Qiological Podcast

Moxibustion is one of the more interesting methods in toolbox. Stunning in its simplicity and often brings deep relief for those who are a good fit for this method. It’s curious how the burning of this particular herb can bring about healing.Alice Douglas has loved moxa since before she became an acupuncturist. In this conversation we discuss her survey of research into moxibustion. There is a lot you probably heard about moxa in acupuncture school and might have wondered, “is that really true?” Listen in and get the answers!Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Ours is a portable medicine. In the 1960’s the barefoot doctors in China took Chinese medicine into the countryside. Over the years acupuncturists’ response to natural disasters has show us that acupuncture can be practiced in makeshift shelters or tents. It also has a place in refugee camps, churches of impoverished communities and rural villages.In this conversation acupuncturist and activist Ryan Bemis talks about how acupuncture and liberation theology go together and can help to relieve a lot of suffering.Listen in and found out about how Crossroads Acupuncture is not only helping refugees at the border, but also assisting poor communities to better care for themselves with acupuncture. And training acupuncturists in how to be of service to those in difficult situations.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

We often think of the bioelectricity of the nervous system as a signaling system for the body to communicate with itself, but it might serve an even greater function of allowing us to interact with our larger environment.This conversation with John Hubacher started off as an inquiry into electro-acupuncture, but it quickly took a hard left turn into neuro-psychiatry, parapsychology as well as the importance of using standardized measures in research so we can build a common language around treatment and experimental findings.Listen in to this conversation on the perspectives of a long time researcher into bioelectricity, and how he sees this interacting with biology and quantum fields.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

The coronavirus has not only found its way into our bloodstream and mucus membranes, it’s worked its way into our social fabric, economic relations and political disagreements. In this age of global electronic connection news of this new virus creates perhaps more noise than signal. In this conversation with Craig Mitchell we discuss how the effectivness of Chinese medicine is based not on someone else’s successful prescription, but on our ability to skillfully apply our diagnostic methods. We also touch on the importance of not just treating this disease, but also being sure we don’t become vectors for its spread.Doctors in the past have confronted these kinds of epidemics. Now it’s our turn at bat.Listen in to this conversation that reminds us the power of our medicine lies in how we apply it, and the need to attend to limiting the spread of infection.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

The 子午 zi wu, “Chinese Clock” that helps us to learn the flow of qi through the channels can give us a glimpse into many underlying dynamics of organ relation, influences of the six qi and the five phases.In this conversation we take a deep gaze into what Brenda Hood likes to call the Tidal Flow Clock.There is a lot here when you start look below the surface. 

Many of us like to think we are connected with doctors throughout time, that we practice the same medicine in a continuous flow from the days of Huang Di down to this modern moment. It’s a lovely narrative. One that our patients often think about as well when they say “It’s been around 2000 years, there must be something to it.”But as Volker Scheid, the guest of today’s conversation, points out “The way patients were even 40 years ago, the way they spoke and thought of their issues is already different from how it is now. Within this small time span the changes from cultural already influence the practice of medicine.” And yet even as this is true, we can find a way to have conversations with doctors across the span of time, culture and language.Listen into this conversation on the yin and yang of diversity and heterogeneity in the practice of Chinese medicine.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

