Qiological Shop Talk

Ever underestimate a simple tool? Sometimes what looks like folk medicine turns out to hold profound clinical value.

In this Shop Talk, we get into gua sha with Carly Herrero, an acupuncturist and massage therapist from Maine who’s made this deceptively simple technique a cornerstone of her clinical work.

Listen into this conversation as we explore how gua sha acts like a “controlled burn”—creating local inflammation to reduce systemic inflammation—why it’s effective for colds, flus, and lingering coughs, and how to match technique and dosage to the patient’s constitution. Carly shares practic...

It’s the quiet, gentle skills that often enough create the most change in clinic, especially for kids. The techniques easily overlooked because they seem so subtle, gentle or simple, it’s these interventions the body soaks in with a thirst.

In this Shop Talk, we sit down with Maya Suzuki, a practitioner rooted in Japanese medicine, whose work with pediatrics reveals just how responsive, intuitive, and astonishingly resilient children’s bodies can be.

Listen in as we explore why treating kids requires a completely different mindset than treating adults. The importance of proper dosage. How ov...

Cold and flu season arrives on schedule every year. Patients walk with symptoms of not being quite well and if you’re paying attention—you can discern the pattern as it shifts and moves. The body tells you where the pathogen has landed, and what it’s up to.

In this shoptalk with Eran Evan, we investigate the colds both from the Jing Fang perspective and also take into account the habits of modern life. You might see the progressions the old books speak about because our patients rarely do something about an external invasion at the beginn...

Kidney essence is precious and not easily replenished. This Shop Talk segment discusses how the Kidney needs material form to create essence. And that it is the Yangming channels with their yang action that help the digestive system to extract the clear qi from food and fluids, and this in turn becomes the material that can transform into essence. 

This is a simple and effective set of points for burn out or exhaustion and they lean on the dynamic of transform, rather than simply tonifying the Kidney itself. 

Golden Flower Chinese Herbs also offers herbal fo...

This Shop Talk is a discussion of the differences between the Zangfu organ system and that of the Jingluo. 

A brief history is given, as are mentions of the differing relationships between the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches with regard to the Zangfu organs and Jingluo channels. 

An example of this is that the internal Zangfu organ Lung is attributed to Metal; whereas the Hand Taiyin Lung channel is attributed to Yang Wood. The differing Five Phase natures of the internal Zangfu organs and the more external Jingluo system, is actually a clear reflection of th...

In this Shop Talk segment John Scott the co-founder of Golden Flower Chinese Herbs discusses the use of Hua Tou points for the treatment of shingles. Additionally, how these points are useful for lower jiao issues like increasing male fertility and for prostate issues. 

Golden Flower Chinese Herbs also offers herbal formulations for these conditions and many more. Visit them at www.gfcherbs.com.

In this Shop Talk Michael Max reflects on 25 years of practice and the importance of running a business as a cultivative  practice.

We go into the importance not of “faking it till you make it,” but rather using the learning of the early days to better hone your skills and more thoroughly understand who you are, and what your ideal practice really looks like.

Additionally we explore the issues of money and authority, and rather see these as hindrances, they are actually valuable teachers that both help us to be better practitioners and more honest and r...

In this Shop Talk Jason Robertson discusses the importance of putting your hands on your patients heads to understand where physically the points actually are located.

He draws from his experience with Dr Wang Ju-Yi in discussing how points are “jie” which you can think of as junctions or spaces, they’re notable by the way they feel. And this isn’t just for points on the head, but through the body. It’s helpful to put your hands on people and let the body tell you where the point is located.

Dr. Wang had a special...

Leta Herman, co-founder of the Alchemy Learning Center, shares her insights into the world of the Thirteen Ghost Points, a mystical aspect of acupuncture that she has been practicing for almost two decades. These points, often overlooked or misunderstood, hold transformative potential but require a level of practitioner self-cultivation before their full power can be harnessed. 

Leta emphasizes that the Ghost Points act as liberators, clearing out accumulated emotional baggage and releasing stuck patterns, making them particularly valuable in our modern world. She advocates for a patient-centered approach, recommending starting with a few Ghost Points in a o...

Join Leta Herman as she shares her perspective on why Chaotic Energy treatments (also known as Aggressive Energy) are so helpful in today's fast paced, modern world.

