Heavenly Qi

This episode Clare and Jack welcome Paediatric Acupuncturist Holly Carruthers to the show. Holly has been an acupuncturist for 16 years and currently runs her Element Health clinic in Western Australia. Treating children with Chinese Medicine tends be intimidating for many practitioners but Holly’s experience, understanding and passion will convince you otherwise. Allow yourself to be inspired by Holly.

On this show Dr Davina Mercuri joins Clare and Jack for a discussion focussed mainly on skin. Davina continues in the traditions established by the likes of Steven Clavey and Marin Al-Khafaji to use herbal remedies for the treatment of dermatological conditions. Davina’s 20 plus years of experience enables her to speak on many useful herbal formulas and other techniques to help you deal with skin conditions in the clinic. This is another ‘not to be missed’ episode with the takeaway lesson: keep it simple.

Let’s get excited - Jeff Shearer is back on the show. Whether you wish for a nice casual discussion about life as an acupuncturist or you find the concept of world domination more your style - this show has got it all. Jeff has been in practice for 31 years now and has a very practical down to earth approach to producing outcomes for his patients. Having come from deep tissue massage, it is fascinating that he has developed into an advocate for Dr Tan’s distal method. So get excited, spread the love and have a laugh with Dr Jeff.

All patients are different so it’s not always a great idea to let them know how deep and/or esoteric a session may become before they walk into the clinic. As special guest for this episode Dr Lois Nethery explains how she attempts to be wholistic and objective while recognising that a TCM practitioners special sauce will always be their subjectivity. Clare and Jack must have sometimes wondered who was interviewing who in this deeply thought provoking and sometimes magical podcast.

The guest for this episode is an acupuncturist who is commonly known as ‘the pain doctor’, Dr Rosey Lathouras. Clare and Jack probe Rosey on her areas of speciality which include the lymphatic system, detoxification, cupping and gua sha. They also cover the trials of running a clinic and issues involved in having a solid social media presence. We found Rosey to be a joy and we are sure you will too.

So you want to be an acupuncturist? Did you know that you had to learn how to run a business as well? In this episode Clare & Jack talk with Dr Michelle Smith about successfully doing both. Michelle is in the fascinating position of having been a professional marketer before she became a TCM practitioner. Michelle shares so many sparkling gems of knowledge that you may find you need to listen to it twice. What is your money metaphor? Dust storm, popcorn, button, river, or..?

Yesterday it was all about being vegan.. but today we find a resurgence of the carnivores. Food does have its fashions. Join Clare as she talks with Dr. Becki Milani about navigating the fads to deliver outcomes for their patients. It doesn’t get any better than two passionate TCM practitioners banging their heads together over food.

Karina Smith is a Melbourne based Doctor of Chinese Medicine and Yin Yoga Teacher, Teacher Trainer & Educator. Karina is passionate about professional and personal development, and is eternally grateful for the extraordinary learning she has had from great mentors such as Kirsten Wolfe, Clare Pyers, Ann Cecil Sterman, Johannah Ashley, and Sean Tuten among many others.

It will take you just over an hour and a half to be revitalised and re-enthused about life, the universe and everything.

Clare and Lee’s lively discussion covers her research and her clinic but also details the difficulties we all face in choosing our path and making transitions.

In this episode of The Heavenly Qi Podcast Clare is joined by another speaker from the upcoming International Integrative Chinese Medicine Conference Dr Olivia Pojer. Olivia is a Western medical doctor and a Chinese medicine practitioner based in Austria who specialises in male infertility. This is an exciting conversation covering Olivia’s approach in the clinic, recommendations for male fertility testing and her book “Integrative Treatment of Male Infertility with Chinese Medicine”.

As a regular guest of The Heavenly Qi Podcast over the years Randine Lewis has always managed to surprise us with her wisdom, touch us with her compassion and titillate us with her humour and this episode is no exception. From discussions of dispensing herbs in the clinic, to reality creation, to Shennong, the “Divine Farmer” in this episode Clare and Randine find nuggets of wisdom to inspire us all.

In this episode of Heavenly Qi Clare guides Mandy Gratzer’s infectitious enthusiasm into a wonderful hour of useful ideas for your clinic. Clare and Mandy have a shared passion for keeping TCM practitioners ‘in business’ making this indispensable for anyone looking to survive, and maybe even thrive, at this challenging profession. All practitioners will benefit from getting to know Amanda Gratzer.

