Qiological Podcast

It’s easy to have beliefs about people we don’t know. Especially if they tick the boxes of our biases, prejudice, ignorance and the opinions of our friends. When you think about successful stock market investors you’re probably not thinking about people with compassion, curiosity, spiritually and a sense of fair play. But for some of the top level investors that he interviews, you’ll find humility, generosity and a deep abiding sense of the ​​ephemeral nature of the world and a habit of “cultivation” that would not be foreign to a Daoist, Buddhist or practitioner of the Kabbalah. 

In this discussion with William Green we talk about how top of the game investors lean on morality, responsibility, humility, intelligence and are eccentric in that they are able to face the uncertainty that goes hand in hand with investing and keep their own counsel when the rest of the world is telling them their wrong. We are talking about some high level Gong Fu here.

Listen into this conversation with William Green as we discuss his book Richer, Wiser, Happier and what he has learned about spiritually, generosity and self-cultivation from Masters of the Dow.

Traditions tell a story. They hold and transmit insights into cultural, religious, and sometimes medical practices. They can give us a glimpse into how family lineages consider and refine aspects of medicine learned in the institutional settings. 

In this conversation with Dr. Shoubin Yu and Anthony DiSalvo, we explore some of the methods and perspective of the Yu Family Chinese medicine traditions. Anthony is an apprentice of Dr. Yu—carrying down the Yu Family methods that go back over 500 years. We talk about the history of this family lineage, its underlying theories, and why it’s important to teach people how to utilize Chinese massage (Tuina) to overcome illness and prevent the onset of acquired diseases.

Listen to this discussion on generational health, Tuina massage, and the perspectives that characterize the Yu Dayi Method.

As practitioners of Chinese Medicine, it’s our responsibility to address all aspects of our patient’s experience: mind, body, and spirit. This demands that we listen carefully to the various streams of information at our disposal—whether from our learned experience or from what the patient’s body is telling us.

In this conversation with Velia Wortman, we explore the importance of paying attention to what the body is saying, using our senses to best serve our patients, how to discern subtle motion from wishful thinking, along with recognizing and avoiding overtreatment.

Listen into this discussion as we engage with our patient’s vitality through palpation, osteopathic listening methods and that curious space that arises between knowing and attending.

How we think influences what we do. The models and frameworks we use to understand not just our medicine, but the world itself,  opens or limits the options we can offer our patients for treatment. While the Venn Diagrams of East Asian and Western medicine share some overlap, at their core they are rooted in very different world views. Which in turn influences how we might be able to help our patients. 

In this conversation, with Brenda Hood we investigate the need for a distinction between East Asian medicine and Western medicine in practice, the importance of thinking about Chinese medicine in its own terms, and the failures that arise from mingling Western medical thinking into East Asian diagnostics and practice. 

Listen into this discussion on Eastern and Western philosophy and how that shapes not just our practices, but the future of East Asian medicine.

Stacey Whitcomb, the guest of this conversation was on Qiological, at the beginning of 2018, she was just graduating from Chinese medicine school and thoroughly psyched about building a business. 

In this episode we check in and see where she's at 8 months down the road. What's working, what needs some tuning and how the "practice of practice" informs her days and decisions.

I’m reminded of the stillness of cats. How they can sit both still and yet completely and serenely attentive. So too with resonance, there is the yin aspect of stillness with the yang expression of vibrating with the influence of the environment. And in the middle, ren, person, the human heart.

In this discussion with Diane Fabian-Smith we look into empathy, along with the filters and boundaries that allow us to connect without getting lost in the encounter.

Listen into this conversation on resonance, maintaining boundaries in our practice with patients, creating a friendly but firm relationship with our stories and egos. And respectfully engaging the inner terrain of our patients and ourselves in our clinical work.

Pulse palpation…the telling touch in Chinese Medicine. It’s an integral aspect of East Asian that  is simple in some ways, and deeply nuanced and complex in others. Feeling and interpreting a patient’s pulse is only one facet of clinical interaction. A practitioner has to be present and mindful of the patient; mindful of the experience.

In this conversation with Ross Rosen, we talk extensively about taking the pulse, connecting with the patient, being mindful of resources, and intervening appropriately for best outcomes. We dabble on topics surrounding implementing theories into clinical practice, Shen-Hammer pulse diagnosis, and understanding the patient’s psychology.

Listen in on this discussion on the potency of clinical intervention and the importance of building a therapeutic connection with patients while “navigating the terrain.”

Life has a way of nudging us in different directions. Some find inspiration in life-changing events; others in the smallest of things. But whichever path we take, we all have stories of how we got to do what we do.

In this discussion with Rodrigo Aranda, we not only discuss his backstory and the stepping stones that led him to practice Chinese Medicine—but also how Chinese Medicine got to South America. And for a practice that dates back thousands of years, it’s interesting that Chinese Medicine has only started garnering interest from an international audience in the last few decades. 

Listen in on this conversation as Rodrigo Aranda takes us down a relatable journey into Chinese Medicine experiences and how the practice is slowly taking root in different parts of the world.

How we are with ourselves affects how we are with patients. Our own difficulties in life can assist us in helping others, but it requires that we are able to come to a sense of neutrality with those traumas of the past. 

In this conversation with Seanna Sifflet we discuss using our own feelings, the healing potentials in empathy and forgiveness, and the importance of overcoming our own biases.

Listen into this discussion on the importance of of managing our own nervous systems and cultivating the capacity to remain present and neutral when patients bring forth emotional material that rhythms with our own experience.

Thinking about autoimmune illness from the Chinese medicine perspective is vastly different from how we think about in modern biomedicine terms. And the four levels of wei, qi, ying and xue are very helpful in giving us a framework for diagnosis and treatment. 

In this conversation with Bryan McMahon we explore the complex, and often contradictory dynamics, of autoimmune conditions, And how to finesse our treatments to address these challenging situations. 

Listen into this discussion to gain an appreciation for how Chinese medicine can address complex illness, and some strategies and methods you can use in clinic to address disharmonies.