Qiological Podcast

The Chinese and people of East Asia deal with epidemic disease on a regular basis. And every time a new bug comes to town, they learn a little more.While we in the west have access to some of the classic materials on treating epidemics, we don’t have the same level experience. It’s not really our fault, epidemics don’t roll through here in the west as often, and even during the cold and flu season most people don’t seek us out first. So our skills are not as polished as we’ve not had the experience to hone our clinical skills.In this speical edition conversation with Thomas Avery Garran and Shelley Ochs we discuss their new eBook on Chinese medicine and Covid-19.Listen in to this conversation on how the Chinese are using traditional medicine at a scale we simply don’t see here in the west.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 are many ways to do acupuncture. Each method gives you a glimpse into the workings of the body, each one gives you a different map of the terrain. And each method allows us to understand and problem solve with a different set of both mental and physical tools.Susan Johnson studied with Miriam Lee, who was instrumental not just in bringing Tung Style acupuncture into our western world, but helping to get acupuncture going here in the first place. In this conversation we discuss not just the points and what they do, but more importantly a way of thinking about acupuncture so that you are utilizing the healing resources of your patient without squandering or dispersing them.Listen into this conversation that starts with Tung acupuncture, but goes into how we think about the work we do, and the kind of spirit that we bring to it.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Spending time in the clinic seasons us. It exposes us to success, failure and unending questions about healing, wellbeing and connection that over time can help us to sit with our patients in the midst of deep difficulty.In this conversation with Rebecca Avern we discuss the fortitude that must be developed to sit with the difficult to answer questions that arise in clinic. And how clinical work, while it deepens and enriches the lives of our patients and ourselves, does extract kind of price.It would not be untrue to say doing our work is a privledge, and it also brings a certain kind of shadow.Listen into this conversation on presence, inquiry, and listening with your qi. As well as a look at the shadow side of practice. 

The prolific science fiction write Issac Asimov wrote “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not “Eureka!” (I found it!) but “That’s funny …”The wonderful thing about research is that it invites delicious questions and opens avenues of inquiry that lead us beyond the borders of our maps of the world.In this conversation with Richard Hammerschlag we hear about how his curiosity with how acupuncture was helpful lead him to a shift in career that has had him in the forefront of acupuncture research for a couple of decades now.Listen in to this discussion on the process of inquiry, and how it’s hard to go wrong when you follow what’s interesting for you.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 airways are full of bad news, fear and conjecture it’s a hit parade of one scary thing after another. This alone would be hard our spirits if you ingest even a portion of the 24 hour media feed. Add on isolation and an unrelenting sense of an inescapable threat— it’s tough on one’s mental and emotional wellbeing.There is a pervasive sense of grief at the loss of a world that just a few short months ago operated in vastly different ways. The physical and social distancing bring their own difficulties, and for anyone who’s carrying some buried away trauma it’s closer to the surface as the veneer of normality is stripped away.In this conversation with Alaine Duncan we look at how these times more easily surface lingering trauma and perhaps can give us an opportunity to resolve some issues from the past as we work through the challenges of the present.Listen in as we discuss the importance of attending to the the Heart/Kidney connection, and how the difficulties of this time can also be a catalyst for healing and change.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

