over-exposure has negative consequences that are deep and far reaching.
Then, how are we to achieve balance? In the nearly inescapable buzz, how do we reach a sense of peace and tranquility?

Brief History and Lore
Since ancient times, the great masters saw the growing prominence of Yang energy and already could see the repercussions of excess yang, its influence on people and its detrimental effects to body, mind and spirit and its larger effect on society and human development. Methods, practices, and disciplines were developed and philosophies were codified to guide the adept and counter the excess yang and promote balance. Over time, some of these philosophies and disciplines turned into dogma and religion, while others hid from view and persist today.
Cotton Steel Wine is one of Shen Martial Arts “5 Element Elixirs”. It belongs to the Metal element which has correspondence with the Lung organ/channel. It is an ancient formula that has gone by several names, including “Flexibility Elixir.” Its overall nature is Yin. While physical flexibility is enhanced by use of Cotton Steel wine, that is not the flexibility that this term summons. A better term to convey the purpose of this elixir is “looseness.” This elixir nurtures easiness and looseness to counter rigidness and tightness fostering open mindedness and acceptance, it builds softness and reduces hardness, lowers tension by relaxing and quiets unrest and turmoil fostering serenity.
As with many of the authentic ancient herbal formulas, the chosen title is a key to understanding its primary use and purpose. In this case, “Cotton Steel Wine” may seem a bit confusing but it describes this wonderful elixir quite accurately. Cotton is soft, light, Steel is heavy and hard. Can you have both? Yin and Yang are continuously transforming into one another, and so too must we to be in balance. We must become like cotton and steel. As an example, a person that exercises will develop healthy musculare that is supple when relaxed yet hard as steel when activated. So too will the mind and heart exhibit these dual, seemingly opposing characteristics with the overall result being.... balance.
The metal element corresponding to the lung relates to breath. Cotton Steel Wine along with proper practices maximizes breath in all aspects. Physiologically, it helps increase lung volume, to optimize breathing. Physically and mentally, more lung volume means higher oxygen intake and increased blood oxygenation to the muscles, sinews and to the brain. Just think of how you feel holding your breath to your limit. Now think of how you feel when you take that big, lovely breath after. Which feels tense and hard and which is loose and relaxed? Likewise, when you are under great tension and the source of the tension is removed, what comes next? A long, deep breath.
Breath is life and energy. Breath bring calmness, focus, deep thinking, and relaxation. Breath practice is at the heart of meditation, energy creation as in Qigong, breath opens the door to spirit as in pranaya and breath commands the rhythms of the body.
Thus, Cotton Steel Wine softens and clears your thinking, your attitude and promotes open mindedness. This in turn opens your thoughts to creative endeavors, your heart to works of service of others, and will lead you to higher spiritual pursuits. Cotton Steel Wine helps you be soft when soft is needed, and hard as steel when that is what is called for, physically, mentally, spiritually. As the sages spoke to us from millennia ago and taught the mystery of Yin and Yang, you will find that as you soften, you get sharper, as you loosen, you become rooted and affirmed, and as flow freely, you will command and direct energy, thought and action.

Other Benefits
As you become more balanced, many things are improved and many maladies can be resolved. Some of these are listed in the product description at: Cotton Steel Wine.
Usage Notes
Guidelines for dosage are provided in the product description (see above). These are guidelines only. Everyone is different and optimal dosage will vary, so users should adjust and fine tune to their specific best dosage.
For best results, Cotton Steel Wine should be taken along while undergoing some type of physical and mental training regimen. It is meant for ongoing, long term, consistent, continuous use.
There are no known contraindications, and it is effective for both genders. For women, do not use during pregnancy or lactation.
Ingredients
The herbal combination for Cotton Steel Wine is proprietary. It is based on the theory of the 5 Elements or 5 phases (Wu Xing). The combination of herbs is, in fact, an excellent, safe, and all-natural, made up of roots, barks, flowers, stems, and leaves. There are no illegal or restricted herbs, no animal or chemical substances.
Shen uses only the best herbs for our herbal compounds. This includes the use of herbs 1) grown in their region of origin (geo-authentic), 2) examined under chromatography to authenticate them as correct 3) without additives to preserve their appearance.

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