Heavenly Qi

If you want to be a world class acupuncturist, you need to know what is contained in these texts. If you want to be a world class diagnostician, you need to know what is written in the pages of these books. David is a master of this domain and he shares his in depth knowledge of Han medicine with us in this episode. The Nei Jing and the Nan Jing contain enough clinically relevant information that...

We don’t talk about the tough times. New practitioners feel overwhelmed and their education can feel inadequate when they find themselves at the coalface of clinical practice. Practitioners get burnt out. Practitioners get depressed. Some quit the profession. Some contemplate suicide. Let’s talk about this. In today’s episode, we have a real conversation with Greg Bantick about the realities of be...

What is it like to practice in a small town? Where everyone knows everyone else, word travels fast, and your reputation can build quickly. But there are also challenges, like how do you tell a dairy farmer that they need to stop consuming dairy products in order to improve their health? How can you encourage your patients to eat organic, when there are no stores that sell organic produce in your t...

What would you do for a patient with an 11cm fibroid? Clare and Phi discuss the “rule of thumb” that fibroids larger than 5cm can’t be effectively treated with Chinese medicine. Uterine fibroids are a common problem to see in our female patients as they head towards menopause. Presenting to us with severe period pain, heavy bleeding and associated symptoms, these women are coming to us for help wi...

Master Tung acupuncture points are named like GPS coordinates, point name 88.25 tells us information about which limb we are looking at and how far up the limb to go to find the point. Channel theory names points with a “stress address”, point name GB31 tells us which location along the gall bladder channel. Master Tung acupuncture is such a perfect fit for a modern day acupuncture clinic, an...

Limbic system development in infants can be positively influenced by our medicine and in particular the use of shiatsu or tui na. Chinese medicine pediatric specialist Peter Gigante joins us in this week’s episode to discuss one of the main treatment interventions he uses with his patients. Peter reminds us that the importance of therapeutic touch and direct human contact in general for infants, a...

Do you have SJ4 on speed dial? Are you best friends with Hrt3? Do you have a good enough relationship with Kid16 that you could invite her over for dinner? An evolving conversation that started one afternoon in the dispensary at clinic, Phi and Clare discuss the intricacies of each practitioner’s own unique relationship with various acupuncture points. They discuss their favourites from the point...

Kidney Yang deficiency, Liver Blood deficiency and many many other patterns can be staring right at you from within your patients “normal blood results”. Serum sodium levels below 140mmol/L can be an indicator of Kidney Yang deficiency. GGT levels below 15U/L can be a marker of Liver Blood or Liver Yin deficiency. Listen to the episode to find out more about ideal levels of TSH, eGFR, white blood...

How best to support your patients in their 40s – whether they are doing IVF with their own eggs, or donor egg IVF or trying naturally? Biological age is the main factor that determines fertility in women of any age, but particularly in those above the age of 40. Lorne discusses the integrative approach used in his clinic, and goes into detail about how he runs his fertility clinic – from talk...

The biggest mistake you can make with patients who have MTHFR mutations is to think that giving 5-MTHF supplement is all you need to do for them. As well as maybe (or maybe not) taking 5-MTHF supplements, Phi covers the 9 other steps around harmonising methylation that are so important not to overlook. And how we can use the wisdom from within our medicine to help these patients to recover from he...

Herbal exorcisms. Helping our sickest patients to recover from mysterious and difficult to treat diseases. With seemingly inelegant formulas that at first glance look like a mix-mash of random herbs, Gu expelling formulas have their own unique dynamics that are worth learning how to use. These formulas help to extinguish the black magic from your patients who are cursed with otherwise incurab...

Black Magic. What to do if your patient seems cursed? They’ve been sick for a long time and don’t necessarily have positive tests for parasites or bacterial infection to justify their illness. Perhaps they’re not responding to your herbal formulas the way you think they should? Maybe they feel better for a few days and then relapse. It’s like an evil spell has been cast upon them and we need to ef...

This week we were blessed to have a great conversation with Roisin Golding about Chinese cosmology. As fans of the tv show Dr Who – Phi and Clare were both very excited to be discussing the idea that the Yellow Emperor could in fact be a Time Lord. Time Lord or not – we discuss how Huang Di ascended to heaven, as described in the Su Wen: In former times there was Huang Di. When he came to life, he...