These days pretty much anyone can have their own media outlet. The gatekeepers who used to control access to the airwaves and printing presses are pretty much gone. If you have something to share, especially something that focuses on or services a niche market, then this is the best time to be alive. And here in the midst of Covid-19 this just might be the perfect momnet to work on that book you’ve been noodling on as a “some day” project.Digital technology has been disrupting the various communications industries for a few decades now. The downside is anyone with a computer and some gumption can get their message out to the world, and that can make for some pretty lousy content. The upside is that anyone with a computer and some gumption can get their message out to the world, which means you can contribute the crowd you want to serve. But you’re going to have to learn to use the tools of digital publishing properly, and be responsible for the workflow and design. It’s not so much of a DIY, Do It Yourself project as much as it is a MIY, Manage It Yourself enterprise.In this conversation with Oran Kivity, author of Moxa in Motion with the Ontake Method and Sean Sumner, a consultant on self-publishing, we explore the basics of the brave new world of digital on-demand publishing.Listen in and find out why there has never been a better time to publish your own book. 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 have many different ways to view the body with Chinese medicine and each of these lenses gives us a different perspective on both physiology and functionality. It’s not unlike those old acetate transparencies you'd find in old encyclopedias that would allow you to overlay different systems of the body one on top of another. Each one has its own domain, and each interlocks with the other systems.Michael Corradino for many years now has been focused on the connection between acupuncture and neurology. And he’s developed a system of treatment that focuses on neurophysiology and how acupuncture stimulates the nervous system.Listen in to this discussion of needles, de qi, nerve stimulation and how acupuncture does not interface with qi, but with our neural network.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 scientific method is useful. It helps us to better understand the world by screening out our biases, beliefs and wishful thinking. The process of crafting a good hypothesis begins not with a great question, but first the more yin process of observation. Seeing what is present, and from there we can begin to distill out questions worth asking.Much of traditional research is not that helpful in understanding Chinese medicine, as our medicine does not lend itself to the binary world of double blind studies. Our medicine requires research methodologies that can handle emergent dynamic systems. And lucky for us, those models exist and one of the researchers who is keen on these models also happens to be a Chinese medicine practitioner.In this special podcast episode researchers Lisa Taylor-Swanson and Lisa Conboy share with us the design of a study that is currently being carried at the Seattle Institute of East Asian Medicine on the treatment of symptoms that may be related to Covid19 disease using Chinese Herbal Medicine. This study is geared toward collecting data that will help to guide further research. It’s a study that considers Chinese medicine on its own terms. And this study’s design principles are not unlike the principles of our medicine.Listen in for a look at how this study is being structured, and then check back in a few weeks as we’ll have a conversation with the practitioners at SIEAM who are treating patients and collecting the data.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

You’ve noticed in the treatment room, that moment when something “lands” for the patient, and there's a palpable internal shift. You’ve noticed this in yourself, that a question can be inviting as a whisper, or make you bristle like a growling dog.In this conversation with Margot Rossi and Nick Pole we explore Embodied Language, a way of connecting that is friendly to both the body and spirit.What we say, and how we say it can have a profound impact on the experience of both patient and practitioner. Listen in for how you can use language as skillfully as you use your needles.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Getting a practice started is hard. Part of the process is recognizing the strengths and skills we already have, and the other part is being open to allowing our experience to teach us.In this Part Two conversation with Lamya Kamel we look at how our practices ask us to grow in challenging, yet essential ways. And that while we may not have confidence in the beginning, over time it can arise when we approach our work with integrity and passion. 

Listening is not a skill that I expected to develop. I thought I’d get good with palpation or pulse reading. After all, the masters are said to get what they need with the pause and a few questions. That’s what I was aiming for, however it did not work out that way for me.I’ve found over the years that there is a way of listening to a patient that has allowed me to both uncover what I need to know to treat them, but more importantly, help me to better understand innate resources they have that they either are not in touch with, or curiously enough think are deficiencies or problems.Listening is not passive, nor about just hearing what the patient says, it also involves an inner ear to our own experience.This episode is a solo show in which I share some what my clinical experience has taught about an often overlooked yin aspect of our work— listening.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 are head’s down in our clinical work and focused on taking care of patients and running a business. It’s easy to forget that 40 years ago people were being arrested for doing acupuncture. As a profession in the West, we are new. Even without Covid-19 we often dealing with issues of growth, development, scope of practice, messaging and regulation that all professions go through.And since we are in a time of challenge and change these issues become all the notable.Listen in to the conversation with with NCCAOM CEO Mina Larson and Member at Large Afua Bromley as our national accrediting organization responds to the coronavirus and what it means for our profession.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 are being invited, both by our conditions and circumstances and by people in our profession to “get online and do tele-medicine.” However much of what we do as acupuncturists does not translate well, as our most critical tool cannot be used in a digital form.The questions that I’ve been noodling through for the past month plus are what is the essence of my work when I don’t have access to my kit of tools? And how would I describe what I do, when I can use my needles?In this rebroadcast of a Lhasa webinar with Daniel Schulman, Alaine Duncan and Amy Mager as we explore the opportunities and challenges in this moment of transformation.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Maybe you were one of those people who learned in English class that you weren’t very good at the standardized form of writing they were trying to teach. Perhaps you thought you weren’t a good writer. And you might want to reconsider that, because copywriting is a lot like talking. And it is about being expressive.In this conversation with Iselin Svalastog we explore the importance of putting your authentic voice on your website. And how there is a way to write that is persuasive , informative, connective and honest.Many people think that advertising and marketing is about manipulation, but the most effective marketing is about communicating in a way that is connective, respectful and helpful. Listen in to this conversation on creating compelling content that will make you show up more often in a Google search. And better yet, have people call you for an appointment because they connected with what they read on your website.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

