Advertise on podcast: Qiological Shoptalk

Seasonal colds move like shifting weather through the body—from icy surface invasion to lingering damp in the lungs. In this Shop Talk conversation, Andreas Brüch shares how Saam acupuncture maps these changes with clarity and precision. We explore how Taiyang strategies open the surface at the earliest stage, why the Urinary Bladder meridian can be used even when patients feel chilled, and how Lung and Yangming treatments help once the cold moves deeper. You learn about differentiating fluids—dry, wet, hot, or cold—guides point selection, and how reversing Cheung Bu combinations can dry dampness or moisten dryness effectively. In this Shop Talk conversation with Andreas Brüch, we explore treating colds and coughs through the lens of Saam acupuncture. Andreas has spent decades traveling between Germany and Korea, studying the ways that six qi, five phases, and the nuances using the four-needle technique. His approach is practical, rooted in clinical clarity, and shaped by a deep appreciation for how simple, targeted treatments can bring the system back into a healthy balance.

Colds and coughs arrive uninvited, rearrange our plans, and remind us that the body has its own weather systems—its own logic for how things move, settle, and resolve. Treating colds well requires more than naming a pathogen; it asks us to pay attention to terrain, timing, and the person standing in front of us. In this conversation with Andrew Nugent-Head, we explore respiratory illness through the lens of classical Chinese medicine as it was practiced before modern standardization. Drawing on his study and clinical experience with Republican-era doctors, Andrew reflects on a time when physicians treated everything from acute emergencies to chronic disease—and when formulas were understood not as fixed prescriptions, but as flexible strategies rooted in flavor, nature, and direction. Listen into this Shoptalk as we explore how herbs work through their flavor and nature, how to treat colds and flus without falling into rote pattern diagnosis, the importance of changing the internal landscape rather than “killing” an illness, and what it really means to practice patient-centered medicine when respiratory bugs come through the door.

Ever underestimate a simple tool? Sometimes what looks like folk medicine turns out to hold profound clinical value. In this Shop Talk, we get into gua sha with Carly Herrero, an acupuncturist and massage therapist from Maine who’s made this deceptively simple technique a cornerstone of her clinical work. Listen into this conversation as we explore how gua sha acts like a “controlled burn”—creating local inflammation to reduce systemic inflammation—why it’s effective for colds, flus, and lingering coughs, and how to match technique and dosage to the patient’s constitution. Carly shares practical insight on treatment locations, using gua sha at home, and what to look for when teaching patients to use it safely. Her reminder is both humble and powerful: effective medicine doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes the simplest methods—used with care, attention, and the right touch—make the biggest difference

It’s the quiet, gentle skills that often enough create the most change in clinic, especially for kids. The techniques easily overlooked because they seem so subtle, gentle or simple, it’s these interventions the body soaks in with a thirst. In this Shop Talk, we sit down with Maya Suzuki, a practitioner rooted in Japanese medicine, whose work with pediatrics reveals just how responsive, intuitive, and astonishingly resilient children’s bodies can be. Listen in as we explore why treating kids requires a completely different mindset than treating adults. The importance of proper dosage. How overtreatment is surprisingly easy to slip into, and how children themselves often tell you exactly they’ve had enough.  Maya takes us inside her palpation process and shares how the Shang Han Lun becomes a 3D map in her hands. She describes how this is useful in tracking colds, coughs, and seasonal pathogens through the taiyang and beyond. She also talks candidly about knowing when East Asian medicine can take the lead, and when Western medicine needs to step in—emphasizing the importance of collaborative clinical care. Effective treatment isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing just enough, with presence, precision, and trust in the body’s own capacity to heal.

Cold and flu season arrives on schedule every year. Patients walk with symptoms of not being quite well and if you’re paying attention—you can discern the pattern as it shifts and moves. The body tells you where the pathogen has landed, and what it’s up to. In this shoptalk with Eran Evan, we investigate the colds both from the Jing Fang perspective and also take into account the habits of modern life. You might see the progressions the old books speak about because our patients rarely do something about an external invasion at the beginning.  Eran comes out of the Jing Fang lineage, and has years of study with Dr. Huang Huang. He’s got a knack for understanding how to apply old formulas in the modern day.  We'll be discussing both garden-variety colds and the lingering effects of long-COVID. Listen in as we wander through why a sore throat points to a Shaoyang pattern, what Zhang Zhongjing’s little postscripts can still teach us, and how formulas like Chai Hu Gui Zhi Gan Jiang Tang or Xiao Chai Hu Tang aren’t just prescriptions—they’re snapshots of a physiology in motion.