In the past 20 years, Leta has witnessed a significant rise in CE due to increased world-wide stress, smartphones, wearables and a constant media exposure. Chaotic Energy spreads through the Ke cycle, affecting multiple organ systems and even contributing to severe illness.

Symptoms of CE include mild to severe emotional agitations, anxieties, and physical discomforts–all related to Wei Qi circulation.

In this ShopTalk, Leta describes how to...

How and why could learning classical Chinese make you a better clinician? Here are a couple of possible reasons: Reading the Chinese medicine classics directly, instead of modern textbooks about them, facilitates a more direct and hence authentic transmission, thereby giving you maximum clarity and efficacy through precise diagnosis and treatments rooted in the Chinese medicine paradigm. 

It enriches your medical vocabulary by introducing you to concepts that simply don’t exist in Western languages or the biomedical paradigm, such as “Triple Burner” or “Gate of Life,” “Bi impediment syndrome,” or even Qi and Yin/Yang. By providing acces...

In this Shop Talk I’ll be sharing three reasons why I practice Sasang Medicine.

Reason #1 Food first

The condition of the constitution always affects treatment outcome, prevention, overall health and longevity.

People vary in their balance and do not inherently all have strong constitutions. People need to nourish their weakness and not feed what is already too strong.

Eating all 5 tastes equally balances your plate; not you!

Example 1: someone with half their energy in the liver, will make their imbalance worse by eating any liver-building food at all

In this shoptalk on self-cultivation, Chris Shelton his perspective on the world of Qigong and its profound healing powers. Leaning on his experience of having Qigong profoundly change his life, he shares his practice that unites movement, breath, and mind-focus to harness the body's innate ability to heal.

Chris explains how Qigong promotes the harmonious flow of qi, and addresses imbalances and blockages that lead to physical and emotional ailments. He highlights its transformative effect on stress reduction, chronic pain relief, and emotional well-being, making it indispensable for modern-day living.

Chris showcases remarkable healing stories...

In the initial descriptions of Chinese medicine set down in the Huangdi Neijing, acupuncture was described as a traditional form of ecological surgery.

Its primary aim was to restore the natural watersheds of the body by regulating the flow of the blood circulating through these regions. These writings compare the vascular rivers of the body to rivers in nature, understanding them to be formed by the same basic forces and patterns of nature.

Similar to rivers in nature, the flow qualities of the vascular rivers display different seasonal variations or ‘tides'. We assess these seasonal ti...

Medicine and Bazi belong to the 5 Arts of Chinese metaphysics. All 5 Arts use the basic principles of Taoist philosophy.

The Bazi belongs to the Life Arts and is called The Pillars of Destiny. The 4 pillars are, the year, the month, the day and the hour.

The upper half of the chart is the 10 Heavenly Stems. The 5 Elements doubled as yin and yang, much like the organ pairs in Medicine but more the elements in Nature.

The lower half of the chart is the 12 Earthly Branches. The extra two characters come from one of...

In this Shoptalk, I will be sharing with you some critical advice regarding safety when needling GB 21 and the upper trapezius region generally.

My advice comes from having served as an expert witness on a half-dozen cases in which well-intentioned and experienced acupuncturists, trained according to the current standards of the profession, nevertheless caused pneumothorax injuries–one of them fatal.

What’s an expert witness? A neutral professional who reviews evidence and renders opinions in a court proceeding as to whether the acupuncturists’ care was up to standards of the profession–and if not, whether the subs...

In this Shop Talk segment we cover important questions to ask you male patient’s when they come to you presenting with such common issues as ED, PE, BPH and Prostatitis! For a more in-depth understanding on common men’s health conditions you can take one of my courses

 Information on my upcoming courses will be announced on my blog at: https://whole-healthacupuncture.com/blog. Currently, I have date 10/7/23 set for my course on BPH & How to Successfully Treat It Using TCM Principles. You can find information on how to sign-up through my blog listed above or by co...

In this Shop Talk Chloe discusses key basics of hemp, cannabis and CBD that will help you as a practitioner of Chinese herbal medicine to consider how you can engage using these medicinals in your clinical work.