The Saam tradition traces its roots back four hundred years to a monk who as part of his meditative practice received some insight into medicine that allowed him see and work simultaneously with the five phases and six conformations. But monks are not doctors, even if they can relief a lot of suffering with a few needles. And so the methods of Saam have over the years found their way into scholarly and educational traditions of Korea. To the degree that a Pubmed search will find you all kinds of modern research acupuncture using the Saam method.Andreas Bruch has spent time in Korea and was studying Korean Hand Acupuncture. But there were some aspects of that method that were not quite making sense. That’s when he started studying Saam and all kinds of things began to fall into place.Listen into this conversation on the more scholarly stream of Saam Acupuncture, which can give you a whole new way to approach thinking about and using the antique transport points .Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Humans have an innate drive to make sense of the world. To understand how things work and see if we can reliability influence the outcome on something. To find a way to get more of what we want, or less of what we dislike.When you think about it, life is one big research experiment as we are constantly testing out ideas of how things work.But often when we think about research we are thinking about laboratory controlled environments or double blind studies. And there is a place for those, but those models aren’t that helpful when it comes to using a researcher’s eye to better understand acupuncture.Lisa Taylor-Swanson fell in love with research before she fell in love with acupuncture. She’s a researcher with the heart and eye of a clinician who is investigating the use of non-linear and complex adaptive systems theory to design research that helps us to go from “does acupuncture” to “how acupuncture helps.”Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

The corona virus that emerged in Wu Han earlier in this year has disrupted travel and business and has been a deep cause of concern as doctors throughout the world, and especially in China, strive to understand the nature of this pathogen. Conventional medicine brings it’s modern research techniques to this inquiry. While those of us in the Chinese medicine world seek to understand this modern epidemic disease through the lens and prisms of Chinese medicine.In this conversation with Cheng Du doctor Jin Zhao we discuss his perspective on the illness induced by the corona virus based on the observations and experience of a number of doctors he’s working with along with his own experience and his perspective gleaned from his long term study of various schools of thought in Chinese medicine.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

It’s easy to think of our skin as the outside wrapper, but really its a mirror of the internal environment. And while topical treatment of skin has it use, it’s learning to adjust that inner milieu that over time makes for the biggest changes with the skin. It’s quite in line with Chinese medicine that we work on the inside to change the outside.Olivia Hsu Friedman is well studied and practiced with treating skin conditions with Chinese medicine. And beyond that she also works with conventional medicine practitioners and uses an integrative perspective to help those with difficult and recalcitrant dermatological conditions.Listen in to this conversation on an evolving holistic approach to treating skin problems. Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

There is something about connection that goes beyond words. There is a way of engaging with those who seek our help that goes beyond the ten questions. Connection is not something we do, it’s a way we are.In this conversation with long time practitioner Esther Platner we explore the spaces that don’t quite fit into words. Tread into territories without maps. And sit for a bit with the curiosities and surprise that arise in clinic when we attend with an open awareness.Beyond our theory, and beyond understanding there is a way we can meet our patients with a wide-open sense of inquiry that asks us to bring everything we have, and leave behind our preconceptions. Chinese medicine has its scholarly tradition, but we don’t so often hear from the poetic.Here’s your opportunity.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

In our last conversation with Poney, we talked about the neurological view of acupuncture points. In this Part Two conversation we’re exploring what got Poney interested in medicine in the first place and how he ended up becoming an acupuncturist when his first interest was in herbs, philosophy and metaphysics.In this conversation we talk about the deep structure of Chinese medicine, kung fu movies, the Yi Jing, feng shui and how life takes unexpected turns. Poney also shares how Chinese medicine allowed him to grow as a person and how it helped him do things he never thought would be doing.Check out the first interview with Poney about the Neurological View of Acupuncture

The practice of medicine is not completely about what we do, it’s also informed by how we are. How our  presence, perception and allowing ourselves to abide in that space between knowing, sensing and being can invite a quiet, non-rational part of ourselves into the clinical encounter.Michael McMahon, like many of us, did not initially set out to become a Chinese medicine practitioner. It was more a process of discovery— of a kind of feeling your way in the dark. It was a following something that lead to the next, which in turn opened a new opportunity. Not unlike the threads we follow in clinic that take and our patients to surprising places.Listen in to this conversation that reminds us there is something quiet and still that helps to inform the "doing" of our work. Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

This is the audio of a webinar conversation on the use of Saam acupuncture in the community clinic setting. We get into particular benefits of the Saam system and why it’s well suited to using in the community clinic setting. And detail some challenges and considerations in terms of training that need to be addressed. Finally, we talk about a few commonly seen issues in the community clinic and how to treat them.

