234 What It Means to Be a Chinese Medicine Doctor • Annie White

Acupuncture is technique, a method, a way to send the body a message. But the message we send— that comes from the long tradition and practice of the medicine that originated in China. Do you consider yourself an acupuncturist, or a doctor of East Asian medicine? Do you see yourself “owning” a technique, or do you see yourself as a link in a chain that stretches into the misty past and at the same time is alive in the present?In this conversation with Annie White discuss these questions over some high mountain oolong. Along with what it means to be a doctor and a business person. We’ll also touch on the importance of using how you’d like to feel as a way of charting a course through this world, and how Anne’s research into helping her patients deal with stress turned into a process and practice that she needed for herself, and how the pandemic gave her the opportunity to turn that “passion project” into a service that helps people learn to use their brains better. Listen into this conversation on medicine, creativity, hard knocks and the transformative power of appreciation.