It doesn’t get much better than this. These two great friends have come together, once again, to immerse the listener in their experience, compassion and joy. An extremely open and enlightening conversation about growth and scaling, with their own clinics under the microscope. Welcome to the ‘love fest’ with Naava Carman and Clare Pyers. There is something for everyone in this wonderful episode.

In this episode Clare talks with Johannah Ashley who has become exclusively a Complement Channel Practitioner. Johannah’s passion is unmistakable and infectious as she explains her technique and her success’. You won’t want to miss this enlightening discussion about this very ancient way of practising and as Johannah says “If you are giving too many liver divergent treatments this week then perhaps you need one yourself”.

The symptom under the symptom, the story under the story, what is your body really trying to tell you? This is a fascinating journey into the alchemical approach of Lorie Eve Dechar. Lorie explains the art to transformation by going underneath the symptoms to find a divine intelligence and an expanded consciousness.

Is it perimenapause? is it menopause?.. or are you just plain exhausted? Menopause is a hot topic (pardon the pun) and in this episode Kath Berry joins Clare Pyers for this joyful, enlightening and thought provoking discussion.

“What is the Immune system.. but the sum total of my body working well” - Sharon WeizenbaumLet’s take a walk with Sharon Weizenbaum and see through her eyes, the beautifully interconnected wonder of life, the forest and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Sharon’s wisdom lay manifest in this wonderful conversation about forests, community, restoring function and trusting in Chinese Medicine to always guide you in the right direction. Do not miss this podcast.. it’s pretty cool stuff.

This episode sees Clare joined by the renowned Australian acupuncture expert, Dr John McDonald who has been practising and teaching since the early 1970’s. They discuss all things acupuncture including addiction, allergies and autoimmune issues and John’s fascinating career spanning 5 decades. More information about Dr John McDonald can be found via: Webinars: https://southportacupuncture.com.au/john-mcdonald-webinarsMentoring: Information at : https://southportacupuncture.com.au/john-mcdonald-mentoring                      Acupuncture Point Dynamics Volume 1https://au.blurb.com/b/10139097-acupuncture-point-dynamics-volume-1Acupuncture Point Dynamics Volume 2https://au.blurb.com/b/10139144-acupuncture-point-dynamics-volume-2Acupuncture Point Dynamics Volume 3https://au.blurb.com/b/11090866-acupuncture-point-dynamics-volume-3Enquiries to: [email protected]

As practitioners our scope goes beyond just the face to face appointments with patients, and this conversation delves into the importance of undistracted time, being a good fit with your patients and growth as practitioners and hidden bias. 

In todays episode of Heavenly Qi, Clare talks with Sean Tuten a renowned TCM practitioner who has taught Acupuncture and Chinese Herbalism throughout the U.S., Europe, and Australia since 2004. They talk about the joy of healing others, helping people open up to their potential, the importance of connection and deep dive into Jeffrey Yuen and Ann Cecil-Sterman's work on the luos and their role in the healing process.To learn more about Sean and find out about his upcoming Australian class visit www.acupuncturementorship.comhttps://www.seantuten.com/

This week on Heavenly Qi Clare is joined by Dr. Randine Lewis, author of The Infertility Cure, and a leading expert in treating infertility conditions combining Eastern and Western based medicine. They’re talking all things practitioner wellness including why practitioners find it so hard to ask for help when they’re sick and the role of western medicine when treating yourself and others. 

A metabolically healthy person can exist in a body of any shape or size. With that in mind this episode of the Heavenly Qi Podcast has co-hosts Clare Pyers and Naava Carman dissecting the many issues surrounding body size and fertility. Including a deep dive into the problems that arise from the use of Body Mass Index (BMI).We’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this episode, Join us on Facebook to chat with the show hosts and other listeners.

