Blue Beryl

PLEASE NOTE: Shortly, we will be changing our name to Black Beryl. Your subscription will automatically update and no action is necessary on your part. Thanks for your continued support! 

Today I sit down with Volker Scheid, an interdisciplinary scholar and longtime practitioner of Chinese medicine. Together, we take an intellectual deep dive into his thoughts about the importance of blurring disciplinary boundaries and how “meta-practice” can make sense of the many different kinds of Chinese medicines. Along the way, Volker and I discuss the commensurability of Chinese medicine and biomedicine, the importance of connecting the self with the ten thousand things, and how premodern ideas can be the basis of a new politics for modern times.

If you want to hear more from experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality then subscribe to Blue Beryl and don’t miss an episode! 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Volker’s website 
• Volker Scheid, Chinese Medicine in Contemporary China: Plurality and Synthesis (2002)
• Volker Scheid, Currents of Tradition in Chinese Medicine 1626-2006 (2007)
• Paul Unschuld, Chinese Medicine: A History of Ideas (2010)
• Annemarie Mol, The Body Multiple: Ontology in Medical Practice (2003)
• Pierce Salguero, “A Polyperspectival Asian Medicine Practice” (2020)
• Slavoj Žižek, “From Western Marxism to Western Buddhism” (2001)
• Volker’s blog

In this episode I sit down with Frances Garrett, a scholar of Tibetan culture, history, and language. We talk about Frances’s interests in embodiment and movement, and how her experiences as ballet dancer, surfer, and rock climber connect with her work on religion and healing. Our conversation focuses on her commitment to embodied and trauma-aware pedagogy, and how in the interest of flourishing, she engages the whole person in the learning process. Along the way, we talk about Tibetan bards, sacred mountains, and the importance of long walks. 

Enjoy! And, if you want to hear from more experts on Buddhist medicine and related topics, subscribe to Blue Beryl for monthly episodes here.


Resources 

• Michel Strickmann, Chinese Magical Medicine (2002)
• Frances Garrett, Religion, Medicine and the Human Embryo in Tibet (2008)
• Frances Garrett, Hidden Lands in Himalayan Myth and History (2020)
• Tsering Yangzom Lama, We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies (2022)
• Susan Hrach, Minding Bodies (2021)
• Jesse Stommel's ungrading website: www.jessestommel.com
• Susan D. Bloom, Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) (2020)
• Cate J. Denial, “A Pedagogy of Kindness” (2019)
• Frances's website: www.francesgarrett.info
• Windvane Project: www.windvane.life

Today I sit down with Blue Beryl's producer, Lan A. Li, a historian of Chinese science, medicine, and the body. We talk about their life-long practice of qigong, the limits of academic critique, and the integration of divergent epistemologies in studying Chinese anatomy. Along the way, we discuss Lan’s new book, Body Maps: Improvising Meridians and Nerves in Global Chinese Medicine, Lan’s relationship to Islam, and how to cultivate wonder through academic study.

If you want to hear more from experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality then subscribe to Blue Beryl and don’t miss an episode!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Lan’s website
• Lan Li, “The Vital Other: Integrative Medicine and India” (2012)
• Lan Li, “Acupuntura e Moxabustão” (2023)
• Lan Li and Pierce Salguero, Jivaka Project Philadelphia (2015-2020) 
• Pierce’s blogs on Ugly Truths about Grad School, Metamodernism, Metamodern Asian Medicine, and Polyperspectivalism
• Lan Li, Body Maps: Improvising Meridians and Nerves in Global Chinese Medicine (2025) 

In this episode I sit down with Ruth Westoby a scholar, teacher, and practitioner of  yoga. We discuss Ruth’s work on the body in early hatha yoga texts. We talk about the broad diversity of approaches to the material body in these sources, including their ideas about gender, the cultivation of powers, and approaches to liberation. Along the way, we touch on yogic sex, practices to stop menstruating, and the courageous work that modern practitioners have been doing to expose abuse by yoga gurus.

If you want to hear more from experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality then subscribe to Blue Beryl and don’t miss an episode!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Preliminary published results from Ruth’s research
• Mallinson and Szántó, The Amṛtasiddhi and Amṛtasiddhimūla (2021).
• Jason Birch, The Amaraugha and Amaraughaprabodha of Gorakṣanātha (2023).
• Elena Valussi, “The Physiology of Transcendence for Women” (2009)
• BBP episode with Dominic Steavu
• Hatha Yoga Project
• Articles on guru abuse by Pattabhi Jois: Anneke Lucas, Karen Rain, Amanda Lucia
• Inform Project
• Video footage of Ruth doing historical āsanas 
• Ruth’s website and email newsletter, Facebook page, Instagram

Today, I sit down with Theodora Wildcroft, a researcher, anthropologist, and long-time teacher of what she calls “post-lineage yoga.” We discuss Theo's ethnographic research on yoga in the UK, focusing on its connections with animism, paganism, and other somatic practices. We also dive into Theo’s personal approach to yoga as a liberatory practice that allows diverse bodies and minds to thrive. Along the way, we touch on disability, neuro-divergence, cultural appropriation, and the inescapable influence of colonialism for contemporary yogis. 

