Qiological Podcast

In this episode we continue where we left off with our previous discussion and begin with how simply changing the amount of herbs in a formula can lead to some surprising outcomes. We also look into how a patient's thinking and beliefs can be utilized as part of the treatment. And discuss a big topic with a lot patients seeing alternative health care, namely the issue of detoxification. Listen in as we continue this discussion of blood stasis and how it shows up in many aspects of clinical practice.

You know how sometimes patients have these weird symptoms that they think have nothing to do with who they are? Well, us acupuncturists are not immune to running up against our own uninhabited edges, especially when it comes to marketing and business.  In this conversation we get down into the essence of our work, and why it's important to know what we do beyond the story we tell ourselves or the tools of the trade upon which we rely. Do you cringe when the word "marketing" shows up? Then listen in, because what you think is in the way... is the way.

We know that the language and perspective of Chinese and east Asian medicine gives us a whole different glimpse into physiology, health, illness and healing. And if you’ve learned a foreign tongue, then you’ve had experience how language shapes thought, perspective and possibility. The systems or currents of medicine we practice, that too gives a framework, a perspective, that helps us to orient and make sense of a patient’s experience and then how we might be able to help them.For many cultures, dreams are a powerful kind of sensing that speak with a language of their own and can carry important information from our subconscious up into that sliver of awareness that we usually give credit to for running the show. But dreams have their own way of holding and conveying information, and our rational mind is not particularly well suited to that particular non-verbal language. So how do we learn to tune our ears and sensing to the fluidic symbolic language of dreams?It is doable and there are some surprising possibilities that arise with the right kind of inquiry. Listen in as we sit down for a discussion on dreaming and East Asian 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. 

This "part two" conversation with Toby Daly came about because I've been trying to learn the Saam system of acupuncture as he detailed it a recent Journal of Chinese Medicine article. In that process I've had some surprising good results, as well as a few cases that I really took in the wrong direction. Toby points out, when you get it wrong, it's really wrong and you'll know pretty quickly. Unless you're still fairly new at it and not yet tuned into the warning signs of trouble. This discussion comes from my own clinic experience with trying to learn the diagnostics and how to tune my clinical thinking. Toby really makes the Saam perspective come alive with relevant clinical examples as he helps me to "correct my errors in the forest of medicine."If you have an interest in employing this powerful method of acupuncture, pull out a notebook and pen, because you are going to want to take notes!

Learning the basics of promoting or controlling the flow of qi  through the Five Phases is an elemental part of every acupuncturist's training . We learn how the antique points can be used to nudge a response or invite a different kind of resonance into a patient's life. The Korean Saam acupuncture tradition has been passed down through a lineage of monk/practitioners. It not only uses  "wu xing" elemental qi transfer, but additionally blends it together with the the six confirmations, yin/yang organ resonance, the yi jing, and constitutional body types.If you think that acupuncture done well is transformative, but if less skillfully applied will simply do nothing, then you'll want to listen in to this conversation and hear how our guest really took someone off the rails with four thin needles. Powerful things can happen with this style of acupuncture and correct diagnosis is essential. Listen in and get the basics on how to begin learning this powerful method that will not only help you to help your patients, but help you better connect up what seemed like different theoretical perspectives.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview. 

Beyond the conflicts around scope of practice, the theories and practice of dry needling and intra-muscular therapies give us a deeper look into how acupuncture works on ahshi or trigger points from a bio-medicine physiological perspective. Practitioners of this rebranded form of acupuncture have a modern biomedicine perspective on how trigger points, as well as how localized qi and blood stagnation, come about and can be resolved. It's a language that can useful.Our guest in the episode is a hand's on meat and potatoes acupuncturist who loves functional body therapies. He's gone deep into tuina and orthopedic acupuncture, and has studied the dry needling methods with his Chinese medicine eye. Listen in for a well-schooled practitioner's perspective on physiology, trigger points, acupuncture and the fantastic career of Janet Travell. 

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 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. 

If the words fun, fascinating and laughter are not how you think of marketing, then you need to change your idea of marketing. And if you think brand means the logo for your business, then it's time to update your definition of brand.Consider this: if you are not having fun and letting your fascinating superpower show through while doing your "marketing" why would anyone want to buy what you have to sell?I met the guest of this episode by following a trail of bread crumbs. Actually, it was a cool little pin of a rocket ship (who does not love rocket ships?) And what I found.... well, I'll let you discover that for yourself in this podcast conversation.There is a lot an acupuncturist can learn from a podcast marketing genus.Buckle up and listen in to this conversation and add some rocket fuel to your marketing. 

If you think that the experience a computer guy around building his business has nothing to do with those of an acupuncturist's, think again.Those of us that run a small service business, be it banging out CSS code or twirling needles, have a lot more in common that you might see on first glance.I first met Neil almost ten years ago when I blew up my clinic's website.Over the years as we've gotten to know each other it became obvious that we often faced the same exact issues when it came to marketing, promotion and client relationships.Sometimes it is helpful to get a little distance from our usual struggles and hear how someone in a seemingly unrelated field solves the business problems that we face on a regular basis. 

Forty five years is a long time to have a practice. Especially when you consider that the average American marriage isn't even half that number, and in this day and age people change jobs like they change their hair style.How do you stay interested in something for decades? How do you change with the times? Work through the areas that you don't yet know, and let the practice itself give you insight into how you work?If you've read more than a few books on Chinese medicine, the fingerprints of Dan Bensky has certainly been on at least one of them. In addition to his medicine practice, he's been involved in both the translation and editing of books on Chinese medicine since 1981. He has taught and lectured widely over the years. And is one of the founders of the Seattle Institute of East Asian Medicine.In this episode I sit down for a conversation with Dan with an eye toward the long arc of practice and how while our work centers on patient care, it involves a whole lot more. Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.