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Qiological Podcast — Alternative Health
Qiological Podcast

Acupuncture and East Asian medicine was not developed in a laboratory. It does not advance through double-blind controlled studies, nor does it respond well to petri dish experimentation. Our medicine did not come from the statistical regression of randomized cohorts, but from the observation and treatment of individuals in their particular environment. It grows out of an embodied sense of understanding how life moves, unfolds, develops and declines.

Medicine comes from continuous, thoughtful practice of what we do in clinic, and how we approach that work. The practice of medicine is more — much more — than simply treating illness. It is more than acquiring skills and techniques. And it is more than memorizing the experiences of others. It takes a certain kind of eye, an inquiring mind and relentlessly inquisitive heart.

Qiological is an opportunity to deepen our practice with conversations that go deep into acupuncture, herbal medicine, cultivation practices, and the practice of having a practice. It’s an opportunity to sit in the company of others with similar interests, but perhaps very different minds. Through these dialogues perhaps we can better understand our craft.

Latest Episodes:

What is Essential • Kathleen Lumiere Jun 11, 2026

Show notes

What if the very things that seem to be pulling our profession apart are actually the forces that will finally condense it into something more resilient? We’re in a moment of choppy waters—school closures, shrinking enrollment, and a shifting financial landscape—where the successes of what have brought us to this moment will not take us into the future. .

In this conversation with Kathleen Lumiere, co-president of the Seattle Institute for East Asian Medicine (SIEAM), we discuss how we might make changes to our educational models that both streamlines and strengthens East Asian medicine.

We discuss the integration of business education into clinical training, the disappearance of Grad Plus loans, and the effect that has had on a system that came to be dependent on them. Kathleen also introduces the idea of using the "wisdom of crowds" to define the irreducible core of our profession—a shared set of competencies that could protect our identity while opening new doors for collaboration.

Listen into this conversation about what it means to be adventuresome and iconoclastic in a moment of crisis. It’s a look at how we can protect our infrastructure while remaining flexible enough to evolve, ensuring that the next generation of practitioners doesn't just survive, but finds a path to true gainful employment.

464 Time, Timing and the Timeless • Peter Firebrace Jun 09, 2026

Show notes

Many of us experience life through schedules, deadlines, and calendars, yet beneath them are deeper patterns that shape how we grow, adapt, heal, and change.

In this conversation with Peter Firebrace, we explore Chinese perspectives on time, timing, and the timeless. Through seasonal cycles, the Chinese calendar, and the rhythms observed in nature, we look at how a deeper awareness of time can inform both clinical practice and everyday life.

We also touch on what may be lost when we become disconnected from the natural patterns around us, and why reconnecting with those rhythms can offer a different way of understanding ourselves and our patients.

Listen in for a conversation that weaves together Chinese philosophy, clinical insight, and the enduring relationship between human life and the cycles of nature.

Realities of the Math • Ryan Hofer Jun 04, 2026

Show notes

We’re at a moment where the structure of loans and professional education is changing. Not just for the acupuncture profession, but across the entire educational landscape. While it seems the storm has suddenly blown in, it’s been brewing for a while.

In this conversation with Ryan Hofer we discuss the reality of Grad Plus loans, the true cost of them in terms of the interest they generate, and why the "math doesn't math" for a lot of people entering the field right now. We explore the various ways loans can be resolved, and the shame and anxiety that graduates experience when they realize they are in over their head financially.

There’s also this uncomfortable question about how we got here—how a business model based on student debt became the default, and what happens when that faucet finally gets turned off.

Change is coming and our profession is going to have to find a way to work with far less money coming for student loans. And we also need to reckon with the unsustainable debt that practitioners of an earlier generation did not need to face.

463 Complexity, Boundaries and Biomes • Neil Theise Jun 02, 2026

Show notes

Clinical practice asks us to recognise patterns, trust experience, and make decisions under uncertainty. But what happens when discovery comes not from certainty, but from staying open to surprise?

Dr. Neil Theise is a liver pathologist, stem cell researcher, Zen practitioner, and one of the scientists behind the discovery of the interstitium. In this conversation, he joins Michael to explore the tension between expertise and beginner’s mind, and how curiosity itself can become a path to deeper understanding.

Listen into this discussion as they explore the body as both structure and living continuum; how fascia, fluid, electricity, and awareness may be more interconnected than we realise; why perception changes depending on the “scale” we look from; and how science, meditation, and direct experience each reveal different truths about what it means to be human.

Reckoning the Present, Wayfinding the Future • Danielle Reghi May 28, 2026

Show notes

The acupuncture and East Asian profession is facing a number of critical challenges as long-established schools close, new federal guidelines on graduate education loans will dramatically change how much students can borrow, and fewer students consider a career as an acupuncturist.

How to wayfind through these troubled times? That is the question explored in this series with practitioners, researchers, and educators in the field of East Asian medicine.

In this conversation with Danielle Reghi we follow the arc of her career from acquiring and dealing with upwards of 200K in debt, to building a multi-location practice and learning how business acumen is as necessary as clinical skills.

