True Nature Radio

We continue through the cycle of the Organ Networks, with an in-depth exploration of the Large Intestine Network. In a previous episode, we provided a general introduction to the 12 Organ Networks of Chinese medicine, and a more detailed description of the Lung Organ Network. Each of the twelve represents a set of functions that can be observed throughout the natural world, including the human body. As an example, the Lung function in nature is associated with the first month of spring, when the yang qi emerges and begins to manifest at the surface. Although the coldness of yin still dominates, the warmth of yang begins to melt the winter ice. The rivers and springs begin to flow, and plant and animal life begins to come out. In the human body, the health of the lung function can be seen in the health of the skin. The tiger is the representative animal of the lung function—one can readily see the vibrancy at the surface of this potent animal. In this episode, we discuss phenomena and themes associated with the Large Intestine organ network: Month: Second month in the Chinese calendar; approx March 5th -April 4th (when the active forces of spring overcome the dormant forces of winter) Time of Day: 5-7 am; sunrise Animal: Rabbit Themes: “Achieving Dominance” “Breaking Through” (sudden eruptions) “Proliferation in Nature” Archetype: Worker, accountant, CEO, police officer, politician, lawyer, banker, dentist, cosmetic surgeon, body-builder Pathology: Examples include: constipation, cancer, eczema, mental illness, criminal behavior, rape, corruption Lifestyle choices: Dietary factors that promote healthy bowel movements (plenty of water and fiber), acting decisively but not at the expense of others, engaging in charity and actions that benefit others rather than self.

The rapid modernization of China has resulted in high levels of pollution that can contaminate the food and herbal supplies. Heiner and Laurie discuss why Chinese herbs still hold unique value in the world of medicine, and what safeguards are in place to ensure the quality of the herbs imported from the Asian mainland.

We continue through the cycle this week, with an exploration of the Stomach and Spleen Organ Networks. Each of us embodies all of the 12 types of functions associated with the 12 organ networks—AND, most of us find that we identify pretty strongly with the characteristics of one or two types in particular. Learn about the phenomena and themes associated with both networks.

Having explored the Heart organ system and its integral role in health and disease, we now discuss the Small Intestine—the organ system charged with carrying out the mission of the Heart. The Small Intestine function is involved in making choices—what to eat, what to absorb of what we ate, what thoughts to entertain, what situations to engage in. When the Small Intestine function is healthy, we make choices that are true to our deeper nature, and therefore lead to real happiness and fulfillment.

Heiner and Laurie discuss the wisdom of traditional diets with “grassroots” expert Sally Fallon Morell. Sally began her journey into nutrition as an interested and observant mother. She quickly found that much of the modern view of nutrition has been highly influenced by business interests, rather than being informed by solid research and time-worn experience. Through open-minded exploration, she has become a proponent of ideas that may surprise (and delight) you! Sally is the founding president of the non-profit Weston A. Price Foundation (westonaprice.com), the editor of its quarterly journal Wise Traditions, and the founder of A Campaign for Real Milk, which promotes access to clean, whole raw milk from pasture-fed cows. Among Sally’s publications are the popular nutrition/cookbooks Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, and Eat Fat, Lose Fat, both of which she co-authored with lipid biochemist Mary G. Enig, PhD.

Since ancient times, humans have sought to understand the cycles of nature. In China, this knowledge was codified in the esoteric classic known as the Yijing—the Book of Changes. Join us as we explore the Yijing as a vivid example of how our ancestors viewed humanity’s connection to the cosmos, and how they created an intricate map of symbols that relate our existence to the larger cycles of nature.

Heiner and Laurie interview ecological design expert Katy Langstaff about how we can design and build structures that not only support the environment, but directly benefit human health as well. Katy is a former student of architect and theorist Christopher Alexander (A Pattern Language, The Timeless Way of Building, The Nature of Order), and works with her husband Stuart Cowan to provide ecological design, development, financial, and management services for innovative and sustainable building projects worldwide. Join us to hear how you we can build (whether a bed, house, or business) in a way that creates meaning and harmony in our lives. WEBSITE: http://www.autopoiesis.life/