The changes that come from an unexpected direction tend to be the ones that transform our lives the most. Chloe Weber did not plan on becoming an expert in neurology. She was on the path of providing herbs and acupuncture to low income populations. But when her son’s rare neurological condition invited her to move in a different direction, she took that invitation.Listen in to this conversation on neurology, CBD, Chinese herbs and how a business can be built because it turns out that in solving your own problems, you can help a lot of other people solve theirs as well. Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

How does acupuncture work? We hear this question all the time. From our patients, from someone we just met at a neighborhood BBQ, from out parents, and if we are honest— ourselves. The ancient Chinese mind that conjured up acupuncture did not consider nerve pathways, endocrinological response or brain chemistry. The ancient Chinese mind looked out into nature and used that reflection to dream into the body. They considered the natural tides of expansion and contraction. The formed and the unformed, and how physical form arises from an unseen patterning that leaves its trace, like wind on deserts sands. In this conversation with Ed Neal we discuss the importance of Chinese medicine terminology, the essential role of 理 a kind of patterning from which manifest reality arises and how the Nei Jing can help us orient to the constant unfolding of life through time-space and motion.

Just how do you locate an acupuncture point? Are you looking for bony protrusions, a palpable change on the skin, or a rule based measurement from a book? Locating acupuncture points is something every practitioner needs to do, and do well. And there are plenty of different criteria that can be used.This question about point location caught the attention of our guest in this episode. He started to seriously look into this issue, serious as in with a scalpel and cadaver.And what he’s found has been illuminating. Listen into this conversation on how one practitioner’s curiosity has allowed him to use modern science to find connections between the classics, acupuncture points and neurophysiology.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Archetypes are deep influences that all humans share. They give us a glimpse into the complicated landscape of our psyche. They can live in the light or influence from the dark. Carl Jung had a lot to say about our intrapsychic world, how these influences are shared across culture and time, and how they manifest in personal and societal behavior. And while they are separated by the distance of culture and thousands of years Confucius had a lot to say that rhymes with the Jungian ideas on Being, Doing, Thinking and Feeling.Listen into this conversation with a translator of Buddhist texts who also has a background in Chinese medicine for a discussion on the similarities in outlook between these two great influencers and thinkers. Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview. 

An often overlooked aspect of running our own business is that it gives us a potent way of connecting with others and serving a community. Sure there are additional responsibilities that come with this kind of an opportunity. But the freedom it can give us, and the ways it will challenge us with personal growth, opens up experiences and opportunities we’d otherwise not have.Listen into this conversation on how doing business asks each of us to develop untapped potential in ourselves, connect us with a larger community and give us the opportunity to live a life where we get to choose our own responsibilities.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

In the study of acupuncture we learn about the Five Phases, the Six Conformations, all kinds of relationships involving three, and the pattern differentiation of illness. You could say we learn about the “user interface” of Chinese medicine, but we don’t much study the underlying mechanics. Much in the same way we use powerful computers without knowing a line of code.In this conversation we touch a bit on the underlying code we are tinkering with when we work in clinic.It’s not often that a mathematician turns to acupuncture, but when she does, you can be assured she will be looking for First Principles to explain all those aphorisms and empirical observations we all learn along the way.

