258 A Look at the Tiger Year from the Halfway Point • Gregory Done
Astrology One certainty in life is that it’s uncertain; we can’t accurately decipher how our stories unfold. But having an outline helps as we chart a course through the seasons of time. A key part of navigating the ever-changing phases of life is embracing the duality and...
257 Qi, Blood and Fluids • Jeffrey Dann & Mark Petruzzi
Acupuncture The ability to perceive with our hands, to assess the flow of life through the body, is a valued skill in East Asian medicine. It’s a fine and discerning art that takes full form when thinking does not overshadow; when cognitive understanding of anatomical landmarks...
256 Bridging Worlds, Shamanism and Clinical Practice • Sean Fox
Acupuncture Our medicine is rooted in the understanding that mind, body, and spirit are integral parts of the whole – reflective of each other and inseparable in human experience.. The tools and perspectives of East Asian medicine invite us to attend to holistically healing...
255 Puzzling Through the Heavenly Stems • Deborah Woolf
Cosmology Everyday we sit with people in our clinic and puzzle through the questions of “What is going on for them,” “Can I see clearly what they need,” and “Do I understand how this person is an expression of yin/yang, heaven and earth?” Our patients have a story. And so do...
254 What Acupuncturists Need to Know About Websites • Mike Kay
Business & Practice Management The ability to communicate is one of life’s most valuable skills. It’s at the core of our human experience, and it fuels the connections that add so much to our lives and businesses. As such, especially for business, it’s essential to hone how and...
253 Addiction and Healing • Randal Lyons
Conditions Sometimes our curious venture into solving our problems lures us to overstep the boundaries we did not realize were important. A need to control pain may leave you chained to pain medication. An attempt to numb life stressors may plunge you into alcoholism. Solving a...
252 Considering Acupuncture • Ann Cecil-Sterman
Acupuncture As acupuncturists, we practice our medicine as both a science and an art. Science in the sense of organizing the learned or experiential structure of the lens through which we view imbalances. Art in the sense of recognizing that each individual is a unique,...
251 Medicine, Ethics and Virtue • Sabine Wilms
Practitioner Cultivation & Development Like everything else, power is a two-sided coin. It can be coercive and oppressive, but it can also be empowering and nurturing. And according to ancient Chinese texts, true authority is based on ethical inspiration rather than coercion. As physicians, we are in a...
250 Moxa to the Rescue, Researching Moxa in the Treatment of Long Covid
Acupuncture Moxa doesn’t just stimulate Qi; it replenishes the vital life force. This Chinese medicine treatment brings nourishment in the form of pure yang that potentially rejuvenates the immune system and restores dysfunctional internal environments. These functions...
249 Character, Nature and Fate— Navigating the Human Realm with Polestar Astrology • Gregory Done
Astrology Where do we come from, where are we headed and what should we do in the interim? Is the blueprint of our life set in stone, or do we have the free will to control our destiny? It is so very human to contemplate our mortal fate and infinitesimal position in the cosmos....
248 Starting a Free Clinic • Bess Randles & Kyle Yoshioka
Acupuncture The most powerful lessons come not from a school curriculum, but from life. Our world is full of both problems and opportunities. There is what we struggle against, and what we stand for. And the unfolding dance of yin/yang reminds us that everything has aspects of...
247 Menopause, the transformative gateway of connection • Kath Berry
Conditions Change is inevitable. Our lives are a series of transitions. Winter blooms into spring. Weekends slow down to Mondays. Puberty arrives and rearranges our psyche, feelings, and sense of self. And for half the population, menopause occurs. Change is constant in life....
246 Tools, Perception, and Attention • Gary Klepper
Acupuncture Our tools don’t just expand our faculties. They change what we can do by training our physical and cognitive senses. They temporarily become part of who we are. In a sense—we are the tool in our clinical work. We act as a kind of both filter and mirror for our...
245 Climate Change and Chinese Medicine • Nishanga Bliss
Philosophy Yin and Yang flow through every aspect of our lives. Understanding their ebb and flow gives us a glimpse into the nature of the universe, and our place in it. In our formed world forces exist to interact with the other; to maintain balance; to sustain life. This...
244 Gleaning the Spirit of Medicine • David Allen
Conditions According to the Chinese philosopher Confucius, “By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” Imitation, observation, and reflection can help...
243 Engaging Vitality- The Practice of Attention, Sensing and Perception • Dan Bensky
Acupuncture When traveling do you turn on the GPS and follow the instructions, look at a map to orient yourself, or do you have a sense of the terrain and the capacity to navigate by landmarks, waterways and a sense of where north lies? In your clinical work, are you orienting to...
242 Acupuncture as Revolution • Beth Sommers & Rachel Pagones
History Series The image of China’s Barefoot Doctors struck a resonant chord with those in the West who were looking for simple and effective means of helping people with medicine that was not tied to an established medical hierarchy. In the late 60’s and early 70’s acupuncture had...
241 What We Learn Along the Way • Jessica Baer
Practitioner Cultivation & Development Learning is continuous, not episodic. As the Chinese say, 活到老學到老, huo dao lao, xue dao lao, learn throughout your entire life. Resilience and capacity is built through the, at times, curious harvest of our experience. Life’s lessons don’t come with a syllabus....