Kidney essence is precious and not easily replenished. This Shop Talk segment discusses how the Kidney needs material form to create essence. And that it is the Yangming channels with their yang action that help the digestive system to extract the clear qi from food and fluids, and this in turn becomes the material that can transform into essence.  This is a simple and effective set of points for burn out or exhaustion and they lean on the dynamic of transform, rather than simply tonifying the Kidney itself.  Golden Flower Chinese Herbs also offers herbal formulations for these conditions and many more. Visit them at www.gfcherbs.com.

This Shop Talk is a discussion of the differences between the Zangfu organ system and that of the Jingluo.  A brief history is given, as are mentions of the differing relationships between the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches with regard to the Zangfu organs and Jingluo channels.  An example of this is that the internal Zangfu organ Lung is attributed to Metal; whereas the Hand Taiyin Lung channel is attributed to Yang Wood. The differing Five Phase natures of the internal Zangfu organs and the more external Jingluo system, is actually a clear reflection of their different anatomical functions in regard to the overall Chinese Medicine anatomy of the human body. That is to say, the internal organs are the body's way of assimilating and storing, whereas the Jingluo system is one that enables a discrete individual to maintain a dynamically homeostatic state in the context of a greater external environment, an environment which varies along the number of different parameters.

In this Shop Talk segment John Scott the co-founder of Golden Flower Chinese Herbs discusses the use of Hua Tou points for the treatment of shingles. Additionally, how these points are useful for lower jiao issues like increasing male fertility and for prostate issues.  Golden Flower Chinese Herbs also offers herbal formulations for these conditions and many more. Visit them at www.gfcherbs.com.

In this Shop Talk Michael Max reflects on 25 years of practice and the importance of running a business as a cultivative  practice. We go into the importance not of “faking it till you make it,” but rather using the learning of the early days to better hone your skills and more thoroughly understand who you are, and what your ideal practice really looks like. Additionally we explore the issues of money and authority, and rather see these as hindrances, they are actually valuable teachers that both help us to be better practitioners and more honest and reliable business people. The trick, if there is a trick, is not to rely on someone else’s blueprint or master plan, but instead discover your own source code. Business. It’s not something we have to do, it’s something we have the privilege of engaging.

In this Shop Talk Jason Robertson discusses the importance of putting your hands on your patients heads to understand where physically the points actually are located. He draws from his experience with Dr Wang Ju-Yi in discussing how points are “jie” which you can think of as junctions or spaces, they’re notable by the way they feel. And this isn’t just for points on the head, but through the body. It’s helpful to put your hands on people and let the body tell you where the point is located. Dr. Wang had a special affinity for DU19 and DU21 and how they can be used for treating back pain and for issues that result from a failure of the clear yang to ascend. Clear diagnosis is the key to effective treatment and putting your hands on people both as a diagnostic and to find the most potent points is a practice that will serve you well in the clinic. You can find out more about Jason’s work at www.channelpalpation.org

Leta Herman, co-founder of the Alchemy Learning Center, shares her insights into the world of the Thirteen Ghost Points, a mystical aspect of acupuncture that she has been practicing for almost two decades. These points, often overlooked or misunderstood, hold transformative potential but require a level of practitioner self-cultivation before their full power can be harnessed.  Leta emphasizes that the Ghost Points act as liberators, clearing out accumulated emotional baggage and releasing stuck patterns, making them particularly valuable in our modern world. She advocates for a patient-centered approach, recommending starting with a few Ghost Points in a one-hour session to avoid overwhelming reactions, using a unique vibrating technique that can be needle-based or non-needle-based.  Leta's approach involves bearing witness to the patient's experience and facilitating their transformative journey, making the Ghost Points a powerful tool for both personal growth and clinical practice. Learn more about Leta's classes at AlchemyLearningCenter.com.

Join Leta Herman as she shares her perspective on why Chaotic Energy treatments (also known as Aggressive Energy) are so helpful in today's fast paced, modern world. In the past 20 years, Leta has witnessed a significant rise in CE due to increased world-wide stress, smartphones, wearables and a constant media exposure. Chaotic Energy spreads through the Ke cycle, affecting multiple organ systems and even contributing to severe illness. Symptoms of CE include mild to severe emotional agitations, anxieties, and physical discomforts–all related to Wei Qi circulation. In this ShopTalk, Leta describes how to treat CE with needles and with her own unique non-needling techniques. Treating CE has led to amazing results, from alleviating panic attacks to helping transform more severe illness as well as easing some of the more day-to-day stresses for many clients.

