374 Saam Acupuncture- Modern Korean Practice • Andreas Brüch
You’re probably somewhat familiar with the four needle technique. It’s an innovation said to have arisen through the meditative practice of the Korean Buddhist monk Saam, roughly four hundred years ago.
It has since been passed down both through the monastic tradition, and used as well by ordinary doctors. Today you’ll also find the “Saam Method” used in academic research studies and employed as a key part of their acupuncture practice by Korean practitioners.
In this conversation with Andreas Brüch we explore the more modern thinking and application of Saam as it’s used by Korean doctors today. He’s spent 20 years studying with some of those doctors and using the method in his work.
Listen in to this discussion on organ pairs, phase energetics, six qi influences, a psycho-emotive model that expands your thinking, and how the Sam Boo character of the transport points can help you to select individual points to add focused potency to your treatments.
read moreSubscribe To This Podcast In Your Favourite Player
373 Softening Our Gaze: Shiatsu and the Inner Landscape • Joyce Vlaarkamp
How we engage the mind can have an effect on our wellbeing in profound ways.
What is even more interesting is how the mind and body interact. We are all familiar how the emotions can be the source of internally generated illness, and we are all familiar with how injury or illness can in turn have an effect on our emotional life.
In this conversation with Joyce Vlarrkamp we discuss the inner landscape, not just of the patient, but the practitioner as well. Along with the metaphors and imagery through which patients navigate their experience. If you’re keen on investigating the inner landscape, you’ll enjoy this conversation.
read more
372 Yang Xing – Nourishing our Nature • Sabine Wilms & Leo Lok
What is Nature, and what is Nurture? It’s an old question that poses what is perhaps a false dichotomy.
Considering out Nature, it’s as old as Chinese medicine. And nourishing ourselves so as to enjoy the full measure of our days, also has a long history of inquiry and practice.
As practitioners we need to know how to take care of ourselves as part of being able to care for others. The tenets of East Asian medicine suggest that different kinds of people need different things. Sun Xi Miao is one of the leading authorities on medicine and cultivation.
In this conversation with Sabine Wilms and Leo Lok we discuss their perspective on what Sun Si Miao has passed down to us, and a special program they are offering for those who want to take a deep dive into the essence of “nourishing our nature.”
read more
371 History Series, How Do We Help People Experience Connection • Paul Karsten
I attended what was then known as SIOM before it was an accredited school. I thought the program and approach was a good fit for how I learned, and being in my late 30’s at the time, I did not have the patience for a program that would not let me get my hands on people for a year or more.
The innovative program they were experimenting with back then was in part due to the efforts of Paul Karsten, who was one of the founders. Learning and instructional design was something he’d been interested in and gravitated towards.
Listen into this conversation on the early development of schools and curriculum, the challenge of teaching Chinese medicine concepts to Western students, the importance of hands-on experience, and the role of qi transformation in learning and practice.
read more
370 Stroke, Parkinson's and Brain Longevity • Clayton Shiu
For sure, the health of the brain is absolutely essential to health and wellbeing. As we age, just like with other organs, there is a lot that can go wrong with that curious Sea of Marrow.
In this conversation with Clayton Shu we discuss how he went from a focus on orthopedic issues to being concerned with neurology and brain health. Clayton doesn’t really do things in halfway measures, so when he goes at something, he goes at it full tilt.
Listen into this discussion that connects ancient Eastern with modern Western perspectives on neurology, yang sheng, gut health, and acupuncture in the promotion of brain health and a well functioning neurological system.
read more
369 Tea, Consciousness and Connection • Brian Kirbis
From the misty mountains of China to the teahouses of Taiwan, Tea has served as a bridge between nature and culture, tradition and modernity. Tea is not just a beverage, but a living entity that carries within it a connective plant wisdom and the potential for personal and societal transformation.
In this conversation Brian Kirbis unveils tea's hidden depths, its ability to foster human connection, its embodiment of spiritual ecology, and its power to teach us about balance and appreciation.
Listen into this discussion that brews up insights on the spiritual ecology of tea, its role in fostering human connections and as a traveling companion for life's journey.
read more
368 Extraordinary Vessels- Archetype and Symbol • Yvonne Farrell & Luke Adler
The Extraordinary Vessels.