“Rest and self care are so important… you cannot serve from an empty vessel.”― Eleanor Brownn Do you have a self care list? In these extraordinarily difficult times the balance between service and self care and has never been more difficult to maintain. Most of us in the last year have, at least at some point, been in a "fight-or-flight" state which has many negative consequences for our health. Clare Pyers and Naava Carman talk openly about their personal journeys and discuss ways to keep you and your patients in a balanced state.Naava’s Current Life Hackshttps://www.getsensate.com/https://www.kingyaa.co.za/birthing-beyond-the-binary

The tendency is to consider a pregnancy so delicate that we should take a ‘hands off’ approach to treatment especially in the first trimester. Sharon Weizenbaum joins Clare Pyers to dispel fears and give practitioners a solid grounding on giving herbs during this important time. There is a fundamental lack of text books on this subject and so Sharon has begun the arduous task of translating some of the ancient Chinese texts into English. If you can read Chinese then this may be your calling.Sharon Weizenbaum graduated from the New England School of Acupuncture in 1983 and has been practicing Chinese medicine for over 30 years. Her first gynecology teacher was Dr. Zhu Shu-rong from Shang Hai. In 1990 she traveled to Hang Zhou where she studied herbal gynecology with Dr. Qiu Xiao-mei as well as Chinese language. She continued her language study at Mt. Holyoke College and translates much of her own teaching materials. In 2007 she traveled back to China to study classic formulas with Dr. Huang Huang, who continues to be one of her teachers. She studied and apprenticed with Kiiko Matsumoto for 12 years and developed Integrative Mandala Acupuncture as a synthesis of her study with both Chinese and Japanese acupuncture teachers. Sharon is the director of White Pine Healing Arts clinic and educational facility. She teaches the Graduate Mentorship Program and Integrative Mandala Acupuncture nationally as well as shorter courses. Her articles have been published in The Lantern and in the North Amercan Journal of Oriental Medicine. She is known for her engaging, clinically relevant and clear teaching style.https://whitepineinstitute.org/https://whitepinecircle.org/

It is essential that everyone who comes to our clinic feels respected, included and heard. The emergence of the LGBT community represents some significant challenges to not only practitioners but to society as a whole.In this podcast Co-hosts Naava Carman and Clare Pyers explore the issues involved in creating a ‘safe place’ - for all of our patients.Gender and Sexuality in Chinese Medicine by Catherine J. Lumenello

Men’s fertility is sorely unrepresented in the literature and it can be a joy to a couple to find out there are many things that a man can do to help improve their chances of having a baby. Some men, on the other hand, can be reluctant and may need some coaxing to get them on board for their fertility journey. Co-host Naava Carman joins Clare Pyers as they discuss the training of dogs, children and men."The truth about mobile phone and wireless radiation: what we know, what we need to find out, and what you can do now"Presented by Dr Devra Davis, Visiting Professor of Medicine at the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, and Visiting Professor of Medicine at Ondokuz Mayis University, Turkey.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwyDCHf5iCY

Albert Einstein wrote that “Pure logical thinking cannot yield us any knowledge of the empirical world; all knowledge of reality starts from experience and ends in it.” If you specialise in Women’s Health and Fertility then this episode of Heavenly Qi is essential listening. With nearly 40 years of combined experience co-hosts Naava Carman and Clare Pyers delve into past cases, examining what they have learned and what they would do different.Naava has been in practice over 20 years and spends most of her time working with tricky multi-faceted Reproductive Immunology issues in women over 40 such as recurrent miscarriage, unexplained infertility and multiple failed ART cycles. When she isn't practicing, Naava runs the Fertility Support Trained Community. You can check out her training on www.fertilitysupport.training which houses The Advanced Level Diploma in Fertility Acupuncture. This is the most comprehensive integrated medicine course available to help Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners gain an in-depth understanding of some of the most complex issues in fertility, such as the role of the immune system and how Traditional Chinese Medicine can support artificial reproductive techniques like IVF, IUI and ICSI.

What is your internal dialogue when it comes to prescribing raw herbs in the clinic? Are you wrongly assuming your patients are time poor? Raw herbs are the most potent, quickest working and the most customisable solution to offer your patients. A commitment of a couple of hours a week to the boiling of the herbs is something that most patients will do when the benefits are properly explained to them. Mary-Jo Bevin joins Clare Pyers in an episode full of encouragement to inspire your patients to take the time and consume those raw herbs.Take at the first sign of cold/flu:xing renChen piJie gangFang fengDan dou chi - 10g

