Qiological Podcast
Acupuncture and East Asian medicine was not developed in a laboratory. It does not advance through double-blind controlled studies, nor does it respond well to petri dish experimentation. Our medicine did not come from the statistical regression of randomized cohorts, but from the observation and treatment of individuals in their particular environment. It grows out of an embodied sense of understanding how life moves, unfolds, develops and declines.
Medicine comes from continuous, thoughtful practice of what we do in clinic, and how we approach that work. The practice of medicine is more — much more — than simply treating illness. It is more than acquiring skills and techniques. And it is more than memorizing the experiences of others. It takes a certain kind of eye, an inquiring mind and relentlessly inquisitive heart.
Qiological is an opportunity to deepen our practice with conversations that go deep into acupuncture, herbal medicine, cultivation practices, and the practice of having a practice. It’s an opportunity to sit in the company of others with similar interests, but perhaps very different minds. Through these dialogues perhaps we can better understand our craft.
Latest episodes
Dec 17, 2019 • 1h 17min
117 Getting Your Finances Right: What the Entrepreneurial Acupuncturist Needs to Know • Bev Hacker
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.
Dec 10, 2019 • 1h 22min
116 Qi Anatomy • Brenda Hood
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.
Dec 3, 2019 • 1h 5min
115 Beyond The Visible - Electromagnetic Radiation and Health • Brandon LeGreca
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.
Nov 26, 2019 • 1h 14min
114 Wisdom Guild- Listening to Our Practice
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.
Nov 19, 2019 • 1h 15min
113 Ripples in the Flow: Pulses, Nanjing and the Questioning Mind • Z'ev Rosenberg
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.
Nov 12, 2019 • 1h 3min
112 Acupuncture in the Integrative Hospice • Robyn Curtis
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.
Nov 10, 2019 • 60min
111 Short Conversations from the Pacific Symposium
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.
Nov 5, 2019 • 1h 14min
110 A Qing Dynasty Perspective on Channels and Points • Michael Brown
Access to acupuncture point location and function has not always been a matter of a few clicks on your mobile phone. This kind of information has not always been at our fingertips. And there is a great wealth of material has not made its way into your digitial library, let alone into English.In this conversation we talk about knowing what’s true in Chinese medicine, the problem of cherry picking resources, and the work of translating a Qing dynasty text on acupuncture.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.
Oct 29, 2019 • 1h 11min
109 Spirals, Stems and Branches: The Structure of Unfoldment in Time and Space • Deborah Woolf
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.
Oct 22, 2019 • 1h 15min
108 Outside the Box and Inside the Heart Medicine • Amy Mager
The medicine we practice doesn’t just help us to help others. It can help us to live more deeply into our own lives. The challenges, adversity and difficulties we encounter show us what we are made of and build resiliency. The practices we create are a living expression of who we see ourselves to be. Furthermore, the process of creating a successful practice that we want to work in, it’s an on-going process.Listen into this conversation on the power of mentorship, the transformational influence of having a business, and how being your authentic self is the best way to build a practice you want to work in. Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.