She starts with the historical uses and ends with how this medicinal has been helpful for her in caring for son and lead her to creating Radical Roots. Along the way you’ll find out the differences between hemp and marijuana. The differences between CBD and THC, especially in regard to the endogenous cannabinoid system.

Finally she goes in...

In this episode of Shop Talk we’re exploring cultivation as it relates to the business of acupuncture. As practitioners, we often hear about the importance of cultivation as essential for our personal and professional growth. But too often we gloss over the cultivative aspect of running a business.

In this short talk we’ll explore the potential of how running a business can make us a more well rounded practitioner. And additionally discuss how managing the business of our practice serves as a powerful tool for self-accountability, shedding light on our blind spots, fears, and areas of d...

I’m Anthony Von der Muhll, and in this Shoptalk, I will be sharing with you one of my most useful go-to techniques for treating chronic musculoskeletal pain and disability: needling into joint and ligamentous tissues. 

This is an ancient technique with modern applications that is quite safe, well-tolerated, and works rapidly and effectively for long-lasting improvements in function, not just of joints but also the muscles, tendons and nerves that cross them. 

When I started using this technique about 15 years ago, my success rates went way up, and the time and number of treatments requi...

In this Shop Talk presentation Jeffrey Dann discusses the importance of palpation as part of the assessment and treatment of patients. He emphasizes the importance of relying on our hands to improve our palpatory skills which in turn help to deepen our understanding of the physical body. 

In this presentation he focuses, as an example, on the Yuan Source point Kidney Three, and takes us through the process of palpating for blood, qi, nerves and fluids. And then suggests ways to intervene using acupuncture, moxibustion and gentle bodywork.

Jeffrey’s long experience as a practitioner and...

In this Shop Talk we hear about a surprisingly effective use of the Tung point San Cha San, which she discovered when she treated herself for a head cold. 

San Cha San is easily accessed as it’s located along the Triple Burner channel, and is reached by sliding a needle in between the fourth and fifth metacarpals. So it is a point you can readily add to your treatments

Additionally Renee covers the uses of sister points, San Cha Yi and San Cha Er and how they are useful for back pain. 

It’s...

Today’s Shop Talk is an invitation to acupuncturists to recognize the power and potential of our medicine. And committing ourselves to making a difference in the delivery of healthcare in our country, by choosing the communities we want to make a difference in, and using our imagination and heart to create new models of delivery.

Education and the use of the Internet are tools we can make better use of. We most likely will need to step out of our comfort zone, but that is where real progress becomes possible.

Need someone to bounce id...

In this short conversation Toby and Ji Ling Lin discuss some of the basics of Saam acupuncture. How it uses a combination of the yin and yang, the five phases, and the six confirmations. Additionally they touch on the way the system combines yin and yang organs in a novel way, that actually makes a lot of sense when you see the dynamic complementary relationships that are involved. 

Qiological is offering a live in person (and live streamed) class this June on Introduction to Saam Acupuncture: The Acupuncture of Wandering Monks. Visit the website for details and t...

In today's Shop Talk segment, Michelle Grasek, acupuncturist and marketing strategist, shares three new perspectives on marketing to help you approach your marketing with enthusiasm and consistency so you can get more visible in your community and help more patients.

If you feel resistant to putting yourself or your business out there with marketing or can’t seem to truly be consistent with your marketing, then this Shop Talk is for you.

Michelle’s reason for sharing these ideas with you is to help you remember that marketing is simply a neutral tool that we can...

In this Shop Talk segment I explain how to balance the pulses using acupuncture. We need to return the pulses back to that healthy baseline so that the person can get on with the business of their life .

In this talk I’ll take you through a basic assessment where we compare the relative strength or size of the pulse to determine excess and deficiency and then use acupressure to key points to determine the effect on the pulse..

This can be used as a simple standalone treatment, or as a way to begin a lo...

In this short conversation we discuss Toby's unique patient centered approach to helping patients and potential patients understand and use East Asian medicine. In his new book he helps the layperson to understand how our medicine can help, without attempting to give them a Chinese Medicine 101 education.

He accomplishes this by emphasizing the importance of providing context and using terms that patients can understand. And discusses Chinese medicine through the avenues of clinical experience, historical context and scientific research.

One of the key aspects of this book, and that makes it so helpful to everyday...