Some say these are the blueprint that give structure to the embryo as they help to orient and guide development. Others say that these vessels are deeply tied into our psycho-emotive functioning.
Traditionally they were talked about as reservoirs . They helped to regulate the excess or lack in the 12 main channels.
As for me, I can’t say that I understand them all that well. And that is why I like to talk to folks who have spent time investigating the extraordinary nature of these vessels.
Which is why I’m delighted to share this conversation with Yvonne Farrel and Luke Adler
read more
367 History Series, We Should Aspire to be Magicians • Charlie Buck
I recently had the good fortune to sit down for a conversation with Charlie Buck, one of the early pioneers in acupuncture and Chinese medicine in the UK. He shared his journey of discovering acupuncture in the late 1970s, a time when it was still quite unknown in the West. Our discussion explored how the landscape of acupuncture education and practice in Britain has shifted dramatically over the years.
This conversation touches on deeper topics like the nature of mastery in Chinese medicine, the importance of cultivating perception and intuition, and how practitioners can be like “magicians” for their patients.
Listen into this discussion that weaves together history, philosophy, and practical wisdom about the practice of Chinese medicine. Charlie's passion for the subject and decades of experience truly shines through.
read more
366 Pursuing Opportunity and Balancing With the Seasons • Ilan Migdali
Understanding and acknowledging how things are is a terrific starting point. It’s what led Ilan Migdali to not just understand how health insurance worked in California, but opened up a path for him to create an insurance network that specifically aimed at helping acupuncturists to thrive.
Beyond the creative and practical work Ilan has done with insurance, he’s also a student of the Balance Method and in particular looking at the yi jing and how the transformations of the gua can be stimulated within the body using particular acupuncture points.
I always hope that when I speak with people Ilan a bit of their broad perspective might wear off me. Maybe it will broaden your perspective as well…. We’ll find out right after a word from the people you can thank for making Qiological possible
read more
365 Far Out Man, I Need to Know More About That • John McDonald
There are folks like John McDonald who when he first caught wind of acupuncture thought… “Far out man, I want to know more about that.”
That enthusiasm has followed him through his time as a practitioner and even through doing a Ph.D.
In this conversation we’ll discuss trickster shamans, the ethics of using the controlling cycle of the Five Phases to influence your patients emotions, why people with stanch beliefs are most easily brainwashed, and the curiosity of how the body “makes decisions.”
read more
364 Tinkering, Electronics and Measuring Meridians • Adrian Larsen
Tinkering and creating, I suspect that anyone who's been lucky enough to have grown up in an environment that encouraged exploration, risk taking and curiosity— they've got a perspective that has them asking “why not” instead of “why.” Figuring out...
read more
363 Acupuncture’s Journey to the West • Zoe Coldham
I had the delightful surprise of Zoe Coldham reaching out to me to tell me about the documentary she’d created that goes into the early days of acupuncture finding its way into the mainstream of British culture.
As you probably know, Qiological has been doing a little mini-series on acupuncture’s journey to the west as well. So I was keen to have her on to hear her perspective and what she’s discovered.
Listen in for this documentarian’s perspective on acupuncture’s Journey to the West.
read more
362 History Series: The Art of Finding What’s Needed • Randall Barolet
The late 60s and early 70s were a time of openness and experimentation. It was the beginning of the civil rights movement, more equality for women, and the recognition that sexuality included more than love between men and women.
Cultural norms were questioned and that included dietary practices, the healing arts and the relationship between humans and the planet. It was in this rich milieu of change that acupuncture started to take root in the imagination and then practice of those who were willing to follow a path with heart.
We are going to hear more about those early days with Randall Barolet. Some of you might recognize his name on the first Formula and Strategies book from Eastland Press.
In the words of Grateful Dead lyricist, Robert Hunter, what a long strange trip it’s been.
read more
361 Evil Bone Water • Mark Brinson
It’s fun to solve problems. Especially when you’re not quite sure what to do, so you have to pay attention and learn what’s important. You must develop the capacity to learn from both your failures and success.
Mark Brinson wanted a liniment for patients and was not happy with what was on the market. So he thought he’d just mix up his own. That turned into a process of learning a lot about everything from the quality of the herbs, to the nature of the water, to distilling his own alcohol.
