At first, intention and knowledge seem to contradict one another. What is intention? Is it simply wanting someone to heal? If it is, is it enough?Our intention to help our patients is very strong, otherwise we wouldn’t be in this profession. Yet, how much we care seems to make no difference sometimes. As humans, we
At 7:15am this morning the most remarkable thing happened. I had just finished my morning meditation and was starting on my gratitude practice when I heard a truck coming up the driveway. Looking through the window, I saw it was a red utility van. The driver turned the engine off but didn’t get out of
Sometimes I think we’re in the most humbling of professions. There’s more information than we can possibly master or absorb in a lifetime and then, at every moment of the patient encounter, and all the way through the treatment, we must be ready to be wrong. And then, when we realize we’re wrong, we have
Interesting case today and perhaps the highlight of the week. I saw a homeless man with a mountain of debt and with one single penny and two sticks of beef jerky in his pocket. He’d had a job in a store but neglected to pay his parking fines which accrued so much interest that the
A curious case today. An actor came in with long-term general malaise and migraines for as long as he could remember. After a deep discussion he told me that he feels that only one percent of his talent has been realized in his current profession, despite his substantial success, but that he can’t tell anyone
November 5th, 2019 Yesterday during the online chat we were asked about meditation and its purpose for a practitioner. I’ve just finished my morning meditation and wanted to add a few more thoughts to yesterday’s chat. A key function of meditation for me as a practitioner is the cultivation of the difference between judgment and
A rare departure from the complement channels for me today. A pop singer came in today announcing that she was about to go on antibiotics for swollen lymph nodes in the neck. She had to leave early to fly and there wasn’t much time. Having been called to rescue her gut many times over the
For many years I used the same brand of needles. They were superbly engineered. Made of shiny stainless steel and completely uncoated, they performed their job superbly. They would engage Qi effortlessly and allowed my intention as practitioner to be enacted, just as a fisherman (fisherperson?!) moves the bait to hook his catch. Once on
Food talk today can be complex and confusing: eat more of this, less of that; this is a superfood, that other is a mustavoid…or is it the other way around? Fads come and go, and studies can be found to justify almost anything. What is often overlooked is the importance of the way foods are
In the dietary branch of Chinese Medicine, cooking bones is a method to extract the essence of the animal in a way that can most easily be digested and assimilated. There is something shamanistic about it; we are trying to absorb the deepest digestible energy of the animal. Yes, high cuisine relies upon stocks for
With so much food variety today—and so many people’s health sabotaged by their food choices—one thing we can count on is a steady stream of food fads. To be more respectful, let’s call them trends. To someone following a new trend, of course, it seems totally sensible, the only questions left are, “What took me
Dampness is one of the six climatic factors taught in Chinese medicine, along with cold, heat (fire), wind, summer-heat, and dryness. For many today, modern heating and air-conditioning have eased the climatic influences—unrelenting cold or oppressively humid summer heat can be escaped by going indoors. And while climatic dampness can be an important issue for
Spices are a very special part of the diet, and understanding their energetics is important for enjoyable and healthful eating. Because they are used in such small amounts, spices and kitchen herbs are very useful in studying the energetics of food. It is not their nutritional content or their use as traditional preservatives as much
There are many Chinese medicinal herbs that double as foods, and some famous herbs are used in the specialty tradition of herbal broth cooking. But to be fully integrated with a living Chinese medicine, there is nothing more powerful than organizing your daily foods as the herbs of your life. Rather than adding medicinals to
So far this year, probably because my travel schedule appears tough on the website, I’ve received many inquiries about staying
A few days ago in Portland, Oregon, as we were driving from my hotel to the very exciting first day
There’s a friend with whom I share a love of cars. We talk about naturally aspirated engines, i4s, GT3s, and