What do the stars and planets reveal about how humans can live in harmony with the rhythms of nature? Heiner and Laurie interview Carol Ferris, a western astrologer who has spent more than forty years studying the relationship between planetary movements and human potential. Over the past decade, she has expanded her interests to the ancient Chinese understanding of the heavens, and is particularly fascinated by what the stellar constellations can reveal about human health. Learn more about the work of Carol Ferris by visiting her website. carolferrisastrology.com

This week, we discuss the ancient awareness that physical disease (dis-ease) arises when the natural flow of the Heart is restricted. This happens when we entertain false beliefs about ourselves or others, and let these prejudices dominate our inner wisdom. When our Heart is functioning freely, we experience ease and feel connected to the people and environment around us. Seen from this perspective, disease isn’t an enemy to be eradicated, but rather a sign in the material world pointing to opportunities to relax, open and live our life in a more whole and authentic way.

Contrary to common belief, Chinese medicine came to the west long before James Reston’s New York Times account of acupuncture following his trip to China with President Nixon in 1971. In fact, accounts of Chinese medicine practice in the Americas go back to at least the 1600’s. Heiner and Laurie interview expert Linda Barnes, PhD, who not only elucidates how, when and where Chinese medicine came to the west, but also provides insights about intercultural exchange that occurred. The discussion includes a consideration of how western understandings of medicine and the body were informed by interactions with Chinese medicine practitioners. Dr. Linda Barnes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine, and in the Division of Religion and Theological Studies at Boston University. She is also the Director of the Master of Medical Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Practice programs at BUSM. Among her publications are the following: Chinese Medicine and Healing: an Illustrated History, Harvard University Press (in press), and Needles, Herbs, Gods, and Ghosts: China, Healing and the West to 1848, Harvard University Press, 2005. She is co-editor, with Susan Sered, of Religion and Healing in America, Oxford University Press, 2004.

While Western medicine can be a life-saver, it also is much more likely than natural medicine to cause serious health problems for the patient. Heiner and Laurie discuss the issue of practitioner induced illness, and explain why this problem is much more likely to result from the practice of allopathic than natural medicine.

Discovering the relationship between acupuncture points and natural phenomena In Part I, 5-element acupuncturist David Ford and Heiner combined their experiential and scholarly knowledge to explore and explain the relationship between acupuncture points and channels in the body and corresponding phenomena in nature. In this segment, David reveals the practical application of this knowledge using real patient cases.

“As Above, So Below” isn’t just a lovely saying—there really is direct relationship between the human body and the natural world. In the realm of acupuncture, perhaps nobody knows this as experientially as this week’s guest, David Ford. Having spent more than forty years teaching acupuncture in wilderness settings, David has developed a deep understanding of how the properties of individual acupuncture points mirror actual phenomena in nature. David’s explorations in nature have benefitted from and in turn validated Heiner’s scholarly research findings on the classical meaning of the acupuncture point names. While many acupuncturists think of the point names as indicators of their exact location in the physical body, Heiner has uncovered a much deeper symbolic level of meaning. A whole new dimension to acupuncture is explored as David brings his wilderness- practitioner’s experience and Heiner brings his classical scholarship to today’s discussion.

Health writer Denise Minger shares her insights about the meat-no meat debate. Denise Minger is exuberant and simply in search of the truth…about what the available data does and does not tell us about the nature of healthy nutrition. Following a raw food, vegan diet to become hearty and strong, Denise instead found herself becoming sicker and weaker. According to the conclusions in The China Study, she was on the diet that should prevent chronic disease. Puzzled by her experience, and a data wonk at heart, she obtained the original data upon which the book was based, and analyzed it herself. Join us for a discussion of what she found in that data, and in her subsequent quest for nutritional wisdom based in sound science rather than dogmatism or political agendas. You can learn more about Denise’s work on her blog: deniseminger.com, and in her book Death by Food Pyramid. She also recommends you look at Mark Sisson’s blog: marksdailyapple.com.

A skilled Chinese medicine practitioner can learn a tremendous amount about a patient’s history and current condition just by observing their tongue. What are they looking for? Heiner interviews internationally recognized expert Barbara Kirschbaum to find out. Listen as Barbara provides insights gained from her more than thirty years of experience using tongue analysis in the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic disease, with a special focus on cancer and trauma. Barbara Kirschbaum is the author of the widely used textbooks The Atlas of Chinese Tongue Diagnosis, volumes 1 and 2, and is Director of the TCM Clinic within the Breast Cancer Center of the Jerusalem Hospital in Hamburg, Germany.

