Qiological Podcast

Grief and fear are a potent combination of influences, and when you add the pressure cooker effect of Covid-19 and all that entails it can be powerfully disruptive to our collective wellbeing. Seanna Sifflet and Heidi Lovie explore how our medicine and our presence can help our patients and our communities to navigate through the choppy waters of our times. 

In Oran Kivity’s review of Finding Effective Acupuncture Points we not only get a taste for the character and content of the book. We are also treated to some valuable insights into acupuncture points, needle technique and useful fundamentals on thinking about and locating points.

When we think of the essential aspects of the human being, we think Jing, Qi and Shen. When you think about the health, wellbeing and flourishing of your business; what are the essentials you consider? If you did not consider marketing, you might want to think again. And give MB Huwe a listen here, because marketing is an essential aspect of your practice that you ignore at your peril, and your ma...

Shaoyang issues have a kind of cyclical nature. The problems come and go with a wobbly periodicity. Not unlike the wheel of a bicycle that is slightly out of true.  The flaring of heat and uprising of qi can be seen through this lens. In this case presentation with Eran Even we get a glimpse of this shaoyang dynamic and see how a clinical presentation that you might also see illuminates a lin...

Knowing a little medical Chinese can be very helpful in learning and practicing the medicine.  This review of the Chinese Medical Characters app will give you a good overview of the app, along with some encouragement for the process of helping yourself by learning the basic characters that will help you to better understand and think about our medicine.

It’s easy to think of our practices as “acupuncture.” But the truth is our practices are first and foremost— a business. An infrastructure that allows us to do the healing work we do. The business is as separate from the practice as the mind is from the body. Which is to say; not at all.  If you’re taking the pulse of your business, the overhead is one of the parameters you need to pay attent...

Through the boundaries of time, language and culture East Asian medicine has found its way into the West. But there is a cultural component that we often don’t consider. And that can make a difference in the effectiveness of our clinical work.  Furthermore, our modern culture disportionately values curing over healing, and sometimes there is no cure. But the whole-person aspect of our medicin...

Slipping into sleep. It’s the simplest thing to do. Or the most difficult. The quietude of sleep is a reflection of the activity in our lives. And if that cycle wobbles with an imbalance, it can be difficult to correct. In this discussion with Damiana Corca we explore why some ideas make sense in theory, but don’t work so well in actual practice. And some perspectives on how the taiyin, shaoyin an...

Do you know the costs that go into creating the opportunity for a patient to lay on your table? Do you know how much you're paying yourself? Have you built a profit into your business?  We all know that word of mouth is the best form of marketing, but have you taught your patients how to talk about your practice to their family and friends? In this conversation with Laura Christensenwe talk b...

We often think of negotiation as a win/loss proposition that focuses around business deals, finances, large purchases and perhaps hostage situations. What we don’t consider is that negotiation is part and parcel of the work we do in clinic as we help our patients to integrate aspects of themselves or their situation into a higher state of health and wellness. In this conversation with Margot Rossi...

Any seasoned practitioner leans on the patient practitioner relationship. There is something in the interaction that cannot be separated from the response they have to our treatment.  In this conversation with Vitaly Napadow we discuss the Art of Medicine and how fMRI imaging from the brains of patients and practitioners with an established clinical relationship gives us a breathtaking glimps...

Learning medicine requires books, memorization , and knowledge. But knowledge without practice is useless. It is through the clinical encounter with patients that the principals come to life and the medicine goes from theory to living practice.  In this 200th episode of the Qiological Denise Hung, a student, shares her questions and thoughts about mentors and mentorship in Chinese medici...

Our job in clinic is to help people both through knowing what treatment to provide and having the ability to discern how to help when the signs are not clear. We constantly dance with both knowing and not-knowing. In this conversation with Ben Hawes we discuss how the alignment of the vertebra on the spine tells a story and helps to guide an acupuncture treatment. And beyond that how we tease apar...

The ancient Chinese were not the only people to observe nature and develop medicine in the service of relieving suffering and promoting health. But they were the only culture that wrote it down and managed through the centuries to preserve significant portions of it.  In this conversation with Edward Chiu we discuss writing case reports, which is a time honored process of how medicine has bee...

In nature we see that rivers have a flow and shape, but in times of flooding or if there are obstructions they will find other ways to move their water downstream. The divergent channels can be seen as a channel phenomenon that allows the main channels to deal with various kinds of excess.  In this conversation with David Euler we explore his perspective on divergent channels and his process...

Attending to yin in a world that preferences yang does not come easy, and perhaps only begins to catch our attention once we’ve reached the edge of what activity can sustain.  In this conversation with Brodie Welch we look at how sometimes subtracting counterintuitive as it seems, allows our lives to be richer and fuller. Listen in to this conversation on quietude, the curious nature of chang...

This is a solo show where Michael shares the methods and formulas his teacher in Taiwan, Dr. Jiang Tong, used in the treatment respiratory illness. Here are two articles written by Dr. Jiang that Michael translated for The Lantern, that detail his thinking and formulations. An Exploration of Allergic Rhinitis Three Formulas for Cough

There are yin and yang ways to be with a horse, or for that matter— with a person as well. That yin aspect might be yielding, but it’s far from weak. And having a broad receptive gaze allows us to see the wholeness beyond the so-called broken parts of those we are here to serve. In this discussion with Sam McLean we look at some of the multifaceted aspects of using touch and presence. The importan...

Our work as practitioners involves restoration. We know that neither we nor our patients are separate from the natural world. Our daily clinic might be focused on the microcosm that is our patient, but we know that their relationships to family, kin and friends are also part of the tapestry of their lives. As is the health and vitality of their communities and world at large. In this conversation...

There is a saying in Chinese, 以人為本, Understanding a person is basis of knowing how to treat them. Our work requires we both understand our medicine, and understand how it applies to that individual who sits before us in our clinic. In this conversation with Bryan McMahon we explore the importance of congruence in health and illness, take a look at the dynamics of counterflow that will give you...

What is the best business model and size of acupuncture practice? That depends on the practitioner, their values, goals and individual perspective. Just like our medicine, while there are core principles that form a foundation, the methods that arise and the various ways to engage the medicine and a practice as unique as each individual. In this conversation Ji Ling Lin, a fairly recent graduate,...

Mistakes and discoveries go hand in hand. And there is really no way to get it right in medicine without getting wrong on the way to getting right. This is another in a continuing series of conversations between Toby Daly along with Laura Christensen and Sharon Weizenbaum who are actively engaged in learning the Saam acupuncture method. While we know that the practice of medicine requires of us co...

We think of the meridians as being a connective network within the body. But it is the fluids that actually permeate all the organs and tissues, and in a sense connect and allow for communication between all aspects of the body. And at the same time provide the medium for nourishment and exchange. In this discussion with Steve Clavey we discuss the vital role of fluids, the vast connectivity of th...

East Asian medicine practitioners want to be helpful. That is often a large part of what drew us to this work. Sometimes being helpful is not in what we say yes to, but rather that to which we say, no. In this discussion with Elisa Yip we look at how saying no is deeply related to our ethical and moral stances. How our “yes” is more trustworthy when we can say “no,” and that there is a lot we can...

Confidence at the beginning of any endeavor, especially at the beginning of a medical practice, a new business, or new career is not possible. You may have some skills, tools and competence in their use. But confidence, that comes later after you’ve had some skin in the game and learned to sort out problems and challenges on your own. In this discussion with Vanessa Menendez-Covelo we explore how...