Qiological Podcast

Some learning is more transmitted than taught. Observation, touch, the kind of connection that does not rely upon words. We love to make sense, especially to ourselves. But the theories in our heads, the maps of thought that can point the way, but are not the way; these can lull us into a feeling we understand when in fact our understanding is limited and limiting.Developing a way to sense directly. Learning from pre-modern books that show us another way of perceiving. And being able to be present to our own unfolding experience in an attentive way. These are more than skills; these are ways expanding our sensorium so that we can both get out of our way and at the same time be present with our patients in ways that can help us not to miss the clues and cues that our theory focused mind would certainly overlook.Listen into this conversation on the benefit of old books and how sensing opens vistas that theory can only point towardsHead on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Chinese medicine is fractal nature. We can take the broad principles outlined in the Yi Jing, Five Phases or Six Jing and watch as they help us to tune in the particular level of life in which we are embedded or observing. Be it the resonance from tendon, to Liver, to Spring to the arising energy of the East. Or the way Taiyang cold balances Shaoyin heat. Or how the trigrams of water and fire are mirror images. The ancient Chinese sciences and philosophy can help us to unfold a phase within the ever-shifting tides of change.Today’s conversation takes one of these fractal perspectives, the heavenly stems and branches, and investigates how it shows up in the practice of acupuncture.Listen in to this conversation on how the stems and branches are reflected not just in heavenly cycles, but in the arrangement of acupuncture points and how this fractal energy can help enliven the work we do with our hands and needles. Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Our lives unfold in space-time. It’s the water in which we swim and so like fish, it is difficult to know the influence of the matrix within which we live our days and experiences our lives.The Chinese ba zi, the eight characters, is a system based on the heavenly stems and branches that can help us to orient to the influences that shape us and can guide us in making sense of certain seasons of our lives.While often used as a kind of 算命, suan ming, fortune telling system. The Ba Zi can help us or our patients to better understand the arising and falling away of particular influences that can affect our health and wellbeing.Listen in to this conversation on how these eight characters of influence can help us to orient to the cycles of heaven and earth.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Books on herbal medicine go way back, back into the misty time of myth and story. We have Shen Nong with his peculiar ability to taste and feel the influences of plants. We have the foundational writings of astute practitioners like Zhang Zhong Jing, Li Shi Zhen and Ye Tian Shi. And then there are the thousands of years of regular doctors like you and I, who have recorded their clinical experience so future generations of practitioners might glean something of their experience and perspective. As with all East Asian medicine there is more than one perspective we can use to understand the nature of humans and world, and how we might be able to assist with our patient's health. The Tang Ye Jing, the classic of decoctions, is an ancient text that looks at herbal medicine from the perspective of the five phases and invites us to consider the use of flavor in a way you might not have considered. There is some debate on the authenticity of this text. Regardless of origin, the Tang Ye Jing provides us with another perspective that can help us to think in another way about the actions of herbs and the workings of human physiology.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

The classics are more than just a way to focus our thinking in clinic, they are part of a perspective that sees the world as an integrated and ever evolving whole.It can be a challenge for us with our modern linear, rational, material perspective to grasp the the fractal perspective of a world that made up of resonance, and where observer and observed are both parts of a greater whole.Listen into this conversation on the classic medicine perspective as it can unfold both in clinic and our lives. Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

The pulse is emblematic of Chinese medicine. It is a highly subjective measure that helps us to orient in helpful ways toward a patient’s problem and their strengths.While most any practitioner would tell you the pulse is vitally important in accessing a patient’s condition, the ways in which we can approach and interact with the pulse are wide and varied.In this conversation we explore the pulse and how we as practitioners can use it as an exploration not just of the patient, but of our own process as well.

In this episode of Qiological we are taking a look at dry needling not from the legal or scope of practice point of view, but rather from the viewpoint of how acupuncturists can learn something from this form of acupuncture that has quickly grown in popularity among our conventional medicine colleagues.We all know that acupuncture can be powerful medicine. Little wonder that other professionals would like to be able to access its healing power. And in some ways, conventional practitioners have a leg up, as they already speak the language of the dominate culture, and have a certain status due to being associated with “scientific” medicine.In this panel discussion with three experienced and dedicated acupuncturists we explore what East Asian medicine practitioners can learn from the dry needling community.Listen in to this conversation that is less about legalities and more about opening up an uncomfortable avenue for learning.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

We often think of moxibustion as a potent way to add heat and yang into the body. But if you only think of moxa as heat, then you’re missing the power of the perspective that moxa is about creating a specific kind of stimulation in the body.Listen in to today’s conversation as we explore how Japanese moxa techniques can be helpful in treating antibiotic resistant tuberculosis. And how our guest has taken resources from Japan, along with research and his own experience in Africa of using moxa to help make a difference in the lives of those suffering from the modern drug resistant forms of TB.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.  

Perceiving and sensing are not the same. It might seem that the stream of information coming in through our senses arrives passively. But further investigation proves this incorrect. And in fact our perceiving not only is an active process, but can become richer, deeper, more nuanced and integrated when we actively bring our attention to help us sense more deeply into our work and interaction with others.In this conversation we explore how sensing and esthetics help us to better connect with our patients and ourselves. How perception moves through the six levels. And how non-dual states of awareness change what is an “effective action” with our patients.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview. 

East Asian medicine has one foot in the skills and practice of medicine, and another in the traditions and influence of culture. How it is thought about and used in a place like Taiwan bears some similarity to how we practice in the West, and there are also significant differences.Culture and habit are inseparable from the experiences people have in making sense of world and how they approach illness and health.Listen in to this conversation on a Western practitioner’s view of doing Chinese medicine inside of the traditional culture of Taiwan.Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.