Listen into this conversation on herbal alchemy, marketing with a sense of humor and how to have fun as a mad scientist.
read more
360 Battlefield Acupuncture • John Howard
The Chinese are right, the brain is a curious organ. The way the nerves entangle their way into every aspect of our body, and how their gentle electric hum gives us awareness of this container we call ourself.
Pain is how our nervous system lets us know there is a problem. Acupuncture has rightfully been seen and used as a way to intervene, and strangely enough the ear is a way to powerful work with the brain and nervous system.
In this conversation with John Howard we take a look at Battlefield Acupuncture, it origin, its unique place in the military and how it works with the curious organ of the brain.
read more
359 Wu Yun Liu Qi and The Shape of Reality • Rory Hiltbrand
What is our universe made of? How does it work, and more importantly– what are we doing here and how do we make sense of it? Eternal questions, unanswerable, but maybe the questions are not for answering, perhaps they are for focusing attention.
In this conversation with Rory Hiltbrand we take a look at our peculiar situation as Beings in between the circle of heaven and square of earth. We dip into mathematics, Donghan Daoist numerology, metaphysics and others head scratching ideas about medicine that practitioners have puzzled over for centuries.
read more
358 History Series: Remember, Acupuncture is Fantastic • Julian Scott
While many are keen on looking to “science up” acupuncture and squeeze it into the thinking and theories of conventional medicine, others are quite content with the weirdness of it. And enjoy playing around in the territory that’s off the radar of Western science.
Julian Scott is one of those pioneering acupuncturists whose background in theoretical physics primed him for the strangeness of the world of acupuncture.
Listen into this discussion on root causes, developmental stages, the influence of vaccines, along with the role of mind-to-mind connection and emanation in healing.
read more
357 Eastern and Western Perspectives on Acupuncture • John Rybak
As anyone who has started an acupuncture practice and tried explaining it to potential patients knows, it’s not easy taking the terminology and thinking of East Asian medicine into English speaking Western culture.
The guest of this conversation, John Rybak, has thought long and hard about this. He is keen on helping our profession bridge how we think and work with the constraints and opportunities of the conventional medicine world.
Listen into this conversation on the importance of effective communication, concerns with our scope of practice losses, need for advocacy, and how expanding our vocabulary can help us to engage the broader medical community.
read more
356 Considering Yi- Meaning, Significance and Conception • S. Boyanton, L. de Vries, V. Scheid
In this episode we discuss 意 Yi, commonly translated as Meaning or Significance, and also as Intention.
Intention gets talked about a lot in our trade, but for me over the course of time, I feel less and less clear just what Intention is, and how it relates to my clinical work. I’ve got some questions about it, and was delighted to sit down with Stephen Boyington, Leslie de Vries and Volker Scheid to see if they could thrown some light on what for me has increasingly become a murky term.
Listen into this both scholarly and practical discussion on 意, Yi as it relations to medicine and how the doctors, poets and calligraphers over the centuries have puzzled over this as well.
read more
355 The Circuitry of Saam Acupuncture • Joshua Park
Saam acupuncture with its unique channel pairings, perspective on psycho-emotional dynamics, and capacity to interweave the Five Phase with the Six Qi is a powerful tool for understanding the interplay of yin and yang along with body and mind.
In this conversation Joshua Park joins us to explore how Saam acupuncture gives us a holistic view that allows practitioners to approach diagnosis and treatment from multiple perspectives.
Listen into this discussion of how using multiple lenses gives a more dimensional understanding to your patient's condition.
read more
354 History Series: In the Footsteps of a Compleat Acupuncturist • Peter Eckman
In the late 60’s and early 70’s of the last century East Asian medicine began to emerge into mainstream culture. The Reston NY Times article is often cited as a catalytic moment that put the idea of Chinese acupuncture into the minds of Americans. But other streams of medicine from Japan and Korea were also finding their way into the imagination of those who would be a conduit that would help these methods to flourish in the mainstream of Western culture.
Peter Eckman has been a unique bridging influence. His acupuncture came from the currents of Korea, as well as Japan and Taiwan via the Worsley tradition of England.
Listen into this conversation on inquisitiveness, constitution, and how saying “yes” in pivotal moments opens up a world of possibility.
read moreSupport for Qiological Comes From