Do you know which nutritional approach provides the quickest way to reset the immune system? We covered it in this episode! The gems of dietary wisdom continue to flow in part 3 of different diets to help your patients. In this episode Phi and Clare cover ketogenic diets, fruit cleanses, fasting. We touch on the age-old question of “Should I be vegetarian or vegan?” and we talk about organic...

The 4 directions are governed by animal symbols: The Red Vermillon Bird of the South, The Azure Dragon of the East, The White Tiger of the West, The Black Turtle of the North. The Yellow Dragon of the Centre oversees it all. Sit back and enjoy the ride as Jimi Wollumbin takes us on a journey to explore these majestic symbols that explain the processes of life. These mythopoetic unde...

Phi and Clare really love talking about food. So much that we recorded this second episode and still didn’t get through all the info we wanted to cover! Stay tuned for a third episode coming soon….. This week Phi and Clare discuss the intricacies of more nutritional approaches and the types of patients they are appropriate for: Paleo, Autoimmune Paleo, what to do with legumes, avoiding a...

Phi and Clare love talking about food. Nutrition is one of those topics that really gets us fired up – and in this episode you can share in our deep passion and love for the intricacies of different food combinations for different patients. This week Phi and Clare discuss the “Berfooda” Triangle – The nutritional Trifecta of Doom: gluten, dairy and cane sugar. Should our patients be eati...

This week we are lucky to have Gye Bennetts join us again to discuss things that can get in the way of your acupuncture treatments having the best effect. More 5 element wisdom in this episode as we go into discussion of Entry-Exit blocks, Possession and the Seven Dragons, plus the importance of clearing Aggressive Energy – and how not to do it!! Gye has also included some notes to go with today’s...

Gye Bennetts joins us this week for a discussion about 5 element diagnosis. We hear from Gye about his first experience with 5 element acupuncture, and we even have his great impersonation of the 5 sounds associated with each element. Such a treat! Gye has also included some notes to go with today’s episode,  Heavenly Qi Podcast – 5 Element Diagnosis  to use as a reference for yourself....

Chip Chace joins us this week to discuss palpation based Chinese Medicine. How can you know for sure that your acupuncture treatment has improved someone’s Qi? What is the herbal formula you’ve prescribed actually doing to the Jin Ye fluids? How can you know this for sure – rather than relying on crossed fingers? Chip has delved into the intricacies of palpation, and has refined some techniqu...

How do you get onto good terms with your cosmic receptionist? – and why do you even need a cosmic receptionist? Expect that you will have feelings of competency that will wax and wane with time. Expect to have years where you will feel like you are totally nailing it. Then maybe a few years on, you will have periods of time where feel like you know nothing – as the universe sends you a bunch...

Why did Zhang Zhong Jing give Chi Shao to pregnant women? What happens if you use the wrong type of Chai Hu? How do you know if your Gui Zhi is any good? Simon Feeney has been delving into the intricacies of Han Dynasty medicine according to the writings of Zhang Zhong Jing – and we discuss these topics and more in detail in this week’s episode. Simon Feeney has a very deep relationship with Zhang...

How big is a Han Dynasty egg yolk? How does this help us to prescribe Li Zhong Wan properly – as the way Zhang Zhong Jing intended? Simon Feeney reveals all in this episode on classical Han dynasty herbal medicine. Simon Feeney has a very deep relationship with Zhang Zhong Jing as the eternal mentor. What he has learned through his study of the Shang Han Lun and the Jing Gui Yao Lue is only enhanc...

This week Clare and Phi talk with Dr Kerry Watson OMD about using Classical Chinese Medicine for the treatment of Shen Disorders. incorporating meditation into treatment plans for patients how disharmony within each of the 5 elements can manifest in the Shen in different ways the links between transpersonal psychology, Buddhist and Daoist psychology and using these frameworks as a basis for u...

Are cooked foods always essential for someone with weak Spleen Qi? How much of Spleen Qi function falls under the anatomical pancreas? How did we end up talking about the way the large intestine functions as governed by the Spleen? Phi and Clare raise many questions, and answer some of them, whilst leaving some open for discussion. We discuss the ways in which yet again Chinese medicine offers pol...