The Daoists believe that life begins from stillness.Take a moment for a pregnant pause, to appreciate the way the soul manifests, grows and develops throughout pregnancy.To consider what is the curriculum that your soul has signed up for in this lifetime? What is the curriculum of the other souls you connect with, and how do you influence each other’s learning and pathway in this lifetime?It all starts at the very beginning of life, and unfolds throughout pregnancy, before we officially begin our life in the outside world.Join Clare and Randine on this journey as they go deep into the intricacies of the psyche, the soul, life purpose and the glory of the Dao, and how this information can be used to understand the stages of pregnancy from a different perspective.Dr Randine Lewis is a practitioner based in Asheville, NC, USA. Randine leads transformative practitioner retreats around the world, and mentors students via her website CEFP – Clinical Excellence Fertility Professionals. Her fertility program and work with patients is found at www.thefertilesoul.com You can find Randine’s continuing professional development webinars at www.healthyseminars.com//bio/randine-lewis

There’s always going to be tricky dynamics that we come up against in clinic from time to time.What about that patient who is always late?Or are you a practitioner who doesn’t run on time in a perfect schedule?How about when your patients are self-prescribing and getting needled by another practitioner for “a separate issue”…It doesn’t stop there. Dr Google is always ready to diagnose! Some people send too many emails, some argue, others lie!Communicating certain things early on can prevent many of these tricky dynamics and awkward conversations. Phiona and Clare discuss some of their sentiments to these and other issues, and some helpful approaches that they have utilised in addressing these problems.

What is it that makes the difference between a clinic that is struggling financially and one that is thriving? What are some of the key things that any practitioner can implement in their clinics in order to get better outcomes for their patients AND also help their own bottom line?Hamish and Sohial are well known and respected in Australia for their excellent clinical skills, as well as their fabulous business skills. They generously share their expertise in seminars on a range of clinical and business related topics.They have just released their new book “In Demand – The Health Professionals Guide to a Winning Practice” on running a successful practice. There is a pre-release special price for Australian practitioners, you can purchase the book with this release pricing on this link here.In this episode, Clare and Phiona are joined by Hamish Reid and Sohial Farzam to discuss the ins and outs of having a Business Mindset. Covering topics such as acupuncture treatment dosage, patient expectations and goals, and different ways of discussing challenging patient dynamics.

Can you give me acupuncture over the internet?In this episode, Phiona and Clare discuss the ins and outs of running an online clinic. Why would you offer online consults? Maybe patients are contagious but would benefit from herbs and nutrition. Sometimes patients need more discussion than acupuncture. Separating consults and herbal prescriptions from treatments can also allow you to change up your own schedule during different times of your life.We go into some of the how-to on setting up your clinic & website to handle online consultations. We also discuss tips for preparing patients before online consults and the technology they’ll use – including how to get a good tongue photo.We’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this episode, or for you to spark a conversation about what the ideas in this episode mean for you. Join us on Facebook to chat with the show hosts and other listeners.

It’s been a while since we posted a new episode – but wow is this episode worth the wait! Clare has returned from the world of maternity to do a live interview with Randine Lewis which was recorded in May 2018 on her trip to Australia for leading a practitioner retreat. Kirsten Wolfe joined Clare for this interview that goes deep into the types of challenges that practitioners can face when they are faced with the need to transform themselves and their practice. (Listen out for the gurgles of baby Michael who was there for the interview too.)The topic of conversation is Transformations in Clinical Practice. Based on how we start out in clinic, and who we are when we start out, it’s not necessarily easy to predict how things will end up in the future. There is also an additional thing that happens where the way we change as practitioners is prompted by who we need to become for our own spiritual and emotional wellbeing and fortitude.Randine offers insights and shares her experience as a trailblazer in the world of Chinese medicine: from establishing a busy fertility practice through to running patient and practitioner retreats.Dr Randine Lewis is author of the Infertility Cure, and is a member of faculty at the Daoist College of Chinese Medical Arts in Asheville NC. She leads transformative practitioner retreats around the world, and mentors students via her website CEFP – Clinical Excellence Fertility Professionals. Her fertility program and work with patients is found at www.thefertilesoul.comRandine is keynote speaker at IICMC2018 in Melbourne, November 9-11 2018. She is also running an intimate 1 day workshop on November 8th in Melbourne on True Fertility: Opening up to the source of the 8 extraordinary meridians. Tickets for the conference and workshop are available at iicmc.comWe’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this episode, or for you to spark a conversation about what the ideas in this episode mean for you. Join us on Facebook to chat with the show hosts and other listeners.

