Qiological Podcast

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.  

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.