How and why could learning classical Chinese make you a better clinician? Here are a couple of possible reasons: Reading the Chinese medicine classics directly, instead of modern textbooks about them, facilitates a more direct and hence authentic transmission, thereby giving you maximum clarity and efficacy through precise diagnosis and treatments rooted in the Chinese medicine paradigm.  It enriches your medical vocabulary by introducing you to concepts that simply don’t exist in Western languages or the biomedical paradigm, such as “Triple Burner” or “Gate of Life,” “Bi impediment syndrome,” or even Qi and Yin/Yang. By providing access to untranslated highly specialized information, it is certain to blow your mind and expand your tool chest. Last, but definitely not least, however, reading the classics will invariably remind you why you chose this path in the first place, rekindling your love for the Dao, reinspiring you and creating a space for not just professional but also personal cultivation, and for promoting virtue inside you, your community, and your patients. Emphasizing the lofty ideal of “harmonizing heaven and earth,” the classics call on us to practice Medicine with a capital M. ----------------------------- Study Classical Chinese with Sabine, visit www.translatingchinesemedicine.com to learn more and register. Sabine has a wonderful collection of work that she's translated, visit Happy Goat Productions to add her books to your collections of treasure on Chinese medicine. Looking for a steady drip of thoughtful and clinically useful material and methods, sign on with the Imperial Tutor some nourishing mentoring. Love podcasts? Of course you do, you listen to Qiological! Sabine's new podcast A Pebble in the Cosmic Pond is a collaborative effort with Leo Lok and other friends. Tune it and enjoy!  

In this Shop Talk I’ll be sharing three reasons why I practice Sasang Medicine. Reason #1 Food first The condition of the constitution always affects treatment outcome, prevention, overall health and longevity. People vary in their balance and do not inherently all have strong constitutions. People need to nourish their weakness and not feed what is already too strong. Eating all 5 tastes equally balances your plate; not you! Example 1: someone with half their energy in the liver, will make their imbalance worse by eating any liver-building food at all Example 2: So-yang person eating a healthy diet for 70% of the population. Gets sick because they are not part of the 70%. Reason #2 Western medical research assumptions Clinical trials are statistical, what percentage get a positive outcome. The n-value, the number of people in the trial is a homogenous group because of inclusion/exclusion criteria. What does the data ALWAYS show? The mind has an effect on the body The data proves the premise that the group is homogenous is wrong The real problem is, if enough people have a good outcome and the bad stuff isn’t too bad, it is prescribed for everyone. Yet, the data does not support doing this. In Korea, clinical trials are conducted putting subjects in their constitutional groups to see if there are correlations between outcomes and constitution. They typically are, and there are lots of studies showing correlations between constitution and certain genetic markers. Reason #3 Food helps I’ve been practicing prescribing diets for people for over 20 years. Almost every single person who follows their constitutional diet has improvements in their health. Of course there is much more to say about Korean Sasang Medicine and you can read more about it on my website, QiBalance.net. You also can sign-up for my Diagnosis Mentorship Program starting August 5th. But if you’re not ready for that, you can experience Sasang by ordering a dietary analysis for yourself. Or send your very sick patients who need support with their treatments for an analysis.

In this shoptalk on self-cultivation, Chris Shelton his perspective on the world of Qigong and its profound healing powers. Leaning on his experience of having Qigong profoundly change his life, he shares his practice that unites movement, breath, and mind-focus to harness the body's innate ability to heal. Chris explains how Qigong promotes the harmonious flow of qi, and addresses imbalances and blockages that lead to physical and emotional ailments. He highlights its transformative effect on stress reduction, chronic pain relief, and emotional well-being, making it indispensable for modern-day living. Chris showcases remarkable healing stories achieved through consistent Qigong practice. From alleviating anxiety and depression to supporting chronic illness recovery, the evidence speaks for itself about Qigong's profound effects. Additionally, Chris shares how the LAPD and other law enforcement agencies are using these ancient practices in their work. Explore Qigong's transformative capability by joining Chris for the Holistic Healthcare Provider Masterclass, which will give you tools to prevent burnout and grow your practice, (CA Acupuncture CEUs available), August 1-4. Go to qigongteachertraining.com to register today.