In this episode with Dan Bensky we discuss the intricacies of palpation, his insights around palpating the San Jiao, and how refining your palpation skills can assist with your diagnosis, your acupuncture choices, and better inform your herbal prescriptions. Inspired by his background in osteopathy and craniosacral methods, Dan brings the classics of ancient acupuncture descriptions to life using the osteopathic approach to help bridge the gap in the practical hands on palpatory learning of acupuncture.Dan Benksy has a diploma in Chinese medicine from Macau institute of Chinese medicine, and a PhD from the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. He also has a Doctor of Osteopathy. He practices in Seattle and you can find his clinic here. (www.danbensky.com).Dan has authored and co-authored many important Chinese medicine texts including the Shanghai Acupuncture text, Chinese medicine material medica, and Chinese Herbal medicine formulas and strategies.We’d love to hear your comments and feedback on this episode. Please drop by our Facebook page to let us know what you think on this topic!

How do dosage ratios and cooking methods help avoid adverse reactions to many herbs and formulas?How many grams can or should you use of Chai Hu in XCHT? What about 125g?Simon Feeney takes us on a journey from 20yrs ago, when he met a monk who became his friend and teacher. This monk introduced Simon to herbal medicine, inspiring his studies in Chinese medicine and the Shang Han Za Bing Lun.Simon’s investigations into classical Chinese herbal dosages, with the help of ancient texts, has led to some really interesting and useful insights. Yielding strong clinical results, as well as some funny stories of passion and effort.Have you heard Simon puts more Gui Zhi and Sheng Jiang in his porridge than you do in your Gui Zhi Tang?Simon’s clinic is Empirical Health and is based in Port Macquarie, in NSW Australia.He has just released a Shang Hang Za Bing Lun app called “Chinese Medicine Classics” to help you with his immense herbal knowledge, and passion for clinical results with Chinese herbal medicine.You can also check out Simon’s exceptional classical herbal range of Sans (powders), Wans (real honey pills) and Tangs at Empirical Health, and his high quality range of organic herbs.Get the app via the apple store or for androidWe’d love to hear your comments and feedback on this episode. Please drop by our Facebook page to let us know what you think on this topic!

What’s your libido like on a scale of “can’t get enough” to “can I please have a cup of tea?”.Male fertility is up for discussion this week and Peter Kington is just the man for the job.When girls hit puberty, she is afforded many subsequent years to observe her menstrual cycle and to get a sense of any problems that might be present. However, when a boy hits puberty and starts to ejaculate with masturbation, there’s no feedback to let him know that his sperm is fine or that there’s any sperm there at all. Yet as Peter Kington so eloquently describes, it’s an assumption that almost every man (and society) makes, and it doesn’t necessarily get questioned even if a couple is suffering from fertility problems.Peter has a keen interest in treating male fertility, not just from a clinical perspective, but also from a social point of view that by and large still places the “blame” with women and isolates men from the process. This is an in depth episode where we cover just about all there is to know about male fertility and getting the guys on board with treatment through to strategies that can be applied clinically.Peter’s clinic is located in Brisbane, and he also lectures regularly across Australia and New Zealand. He will be presenting at IICMC Supercharge your Fertility Conference in Melbourne in November 2018.We’d love to hear your comments and feedback on this episode. Please drop by our Facebook page to let us know what you think on this topic!

Have you heard the Chinese saying that a pregnant woman should read beautiful poetry, and no one should deliver bad news to her?In this episode we discussed all things pregnancy related with Debra Betts – including the merits of this old superstitious advice.We covered everything from the basics of pregnancy, and forbidden points, through to some more complicated scenarios around inducing labour, and the rise of gall bladder attacks during pregnancy in modern times.For further information – about Debra’s clinic work and her patient handouts,  information about the acupuncture training for midwives, and the online Masters course for acupuncturists.We’d love to hear your comments and feedback on this episode. Please drop by our Facebook page to let us know what you think on this topic!