Enjoy! and subscribe to Blue Beryl for monthly episodes.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Theodora Wildcroft, Post Lineage Yoga: From Guru to #MeToo (2020)
• Theo Wildcroft & Harriet Mcatee, The Yoga Teacher's Survival Guide: Social Justice, Science, Politics, and Power (2024)
• Barbora Sojkova & Theodora Wildcroft, Yoga Studies in 5 Minutes (2025)
• Theo’s website: https://theowildcroft.com

Today I sit down with Willa Blythe Baker, a writer, translator, and teacher of meditation based on Himalayan Buddhist tradition. We talk about Willa’s early discovery of Buddhism with her mother, her time living as a nun, and our shared experience in graduate school at UVa. We then do a deep-dive into Buddhist tantra and the alchemical transformations of the body-mind that led to Willa’s most recent book, The Wakeful Body, published by Shambhala in 2021. If you find yourself in your head too much of the time, then this conversation is for you!

Enjoy! And, if you want to hear from more experts on Buddhist medicine and related topics, subscribe to Blue Beryl for monthly episodes here.

Willa's Publications and Activities 

• Natural Dharma Fellowship and Wonderwell Mountain Refuge
• The Wakeful Body: Somatic Mindfulness as a Path to Freedom (2021) 
• The Arts of Contemplative Care: Pioneering Voices in Buddhist Chaplaincy and Pastoral Work (2012)
• Everyday Dharma: Seven Weeks to Finding the Buddha in You (2009)
• Essence of Ambrosia: A Guide to Buddhist Contemplations (2005)

Today I sit down with Dr. Brandt Stickley, associate professor of classical Chinese medicine at the National University of Natural Medicine. We talk about Brandt’s approach, which he calls “nondual psychosomatic medicine.” We also explore how perceiving yin and yang moment by moment can be a portal to nondual experience, and how placing needles in a patient can open up a whole imaginal world of symbols and spirits. Along the way, we talk about phenomenology, Chinese herbs, and how premodern texts might literally speak to us.

Remember, if you want to hear from more experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality, subscribe to Blue Beryl for monthly episodes. Please enjoy!

 Resources mentioned in the episode:

• Brandt’s Patreon
• Brandt’s personal website

In this episode, I sit down with Naomi Worth, a scholar and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism’s postural yoga tradition. We dive into Naomi's experiences in yogic retreats, highlight the vigorous movement and intense visual elements of the practice, and explore yoga’s role in the Nyingma contemplative path. Naomi also shares how she balances her scholarship and practice of Tibetan knowledge with her current work as a high school teacher. Along the way, we mention wrathful deities, sky-gazing, and how to help teenagers find themselves in today’s modern culture.

Remember, if you want to hear from more experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality, subscribe to Blue Beryl for monthly episodes. Please enjoy!

Resources mentioned in the episode:

• Naomi’s website 
• Naomi’s publications on Academia.edu

Today I sit down with Justin B. Stein, a specialist in modern Japanese religion and the preeminent historian of Reiki. We discuss Justin’s new book, Alternate Currents, about the transnational origins of Reiki, and also get into his perspective as a both a scholar and a Reiki practitioner. Along the way, we ask what Reiki has to do with Buddhism, what subtle energy feels like up close, and what kinds of extraordinary experiences might occur when you open up to energy of the universe. 

Remember, if you want to hear from more experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality, subscribe to Blue Beryl for monthly episodes. Please enjoy!

Resources mentioned in the episode:

• C. Pierce Salguero, Buddhism and Medicine: An Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Sources (2020). Justin’s translation is Chapter 5, “Psychosomatic Buddhist Medicine at the Dawn of Modern Japan”
• Justin B. Stein, Alternate Currents: Reiki’s Circulation in the Twentieth-Century North Pacific (2023).
• BBP interview with Nathan Michon

I sit down with Dominic Steavu, a historian of Chinese religion and healing from UC Santa Barbara. We discuss the central role of the body in medieval Daoist practices, and talk about the Daoist use of psychedelics to facilitate mystical experiences. Along the way, we touch on talismanic tattoos, internal alchemy, and embodied nonduality. Plus, Dominic reveals what he thinks about aliens and the Wu-Tang Clan.  

Remember, to hear from more experts on Buddhism, Asian medicine, and embodied spirituality, subscribe to Blue Beryl. Please enjoy!

Resources related to this episode:

• Christine Mollier, Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face (2009)
• Pierce’s blog “In defense of a little romanticism… or, how Mr Miyagi inspired me to become a professor”
• Pierce Salguero, Buddhish: A Guide to the 20 Most Important Buddhist Ideas for the Curious and Skeptical (2022)
• Dominic Steavu, The Writ of the Three Sovereigns: From Local Lore to Institutional Daoism (2020)
• Dominic Steavu, Transforming the Void: Embryological Discourse and Reproductive Imagery in East Asian Religions (2015)
• Dominic’s Academia.edu page