Daoism and Daoist thought is something that many acupuncturists have been exposed to. It might have been part of what launched our interest in studying medicine. And perhaps you’ve had the experience of reading books like the Dao De Jing and come away more with a sense of confusion than clarity. It’s challenging for us as modern westerners to grasp the meaning of writings that have come to us from across the expanse of time, culture and language.Daoist traditions are alive, but they are passed down within the confines and structure of communityListen in to this conversation on Daoism, hermeneutics, living traditions and medicine.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Money, for many, is the pebble in our shoe that irrates enough to annoy, but not enough for us to make a fundemental change. And if our accounting systems mirror our confusion or conflict around finances, then that adds more one more thing that we’d prefer not to think too much that will undoubtly circle back and be a source of suffering.A good accounting system, and the basic understanding of the principles involved can save us a lot of trouble. And it’s not that difficult. If you can learn Chinese medicine, you can certainly grasp the fundemental accounting principles that will help you to better understand the financial health of your practice.Listen in to this discussion on basic accounting for acupuncturists, embracing financial responsibility and why the 80/20 rule is your friend.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

The way we make sense of structure helps us to understand function. Drawing lines and divisions helps us to understand parts. But a keen understanding of the parts does not always help us to see the whole of the functioning of those parts.The anatomy of qi gives us a kind of bi-ocular view of function and form. It helps us to understand a system, even as we are part of that system. And it invites our western minds, which have been cultivated on carving the world into pieces, to glimpse the unity of those parts.Listen in to this conversation on qi anatomy, Daoism and the influences of pre and post heaven influences.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Cordyceps is one of the precious medicinals of the Chinese medicine pharmacopeia. It’s a wild grown substance that has only recently begun to give up the secrets to how it can be cultivated so that its health benefits can be enjoyed by more than a privileged few.In this part two conversation with mushroom researcher and grower Jeff Chilton we hear about his recent trip to China for an international mushroom conference and get the low down on some exciting news about the "winter bug, summer grass"

Chinese medicine reminds us that we are one part of a complex, interdependent and ever evolving ecosystem. That we both influence and are influenced by the world. Our toolmaking ability has wrought remarkable changes on the world, and on ourselves.In this conversation we look into the prevelence of manmade electromagnetic radiation, how it has dramatically proliferated in the past 40 years, and how some common health complaints could be a sign how the increase in electromagnetic fields in our living spaces might be effecting our wellbeing.Listen in to this discussion that gives us some of the basic science behind the technology that allows you to read this on your mobile device, and how we are at the very beginning of starting to understand the effect of electromagnetic radiation on human health.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

What gets us started is not what sustains us over the long haul. The energy of beginning is essential at the start of any new endeavor. But what got us to here, will not get us to there.It’s easy to think that we are broken because what brought us success does not help us in managing success. Nor does it help us to move through the stages of development as we age and face the challenges slowing our practice down, passing it along or letting go of it altogether.In this conversation we explore our practices in mid and late career. How we find sustenance in our work. How at some point we let go of the business and practice that has sustained us for decades. And the vital importance in sharing something of what we have learned with those who are at the beginning of the journey.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

The classics are helpful not just because they contain pointers to how medicine works. They are helpful because of the discussions they have generated amongst practitioners over the twin distances of time and space. They are a kind of thread that connects us with the doctors of the past who have gone to this well for the wisdom within.Listen in to this conversation on the pulse as seen through the perspective of the Classic of Difficulties, how the principle of 理 (coherence) shows up in the work we do, issues of free will and that troublesome question of what constitutes a cure.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Most of us spend our days treating illness and working to bring out patients into a great state of health and wellbeing. But there are moments toward the end of life when the greatest state of health and wellbeing means helping someone to more gently leave this world.Listen into this conversation on the place of acupuncture in hospice care, a glimpse into the complexities of working in this kind of integrated environment and how about we can broaden our view of helping people at the end of life.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.   