Why ancient wisdom is so relevant for finding health and harmony in today’s world? Join  Heiner and Laurie for a lively discussion with Dr. Sabine Wilms, world-renown expert on the life and works of ancient sage-scholar Sun Simiao (581-682 A.D.). Known as the “King of Medicine” (Yaowang), Sun Simiao is revered not only for his medical acumen (especially in the realm of herbal prescription), but also for his deep knowledge of how to “nourish life”, emphasizing the health of women and children. Since receiving her doctorate in East Asian Studies and Medical Anthropology from the University of Arizona in 2002, Dr. Sabine Wilms has devoted her professional life to making ancient medical wisdom, including that of Sun Simiao, available to today’s practitioners. Her goal is to provide them with the resources needed to rise above the level of technician to become “high-level” practitioners capable of facilitating true transformation in the lives of their patients. Among Sabine’s publications are the following translations: Bei ji qian yao fang: Essential Prescriptions worth a Thousand in Fold for Every Emergency: Volumes 2-4 on Gynecology (The Chinese Medicine Database, 2007). Jin gui yao lue:  Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Coffer (Paradigm Publications, 2009 with co-author Nigel Wiseman and Feng Ye Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Volume 1.

Exploring the most mysterious of the organ networks. Join us for a discussion of the elusive Triple Warmer Organ Network—perhaps the least understood of the Chinese organ systems. While not easily associated with any specific physical organ, the Triple Warmer functions are related to warmth, water metabolism, and networking throughout the body. Aspects of nervous and endocrine system functioning are likely involved.

The heart protector function. Join us for a discussion of the functions of the Pericardium Organ Network—the system responsible for protecting our heart and allowing for true intimacy.

Heiner and Laurie interview Dr. Paul Kalnins, a scholar practitioner with an unusually broad and deep perspective on how to truly integrate biomedical approaches with natural medicine approaches. After majoring in physics in his undergraduate studies, Dr. Kalnins attained degrees in Chinese and naturopathic medicine, and pursued additional study of the works of Goethe and Steiner. Dr. Kalnins discusses methods of cultivating one’s own perceptive abilities as a means to more directly understand what part of “the whole” is elucidated by different systems of medicine, and how these systems can be used together to optimize patient care.

This 5-element emotional release system can result in a rapid and profound return to health. Tamara Staudt, ND, LAc shares with Heiner and Laurie her direct experience with this powerful system of emotional healing. In 2010, Dr. Staudt was a member of the first group of foreigners to attend in a Wang Fengyi retreat in China. Having received great personal benefit as a participant, Dr. Staudt was inspired to lead the first Wang Fengyi retreat in the United States in June, 2011. Of particular note, one woman who entered the US retreat with liposarcoma remains cancer-free since that time. Heiner and Laurie have also participated in this type of healing work, and are big proponents of its powerful simplicity.

Acupuncture gives hope to the survivors of trauma–even those suffering from PTSD. It is common knowledge that the long-term sequelae of trauma can be devastating, but how many know there is much hope available in the form of acupuncture and other forms of natural medicine? Laurie interviews Roger Batchelor, DAOM, LAc, who has more than two decades of experience treating trauma survivors in public health and private clinical settings. Roger gives insight into how an acute traumatic event (or series of events) can cause chronic problems, and how these can be reversed through the skillful use of Chinese medicine.

The bladder is the organ function that leads to Enlightenment. Today’s show is a continuation in our cycle of presenting the organ functions of Chinese medicine. Heiner discusses how ancient symbol scientists described the functioning of what is arguably the body’s most mystical and esoteric channel network, namely the Bladder. It orchestrates the setting of boundaries, the storage of essence, and the raising of bioelectricity along the spine to feed the processes of mental clarity, personal evolution, and enlightenment.

What did real “surrender” mean to the ancient Chinese, and why did they deem it to be necessary for a person to live a fully authentic life? We’ll explore this question today, through the discussion of the characteristics attributed to the Kidney Channel Network of Chinese medicine. Ancient wisdom keepers defined the body’s root system as a type of “battery” for the storage of our core vitality, called “Source Qi”. In today’s world, we often fritter this core essence away—through a lifestyle filled with anxiety, too much activity, and the use of stimulants such as caffeine, sugar, and media overload. We stay attuned to outer interests and expectations, rather than settling into the natural expression of who we really are.