Many children present in the clinic with a condition that does not easily fit into our usual classification of the deficient (xu) or excess (shi) child. We see a mixed picture. There are signs and symptoms of deficiency, alongside those of Heat. Yet the Heat signs and symptoms are not reconcilable with either Full or Empty Heat. Where do we start? Should we focus on tonifying or clearing?

Once we understand the concept of yin fire, everything begins to make more sense. The first complete and influential description of yin fire was written by Li Dong-yuan in...

In this Shop Talk segment we discuss the multi-sensory aspects of listening, and begin to explore the vast topic not of the “what we do” in clinic, but instead the “how we are.”

Presence and attention, being inquisitive on behalf of our patients and keeping a rein on our ego are all skills that have nothing to do with what points we choose, and everything with how we interact with those points.

Michael Max

I thought I’d know a lot more after 25 years in practice, and I’ve also learned so much that I never...

In today’s Shop Talk Damo Mitchell explores the Craft of Acupuncture and our relationship with the primary tool of our trade— the needle. Along with a practical understanding of Butcher Ding and the critical importance of knowing how to slide through the sinew channels with an attentive awareness, so we can target our treatment to the primary channels.

You can find out more about Damo's work at 

Lotus Nei Gong, Xian Tian College, and on Youtube.

Damo Mitchell

I started out in the martial arts which I began at the age of...

In today's Shop Talk segment, Michelle Grasek, acupuncturist and marketing strategist, walks you through how target market and copywriting intersect to create great marketing.

Target market often gets a bad reputation for being a theoretical exercise without practical application. But in reality, it offers powerful insights that can make your marketing much more compelling.

She also addresses frequently asked questions that she gets from marketing students and clients, including, “What if I do this wrong?” and “What if I scare away patients by niching down and getting too specific with my marketing message?

Her go...

When I was living and studying medicine in Beijing in 2003, Craig Mitchell shared with me a book he found on herbal medicine. Back at that time I was working on my Chinese and it was not very good, but reading interesting books on medicine was a way I encouraged myself to keep at the Chinese. 

When I first read Ten Key Formula Families in Chinese Medicine I thought my Chinese was perhaps getting worse, because the ideas contained in it were so different from what I'd previously been exposed to. Turns out, I was understanding it, and t...

In less than 2 days, a single acupuncture treatment heals a wound that 2 months of conventional treatments couldn’t help.

This case exemplifies the power of Saam, a Korean tradition of acupuncture. I hope this case will inspire more acupuncturists to study Saam and be of interest for those already practicing Saam. A deep understanding of the qualities of the 12 channels of Saam was necessary to come to the correct diagnosis, the key that along with proper treatment unlocks the amazing healing potential of the body.

Kristin Wisgirda

I have been steeping in everything Sa...

The importance of assessing Rate on Exertion with Shen-Hammer Pulse Diagnosis:

Pulse diagnosis can be scary for lots of practitioners; not everyone has been fortunate enough to spend years deep diving into the intricacies and subtleties, and often practitioners don't even spend much time checking pulse at all.  In this ShopTalk episode, I detail one of the most important assessments on the pulse, explain its significance, and detail how to do it.  And it is EASY and QUICK to perform.  If you treat pain, emotional issues like depression/anxiety/panic, or complaints like insomnia, dizziness/vertigo, or spe...

In today's Shop Talk segment, Michelle Grasek, acupuncturist and marketing strategist, shares actionable tips to help you get better results from your email marketing. She also addresses frequently asked questions that she often gets from marketing students and clients, including, "What if I'm annoying people by sending email?" "What the heck am I supposed to write about?" and "Who has time to write a consistent email newsletter?" 

Her goal is to help you send simple emails that get more patients on your schedule. 

She's also offering a discount code for Qiological listeners for her Year of...

In today’s Shop Talk, Lisa presents basic Biomedical and TCM information about BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia), a condition that every Acupuncturist will most likely see in their clinic at some point in their career unless you don’t treat older gentlemen. She presents common causes, symptoms, biomed treatments, TCM differentials and a few basic points. You can use these points in your clinic tomorrow to start successfully treating this condition! It’s a condition that responds very well to what we have to offer, acupuncture and herbs! For a more in-depth understanding on BPH and other common men’s health...