Qiological Shoptalk

Acupuncture and Western medicine don't have to speak different languages. Practitioners who understand both can offer something neither tradition delivers on its own. In this conversation, I sit down with Dr. Chi-Chi Tang — physiatrist, former St. Louis Rams team physician, and acupuncture practitioner — to explore what a sports medicine lens brings to needling work. We discuss why palpation is mi...

Sports medicine isn’t just about elite athletes. Many of the same principles apply to everyday patients recovering from injuries, surgery, chronic pain, and repetitive strain. As practitioners, we’re always looking for ways to support healing while working with the body’s natural recovery processes. In this conversation, I sit down with Laura Christiansen to explore microcurrent therapy and its ro...

Sports acupuncture isn’t about long treatment plans or complicated theory—it’s about precision, trust, and results athletes can feel quickly. True mastery comes through repetition, refining the fundamentals until assessment and treatment become second nature. In this Shoptalk, we sit down with Whitfield Reeves to explore what it really takes to work with athletes through a Chinese medicine lens. W...

Pregnancy care is often approached with caution, yet it reflects overall health—not something to fear or avoid. It’s not about rigid rules or avoiding certain points, but understanding the body and responding with intention. True care isn’t about doing less—it’s about using the right tools at the right time. In this Shoptalk, we sit down with Deborah Betts to explore pregnancy care through a Chine...

Male fertility is often overlooked, yet it reflects overall health—not just reproductive function. It’s not defined by a single test result, but by how well the body is functioning beneath the surface. True care isn’t about chasing numbers, but improving the environment that supports healthy sperm. In this Shoptalk, we sit down with Naomi Skoglund to explore male fertility through a Chinese medici...

Clinically, when we look at sexual health in the post-reproductive years, it becomes clear that hormonal change is only part of the picture. Tissue changes, reduced spontaneous desire, and discomfort often reflect a broader shift across biology, mindset, and environment. Effective care isn’t about restoring libido on demand, but supporting the body’s capacity to adapt as these systems change. In t...

When supporting development, it’s often the small, well-timed interventions that make the greatest difference. It may not look dramatic, but real change happens when we meet the body at the point it’s ready to move and respond. In this Shoptalk we sit down with Stephen Cowan for a conversation on developmental cycles and how growth unfolds through the lens of Chinese medicine, exploring the early...

When we work with menopause in the clinic, we quickly see that hormones alone don’t determine the outcome. Sleep disruption, heat, and weight changes often reflect how the body is adapting to a major physiological transition. Effective treatment isn’t about correcting hormone levels alone, but about supporting the body’s capacity to adjust as its internal resources shift. In this conversation, we...

When we work with perimenopause, we find it isn’t hormones alone that determine the outcome. It’s the body’s capacity to adapt to change. Effective treatment isn’t about replacing what is declining, but restoring resilience so the system can regulate itself. In this Shoptalk, we sit down with Lorne Brown for a clinical conversation on understanding perimenopause through the lens of Chinese medicin...

When treating warm pathogens, it’s small well-timed interventions that bring about effective clinical results. The treatment doesn’t look dramatic, the key to success is meeting the body where it’s ready to respond. In this Shoptalk we sit down with Kerri Westhauser for a conversation on using Wen Bing formulas in the treatment of colds, flu and coughs. We’ll discuss why the oversimplification of...

Seasonal colds move like shifting weather through the body—from icy surface invasion to lingering damp in the lungs. In this Shop Talk conversation, Andreas Brüch shares how Saam acupuncture maps these changes with clarity and precision. We explore how Taiyang strategies open the surface at the earliest stage, why the Urinary Bladder meridian can be used even when patients feel chilled, and how Lu...

Colds and coughs arrive uninvited, rearrange our plans, and remind us that the body has its own weather systems—its own logic for how things move, settle, and resolve. Treating colds well requires more than naming a pathogen; it asks us to pay attention to terrain, timing, and the person standing in front of us. In this conversation with Andrew Nugent-Head, we explore respiratory illness through t...

