We've made it to the end of the Hero's Journey! Our final stop is the Liver, a powerful organ and meridian that works with the whole body. Sometimes called a General (or in modern terms the Big Boss Manager), we talk about the common ways it can get unbalanced and cause problems. Liver is expressed through anger, so we talk about what it means to be angry, how to manage the energy that comes with it, and finding role models to help learn how to channel anger into making changes. 

The Gall Bladder is the decision-maker of the body, helping us pivot from side to side. So what happens when your gallbladder is removed?? Luckily they can't take the Meridian! We talk about what roles the organ and the meridian play in maintaining balance, relaxing and strengthening the psoas muscle, and how to stay curious about your body.

Raymond & Billy talk about the supplemental fire meridians of the body, the Pericardium and Triple Heater (aka Triple Warmer aka San Jiao). We talk about the three burners, the discovery of a new organ that acupuncturists already knew about, how to give your heart a hug, and some general overview of these meridians in the body and what select points we use most often. 

This episode focuses on Kidney, the Yin meridian of the Water Element and the filtrator of our bodily fluids. We talk about restorative postures you can do in the late afternoon, what to eat to tonify your energy, how the 7 year cycle impacts the body, and how fear and trauma relate to the Kidney's role. (The conversation was recorded last winter, so there are no mentions of the pandemic or civil uprisings.)

Hi folks, we're back from winter break! We took time off that got a little extended - you may have heard about this global pandemic?! The conversation was recorded last fall, so there will be no mentions of current events. This episode begins our descent into the unconscious and Water element: we talk about the (Urinary) Bladder and how it relates to fluids in the body, our body's sense of urgency and safety, fears, healing trauma, the power of storytelling, and peering into the abyss.  We talk about how shiatsu therapists work the meridian versus how acupuncturist needle it, and how developing a touch sensitivity is both a practice and medicine available to everyone. 

A small episode in honor of the illustrious Small Intestine. Some say the way to someone's heart is through their stomach, but the Small Intestine may be the real gatekeeper. Sifting and sorting to determine what is true and allowed to pass. A highway that can take us all through the body, but especially good for shoulder and neck pain. Shiatsu therapist Raymond and acupuncturist Billy talk about how they use the channel in their work. 

The Heart is one of the few organs in the Western world that has as many metaphoric meanings as biological ones, how does it compare to the meaning of the Heart meridian in East Asian medicine?  Raymond & Billy talk about how the Heart fits into the cycle of the body and ways to take care of it on the emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical levels. 

"Soups and Stews", "Transporting and Transforming", this episode is all about the Spleen: the yin companion to Stomach. We talk about the concept of Dampness in Chinese Medicine, cooked vs raw food, boosting your Spleen qi, and why eating ice cream makes you a rebel. Learn how to nourish your body's original sweetness.

The Stomach channel is the next stop on our journey through the body, in this episode we talk about digestion from the start of the cycle, as well as how our emotions and desires play into physical and metaphoric appetites and digestion.

Let's talk about our bowel movements! And other issues related to the Large Intestine, like letting go and processing grief. The words 'poop' 'stool' and 'sh*t' get used a lot in this episode, and while we have a sense of humor about it, we avoid being gratuitous or excessively gross. Everybody poops!