Heavenly Qi

The tendency is to consider a pregnancy so delicate that we should take a ‘hands off’ approach to treatment especially in the first trimester. Sharon Weizenbaum joins Clare Pyers to dispel fears and give practitioners a solid grounding on giving herbs during this important time. There is a fundamental lack of text books on this subject and so Sharon has begun the arduous task of translating some o...

It is essential that everyone who comes to our clinic feels respected, included and heard. The emergence of the LGBT community represents some significant challenges to not only practitioners but to society as a whole. In this podcast Co-hosts Naava Carman and Clare Pyers explore the issues involved in creating a ‘safe place’ - for all of our patients. Gender and Sexuality in Chinese Medicine by&n...

Men’s fertility is sorely unrepresented in the literature and it can be a joy to a couple to find out there are many things that a man can do to help improve their chances of having a baby. Some men, on the other hand, can be reluctant and may need some coaxing to get them on board for their fertility journey. Co-host Naava Carman joins Clare Pyers as they discuss the training of dogs, children an...

Albert Einstein wrote that “Pure logical thinking cannot yield us any knowledge of the empirical world; all knowledge of reality starts from experience and ends in it.” If you specialise in Women’s Health and Fertility then this episode of Heavenly Qi is essential listening. With nearly 40 years of combined experience co-hosts Naava Carman and Clare Pyers delve into past cases, examining what they...

What is your internal dialogue when it comes to prescribing raw herbs in the clinic? Are you wrongly assuming your patients are time poor? Raw herbs are the most potent, quickest working and the most customisable solution to offer your patients. A commitment of a couple of hours a week to the boiling of the herbs is something that most patients will do when the benefits are properly explained to t...

The Daoists believe that life begins from stillness. Take a moment for a pregnant pause, to appreciate the way the soul manifests, grows and develops throughout pregnancy. To consider what is the curriculum that your soul has signed up for in this lifetime? What is the curriculum of the other souls you connect with, and how do you influence each other’s learning and pathway in this lifetime? It al...

What is it that makes the difference between a clinic that is struggling financially and one that is thriving? What are some of the key things that any practitioner can implement in their clinics in order to get better outcomes for their patients AND also help their own bottom line? Hamish and Sohial are well known and respected in Australia for their excellent clinical skills, as well as their fa...

There’s always going to be tricky dynamics that we come up against in clinic from time to time. What about that patient who is always late? Or are you a practitioner who doesn’t run on time in a perfect schedule? How about when your patients are self-prescribing and getting needled by another practitioner for “a separate issue”… It doesn’t stop there. Dr Google is always ready to diagnose! Some pe...

Can you give me acupuncture over the internet? In this episode, Phiona and Clare discuss the ins and outs of running an online clinic. Why would you offer online consults? Maybe patients are contagious but would benefit from herbs and nutrition. Sometimes patients need more discussion than acupuncture. Separating consults and herbal prescriptions from treatments can also allow you to change up you...

It’s been a while since we posted a new episode – but wow is this episode worth the wait! Clare has returned from the world of maternity to do a live interview with Randine Lewis which was recorded in May 2018 on her trip to Australia for leading a practitioner retreat. Kirsten Wolfe joined Clare for this interview that goes deep into the types of challenges that practitioners can face when they a...

In this episode with Dan Bensky we discuss the intricacies of palpation, his insights around palpating the San Jiao, and how refining your palpation skills can assist with your diagnosis, your acupuncture choices, and better inform your herbal prescriptions. Inspired by his background in osteopathy and craniosacral methods, Dan brings the classics of ancient acupuncture descriptions to life using...

How do dosage ratios and cooking methods help avoid adverse reactions to many herbs and formulas? How many grams can or should you use of Chai Hu in XCHT? What about 125g? Simon Feeney takes us on a journey from 20yrs ago, when he met a monk who became his friend and teacher. This monk introduced Simon to herbal medicine, inspiring his studies in Chinese medicine and the Shang Han Za Bing Lun. Sim...

