Qiological Podcast

If you’ve studied Traditional East Asian Medicine in English, you no doubt have benefited from the work of today’s guest.

Dan Bensky has translated, written, published and taught for more years than most students entering an acupuncture school now have been alive.

He set off for Taiwan in the early 70’s to follow his interest in learning Chinese. Taiwan was still under martial law and the mainland… the mainland was going through the horrors of the Cultural Revolution. Chinese medicine, not even on the radar for him, but something happened in Taiwan.

Listen into this conversation on language, cultural, and learning medicine street smart style.

The book we used for studying acupuncture points at the Seattle Institute of Oriental Medicine was Foundations of Chinese Acupuncture. That along with Grasping the Wind were my entry into the study of channels and points. Both of those books had the handiwork of today’s guest, Andy Ellis.

Beyond those early translations, Andy has his fingerprints on a wide swath of books on herbal medicine and acupuncture.

Andy wandered his way into most of his learning. And he’s been generous with what he’s found.

Listen into this conversation on learning, finding teachers, and how putting yourself in front of what you’re curious about will open 緣分 Yuan Fen like opportunities, you can’t get any other way.

Often enough at the beginning of a sea change, you don’t know what’s coming next. You’re already part of a current, a flow, and while you can steer within current, you’re caught up in a flow that is beyond your capacity to fully understand.

In this conversation with Malvin Finkelstein we take a trip in the Wayback Machine to 197xx and his first encounter with acupressure, acupuncture and the potency of nutrition. We visit the early years of acupuncture education, the challenges of making a living when most states did not offer licenses to practice acupuncture, and crafting of standards and valid testing that would become the foundation for licensure.

Listen into this discussion of serendipity, passion, persistence and contribution.

What you grow up with, that’s what becomes normal. You could be smack dab in the middle of something extraordinary, but it’s simply everyday life for you.

In this conversation with Yvonne Lau we reflect on her experience of growing up as the daughter of immigrants from Southern China who ran an herb store in San Francisco’s Chinatown. It was a time when a few dedicated young people from the mainstream culture began to show a respectful and insatiable interest in Chinese medicine.

The interest of those young people was part of what would become a growing acceptance of Chinese medicine in the west. And the herb store; it too has grown through the years.

Listen into this conversation of playing hide and seek behind bags of uncut herbs, some of the characters who made up the Asian Chinese medicine community, how her parents herb store has become a major supplier of medicinals, and some of the challenges we face in this moment of time.

What do you do if you’re interested in learning and practicing acupuncture, but there are no schools, standards or licensure?

You built it yourself; with help of other spirited colleagues.

In this conversation with John Myerson we go back to the days when acupuncture was just coming into the mainstream of American life. It wasn’t there yet— but it was close enough to intuit.

John was there in the early days of the New England School of Acupuncture. And he helped to create the academic structures required to give our profession legitimacy in mainstream culture.

It was a grand experiment, gutsy when you think about it. And those early influential pioneers, they created the foundation we stand on today.

Listen into this discussion of vision, steadfastness and risk taking as we take a trip in the Wayback Machine to a moment when acupuncture and East Asian medicine was just beginning to emerge into mainstream culture.

The transport points are rich in story, function, connection and seem to have a capacity for engaging qi in profound ways as it flows from the tips of the fingers and toes, up to the elbows and knees. Lou points are particularly interesting as they both connect yin and yang channels.

In this conversation with Sean Tuten we investigate the capacity of the luo channels to act as a first defense against overwhelming experiences that come from the outside. How they both protect against and can storage pathogenic influences. More importantly, the kind of treatment that removes these obstructive influences.

Listen into this conversation on time streams, channel dynamics and understanding pathology as a useful response by the body.

The heart of our work, often enough, leans on the connections and capacity of the heart.

In this conversation with Ross Rosen we explore the importance of the patient-practitioner relationship, the concept of negotiating a diagnosis and some Daoist practices in medicine.

Listen into this discussion on practical clinical strategies and how traditional medicine intertwines and overlaps with our everyday lives.

East Asian medicine is a nature based medicine. And nature… nature is weird, and mysterious. And as much as we like to come up with “Laws of Nature” they are more like approximations. Useful for sure. But you’re asking for trouble if you confuse the map with the territory. And with nature, the territory is always changing. How do you keep your senses open and unencumbered with habit and belief? How do you stay present to what your patient might need in this particular moment? How do you wisely use knowledge in such a way that it doesn’t become dogma?

In this conversation with Edward Neal we discuss understanding nature’s patterns through East Asian medicine, the impact of technology on human consciousness, and how the Nei Jing helps us to map our way through nature and healing.

Listen into this discussion of nature based medicine, technology, consciousness and the importance of illuminative beauty and Shen based living.

The story of the blind men exploring the elephant is alluded to often enough that it’s easily  dismissed as cliche. And yet, the profound truth of how our senses and meaning making influence of our mind are worth pausing to consider.

In this conversation with Jason Robertson and Stephen Brown we consider the 理 Li, the patterning or connective coherence that runs through creation. As acupuncture and East Asian medicine are pattern languages, this concept touches on the core of our work.

We touch on how our methods and  ways of working come from this foundation of understanding pattern. Along with how theory is most helpful when balanced with know-how, and the importance of putting our hands on people. Perhaps our work is so not different from the blind men and the elephant.

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Mind and body are inextricably entangled together. The effect of emotions on the physiology leave a palpable trace. It’s something that we as practitioners can acquire the capacity  to discern and use as part of assessment and treatment.

In this conversation with Maya Suzuki we touch on how touch is a potent aspect of treatment. How it gives us direct access to a patient’s inner terrain, and how it gives us reliable information that stands apart from theory and protocol. We also explore unique properties of moxa and how it engages the adaptive healing process.

Listen into this discussion of how Maya followed the circuitous route that landed her in exactly the right place to study the medicine she wanted to learn since she was a child. And just happened to have the language skills that would allow her to engage it with depth.

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