Who better to have a chat with about Han Dynasty medicine than the King of Shang Han Lun himself – Arnaud Versluys.We talk about how he went from a standard TCM education to being a practitioner who exclusively practices classical herbal medicine. Phiona and Clare asked Arnaud about many aspects of Han Dynasty medicine, including the use of acupuncture alongside Han dynasty herb formulas, the best translation of the Jing Gui Yao Lue, and whether he thinks it’s worth it to learn to read Chinese and be able to understand the texts for yourself.We speculate on rumors that Arnaud will write a book on Shang Han Lun – he promises that he has it on the agenda!And of course we get into some detailed discussion of some aspects of Shang Han Lun theory. Something for everyone in this episode!Following these links you can find more information about Arnaud, his clinical practice and his upcoming seminars and lectures.We’d love to hear your comments and feedback on this episode. Please drop by our Facebook page to let us know what you think on this topic!

In this brilliant episode we managed to cover a lot of ground with Ann Cecil Sterman – where we talked about dynamic pulse diagnosis, and how actively taking the pulse allows a practitioner to derive conclusions about how the organs are interacting with each other.We covered so much more than just dynamic pulse diagnosis. We got to hear about Ann’s life mission, her passion and even how she plays in a professional orchestra from time to time.We also got into the nitty gritty on the “other channels” that are often forgotten about. Ann discusses how they are very powerful and an essential part of every acupuncturists toolkit that should be learned about and not be ignored.And of course the question of dosage for acupuncture – how often should we be giving acupuncture to our patients in order to get them an optimal outcome? And what to do if your treatment that should be working isn’t working.Ann Cecil Sterman is a long time student of Dr Jeffrey Yuen, and has a busy practice in Manhattan New York where she focuses on treating chronic degenerative diseases. She has published 2 books: Advanced Acupuncture, A Clinic Manual, Protocols for the Sinew, Luo, Divergent and Eight Extraordinary Channels, and The Art of Pulse Diagnosis. Ann’s teaching schedule can be found here.We’d love to hear your comments and feedback on this episode. Please drop by our Facebook page to let us know what you think on this topic!

In your life, what or who is a pain in the neck? Do you suffer from the burden of trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders?Neck and shoulder pain is a common complaint amongst patients – whether or not you specialise in musculoskeletal cases, pain in the neck and/or shoulders will be experienced by many of your patients.Treating and resolving neck and shoulder pain is often fairly straight forward – but what about those cases where it just doesn’t seem to respond to treatment the way you think it should? In this episode Clare and Phi discuss their strategies to deal with really tricky neck and shoulder pain, and surprising ways they’ve found to help resolve it.Some of the things we discussed in this episode include:Heather Bruce’s navel cupping techniqueMouth breathing, the consequences for TMJ, bruxing and neck pain, and what you can do about itPterygoid muscle releaseWe’d love to hear your comments and feedback on this episode. Please drop by our Facebook page to let us know what you think on this topic!

If you treat fertility patients in your practice – this is a must-listen episode! If you are looking for ways to really make your clinical approach holistic – this is a must-listen episode.We recorded a live episode with Yaron Seidman a few months back, and now here it is for all of you who didn’t get to join us live to enjoy listening.We had a great discussion with Yaron about his Hun Yuan approach to treating fertility, and what it means to take a truly holistic approach to treatment. We talk about life medicine, and how we can use all kinds of tools – not just acupuncture and herbal medicine – to help reconnect someone who has lost their connection to their health potential. Yaron shares gems including the foundational approach of his unification formula, how he prescribes different types of music for patients to listen to, as well as his understanding of the importance of a Heart connection with patients.Yaron Seidman has been practising for 27 years, and his clinical practice is specialised in the treatment of infertility. He consults with patients around the world from his clinic based in Connecticut USA. Yaron also runs a 3 year practitioner training in Hun Yuan Body, Heart, Medicine.Yaron will be presenting at the 2018 IICMC fertility conference in Melbourne Australia, November 9-11th 2018.We’d love to hear your comments and feedback on this episode. Please drop by our Facebook page to let us know what you think on this topic!