This is a series of short conversations with some of the attendees of the Pacific Symposium.Listen in to the wide variety of perspective and practice as it relates to Acupuncture and East Asian MedicineHead on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Access to acupuncture point location and function has not always been a matter of a few clicks on your mobile phone. This kind of information has not always been at our fingertips. And there is a great wealth of material has not made its way into your digitial library, let alone into English.In this conversation we talk about knowing what’s true in Chinese medicine, the problem of cherry picking resources, and the work of translating a Qing dynasty text on acupuncture.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Stems and Branches are old Chinese science. Our medicine touches on it, but most of us rely on the more modern perspectives for our clincal work. The Stems and Branches speak to a perspective of the universe and our place in it that is foreign to our minds not because of language and culture, but because we live a world that focus more on humanity than cosmos.In this conversation we touch on the influence of numbers, the spiral nature of unfoldment and change, a few things about the Hun and Po that will surprise you, how time and space give us different glimpses into reality and how a sense of playfulness wtih medicine and philosophy just might be a most wise approach.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

The medicine we practice doesn’t just help us to help others. It can help us to live more deeply into our own lives. The challenges, adversity and difficulties we encounter show us what we are made of and build resiliency. The practices we create are a living expression of who we see ourselves to be. Furthermore, the process of creating a successful practice that we want to work in, it’s an on-going process.Listen into this conversation on the power of mentorship, the transformational influence of having a business, and how being your authentic self is the best way to build a practice you want to work in. Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview. 

With Chinese medicine we know that issues of the skin are more than skin deep. That imbalances in the internal environment can manifest on the exterior. And that if we focus solely on what is seen on the surface, we’ll miss the larger picture that is unfolding below.In this conversation we explore dermatological conditions with an eye toward internal organ function, the emotions and how diagnosis can be easy but the treatment more difficult.Listen in to the conversation on healthy skin from the inside out.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

The characters for acupuncture in Chinese, 針灸zhen jiu, literally translate as needle and moxa.You surely were introduced to the cigar-like pole moxa and large cones of smoldering mugwort on slices of ginger or aconite in acupuncture school. Perhaps you also were exposed to the Japanese rice grain moxa techniques or burning balls of moxa on the head of needle. Not surprising there are a variety of forms of using Ai Ye to bring a kind of simulative heat into the body.In this conversation we explore the use of moxa that is combined with touch, rhythm, warmth, and with an eye to the channel dynamics that Yoshio Manaka, one of the great masters of the 20th century, wrote about in Chasing the Dragon’s Tail.Even if you don’t use much moxa in your clinical, you’ll find this percussive bamboo method goes beyond the simple induction of heat into the body. And indeed can be used in a variety of contexts where you’d usually employ a needle, but in this case, it’s motion, rhythm and moxa.Listen in to this conversation that will have you looking at moxibustion in a whole new way.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Musculoskeletal issues are the bread and butter of many acupuncture practices. Many people only think of acupuncture when they think about the treatment of pain, and not without good reason. Acupuncture is helpful in the treatment of pain. And as acupuncturists we know we could probably do a lot better too.In this conversation we explore the use of the Dao Zhen, the knife needle. But more importantly, we take a look at how the body is put together. And how to “see” the story of a person’s physiology. Listen in for a conversation about understanding structure and function and a surprising method of needling.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

We pride ourselves on being connected to an ancient medicine, to a way of thinking, working and treating that ties us back to the luminaries of our field. But medicine is always influenced by the times. And the influences that brought Chinese medicine to the west, and the ways we learned it shape our thought and practice.In this conversation we discuss the difference between 辨證理論 bian zheng li lun, pattern differentiation, and 陰陽五行 yin yang wu xing, the transformation of yin and yang through the five phases. And take a look at how 醫 yi, medicine differs from what’s commonly called TCM.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Resonance, 感應 gan ying, is an aspect of Chinese philosophy that runs through many aspects of our medicine.We see resonance as we look through the unfolding of life through the five phases. The way we see east, spring, liver, green, beginnings and wood as having shared energies; the way they resonant the phase of wood. We see it in the how the six conformations express health or illness through five phase relations that are emblematic of each side of the conformation. The way Tai Yang can express with the cold of the Urinary Bladder, or the heat of the Small Intestine. The way Shao Yang Gall Bladder and San Jiao tend to go outwards, while the Jue Yin aspects of Liver and Pericardium move inward.Resonance is built into how we work. And in this conversation we explore how resonant nature of music and vibration can be used in our clinical practice. Along with a look at the kind of knowing that arises when you have the ability to cozy up to irrationality.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

