This is an evergreen post, as they say, because when you’re really devoted to learning the ancient art and science of East Asian medicine the learning never ends. Every day, every breath, every patient, every re-read text – all of it is a meditation on the circular learning process at the heart of most education…
Three insights governing my work on this site so far
For more than ten years, I’ve been operating as a practitioner of classical Chinese medicine. During that time, I’ve built up five clinic locations, closed three, taught for ten years at National University of Natural Medicine and started and stopped dozens of projects revolving around the professions of Chinese herbalism and acupuncture. I’ve read, studies and…
Renewal
The truth is I’m a little obsessed with the Gallbladder. Not in the intensely intellectually curious way – I’m not learning the intricacies of biomedical anatomy or thumbing through studies about the etymological analysis of the Chinese character dan 膽. This is visceral, personal. This is lived experience. Since I started school in Chinese medicine…
The culture of professional Chinese medicine in the US : the reality and use of nature-centrism as a value
While there are hundreds of issues under active debate by the community, many of which could have important consequences for patients, I chose to look specifically at one aspect of EAM’s professional culture – the ethical construct of the oath. Through analyzing that oath, I have tried to demonstrate that it can serve as a scaffolding for the formation of a robust professional culture, and have suggested some ways that this might impact practitioners and institutions in the profession.
A Chinese medicine oath serving as a foundation for acupuncture medical ethics
This is the second portion of the paper I read at the 2017 SPCW annual meeting. You can read the beginning here. I’ve not made many changes I would like to make quite yet, but wanted to get this second part up. I’ll make some changes to it in the coming weeks, and reflect the…
The professional culture of East Asian medicine in the US : an introduction
I recently gave a paper at the annual conference of the Society for Philosophy in the Contemporary World. It was a bit of a stretch for me, as I’d not done work like this since, at least, my thesis in acupuncture school. Careful thinking is hard, and I can’t say I even did that wonderful a…
Chinese medicine and liberation
Many of us come to this medicine to contribute to deep wellness in our communities. We may want to do more than simply execute protocols that remove pain. We may feel in our hearts that we want to do more than help a person run that next marathon. To go beyond the noble goal of…
The importance of lineage in [Chinese] medicine
I set the word “Chinese” apart with brackets because I believe lineage is important in all medicine – indeed in all human endeavor. Unfortunately, lately the word has become something of a curse, something looked down upon as being too subjectively oriented, too privileged, too hierarchical. Of course, there are those, too, who put it…
Practice makes perfect – advice on learning Chinese herbs
As a student learning Chinese herbs, I was impatient. Already having been in higher education for 8 years straight, I was eager to get on with it. I didn’t understand the process, and I didn’t understand (nor respect) the ancient traditions of learning that, despite it all, still have something to teach us. I got…
In which I am reminded again that Chinese medicine theory can save my life
I’ve been reading a couple of interesting books. One, which I’ve read a couple of times before, is called The Diamond Cutter, which elaborates a Buddhist view on business and life management. I’m not done with it, yet, but it is subtly shifting my consciousness in a new direction. Actually, it is more accurate to…