Ever underestimate a simple tool? Sometimes what looks like folk medicine turns out to hold profound clinical value. In this Shop Talk, we get into gua sha with Carly Herrero, an acupuncturist and massage therapist from Maine who’s made this deceptively simple technique a cornerstone of her clinical work. Listen into this conversation as we explore how gua sha acts like a “controlled burn”—creatin...

It’s the quiet, gentle skills that often enough create the most change in clinic, especially for kids. The techniques easily overlooked because they seem so subtle, gentle or simple, it’s these interventions the body soaks in with a thirst. In this Shop Talk, we sit down with Maya Suzuki, a practitioner rooted in Japanese medicine, whose work with pediatrics reveals just how responsive, intuitive,...

Cold and flu season arrives on schedule every year. Patients walk with symptoms of not being quite well and if you’re paying attention—you can discern the pattern as it shifts and moves. The body tells you where the pathogen has landed, and what it’s up to. In this shoptalk with Eran Evan , we investigate the colds both from the Jing Fang perspective and also take into account the habits of modern...

Kidney essence is precious and not easily replenished. This Shoptalk segment discusses how the Kidney needs material form to create essence. And that it is the Yangming channels with their yang action that help the digestive system to extract the clear qi from food and fluids, and this in turn becomes the material that can transform into essence. This is a simple and effective set of points for bu...

This Shop Talk is a discussion of the differences between the Zangfu organ system and that of the Jingluo.  A brief history is given, as are mentions of the differing relationships between the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches with regard to the Zangfu organs and Jingluo channels.  An example of this is that the internal Zangfu organ Lung is attributed to Metal; whereas the Hand Taiyin...

In this Shop Talk segment John Scott the co-founder of Golden Flower Chinese Herbs discusses the use of Hua Tou points for the treatment of shingles. Additionally, how these points are useful for lower jiao issues like increasing male fertility and for prostate issues.  Golden Flower Chinese Herbs also offers herbal formulations for these conditions and many more. Visit them at www.gfcherbs.c...

In this Shop Talk Michael Max reflects on 25 years of practice and the importance of running a business as a cultivative  practice. We go into the importance not of “faking it till you make it,” but rather using the learning of the early days to better hone your skills and more thoroughly understand who you are, and what your ideal practice really looks like. Additionally we explore the issue...

In this Shop Talk Jason Robertson discusses the importance of putting your hands on your patients heads to understand where physically the points actually are located. He draws from his experience with Dr Wang Ju-Yi in discussing how points are “jie” which you can think of as junctions or spaces, they’re notable by the way they feel. And this isn’t just for points on the head, but through the body...

Leta Herman, co-founder of the Alchemy Learning Center, shares her insights into the world of the Thirteen Ghost Points, a mystical aspect of acupuncture that she has been practicing for almost two decades. These points, often overlooked or misunderstood, hold transformative potential but require a level of practitioner self-cultivation before their full power can be harnessed.  Leta emphasiz...

Join Leta Herman as she shares her perspective on why Chaotic Energy treatments (also known as Aggressive Energy) are so helpful in today's fast paced, modern world. In the past 20 years, Leta has witnessed a significant rise in CE due to increased world-wide stress, smartphones, wearables and a constant media exposure. Chaotic Energy spreads through the Ke cycle, affecting multiple organ systems...

How and why could learning classical Chinese make you a better clinician? Here are a couple of possible reasons: Reading the Chinese medicine classics directly, instead of modern textbooks about them, facilitates a more direct and hence authentic transmission, thereby giving you maximum clarity and efficacy through precise diagnosis and treatments rooted in the Chinese medicine paradigm.  It...

In this Shop Talk I’ll be sharing three reasons why I practice Sasang Medicine. Reason #1 Food first The condition of the constitution always affects treatment outcome, prevention, overall health and longevity. People vary in their balance and do not inherently all have strong constitutions. People need to nourish their weakness and not feed what is already too strong. Eating all 5 tastes equally...

In this shoptalk on self-cultivation, Chris Shelton his perspective on the world of Qigong and its profound healing powers. Leaning on his experience of having Qigong profoundly change his life, he shares his practice that unites movement, breath, and mind-focus to harness the body's innate ability to heal. Chris explains how Qigong promotes the harmonious flow of qi, and addresses imbalances and...