This is part two of our interview with Steve Marsden. You can listen to part 1, here. Steve Marsden was by all accounts a successful veterinarian, but felt that his toolkit of drugs and surgery was too limited to reliably achieve the kinds of outcomes that he wanted to with his furry, feathered, and scaled patients. Although initially wary of natural medicine, he was willing to investigate whether it could broaden and deepen his ability to help animals heal. He was impressed enough with what he found to seek training in natural medicine. There weren’t any training programs in veterinary medicine, so Steve became licensed as a naturopathic physician and a Chinese medicine practitioner. Steve now runs a highly successful practice in Edmonton, Canada treating both animals and humans using a broad range of modalities. He has also become the internationally recognized leader in natural veterinary medicine education. His wealth of experience treating all types of conditions, including many acute and chronic life-and-death situations, has made Steve into a firm believer in the power of natural medicine. Steve shares his well-earned wisdom on health and healing– touching on such topics as why the placebo effect doesn’t explain the success of natural medicine, how cutting-edge scientific research findings are in accordance with the classical Chinese perspective on the body, and why regulating blood circulation is the key to successful treatment in both animals and humans. Fascinating cases from his clinical practice are described to support his insights.

Steve Marsden was by all accounts a successful veterinarian, but felt that his toolkit of drugs and surgery was too limited to reliably achieve the kinds of outcomes that he wanted to with his furry, feathered, and scaled patients. Although initially wary of natural medicine, he was willing to investigate whether it could broaden and deepen his ability to help animals heal. He was impressed enough with what he found to seek training in natural medicine. There weren’t any training programs in veterinary medicine, so Steve became licensed as a naturopathic physician and a Chinese medicine practitioner. Steve now runs a busy practice in Edmonton, Canada treating both animals and humans using a broad range of modalities. He also travels the world educating veterinarians about natural medicine. His wealth of experience treating all types of conditions, including many acute and chronic life-and-death situations, has made Steve into a firm believer in the power of natural medicine. Steve shares his well-earned wisdom on health and healing– touching on such topics as why the placebo effect doesn’t explain the success of natural medicine, how cutting-edge scientific research findings are in accordance with the classical Chinese perspective on the body, and why regulating blood circulation is the key to successful treatment in both animals and humans. Fascinating cases from his clinical practice are described to support his insights.

Listen to the messages conveyed by your physical symptoms In our culture, we are conditioned to think of symptoms as problems to fix. We have our growths removed with surgery, our fevers lowered with aspirin, and our rashes removed by steroid creams. While this kind of approach can have the blessing of alleviating our suffering, and even be a valuable component of our healing process, it alone does not address why the symptoms were there in the first place. Heiner and Laurie discuss the importance of listening to your body’s messages about what is out of balance, and learning to make corresponding choices that support the movement toward health. Even in a state of good health, our physical form can be understood as sacred reflection of the inner working of our being.

This week, we open the door to a rich understanding that has come from more than a decade of research by a study group led by Heiner. Through excavation of the profound and timeless knowledge held in the ancient Chinese record, this team has uncovered multi-layered, symbolic meaning behind the system of 12 meridians that play a central role in Chinese medicine.

This week we explore the Heart Organ Network. The primary function associated with Heart in Chinese medicine is to move our awareness in the direction of unity, and enable us to experience true community and connection. Join us as we explore how the ancients conceived of this fundamental role in our human experience, and what their insights have to offer us in today’s increasingly alienating world.

Many ancient cultures had the practical realization that everything that exists is an inseparable mix of energy and matter, and is interconnected with everything else. In the realm of medicine, this means that every illness has meaning, and every symptom is a physical marker for the energy and consciousness that forms it. We can learn to read and interpret symptoms to understand the root cause of illness and find true solutions for restoring health.

In Part 2, Master Wang continues to recount the many traumatic and extraordinary events that fostered his becoming one of the most respected master’s of Daoist medicine and cultivation in China today. Join us for this inspirational journey of turning misfortune and persecution into a life of compassion and service for others.

With Heiner Fruehauf and Laurie Regan In this two-part series, Laurie narrates and Heiner translates the biographical story of qigong master Wang Qingyu. Join us for an inspirational journey of turning misfortune and persecution into a life of compassion and service for others.