Are you walking the walk when it comes to getting your work-life balance right? Are you taking enough time off?For many practitioners it’s tricky to get the right balance between work and leisure.What’s the best way to take time off without having a negative affect on your business? It’s a common occurrence for practitioners – you take some much needed time off from clinic – only to return to find that your patient numbers have dropped.Women in particular can have a stressful time in planning for maternity leave – it can be hard to know exactly when will be a good time to finish up work, and when you think you’ll be ready to return to work is often not the time you thought you’d be coming back.And what about regular time off – like sick leave? Do you go to work when you’re so sick you should really stay at home? Can you afford to take a day off work and still be able to pay the bills when they come rolling in?Some get locums, some working in group practices have other practitioners to cover for them, others just close down their clinic for their holiday and reopen on their return. We talk about it all in this episode, and whilst we don’t profess to have all the answers, Phiona and Clare talk about what has and hasn’t worked in their particular circumstances in the past.We would love to hear about the challenges you have faced, and how you went about dealing with it. Was it a success? Would you do it again differently next time?We’d love to hear your comments and feedback on this episode. Please drop by our Facebook page to let us know what you think on this topic!

We as humans are manifestations of the universal spark, and when the universal spark fragments, it radiates energy from Heaven outward towards us, and it is up to us as human beings to answer back to Heaven with our thoughts, our actions, our feelings and emotions. The more we are focused on our desires, frustrations, anger – the more we are not connected to that connection. The more we are connected to the Heavenly energy the more we are connected to our true nature.In this episode we go into some of the intricacies of stems and branches theory – as Joan Duveen shares his 3 decades of clinical experience in using this approach with his patients.The important influence Dr van Buren had in the teaching of stems and branchesHow to apply knowledge of the 4 pillars in a clinical settingHow stems and branches can be used with fertility patientsThe relationship between Zheng Qi, stems and branches, and the connection to our true natureHow to make the adjustments in the calculations for the Southern Hemisphere.Joan Duveen commenced his studies in Chinese medicine in 1975, and studied and worked closely with Dr van Buren for many years. Joan is practising in Netherlands and lecturing internationally on a regular basis.He will be holding a seminar on Stems and Branches acupuncture in Melbourne, Australia from July 21st-24th. Tickets can be purchased from the event organiser Qiology.We’d love to hear your comments and feedback on this episode. Please drop by our Facebook page to let us know what you think on this topic!

What to do with your gynae patients who seem to have every single pattern of disharmony happening in their body all the same time? It’s like they’ve asked for a burger with the lot – and it has every. possible. ingredient. all piled in between the two halves of the bun.This week we discussed some of the intricacies of treating gynae patients – women’s health and fertility. Some clinical gems includingsome mini herb combos – triplets that are good for treating menopausal symptoms, depression, sinusitiswhen Steve uses yi mu cao in doses as high as 30ghow he doses tian qi to deal with heavy bleedingwhat he uses for patients with a subplacental hemorrhageSteve Clavey is a master of Chinese herbal medicine, and runs a busy fertility and women’s health practice in Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of Fluid Physiology and PathophysiologySteve is an editor of the internationally regarded Chinese medicine journal The Lantern that is published 3 times a year. You can also read some of his Daoist translations and some of Steve’s other writings at https://thefatmonk.wordpress.comWe’d love to hear your comments and feedback on this episode. Please drop by our Facebook page to let us know what you think on this topic!

In this week’s episode, Phiona and Clare go through the foundations of how to treat thyroid disorders from an integrative TCM perspective. From start to finish – from the basics of what the thyroid is doing, what the thyroid blood tests mean, what the optimal reference ranges are and how to use that information in your clinic.They discuss the importance of formulating a proper TCM diagnosis to ensure your acupuncture treatment and herbal formulas are targeting your patient’s pathology in just the right way.Clare and Phiona discuss a range of integrative approaches to treating the thyroid, including addressing heavy metals, the importance of selenium, zinc and other nutrients. Also the right way and the wrong way for patients to be supplementing with iodine, especially if they have Hashimoto’s.We mentioned it’s a good idea to go back and refresh yourself on the episodes we did with Heiner Fruehauf on gu syndrome – episodes 24 & 25.We’d love to hear your favourite gem from this episode, please share it with us on our Facebook page.

