Cultivation

347 The First Four Palaces of Alchemy • Leta Herman

347 The First Four Palaces of Alchemy • Leta Herman

Alchemy sounds like magic. It sounds like magic because it involves the transmuting of something coarse and without value to something refined and of worth. But really, there is nothing magical about it. It’s the process of finding a corner of the world you want to work on, and applying some elbow grease to make it better.

In this conversation with Leta Herman we explore the first four of the nine palaces of Alchemy. Which is to say, the nuts and bolts of working with the everyday world, because before you can work on the higher levels. You need to build your foundation and capacity by first gaining mastery with everyday life.

Mar 12, 2024
344 Jing, Authenticity and Mushrooms • Mason Taylor

344 Jing, Authenticity and Mushrooms • Mason Taylor

Medicinal mushrooms have made their way into the everyday lives of the “old one-hundred names,” us common folk. Formerly rare and precious substances like Ling Zhi and Dong Chong Xia Cao are now cultivated and readily available for people like you and me. 

Considered to be “higher” level medicinals, these are substances considered more for promoting wellbeing, than treating illness. Which brings us to the topic of “Tonic Herbs” and Yang Sheng, the nourishment of life. 

Listen into this discussion of mushrooms, longevity and the search for authentic meaning. 

Feb 20, 2024
342 Laughter of the Universe, Qi in the Year of Yang Wood Dragon • Gregory Done

342 Laughter of the Universe, Qi in the Year of Yang Wood Dragon • Gregory Done

We are here in the midst of winter cold going into the Spring Festival— the new Chinese Lunar year. It might seem strange to consider Spring as beginning in the deep middle of dark and cold, but all beginnings start in the dark. They begin before they can be seen.

Qiological is delighted to have Gregory Done back with his perspective on the coming Wood Dragon year. This 12 year Earthly cycle of animals began anew with the Metal Rat in 2020, and we know how that shifted our world in profound ways. This past year of the Water Rabbit, as Gregory suggested, would be weird— and indeed it was.

Feb 6, 2024
340 Alchemy, Magic and Channel Personalities • Zachary Lui

340 Alchemy, Magic and Channel Personalities • Zachary Lui

There are aspects of East Asian medicine that touch on the frameworks of Buddhism, Daoism, Shamanism, and Alchemy. What’s more the lenses of philosophy, psychology, spirituality, and cosmology also can come into play when we consider the nature of the channels and points.

Touching on existential questions and potentials for healing transformation, our guest in this episode, Zac Lui, discusses the Five Phases and channel dynamics from a perspective you’ve likely not considered. And touches on the cultivation of consciousness and how it’s helpful to rid ourselves of limiting beliefs.

Listen to this conversation that offers a shamaic and esoteric perspective regarding the integration of different paradigms into your understanding and practice of medicine.

Jan 23, 2024
339 Confusion on the Path, The Dangers of Meditation • Leo Lok

339 Confusion on the Path, The Dangers of Meditation • Leo Lok

Meditation is seen as an ancient panacea to modern problems. Mindfulness and equanimity will help with your productivity at work, relationships at home, reduce your need for certain medication and in general make you a better version of yourself.

But the inward turned gaze often enough does not reveal a tranquil garden, but a junkyard. The promise of stillness and equanimity evaporates in the onslaught of our unruly human minds.

In this conversation with Leo Lok, we investigate how mediation can be a source of greater suffering  and contribute to mental illness.

Jan 16, 2024
331 A Stroll Through the Landscape of the Polyvagal • Karine Kedar

331 A Stroll Through the Landscape of the Polyvagal • Karine Kedar

“My Po made the decision.”

I’m usually skeptical about most explanations of the “Spirit” of the five Zang viscera. Not that I don’t indulge speculation myself, I most certainly do. But given these ideas come down to us from another time, language, and culture. Given they’ve traveled through through the millennia I’m mightily reluctant to stake a claim on     what the ancients might have intended.

That said, the guest of today’s conversation Karine Kedar said the above quote towards the beginning of our discussion and it landed with an in-the-bones sense of “that’s right.” Which is an interesting place to start when the topic is polyvagal theory and East Asian medicine doesn’t even recognize a nervous system.

Nov 21, 2023
326  80/20 of Nutrition • Brenda Le

326 80/20 of Nutrition • Brenda Le

Confused by all the diet advice out there? Me too! Seems like there's always a new fad telling us what to eat– or not. I'm a fan of the 80/20 principle and I’ve been wondering if that might apply to diet, especially if you’re using diet as a way to...

Oct 17, 2023
322 Alchemy of the Organs • Peter Firebrace

322 Alchemy of the Organs • Peter Firebrace

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 parameters of Western thought, and the consensus of settled science.

In this conversation with Peter Firebrace we explore being a Zhen Ren, a True Human, and internal alchemical practice. The journey to Emptiness through the three Dan Tian, and the process of returning to source, unity and simplicity.

Sep 19, 2023
321 Continuity and Change Within the Tradition of Chinese medicine • Volker Scheid

321 Continuity and Change Within the Tradition of Chinese medicine • Volker Scheid

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 hold, what we discover, these are yin yang aspects of how to make sense of a medicine patinated with history and lore.

In this conversation with Volker Scheid we discuss continuity and change in Chinese medicine. And the starting point is not the deconstructivism so popular in our present moment, but rather the inquiry of Chinese poets in the 12th century.

Sep 12, 2023
313 Heart of Practice • Ross Rosen

313 Heart of Practice • Ross Rosen

The heart of our work, often enough, leans on the connections and capacity of the heart.

In this conversation with Ross Rosen we explore the importance of the patient-practitioner relationship, the concept of negotiating a diagnosis and some Daoist practices in medicine.

Listen into this discussion on practical clinical strategies and how traditional medicine intertwines and overlaps with our everyday lives.

Jul 18, 2023