Qiological Podcast

針灸 Needles and Moxa, it is right there in the Chinese characters that are translated as “acupuncture.” Moxa is as fundamental to our practices as needles. The applications of burning mugwort run the gamut from cheap acrid Chinese pole moxa to ultra refined sweet scented Japanese moxa. And the techniques vary as well from the smoky moxa boxes to the whisper thread of smoke from the tiny rice grains.In this conversation with Hannah Swift we discuss not just her love of moxa, but fascination for the plant itself. Where it grows, the soils and terrain it likes to inhabit, how it shapes the local economies in Japan famous for their moxa and the process itself of turning leaves into the medicine we like to ignite.Listen into this discussion of leaves and smoke, and how the scent of moxa itself can be part of a connective healing process. Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview. 

Leaves on a plant curl and turn yellow when the soil is not right. The health of a cat is reflected in the texture of its fur and clearity in the eyes. Likewise with people we can discern states of wellness or illness by attending to those parts of the body that are the first to show the signs of change. And so over the centuries we’ve learned to trust the reflections we see from the pulse, abdomen, tongue and if you’re sensitive enough, the qi itself. In this conversation with Thomas Sorensen we explore abdominal and pulse patterns from the Japanese acupuncture perspective and investigate how they are reliable markers for finding patterns of disharmony that help both with diagnosis and tracking the efficacy of our treatment. And beyond that, how the Saam organ pairings show up as reflections of excess and deficiency on the abdomen and in the pulse. Listen into the discussion of hands-on medicine, as we traverse the terrain of Japanese and Saam acupuncture.

The fundamentals root our practice. The basics that we learn in the beginning not only never go away, but deepen with experience. This is why regardless of lineage or method, Chinese medicine practitioners can communicate with each other as we share a common parlance. The fundamentals of yin yang, the motion of the five phases, and the ways excess & deficiency help us to understand the root of a person's problem. At the core, we all share the fundamentals. In this discussion with Rob Helmer we explore how mastery is mastery of the basics, and how the pernicious influence of depressive heat often unlies many chronic conditions, but it’s easy to overlook it in our clinical practice. Listen into this conversation on the importance of the basics, why it’s vital to consider proportionality in our diagnosis and treatment, and some of the ways that you identify and treat depressive in your clinical work.

Our job as clinicians is to help our patients. And to help them we must first understand them. Which is easier said than done, especially as we all have different ways of being in the world, our perception has a lot to do with which senses we like to rely upon and the way we frame the world in turn frames our treatments.In this conversation with Paul Movsessian we touch on the sensate world of Japanese acupuncture, noodle on the innovative and imaginative work of Dr Manaka and explore how the softest of touches with a needle can bring about significant shifts in a patient’s physiology.Listen into this discussion of palpation, five phase energetics, and the significant role of sensing in Japanese acupuncture.

When you’re running a business, be it an acupuncture clinic, tech company, plumbing service or coaching practice there are core principles that can spell the differences between failure and success. In this conversation with Mark Asquith we noodle on the First Principles that apply every bit as much to the software and podcast services that he has created, as they do to creating an acupuncture practice that supports your life instead of running it.Listen into this discussion on learning on your hidden strengths, dealing with unhappy clients, identifying bad money as a way to assess the value of a project, what community looks like in the digital age, and how the Triple I principles of Important, Interesting and Integral can help you to create a practice that you’ll enjoy working within.

Heartbreak is unavoidable. It’s not a flaw in character or make up humans, it’s a feature. It’s what allows us to grow beyond the bounds and limits of family, friend group, peers and whatever group identity we find that gives a sense of belonging and security. Heart break expands our boundaries, the question is does it break you open or break you closed?In this conversation with Margot Rossi we give space to how our brokenness is the source of both suffering and redemption. How our greatest troubles, self destructive tendencies and unexamined suffering are all opportunities to cultivate an open field of attention that can be shifted with our intention and spirit. Listen into this discussion that touches on the principles of attention, stillness and healing that she brings to life in her recently published book “To Be Like Water.” 

Love it or hate it, social media has seeped its influence into many corners of our lives. Most people have at least one social media platform that acts as a kind of morning news, local gossip coffee shop, private printing press, or digital campfire where we gather to tell and listen to stories. Stories that can incite riots, or stories that remind us of our shared humanity. In this conversation with Andrea Dewhurst we take a look at Instagram and how it can be used to create a community that ties together learners of East Asian medicine. And how it can be a creative medium for promoting your practice.Listen into this discussion of how Instagram can be used in a positive fashion to connect, along with some of the digital tools that make the process easier. And how sometimes the element of constraint gives you the freedom to engage simplicity in the curation and creation of content that is helpful in facilitating learning. 

Money is the lifeblood of every business; it’s the Qi. And an acupuncture practice can not ignore the basics of business. The main focus of a Chinese Medicine practitioner is to deliver holistic care to patients – in essence creating a safe space to share the medicine. But if you’re in business for yourself, you have to come to terms with the idea of exchanging healing services for money. Running your own clinic is grounded in nature’s fundamental relationships of exchange; of creating and sharing value—which is a concept that underpins capitalism.In this discussion with Eric Grey, we get into the nitty-gritty of making practice work from a business and clinical standpoint. We discuss some of the snags to watch out for when going into business and running a practice. Additionally we focus on the importance of due diligence and conscious planning, adapting to your stage of development/business cycle, and having an exit strategy. The good news is the whole process can help season us into resilient professionals.Listen into this conversation on running a successful practice, working through conflicts, tending to operation issues, dealing with uncertainty, and how capitalism can be a beneficial force in your practice and community.

There are many schools of thought, methods both ancient and modern, practices based on lineage and those idiosyncratically synthetic. It is easy to think that what you understand is correct, and all too often medicine is practiced with a bit of an attachment to dogma. But biases are dangerous, and they narrow your field of vision—influencing your work as a practitioner. Plus, what happens when the bias or dogma is shattered?In this conversation with Allen Tsaur, we discuss some of his translation projects of classical Chinese Medicine writing and interpreting old resources. When we borrow from ancient wisdom and Chinese Medicine ideologies it is vitally important to consider the historical context. What questions were the practitioners trying to answer in their time? What were the environmental and cultural conditions that gave rise to their perspectives?Listen into this discussion as we mull over topics surrounding the process of translating historical messages, the issue of dogma, and learning from crisis moments.

It’s easy to have beliefs about people we don’t know. Especially if they tick the boxes of our biases, prejudice, ignorance and the opinions of our friends. When you think about successful stock market investors you’re probably not thinking about people with compassion, curiosity, spiritually and a sense of fair play. But for some of the top level investors that he interviews, you’ll find humility, generosity and a deep abiding sense of the ​​ephemeral nature of the world and a habit of “cultivation” that would not be foreign to a Daoist, Buddhist or practitioner of the Kabbalah. In this discussion with William Green we talk about how top of the game investors lean on morality, responsibility, humility, intelligence and are eccentric in that they are able to face the uncertainty that goes hand in hand with investing and keep their own counsel when the rest of the world is telling them their wrong. We are talking about some high level Gong Fu here.Listen into this conversation with William Green as we discuss his book Richer, Wiser, Happier and what he has learned about spiritually, generosity and self-cultivation from Masters of the Dow.