Qiological Podcast

There is a kind of poetry to Chinese characters. They gives hints and clues about the names we give to the world. They tell a story. In this conversation with Elisabeth Rochat we explore, like you’d explore bottles of fine wine, some of the meaning and nuance in the characters 意 yi， 通 tong， 命 ming，and 理 li. There are some delicious surprises in this conversation as I’m more conversant with the common meanings of these characters, and Elisabeth’s perspective gives me a whole new appreciation for Chinese language and thought. Listen in to this discussion of characters, medicine and what it takes to be a human being.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Jing, Qi and Shen— the three treasures. Like so many of these pithy quotes about Chinese medicine there is a lot here if you have taken the time to investigate it and see how it fits within your experience of practicing medicine. In this conversation with Yair Maimon we touch on the three treasures as they relate to treating cancer with acupuncture, immunology from Chinese medicine perspective, and ways of working with research that help us to further our understanding of our medicine here in the modern day.Listen in to this discussion that touches both on the classics and modern day perspectives in health and healing.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 is not that easy, and the 文言文 (wen yan wen) the classical Chinese, that stuff is a whole other order of magnitude in challenge to the modern Western mind.And yet if we are going to practice this medicine with deep roots into a long gone time and culture, we need access to the stepping stones that have been handed down to us over centuries through books and writing.Translating language is one thing. But translating culture, bringing something of the mind and perception from another time, that is a whole other task.It helps if you can understand the poetry, the stories, the world view and beliefs of the time. And it helps if you can track the changes in the meaning of words and ideas across the centuries of commentary.In this episode we are sitting down for tea with Sabine Wilms, a self described "lover of dead languages," for a discussion of Resonance from chapter five of the Simple Questions.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 venerate the masters, hold them up as shining examples of what we would like to be one some day, but let’s be honest here— most of us will never be masters. Those rarified characters are few and far between. And the process it takes is not one most of us would willing sign up for. We do however have a good shot at being a fine journeyman or journeywomanWhy it’s hard to become a master? Master’s are usually forged in troublesome fires. They may be living through a time of war and disease and their medicine comes through the crucible of deep suffering. Perhaps they’ve gone through a terrible illness or accident of their own. Or they are acutely sensitive in ways that make every life difficult.The journey we take with practicing medicine is not to become like one of the masters we idolize, but to become the practitioner with our particular  slant on the medicine that is our’s to become.This episode is a discussion of inquiry over time. The discovery's that come not from understanding a book, but rather from the drip, drip, drip of experience from our clinical work that over time teaches us to focus in a particular way. A process that does not guarantee, but rather sets us up, so that one day we read something in the old books and get it. Get it not with so much with our minds, but rather our heart and being. Because it is something that we have grown into. And so we can better understand the writing of others who have also grown into their experience.Listen in for a discussion how to become a good journeywoman or journeyman.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.  

There are many ways to attend to our patients in clinic. We can work through mental models that we’ve acquired from our schooling, study, and clinical experience. We can also use our innate human ability to touch, palpate and sense.In this episode with Chip Chase we discuss the importance of down-regulating our nervous system. Along with the use of palpation and sensing references to anchor our ideas about what might be going on for a patient, and to track the progress of the treatment as it unfolds.Additionally we touch in on the use the eight extraordinary vessels and their relation to internal cultivation, take a look at the relatively new emergence of using the divergent channels, and discuss the difference between intending and attending during the treatment 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.  

We often consider the Five Phases when doing acupuncture, and the Six Conformations when treating our patients with herbal medicine.In this conversation we consider the interplay of “wu yun, liu qi” the five movements and six climatic qi from the perspective of diagnosis and understanding not just what problem a patient has, but also its progression through time.Listen in to this discussion on understanding the cycles and interplay of yin and yang that will help you to better understand why a patient’s illness has manifest and how to use both the movement of the phases and the influence of the conformations to treat illness and help 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.  

We give a great amount of respect to the Classics in Chinese medicine, but understanding these foundational texts of our medicine can be challenge, even if you do understand the old form of Chinese.Just as many of struggle to get through the brilliance of Shakespeare, the classics of Chinese medicine require a particular kind of attention. And it doesn't hurt if you actually can understand the "gu wen" classical Chinese language. It's even more helpful if you engaged the other classic literature of China from an early age.Our guest in this episode Leo Lok did just that, and in this conversation we see how terse lines from the classics can speak eloquently to confusing cases in the modern clinic.Listen in and get a glimpse at how the classics can be applied to difficult clinical cases. You'll be wanting to spend more time with the Su Wen (Simple Questions) after this!Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Medicine is a curious business. The “agreement” is that the patient has a problem and we as practitioners are going to fix it. It’s not an unreasonable expectation in our fee for service world. And after all, we are the experts that are supposed to know how to resolve a medical condition.But what often gets left out of the conversation is the question of “what is healing?” Along with “who” is responsible for that and “what” is to be done?Healing is a curious business. And while patient and practitioner both play a role, more often than not, it’s an inside job.In this conversation with Alice Whieldon we explore what is helpful, the invitation that arises from dropping expectation and agenda, and the connective resonance that arises from simply seeing how it is for another.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Nothing new about city and rural life being very different. But what about when it comes to having an acupuncture practice? What’s it like to practice to practice away from the bustle of big city? Are country folk really that different from city slickers? And what about non-mainstream medicine like acupuncture, how’s it accepted in the hinterlands?In this conversation with Barbara Bittinger we discuss the benefits of living and working in rural America and how community is not just an idea but an essential aspect of day to day 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.