404 The Art of Not Holding On- Finding Grace in the Seasoned Years of Practice • Whitfield Reeves
There’s a moment in every practitioner’s life when they start thinking less about where they’re going and more about what they’re leaving behind. What does it mean to practice for decades, to see students turn into colleagues, and to watch the medicine evolve through your hands? The arc of a career in acupuncture isn’t just about technique—it’s connection and contribution as well.
In this conversation with Whitfield Reeves, we explore his 40+ years in practice, from his early days training in California to his work in orthopedic and sports acupuncture. He shares his reflections on what it means to transition from practitioner to mentor, the conundrum of monetizing wisdom, and how in the end— the best work finds you…
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384 History Series, The True Chinese Medicine is Practiced in Different Ways • Volker Scheid
How did you learn the medicine you practice? Likely it through the influence of a school, a book or perhaps in this modern moment, an on-demand course of online study. There is another way that medicine gets transmitted, through the connections of friendship.
I’d not thought about that until Volker Scheid mentioned it in this History Series conversation. Once I heard it, it rang true. and I could easily look back through the years and see so many moments of having my eyes opened to something about our healing trade that came to me through the connection of friendship.
Listen into this conversation on the role of the German enlightenment on holistic medicine, the paths a good question will take you down, and how a head cold can lead to an unexpected connection with Meng He doctors and their surprising influence on the medicine you learned in school.
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383 Touching the Invisible • Chris McAlister
There’s something about the act of touch that goes beyond the physical, isn’t there? It’s like we’re not just meeting someone at their skin but somehow dipping into the unseen—into emotions, memories, and layers that words can’t quite reach. What happens when we listen with our hands instead of our ears? This episode has me pondering all that and more.
The guest of this episode, Chris McAlister, us an acupuncturist and shiatsu practitioner who’s been exploring the art of presence and connection for years. He’s inquisitive about how the practical meets the mystical, constantly seeking ways to blend tradition with modern insight, and helping people discover parts of themselves they didn’t even know were there. From his experiences in Tibet to decades of teaching, Chris brings curiosity, exploration, and a touch of rebellion to the table.
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382 Reconsidering Ren One • Orit Zilberman & Hila Yaffe
When thinking about our toolkit, most acupuncturists, and patients too for that matter, think about needles. Our job, it’s to use those whisper thin slivers of steel with skill and accuracy. But sometimes the best tool for the job might not be a needle.
In this conversation with Orit Zilberman and Hila Yaffee we consider the use of Hui Yin, Ren One.
For sure this point it’s important and there are challenges to using and learning to use this influential meeting of yin.
Listen into this discussion on both the trauma and healing that can result from working with Ren One, how our own image of what it means to be a doctor can influence how we think about working with this point, and some non-needle ways to powerfully unlock the capacity for healing at the Meeting of Yin.
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381 Daoist Medicine, Ritual and Talisman • Lindsey Wei
Ever wonder about the unseen forces that shape health and illness? Sometimes it’s the things we can’t measure that hold the most sway. Healing isn’t always about what we see, but what we’re willing to explore.
In this episode, we sit down with Lindsey Wei, a practitioner deeply rooted in the world of Daoist medicine. She has spent years blending the physical practices of qigong and martial arts with the mystical art of talismans, incantations, and ritual healing. She brings a unique perspective on what it means to heal both the body and spirit.
There’s more here than meets the eye, as we explore the boundaries between science and spirit, logic and mystery—and how these might be a little more porous than you realize.
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380 History Series, Building Bridges with Modern Healthcare • Bill Egloff
Being in business is not just about tracking the financial health of your enterprise. It is about having a mission worth engaging, a kind of fire in the belly that fuels you through the difficult parts, and a sense for working at the edge of your capacity.
Having a business and all that goes with it, it gives you the opportunity to grow into potentials you can only dream about in the middle of a difficult night.
Our guest in this History Series conversation, Bill Egloff has been helping patients and practitioners for a long time with the products and services he’s provided over the years. It’s a long road from running a natural foods store to collaborating with Sloan Kettering on cancer patients.
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379 The Art of Inquiry • Vance Crowe
In acupuncture school we learn the 10 questions, which will get you some information. But it’s more interrogative than rapport building, more about eliciting information than revealing meaning.
Listening with a mindset of noticing the small anomalies. Listening to understand someone from their own point of view. To be inquisitive about how the difficulties might hold unrevealed lessons, and how troubles are lessons in progress.
It’s more than having an unfettered sense of curiosity, there’s something else that goes into it.
In this conversation with Vance Crowe we explore the transformative potential of conversations that invite the stories that haven’t had an audience. Like many of us, Vance did not set out to do what he does. It found him.
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378 The Sixth Element • Slate Burris
We have the two of yin and yang, the three of the jing, qi, shen, the four levels of pathogenic invasion from the Wen Bing, the Five Phases of the Wu Xing and the Six Elements— wait a minute, Six Elements?
Have you ever wondered why the Classics speak to the Five Zang and Six Fu? Especially when we have an equal balance of yin and yang meridians. And what is going on with those two troublesome organs, the Triple Burner and Pericardium that have a “function” but no form? Furthermore, have ever wondered how it is that Fire gets four organs, but all the other elements only two?
Our guest in this conversation Slate Burris had those questions as well. He’s an inquisitive guy, so he went looking. What he found is surprising, and once pointed out— a bit obvious as well.
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377 Constitution and Condition • Peter Eckman
In our work as acupuncturists, we use differential diagnosis to understand the warp and woof of a patient’s problem, to see how various seemingly marginally connected aspects of their problem give us the pattern that allows for skillful intervention. We also look at constitutional factors, those aspects of our patients that provide a kind of gravity and centering to their life and how they live it.
Both aspects need our consideration in clinical practice.
In this conversation with Peter Eckman we discuss the differences between a person’s constitution and their condition. Both give us a handle on working with people, but these are very different aspects of our make up.
How are they different? And how to approach work with these? Listen in, there’s a lot to discuss.
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376 Ba Zi- Revealing the Influences of Character • Howard Chen
We are encoded beings. There is a song that plays out through the patterning of our DNA. We are influenced by the tides of culture, family and peers. And there is a great turning of Stems and Branches that leaves an imprint on our mind/body as we...
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375 History Series, A Love Affair with Herbs • Cara Frank
In this History Series episode we time-travel with the vivacious Cara Frank. Her story begins in the gritty, creative pulse of 1970s New York City, where as a teenager, she was navigating the counter cultural scene. Her first encounter with acupuncture was anything but ordinary—an illegal treatment that changed her life and set her on the path she travels today.
Cara’s journey is a tapestry woven with threads of rebellion, discovery, and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. From the scarring moxa treatments of Dr. So, to her worldview changing with the discovery of herbs in a Beijing hospital. Cara’s story is one of exploration and deep connection to the roots of Chinese medicine practice.
Listen in as we explore the alchemy of Cara’s life in Chinese medicine—as she reflects on the influential figures who guided her, her insights into the community's growth and the importance of mentorship. All with her hardscrabble wisdom, humor, and a dash of New York grit.
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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.”
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