Qiological Podcast

Traditions tell a story. They hold and transmit insights into cultural, religious, and sometimes medical practices. They can give us a glimpse into how family lineages consider and refine aspects of medicine learned in the institutional settings. In this conversation with Dr. Shoubin Yu and Anthony DiSalvo, we explore some of the methods and perspective of the Yu Family Chinese medicine traditions. Anthony is an apprentice of Dr. Yu—carrying down the Yu Family methods that go back over 500 years. We talk about the history of this family lineage, its underlying theories, and why it’s important to teach people how to utilize Chinese massage (Tuina) to overcome illness and prevent the onset of acquired diseases.Listen to this discussion on generational health, Tuina massage, and the perspectives that characterize the Yu Dayi Method.

As practitioners of Chinese Medicine, it’s our responsibility to address all aspects of our patient’s experience: mind, body, and spirit. This demands that we listen carefully to the various streams of information at our disposal—whether from our learned experience or from what the patient’s body is telling us.In this conversation with Velia Wortman, we explore the importance of paying attention to what the body is saying, using our senses to best serve our patients, how to discern subtle motion from wishful thinking, along with recognizing and avoiding overtreatment.Listen into this discussion as we engage with our patient’s vitality through palpation, osteopathic listening methods and that curious space that arises between knowing and attending.

How we think influences what we do. The models and frameworks we use to understand not just our medicine, but the world itself,  opens or limits the options we can offer our patients for treatment. While the Venn Diagrams of East Asian and Western medicine share some overlap, at their core they are rooted in very different world views. Which in turn influences how we might be able to help our patients. In this conversation, with Brenda Hood we investigate the need for a distinction between East Asian medicine and Western medicine in practice, the importance of thinking about Chinese medicine in its own terms, and the failures that arise from mingling Western medical thinking into East Asian diagnostics and practice. Listen into this discussion on Eastern and Western philosophy and how that shapes not just our practices, but the future of East Asian medicine.

I’m reminded of the stillness of cats. How they can sit both still and yet completely and serenely attentive. So too with resonance, there is the yin aspect of stillness with the yang expression of vibrating with the influence of the environment. And in the middle, ren, person, the human heart. In this discussion with Diane Fabian-Smith we look into empathy, along with the filters and boundaries that allow us to connect without getting lost in the encounter. Listen into this conversation on resonance, maintaining boundaries in our practice with patients, creating a friendly but firm relationship with our stories and egos. And respectfully engaging the inner terrain of our patients and ourselves in our clinical work.

Pulse palpation…the telling touch in Chinese Medicine. It’s an integral aspect of East Asian that  is simple in some ways, and deeply nuanced and complex in others. Feeling and interpreting a patient’s pulse is only one facet of clinical interaction. A practitioner has to be present and mindful of the patient; mindful of the experience.In this conversation with Ross Rosen, we talk extensively about taking the pulse, connecting with the patient, being mindful of resources, and intervening appropriately for best outcomes. We dabble on topics surrounding implementing theories into clinical practice, Shen-Hammer pulse diagnosis, and understanding the patient’s psychology.Listen in on this discussion on the potency of clinical intervention and the importance of building a therapeutic connection with patients while “navigating the terrain.”

Life has a way of nudging us in different directions. Some find inspiration in life-changing events; others in the smallest of things. But whichever path we take, we all have stories of how we got to do what we do.In this discussion with Rodrigo Aranda, we not only discuss his backstory and the stepping stones that led him to practice Chinese Medicine—but also how Chinese Medicine got to South America. And for a practice that dates back thousands of years, it’s interesting that Chinese Medicine has only started garnering interest from an international audience in the last few decades. Listen in on this conversation as Rodrigo Aranda takes us down a relatable journey into Chinese Medicine experiences and how the practice is slowly taking root in different parts of the world.

How we are with ourselves affects how we are with patients. Our own difficulties in life can assist us in helping others, but it requires that we are able to come to a sense of neutrality with those traumas of the past. In this conversation with Seanna Sifflet we discuss using our own feelings, the healing potentials in empathy and forgiveness, and the importance of overcoming our own biases.Listen into this discussion on the importance of of managing our own nervous systems and cultivating the capacity to remain present and neutral when patients bring forth emotional material that rhythms with our own experience.

Thinking about autoimmune illness from the Chinese medicine perspective is vastly different from how we think about in modern biomedicine terms. And the four levels of wei, qi, ying and xue are very helpful in giving us a framework for diagnosis and treatment. In this conversation with Bryan McMahon we explore the complex, and often contradictory dynamics, of autoimmune conditions, And how to finesse our treatments to address these challenging situations. Listen into this discussion to gain an appreciation for how Chinese medicine can address complex illness, and some strategies and methods you can use in clinic to address disharmonies.

Community is something we often talk about, and yet it is not easily defined.  Our practices include not just us and our business, but the ecosystems of commerce, profession, and location. In this conversation with Eric Grey with touch on how our profession is relatively new in the western world, how it is rapidly changing and growing as East Asian medicine makes its way into our culture and medical system. Now is an exciting time to be a part of this field and there are many opportunities to have an influence.Listen into this discussion around what it means to have a successful, resonant and enjoyable professional life.

We all know the feeling of having a hunch, of getting a glimpse, of having a kind of knowing that does not come from thinking or knowledge. There might have been a time in your life when using your intuition was as natural as enjoying the feel of sunshine on your skin. Like any skill or sense, intuition is an innate aspect of our sensorium that can be trained and developed.In this conversation with Wendie Colter we discuss the role of the medical intuitive as in our modern world, some research on the surprising accuracy of well trained practitioners in finding primary and secondary pathologies, and how intuitive skills can help practitioners to better understand the root of a patient’s illness. Listen into this discussion of how our human sensing system can be helpful in finding illness and restoring balance and wellbeing.