Tong, Texture, and Ting: The Subtle Shaping of Qi

#426

September 16, 2025

Acupuncture, Presence in Practice

Tong, Texture, and Ting: The Subtle Shaping of Qi
Felix de Haas

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Some things can’t be seen—only felt. The texture of presence, the quiet shifts in atmosphere, the way the body speaks before words arrive. In the clinic, it’s not always the protocols or point prescriptions that lead the way, but something quieter. Something more fluid.

In this conversation with Felix de Haas, we meander through the tactile world of East Asian medicine—through pulse, palpation, and the subtle feedback that unfolds when you listen with your hands. Felix shares how Chinese medicine didn’t just appear in his life—it found him. And how the most meaningful parts of practice often live in the places we’re still learning to trust.

Listen into this discussion as we explore the idea of 通 tong as communication and opening, the felt shape of qi, why protocols eventually fall away, and how clinical insight often begins with not knowing.

Felix brings a lifetime of experience, sense of history, and a willingness to stay curious. This conversation is for anyone who’s ever wondered if the body might be whispering more than we’re used to hearing.

In this episode, we discuss:

How Felix discovered Chinese medicine by chance—and the idea that Chinese medicine “finds you”
The influence of growing up surrounded by books and East Asian art
The advice of a Tibetan teacher to be of use to the world through practical engagement
The importance of attention and clinical listening in the treatment room
Acupuncture as a “dance with the qi” and the need to constantly adjust in practice
The role of protocols as scaffolding—and the moment when they must be transcended
The concept of tong as communication, opening, and interconnection
Palpation, the “shape of the qi,” and how subtle feedback can guide treatment
How history, language, and philosophy shape the way we understand Chinese medicine
The eclectic nature of East Asian thought and the flexibility it encourages in clinical practice
Cross-cultural and historical influences in Chinese medicine—from India, Tibet, and beyond
Learning through curiosity, uncertainty, and long-term embodied experimentation in clinic

If you put palpation at the center of your clinical practice, you gain so much more information. Be open to many possibilities, transcend protocols.

Felix de Haas

My journey into East Asian medicine and philosophy began early, nurtured by my father’s vast library and a childhood introduction to Yoga, Zen, Daoism, and Buddhism. In my twenties. I formally studied acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine in the Netherlands, later deepening my work in Japanese acupuncture with teachers such as Stephen Birch, Yanagisita Sensei, and Takai Sensei. Encounters with Chip Chace and Dan Bensky shaped my engagement in developing and teaching Engaging Vitality, a palpation-based approach that integrates East Asian medicine, osteopathy, and internal cultivation.

Since 2016, I have taught this work alongside colleagues throughout Europe and the U.S. I also study with Volker Scheid, exploring “Meta Practice,” an open, multilingual approach to East Asian medicine.

In addition to teaching, I maintain two clinics in the Netherlands and remain active in ZHONG, the country’s largest Chinese medicine association. A lifelong traveler, reader, and collector, I continue exploring connections between East and West.