We all know that Tech is part of a modern practice. And regardless of whether we love it, or hate it, it plays a central role in our day to day operations, marketing and communications.Just like our patients find the language of Chinese medicine to be confusing. Many practitioners find the language and work flow around technology to be foreign territory. Where to find a translator who can speak our language? Right here on the podcast!Listen in to this conversation as we discuss tech in a down to earth way with an acupuncturist who used to inhabit the high-tech world. Tech really is not so difficult when you understand some fundamentals. You might even find you have some fun with this stuff. Especially after you learn not only how to get yourself onto the first page of Google on a local search, but also make your phone ring with people looking for an appointment.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

We can approach the business and financial aspects of our practices a distasteful task that we’d prefer to delegate to someone else. Or we can take it as the opportunity it is to work through our shadow material around the issues of money, power, authority and integrity. In this conversation we explore how wealth allows us to interact more fully with our world. How finances are just one aspect of a balanced and integral life And how the relationships with community and ourselves are not separate from our relationship to money and purpose. Impoverishment in any aspect of life will limit our capability to live fully in any other aspect of life. Listen in to this conversation with a long time meditator, with a hearty ability to laugh,  who leans on the wisdom of the DAO and the DOW.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Last year for the first anniversary of Qiological I invited a listener of the podcast to join me for a conversation, this year I did the same. Part of the reason is that I love hearing from listeners of the show. And the other part is that we all have something to share with each other, and I especially love talking to practitioners that you might not know.I love talking to people that have been working away in their clinics, usually without fanfare or desire for public recognition. And have through their experience learned something of our medicine, and how it helps people.Medicine is learned anew in each generation. Yes, we have our old books, and plenty of newer ones as well. We have the conversations, discussions and clinic notes of doctors from past dynasties. But medicine only comes alive when we take what’s been shared with us and learn to see it with our own eyes. Learn to understand it through our own experience. And if we are lucky, work hard and are attentive to that curious interplay between what someone showed us and what our experience is asking us to learn, then we might understand something well enough to pass it along to another practitioner.We are ever students of the medicine. Perhaps it is that sense of curiosity that unites us more than anything else. Listen into this conversation where we touch in on persistence, creativity and why it’s often helpful to not listen to the teachers who tell you that you can’t do something.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

I started this episode thinking we would be talking about lions, tigers and bears. But we ended up with glial cells, learning and neuroplasticity. Just like in clinic there are often surprising things that show up, and so too it is podcast conversations.In this conversation we start with veterinarian acupuncture. But then take a hard right and go deep into neuroscience, the treatment of pain, nervous system regulation and how medicine is beautiful. I loved our discussion as it ranged from the clinical ‘how-to’s” of working with animals, to the deep science of neurobiology, and all woven together with a sense of inquiry and appreciation for the beauty of nature and the practice of medicine. Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

When I lived in China I’d often hear people there say “use western medicine for quick results, but use Chinese medicine for chronic conditions.” It was a bit confusing for me, as even as a student and new practitioner I’d see Chinese medicine be really helpful for more acute conditions. It made me wonder if the Chinese really understood Chinese medicine.In this conversation we get some perspective on this issue. Listen into this discussion on how the clashing of cultures and China’s desire to “modernize” had an impact on the medicine we practice.

