Qiological Podcast

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. 

The words "qi and blood stasis" frequently work their way into our diagnosis of a patient's situation. But getting blood stasis from the realm of theory and  into our perceptual vocabulary takes some practice. And this can be quite helpful especially when working with cases that don't resolve the way we think they should.In this conversation we look into how the long term effects of blood stasis can cause problems 5, 10, 20 years down the road that become baffling as the usual stuff just doesn't work. Or makes things worse.Listen in for how paying attention to this commonly seen problem in clinic can help you to improve clinical results and unwind some knotty problems. 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 currents in our medicine that say we should be very cautious around the heart, in fact, it’s best not to treat it directly. And even in our modern world, treating cardiac issues is something I suspect most of us would feel some uncertainty and anxiousness about as we don’t really get that kind of training here in the West.It is easy when thinking about cardiology to think about ischemic heart events, but most of a cardiologist’s practice is about managing the various risk factors so as to help people avoid a heart attack. Or in dealing with the slow decline of aging and heart failure.In this episode we discuss ways of approaching this vital organ, and how Chinese medicine can be used to promote a healthy heart.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview. 

Fifteen plus years ago when I was living in Beijing and studying medicine and language I was gifted with a copy of Dr. Huang's Ten Key Formula Families in Chinese Medicine.At the time it was an astonishing read, as I'd never been exposed to his ideas about constitutional type and how certain people have an affinity for a particular herb or formula family.It changed how I thought about herbal medicine.And I've been fortunate to have now known Dr. Huang for many years, and had an opportunity to introduce his work to the western world. I was recently in Nanjing for a visit and had an opportunity to sit down with him and some of his foreign Ph.D. students and have a discussion around his latest thoughts on the classic formulas and the practice of medicine. Please enjoy this podcast in either English or Chinese, as I was able to edit for both languages.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview

在這片podcast我們外國的中醫師和黃煌教授談經方的魅力。