She is the president of the Oregon Association of Acupuncturists. She played a key role in drafting the Oregon Acupuncture Workforce Sustainability Proposal, which considers the effect of the new RISE and AHEAD metrics from the federal government and how those affect the amount graduate students may borrow. Additionally this proposal looks at other educational options and alternative pathways that can lead to licensure in the State of Oregon.

Any discussion of the future requires a clear eyed view of the present. You’ll get that in this conversation with Danielle, along with some innovative thinking about what’s up around the bend in the road..

462 History Series: When Resistance Strengthens Tradition • James Flowers May 26, 2026

Show notes

Medicine is never only about treatment. It also carries culture, identity, and memory. Sometimes preserving a medicine is a way of preserving a people.

In this episode we visit with James Flowers to explore a potent moment in the history of Korean medicine and how Hanbang became part of Korea’s cultural resistance during the Japanese colonization. Not through politics or violence, but through preserving ways of healing, thinking, and living.

We discuss how medical ideas moved between Korea, China, and Japan, the role of Yangsheng in everyday life, and how Korean medicine resisted separating mind from body in the way modern systems often do.

This conversation also touches on the deeper question of how medicine lives within culture—not only through practitioners and institutions, but through families, daily habits, stories, and collective memory.

Listen into this conversation that weaves together history, medicine, identity, and the enduring cultural force of East Asian healing traditions.

461 Neurology, Concussion and the Curious Organ of Chinese Medicine • Clayton Shiu & Ayla Wolf May 19, 2026

Show notes

Often what brings someone into our office looks straightforward at first—a concussion, dizziness, headache, or a sense that something is not quite right. But what begins as the search to fix a symptom often reveals something deeper—a nervous system that has lost its bearings, sensory maps that no longer line up, and a body quietly adapting around signals it can no longer fully trust.

Ayla Wolf and Clayton Shiu both work at the intersection of functional neurology and East Asian medicine. Through clinical observation, modern diagnostic tools, and hands-on palpation, they’ve developed ways of seeing patterns that often sit beneath symptoms most people wouldn’t connect to the brain.

Listen into this conversation as we explore how concussion can masquerade as digestive issues, tinnitus, anxiety, or vestibular dysfunction. And why the neck, eyes, inner ear, and autonomic nervous system all can be part of the problem. We’ll explore how acupuncture can help restore orientation, balance, and sensory accuracy. And what becomes possible when ancient medicine intersects with a modern understanding of neuroplasticity.

460 Using Chinese Medicine to Treat Alpha-Gal • Rebecca Chrestman May 12, 2026

Show notes

We often think of allergies as simple reactions, but some conditions reveal a far deeper conversation between the immune system, environment, and daily life—one that evolves with every exposure.

In this conversation with Rebecca Chrestman, we explore Alpha-Gal syndrome through both modern understanding and Chinese medicine, looking at how patterns like damp heat and spleen imbalance help make sense of complex, multi-system symptoms. We discuss the realities of treatment—not quick fixes, but gradual shifts in reactivity, lifestyle, and resilience.

We also touch on the emotional and practical impact of living with a condition that reshapes how you eat, live, and move through the world.

Listen in for a conversation that brings together clinical insight, traditional thinking, and the lived experience of navigating a truly modern illness.

459 Wandering Into Saam- History, Premodern Medicine & The Power of Four Needles • Philip Suger & Michael Brown May 05, 2026

Show notes

What makes a system feel trustworthy—results, lineage, or the way it brings you into the resonance of what’s happening?

Philip Suger didn’t start with Saam acupuncture. He was in Beijing in 2010, following a thread that led him to Wang Ju-Yi and channel palpation—hands on the body, feeling where things change and where they resolve. Later, back in the States, he found himself working with patients who improved but those changes were not lasting. That got him began circling back to a method he’d once dismissed: four needles, arranged through a set of relationships rather than point functions. It didn’t make a lot of sense. But people were reporting results.

After some study with Toby Daly he got more curious, and that sent him searching for information in Chinese.

Michael Brown, has a keen interest in tracking down old texts and translating them for the world English speaking acupuncturists. Together, they have spent the past few years working on a translation of a book that traces the history of Saam, some of the luminary practitioners along the way, and the way these pre-modern doctors used the Four-Needles.

There’s been more than a little development of the Saam method since that legendary monk had his cultivated insights into medicine. One thing for sure, four needles with the right diagnosis, it can make a big difference for our patients.

458 History Series - What a long strange trip it's been • Jeffrey Dann Apr 28, 2026

Show notes

The path into acupuncture isn’t always clean or linear—sometimes it begins in the grit and confusion of working out just who you are in this world. From anthropology studies in Seattle’s Skid Row to the disciplined intensity of kendo in Japan, Jeffrey Dann’s journey was shaped by curiosity, discomfort, and a search for something deeper. A knee injury, a moment on a subway, and an unexpected recovery became the doorway into a medicine that would take him through Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, and Beijing in the early days of acupuncture’s global spread.

In this conversation, we follow that winding road—through apprenticeship, cultural exchange, and the evolution of practice. From forceful needling to the subtle power of touch, Jeffrey’s story reflects a broader shift in medicine itself: one that balances tradition with change, and technique with sensitivity.

Listen in as we explore how acupuncture travelled the world, transformed through different cultures, and continues to adapt to the modern body and mind.

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