Qiological Podcast

How we know, and how we know we know. Our capacity to sit with our patients in that liminal space of not knowing. And the ability to navigate uncertainty in the process of unfolding a treatment. All these are processes that aren’t so easily taught, but can be learned.  In this conversation with Taran Rosenthal we investigate the process of investigation. Mull over how we bring together though...

針灸 Needles and Moxa, it is right there in the Chinese characters that are translated as “acupuncture.” Moxa is as fundamental to our practices as needles. The applications of burning mugwort run the gamut from cheap acrid Chinese pole moxa to ultra refined sweet scented Japanese moxa. And the techniques vary as well from the smoky moxa boxes to the whisper thread of smoke from the tiny rice grai...

Leaves on a plant curl and turn yellow when the soil is not right. The health of a cat is reflected in the texture of its fur and clearity in the eyes. Likewise with people we can discern states of wellness or illness by attending to those parts of the body that are the first to show the signs of change. And so over the centuries we’ve learned to trust the reflections we see from the pulse, abdome...

The fundamentals root our practice. The basics that we learn in the beginning not only never go away, but deepen with experience. This is why regardless of lineage or method, Chinese medicine practitioners can communicate with each other as we share a common parlance. The fundamentals of yin yang, the motion of the five phases, and the ways excess & deficiency help us to understand the root of...

Our job as clinicians is to help our patients. And to help them we must first understand them. Which is easier said than done, especially as we all have different ways of being in the world, our perception has a lot to do with which senses we like to rely upon and the way we frame the world in turn frames our treatments. In this conversation with Paul Movsessian we touch on the sensate world of Ja...

When you’re running a business, be it an acupuncture clinic, tech company, plumbing service or coaching practice there are core principles that can spell the differences between failure and success. In this conversation with Mark Asquith we noodle on the First Principles that apply every bit as much to the software and podcast services that he has created, as they do to creating an acupuncture pra...

Heartbreak is unavoidable. It’s not a flaw in character or make up humans, it’s a feature. It’s what allows us to grow beyond the bounds and limits of family, friend group, peers and whatever group identity we find that gives a sense of belonging and security.  Heart break expands our boundaries, the question is does it break you open or break you closed? In this conversation with Margot Ross...

Love it or hate it, social media has seeped its influence into many corners of our lives. Most people have at least one social media platform that acts as a kind of morning news, local gossip coffee shop, private printing press, or digital campfire where we gather to tell and listen to stories. Stories that can incite riots, or stories that remind us of our shared humanity.  In this conversat...

Money is the lifeblood of every business; it’s the Qi. And an acupuncture practice can not ignore the basics of business. The main focus of a Chinese Medicine practitioner is to deliver holistic care to patients – in essence creating a safe space to share the medicine. But if you’re in business for yourself, you have to come to terms with the idea of exchanging healing services for money. Running...

There are many schools of thought, methods both ancient and modern, practices based on lineage and those idiosyncratically synthetic. It is easy to think that what you understand is correct, and all too often medicine is practiced with a bit of an attachment to dogma. But biases are dangerous, and they narrow your field of vision—influencing your work as a practitioner. Plus, what happens when the...

It’s easy to have beliefs about people we don’t know. Especially if they tick the boxes of our biases, prejudice, ignorance and the opinions of our friends. When you think about successful stock market investors you’re probably not thinking about people with compassion, curiosity, spiritually and a sense of fair play. But for some of the top level investors that he interviews, you’ll find humility...

Traditions tell a story. They hold and transmit insights into cultural, religious, and sometimes medical practices. They can give us a glimpse into how family lineages consider and refine aspects of medicine learned in the institutional settings.  In this conversation with Dr. Shoubin Yu and Anthony DiSalvo, we explore some of the methods and perspective of the Yu Family Chines...

As practitioners of Chinese Medicine, it’s our responsibility to address all aspects of our patient’s experience: mind, body, and spirit. This demands that we listen carefully to the various streams of information at our disposal—whether from our learned experience or from what the patient’s body is telling us. In this conversation with Velia Wortman, we explore the importance of paying attention...