You’ve probably seen patients who are on thyroid medication and the numbers are “fine” according the their conventional doctor, but they just don’t feel right. We know from our experience as practitioners that often our patients are deeply frustrated because they’ve been through thousands of dollars of testing and yet they are told “there is nothing wrong with you.” But the truth of situation more often is “we have not been able to find the source of the problem your having.”In this conversation with Heidi Lovie we taken a deep enough dive into the hormonal interactions of the thyroid that you’ll be able to better understand the numbers on a thyroid panel. And we then flip into how Chinese medicine, especially the ideas of Li Dong Yuan, can help you to make a substantial difference in your patient’s life.Understanding the story that certain key factors of the bloodwork tell along with the methods and perspectives of Chinese medicine can make a big difference in the life your Hashimoto’s patients. Listen in and find out how!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 Covid-19 knocking the bottom out of our practices, there is a call from experts in the field to “get online.” Which isn’t bad advice as it does provide a channel to our patients in a time when we can't put our hands on them. But, and this is important, many of us don’t know what we would do online.Somehow the idea of teaching acupressure leaves me completely cold. And as to helping people with their nutrition, well, most people I see don’t have much of an interest in that anyway. Add on to it, the fact that there are some things I know in theory, but from an embodied understanding I don’t have much to say.So the question arises for me of “What in essence, and with integrity, can I share online?”In this conversation with MB Huwe as we dig into that question. Listen in if you have questions about what can you from that genuine place in your bones  bring to the online world.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Listening is not a skill that I expected to develop. I thought I’d get good with palpation or pulse reading. After all, the masters are said to get what they need with the pause and a few questions. That’s what I was aiming for, however it did not work out that way for me.I’ve found over the years that there is a way of listening to a patient that has allowed me to both uncover what I need to know to treat them, but more importantly, help me to better understand innate resources they have that they either are not in touch with, or curiously enough think are deficiencies or problems.Listening is not passive, nor about just hearing what the patient says, it also involves an inner ear to our own experience.This episode is a solo show in which I share some what my clinical experience has taught about an often overlooked yin aspect of our work— listening.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 does not have an immune system in the same way that we think about it with modern bio-medicine. It’s not that there is a lack processes that help the body to maintain its integrity and function— there are. But those processes are less about identifying and killing intruders, and more about helping the body to adapt and respond. Each individual will response a little differently to infections or external invasion, and the state and strength of our vitality also plays a key role. In this panel discussion with Laura McGraw, Toby Daly and Chris Powell we take a look at the “immune response” from the Chinese medicine point of view.

The opinions we have about “doing business” can dramatically affect the kind of practice we have, the opportunities we recognize or are blind to, and how we feel about ourselves as we begin to generate some momentum and success in our work.Success brings its own issues. And it does not guarantee your insecurities will go away. The more successful you are, the more responsibility comes your way— and there is more to lose if it all comes apart. Sometimes it might seem “safer” to stay small, but our practices ask us to show up with spirit and resiliency.In this conversation with Lamya Kamel we look at how our practices ask us to grow in challenging, yet essential ways. And that while we may not have confidence in the beginning, over time it can arise when we approach our work with integrity and passion.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

For those of us in North America the world changed about three weeks ago as the Covid-19 began to make itself known. And as Chinese medicine practitioners begin to close their in-person practice and open up video visits with patients for herbal consultations there is an increasing interest in how we in the modern world, facing this particular pandemic, can use our medicine to help.Heiner Fruehauf has been translating some of the writing and communications of his friend and colleague Dr Liu Li Hong who has been in Wu Han treating patients for a couple months now.In this conversation we touch both on the one size fits all formulas that have shown effect in protecting staff from infection, and the importance of applying our Chinese medicine 辨證理論 bian zheng li lun, principles of differential diagnosis.Listen into this report from the front lines of China, and how we can help our patients and each other as it is now our turn to confront this epidemic.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Some of the difficulties faced by many of us in this time of pandemic are the disorientation, anxiety and fear that arise from uncertainty. But if you look more closely, you’ll see that there never is in this life the guarantee of certainty. It can feel that way because of habituation, but when you strip away the daily habits and sense of continuity, then the profound and often unbearable uncertainty that all self-aware mortal beings share, is always there.These past few months in Asia and past few weeks in the western world have been tearing away at our sense of certainty and security. We fear for our lives, our livelihoods, families and increasingly… our communities as well.In this conversation with Greg Bantick we look into how this ever-present moment arises from innumerable causes and conditions, and how curiosity can help us to more fully inhabit all the moments in which we find ourselves.This is an episode that is not just for practitioners, your patients, family and friends could benefit from this conversation 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.  

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.