Medicine is an unending study. A process of learning, sifting what helps from what doesn’t, and recognizing that we often are students of the unknown.In this conversation we explore healing, sacrifice, the importance of learning a tradition and finding a mentor.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

There is more to growing herbs than understanding plants. There are the considerations of soil, economic environment, weather patterns, cultural and market forces, and the kind of eye and vision that can see the interactions of these forces not just over seasons, but years or decades. In this conversation we explore the cultivation of Chinese herbs here in the West with one of the pioneers of the movement to bring domestic cultivation of Chinese herbs from a curiosity to viable economic reality. Listen in for a glimpse the ecosystem required that makes domestic production of Chinese medicinals a possibility. Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Trauma has both a physiological and emotional impact on us. It can set up a kind of dysregulation that while in the midst of trauma can be adaptive, and in fact help us to survive, but over time can be source of all kinds of physical and emotional problems.In this "part two" conversation we discuss the cycle of healing that can occur as patients move through the five phases of trauma and recovery. And how Chinese medicine, an understanding of modern neurobiology, and gentle hands on work can not only heal trauma, but help to build greater resiliency.

Mushrooms are a curiosity. Neither plant, nor animal, they are stuff of fairy tales and dreams. They hint at something dangerous. They could be delicious, or they could kill you. They sprout up unexpectedly and then quickly melt away. Their underground mycelial networks make them some of nature’s largest collective organisms. Yet their fruiting body is just one small momentary expression of their unique life.Mushrooms like Ling Zhi (Reishi) and Dong Chong Xia Cao (Cordyceps) have long been part of the Chinese medicine materia medica. But these substances, until recently, were preciously difficult to come by. Now with modern cultivation methods and scientific assay tools we have increased access to these unique healing substances.Listen into this conversation on the use of medicinal mushrooms that are you familiar with, as well as some mushrooms that have recently emerged onto the “superfood” scene.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

We rely on the skills of experts. The car mechanic, plumber, web designer, business coach. We want to trust the people that are in the position where our lack of knowledge leaves us vulnerable. We’d like for them to have our best interests in mind, and we also know from experience that we question the car mechanic’s assessment when they find more problems with our vehicle than we’d suspected. Most of us would like some kind reassurance that the person diagnosing the problem is trustworthy, especially when they stand to gain financially. It can be difficult for the expert to have a clear-eyed view when their livelihood is based on finding and correctly problems. And because the expert is used to knowing their territory inside and out, they can be blind to new information that does not fit the metrics of how they usually operate.The downside of being an expert is that our knowledge and sense of understanding can blind us to valuable information and give us a false sense of security. As acupuncturists we too are experts. Which gives us a level of skill that truly can help others. But at the same time we run the risk that all experts face of thinking we understand, when in fact we are ignoring vital information.Listen into this conversation on the benefits and challenges of being an expert.  Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Chinese medicine has a long, long history of puzzling through and treating women’s health issues. In this conversation we touch on clinical considerations that come to us from the Song dynasty.Listen in to this conversation that just might make you question some of your assumptions about some things we consider to be true when it comes to our modern understanding of Chinese medicine gynecology.

Business is one of those aspects of practice that many new practitioners approach with a not small amount of fear and loathing. Business is often viewed as something bothersome and takes away from focusing on our practice. But the truth is, just like there is a false dichotomy between mind and body, the idea that business is somehow separate from our practice not only is not helpful, but cuts us off from all kinds of creativity and learning.In this conversation we use the entrepreneurial mindset to discover solutions and opportunities where previously you might have only seen obstacles and annoyance.Listen in to this conversation and learn why learning to care for your business is not so different from learning to care for your patients. Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

The experience of trauma is as much a part of life as is falling in love, having family disagreements, and wondering how we fit in this life. And while we tend to focus on the problems that have their roots in traumatic experiences, it is also possible that we can become more resilient and anti-fragile by moving through traumic experiences in a way that allows us to harvest the lessons of the experience.In today’s conversation we explore aspects of modern bio-physiology, the insights and perspectives from somatic experiencing, and how these relate to the five phases.Listen in for a discussion of how the fact of trauma is less important than how we move through the cycle of resolution. As we know from Chinese medicine, when things stagnate there are going to be problems. But if there is movement, then the zheng qi of our system will work to help us to resolve the difficulties and bring us to a place of harmony, health and resilience.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.