How we think influences what we do. The models and frameworks we use to understand not just our medicine, but the world itself,  opens or limits the options we can offer our patients for treatment. While the Venn Diagrams of East Asian and Western medicine share some overlap, at their core they are rooted in very different world views. Which in turn influences how we might be able to help our...

Stacey Whitcomb, the guest of this conversation was on Qiological, at the beginning of 2018, she was just graduating from Chinese medicine school and thoroughly psyched about building a business.    In this episode we check in and see where she's at 8 months down the road. What's working, what needs some tuning and how the "practice of practice" informs her days and decisions.

I’m reminded of the stillness of cats. How they can sit both still and yet completely and serenely attentive. So too with resonance, there is the yin aspect of stillness with the yang expression of vibrating with the influence of the environment. And in the middle, ren, person, the human heart. In this discussion with Diane Fabian-Smith we look into empathy, along with the filters and boundaries t...

Pulse palpation…the telling touch in Chinese Medicine. It’s an integral aspect of East Asian that  is simple in some ways, and deeply nuanced and complex in others. Feeling and interpreting a patient’s pulse is only one facet of clinical interaction. A practitioner has to be present and mindful of the patient; mindful of the experience. In this conversation with Ross Rosen, we talk extensivel...

Life has a way of nudging us in different directions. Some find inspiration in life-changing events; others in the smallest of things. But whichever path we take, we all have stories of how we got to do what we do. In this discussion with Rodrigo Aranda, we not only discuss his backstory and the stepping stones that led him to practice Chinese Medicine—but also how Chinese Medicine got to South Am...

How we are with ourselves affects how we are with patients. Our own difficulties in life can assist us in helping others, but it requires that we are able to come to a sense of neutrality with those traumas of the past.  In this conversation with Seanna Sifflet we discuss using our own feelings, the healing potentials in empathy and forgiveness, and the importance of overcoming our own biases...

Thinking about autoimmune illness from the Chinese medicine perspective is vastly different from how we think about in modern biomedicine terms. And the four levels of wei, qi, ying and xue are very helpful in giving us a framework for diagnosis and treatment.  In this conversation with Bryan McMahon we explore the complex, and often contradictory dynamics, of autoimmune conditions, And how t...

Community is something we often talk about, and yet it is not easily defined.  Our practices include not just us and our business, but the ecosystems of commerce, profession, and location.  In this conversation with Eric Grey with touch on how our profession is relatively new in the western world, how it is rapidly changing and growing as East Asian medicine makes its way into our cultur...

We all know the feeling of having a hunch, of getting a glimpse, of having a kind of knowing that does not come from thinking or knowledge. There might have been a time in your life when using your intuition was as natural as enjoying the feel of sunshine on your skin. Like any skill or sense, intuition is an innate aspect of our sensorium that can be trained and developed. In this conversation wi...

Much of our medicine is shrouded in myth, and one of the obscure, but persistent figures is that of Bian Que, the bird-headed healer first associated with the use of stone needles. In this conversation with Shelley Ochs we discuss her Ph. D dissertation on this mythic character that adorns ancient tombs, and shows upin imagery that suggests a connection between the heavenly and earthly realms. Chi...

“What is my purpose? Why am I here?” These are questions that we all grapple with at one time or another in our personal and professional lives. But finding the right answers is often elusive—mainly because our focus tends to be narrow and we fail to ask the right questions. In this discussion, we welcome back Sam MacLean to delve into the topic of knowing your path, drawing on her experiences. Sa...

Language creates walls or openings. We can attempt to coax our patients into our view of the world, or softly and with respect enter into theirs. There are clever ways to use language as a trick. But in the therapeutic setting it is far better to use language with respect, and that respect comes from a deep rooting in our presence and embodiment. In this dialogue with Margot Rossi and Nick Pole we...