What does your patient’s heart rate tell you about their history of trauma? The types of qualities present in those with PTSD?Can you tell from the pulse what an aneurysm, prolapse or valve problems feel like on the pulse?What is the significance of an increase in the leathery pulse quality in today’s society?In this episode we had an in depth discussion with Ross Rosen about so many aspects of pulse diagnosis of the Shen Hammer Pulse System.Ross early interest in Chinese philosophy, culture and martial arts led to the study of Chinese herbal medicine at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in New York City. He has dedicated years to the study of Contemporary Chinese Pulse Diagnosis (CCPD) and Contemporary Oriental Medicine and Chinese medical psychology is one of only a few practitioners who is certified practitioner and continues to receive hands on training with Dr Leon Hammer. Ross has also studied under Dr Jeffrey Yuen.Ross’ clinic is located in Westfield, New Jersey. You can find details on his clinic at www.acupunctureandherbalmedicine.com and information about his upcoming seminars at rossrosen.comWe hope your ears and your own Shen can take the info from this episode to help your fingers to have a new understanding of your patients’ pulses in clinic. We’d love to hear your favourite gem from this episode, please share it with us on our Facebook page.

“We get sick when we’re not paying attention”From Picasso, to Dostoyevsky, to Zhang Zhong Jing – we discussed many great ideas from great minds in this episode with Z’ev Rosenberg. This is a long episode – where we really dive deep in exploring the ways in which we can best equip ourselves to be the best diagnostic clinicians we can be.In this long discussion we had a great discussion with Z’ev who shared his 30+ years of experience as we covered many ideas ranging from the intricacies of pulse diagnosis, through to the treatment of autoimmune disease and menopause. Your passion for Chinese medicine will be renewed after this discussion.And to round off this spectacular episode – a special song for the outro at Z’ev’s request.Z’ev Rosenberg, L. Ac., began his studies of Asian schools of medicine in the early 1970’s, with studies in macrobiotics, shiatsu, and theory of Chinese medicine.  He received a degree from the Santa Fe School of Natural Medicine in Western herbal medicine and body therapies in 1976, Kushi Institute (Boston, Massachusetts) in 1979 in macrobiotic counseling, Southwest Acupuncture College in 1983 in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and Emperor’s College of Oriental Medicine (post-graduate master’s degree in Oriental Medicine) in 1989.  He worked as a macrobiotic councilor and shiatsu practitioner throughout the 1970’s, and has been in full-time practice in acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine since 1983.You can find more about Z’ev on his website http://zevrosenberg.com/Let us know what your thoughts and reflections are on the ideas in this episode – over on our  Facebook page.

“All musculoskeletal problems will have an internal component – you just have to look for it.”Matt Callison is the King of Musculoskeletal acupuncture, and if he could meet any of the ancient acupuncture masters, he’d choose Hua Tou for his interesting take on the points. We had a very informative discussion with Matt about his own interesting work combining acupuncture and sports medicine. Matt shares some less well known methods with Hua Tou Jia Ji points, and effective ways to treat pain holistically with particular combinations of acupuncture points, motor points, shu & mu points. As acupuncturists, being able to treat pain really quickly, with a full view of the holistic picture, is going to boost our practices, and our patients’ experience. 

If you want to be a world class acupuncturist, you need to know what is contained in these texts. If you want to be a world class diagnostician, you need to know what is written in the pages of these books. David is a master of this domain and he shares his in depth knowledge of Han medicine with us in this episode.The Nei Jing and the Nan Jing contain enough clinically relevant information that you could literally spend your entire career refining the details contained within their pages and still not uncover all the intricacies.David White has done just this. He has dedicated his career to studying in great depth the ins and outs of the Nan Jing and the Nei Jing and the clinical and diagnostic info that is so abundant in these texts. Pulse diagnosis, acupuncture techniques, diagnostic indicators – this man knows the details. Scholar and practitioner extraordinaire – David has collected a lot of experience in the Han medicine of the Nei Jing and Nan Jing since entering the profession.David holds a masters degree from RMIT and is in his final year of his doctorate at UTS in Sydney. He is a former founding member of the International Society for the Study of Classical Acupuncture (ISSCA) and current Director of the Institute of Neijing Research (INR). He is currently in private practice in Sydney’s North Shore, a senior lecturer at SITCM in acupuncture, and holds seminars in Neijing medicine all around the globe. In 2017 David will be teaching, as part of the ongoing Neijing Medicine series through the Institute of Neijing Research, the Compass of Jingluo which is a classical exploration of the channel system. This will be in Melbourne on the 23rd and 24th of April and the 3rd and 4th of June. The INR will also be launching it’s online training for all theoretical studies in Neijing medicine early next year.We’d love your feedback and interaction on this topic, you can do that on our Facebook page. If you’re loving our episodes, please rate us on iTunes.