What’s your libido like on a scale of “can’t get enough” to “can I please have a cup of tea?”. Male fertility is up for discussion this week and Peter Kington is just the man for the job. When girls hit puberty, she is afforded many subsequent years to observe her menstrual cycle and to get a sense of any problems that might be present. However, when a boy hits puberty and starts to ejaculate with...

Have you heard the Chinese saying that a pregnant woman should read beautiful poetry, and no one should deliver bad news to her? In this episode we discussed all things pregnancy related with Debra Betts – including the merits of this old superstitious advice. We covered everything from the basics of pregnancy, and forbidden points, through to some more complicated scenarios around inducing labour...

Who better to have a chat with about Han Dynasty medicine than the King of Shang Han Lun himself – Arnaud Versluys. We talk about how he went from a standard TCM education to being a practitioner who exclusively practices classical herbal medicine. Phiona and Clare asked Arnaud about many aspects of Han Dynasty medicine, including the use of acupuncture alongside Han dynasty herb formulas, the bes...

In this brilliant episode we managed to cover a lot of ground with Ann Cecil Sterman – where we talked about dynamic pulse diagnosis, and how actively taking the pulse allows a practitioner to derive conclusions about how the organs are interacting with each other. We covered so much more than just dynamic pulse diagnosis. We got to hear about Ann’s life mission, her passion and even how she plays...

In your life, what or who is a pain in the neck? Do you suffer from the burden of trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders? Neck and shoulder pain is a common complaint amongst patients – whether or not you specialise in musculoskeletal cases, pain in the neck and/or shoulders will be experienced by many of your patients. Treating and resolving neck and shoulder pain is often fair...

If you treat fertility patients in your practice – this is a must-listen episode! If you are looking for ways to really make your clinical approach holistic – this is a must-listen episode. We recorded a live episode with Yaron Seidman a few months back, and now here it is for all of you who didn’t get to join us live to enjoy listening. We had a great discussion with Yaron about his Hun Yuan appr...

Are you walking the walk when it comes to getting your work-life balance right? Are you taking enough time off? For many practitioners it’s tricky to get the right balance between work and leisure. What’s the best way to take time off without having a negative affect on your business? It’s a common occurrence for practitioners – you take some much needed time off from clinic – only to return to fi...

We as humans are manifestations of the universal spark, and when the universal spark fragments, it radiates energy from Heaven outward towards us, and it is up to us as human beings to answer back to Heaven with our thoughts, our actions, our feelings and emotions. The more we are focused on our desires, frustrations, anger – the more we are not connected to that connection. The more we are connec...

What to do with your gynae patients who seem to have every single pattern of disharmony happening in their body all the same time? It’s like they’ve asked for a burger with the lot – and it has every. possible. ingredient. all piled in between the two halves of the bun. This week we discussed some of the intricacies of treating gynae patients – women’s health and fertility. Some clinical gems...

In this week’s episode, Phiona and Clare go through the foundations of how to treat thyroid disorders from an integrative TCM perspective. From start to finish – from the basics of what the thyroid is doing, what the thyroid blood tests mean, what the optimal reference ranges are and how to use that information in your clinic. They discuss the importance of formulating a proper TCM diagnosis to en...

What does your patient’s heart rate tell you about their history of trauma? The types of qualities present in those with PTSD? Can you tell from the pulse what an aneurysm, prolapse or valve problems feel like on the pulse? What is the significance of an increase in the leathery pulse quality in today’s society? In this episode we had an in depth discussion with Ross Rosen about so many aspec...

“We get sick when we’re not paying attention” From Picasso, to Dostoyevsky, to Zhang Zhong Jing – we discussed many great ideas from great minds in this episode with Z’ev Rosenberg. This is a long episode – where we really dive deep in exploring the ways in which we can best equip ourselves to be the best diagnostic clinicians we can be. In this long discussion we had a great discussion with...

“All musculoskeletal problems will have an internal component – you just have to look for it.” Matt Callison is the King of Musculoskeletal acupuncture, and if he could meet any of the ancient acupuncture masters, he’d choose Hua Tou for his interesting take on the points. We had a very informative discussion with Matt about his own interesting work combining acupuncture and sports medicine.&...