033 Using the Yangming to Help Generate Kidney Essence • John Scott
Acupuncture Kidney essence is precious and not easily replenished. This Shop Talk segment discusses how the Kidney needs material form to create essence. And that it is the Yangming channels with their yang action that help the digestive system to extract the clear qi from food...
323 Founding the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine • Rick Gold
History Series If you don’t know where you want to go, it’s fine not to know where you’re going. Not all journeys have a destination– at least, not in the beginning. In the beginning you’re opening to options, surveying the landscape, getting a feel for who you are in the territory....
032 Zangfu and Jingluo • Brenda Hood
Acupuncture This Shop Talk is a discussion of the differences between the Zangfu organ system and that of the Jingluo. A brief history is given, as are mentions of the differing relationships between the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches with regard to the Zangfu organs and...
322 Alchemy of the Organs • Peter Firebrace
Alchemy Li Shi Zhen and Sun Si Miao, they shared an interest in alchemy. Often enough in our clinical work, patients will describe what happened with them as being magical, but as practitioners we know its not magic, its medicine. But it’s a medicine that works outside the...
031 Using Hua Tou Points • John Scott
Acupuncture In this Shop Talk segment John Scott the co-founder of Golden Flower Chinese Herbs discusses the use of Hua Tou points for the treatment of shingles. Additionally, how these points are useful for lower jiao issues like increasing male fertility and for prostate...
321 Continuity and Change Within the Tradition of Chinese medicine • Volker Scheid
Philosophy Chinese medicine looks to the perspectives of the past to understand the unfolding present. And for sure, there are threads of connection and perspective that come down to us through the curious tides of history. At the same time, there is this unique moment. What we...
030 Reflections on 25 Years of Cultivating a Practice • Michael Max
Acupuncture In this Shop Talk Michael Max reflects on 25 years of practice and the importance of running a business as a cultivative practice. We go into the importance not of “faking it till you make it,” but rather using the learning of the early days to better hone your...
320 What I Learned in the Last Year From Teaching • Deborah Woolf
Cosmology I still remember the moment when I realized that the character for Listen in traditional written Chinese was composed of the characters for Ears, Eyes, and Heart. Twenty two little strokes that unambiguously describe what is required to genuinely listen. Deborah Woolf...
029 Palpating Head Points • Jason Robertson
Acupuncture In this Shop Talk Jason Robertson discusses the importance of putting your hands on your patients heads to understand where physically the points actually are located. He draws from his experience with Dr Wang Ju-Yi in discussing how points are “jie” which you can...
319 I Had No Idea What I Was In For • Dan Bensky
History Series 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...
028 Considering and Using Ghost Points • Leta Herman
Acupuncture Leta Herman, co-founder of the Alchemy Learning Center, shares her insights into the world of the Thirteen Ghost Points, a mystical aspect of acupuncture that she has been practicing for almost two decades. These points, often overlooked or misunderstood, hold...
318 A Peripatetic Education • Andy Ellis
History Series 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...
027 Treating Chaotic Energy • Leta Herman
Acupuncture Join Leta Herman as she shares her perspective on why Chaotic Energy treatments (also known as Aggressive Energy) are so helpful in today's fast paced, modern world. In the past 20 years, Leta has witnessed a significant rise in CE due to increased world-wide stress,...
317 Following a Hunch • Malvin Finkelstein
History Series 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...
026 Learning Classical Chinese Blows Your Mind and Expands Your Tool Chest • Sabine Wilms
Acupuncture How and why could learning classical Chinese make you a better clinician? Here are a couple of possible reasons: Reading the Chinese medicine classics directly, instead of modern textbooks about them, facilitates a more direct and hence authentic transmission, thereby...
316 Growing Up With Herbs • Yvonne Lau
Herbal Medicine 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...
025 Sasang Constitutions and Nutrition • Tracy Stewart
Acupuncture In this Shop Talk I’ll be sharing three reasons why I practice Sasang Medicine. Reason #1 Food firstThe condition of the constitution always affects treatment outcome, prevention, overall health and longevity.People vary in their balance and do not inherently all have...
315 History Series: Importance of Structure, and the Freedom That Comes From It • John Myerson
History Series What you do you 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...