329 Alchemy, Presence and Transformation In Clinical Work • Leta Herman

I’ve often enough equated the word Alchemy with Magic. Hoping for something that would quickly and painlessly transform the troubles dogging me.

Perhaps this is possible with magic, but alchemy, that is a process of preparation, distillation and attentiveness. It’s a undertaking that requires a kind of containment and the transformative power of time is a key ingredient. Maybe not unlike the process of learning medicine by practicing medicine.

In this conversation with Leta Herman we discuss alchemy as a mindset, as a perceptual filter that allows for interacting with points in a way that allows for patients to tell and hear their story more fully.

Listen into this discussion of transformation, perspective and presence in how we engage and listen.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• Next steps? Consider the footprint is already there
• Big Shen and little shen
• Nine stages of alchemy
• Kidney 21 Mystery Gate
• Ghost points uses and treatment
• The alchemical caldron of lovingkindness 
• The best protection is no protection
• The Heart needs to speak
• What do you really want?
• Alchemy is a mindset

One can cultivate a different stance between Heaven (天) and Earth (地) as an Alchemical “Healer”. Instead of the healer role, one can take on a facilitator role and instead of using a needle as a tool, our presence becomes the instrument of the Divine. Or said in another way, in Alchemy, you are the needle yet you do nothing! It’s a Wu Wei, transformational way of healing.

Leta Herman

I'm not your typical Chinese Medicine Practitioner. I always like to get that statement right out first! I consider myself a Chinese Medicine Healer, Alchemist, and lifetime learner. My unique approach involves non-needle techniques, using my fingers as energetic needles, and incorporating direct moxibustion, cupping, and gua sha. My journey into healing began with a healing crisis that changed my life, leading me to study with remarkable teachers like Master Jeffery Yuen, Eliot Cowan, and Niki Bilton over the past two decades.

Over the years I’ve focused on the more esoteric aspects of Chinese Medicine and Alchemical Healing, including Sun SiMiao’s Thirteen Ghosts Points and the Nine Stages of Daoist Alchemy. As co-founder of the AlchemyLearningCenter.com, where we offer numerous CEU classes in Alchemical and Classical Chinese Medicine, I’m excited to start a new Alchemy apprenticeship cohort in our popular Master Alchemy Apprenticeship Program (MAAP) this Fall.I also co-host the Inspired Action Podcast at InspiredActionPodcast.com, which focuses on Alchemy, the Five Elements, and the Nine Palaces for both practitioners and laypeople alike. You can find it anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Links and Resources

Visit Leta on her website to learn about her various offerings, or at the Alchemy Learning Center.
You can also find her on Facebook and Instagram. 

You can also listen to her Inspired Action Podcast on the website, or subscribe from wherever you get your podcasts.

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