Classical East Asian Medicine and our Relationship with the Natural Environment

Dao Dan Pai qigong exercises are a series of standing exercises that harmonize and balance the major energy channels of the body. First taught in the West by Taoist Master Share K. Lew, a Taoist monk from the Yellow Dragon Temple in the Lo Fo Shan mountains of Guangzhou, China, these exercises integrate movement with breath and posture to activate and balance qi.

This class explores the Eastern and Western understanding of acupuncture in terms of electromagnetism and its effect in the practice of acupuncture. We will examine the holographic model of the body, the doctrine of signatures in Eastern and Western terms, and fascia theory and its relationship to yin and yang. Understanding and communication about the nature of acupuncture is an increasingly important element of interprofessional communication.

In this lecture, we will explore an integrative approach to Chinese and Western medicine in a Western medical center. The ability to explain Chinese medicine in Western terms will improve our ability to collaborate with healthcare practitioners and gain the confidence of patients. We present fascia as one approach to explaining the actions and effects of Chinese medicine. We will also describe the use of scalp acupuncture combined with physical, occupational, and speech therapy to treat patients in a neurological rehabilitation center.  

Introduction to classical East Asian medicine as an inherent invitation into a profound connection with the rhythms, cycles and substance of the natural world. The most ancient texts repeatedly illustrate these relationships and try to teach us that the real medicine is in our alignment with them.

Dao Dan Pai qigong exercises are a series of standing exercises that harmonize and balance the major energy channels of the body. First taught in the West by Taoist Master Share K. Lew, a Taoist monk from the Yellow Dragon Temple in the Lo Fo Shan mountains of Guangzhou, China, these exercises integrate movement with breath and posture to activate and balance qi.

In the 1950s, the masters of Chinese scalp acupuncture posited that the whole network could be rewired if the brain could be rewired. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s capability to adjust its activity in response to new situations, as well as to compensate for injury. Since the brain has a lifelong capability to make new synaptic connections, it is not surprising that this potential can be put to beneficial use in treating patients with neurological disorders. Specifically, constant stimulation of the brain can result in the restoration of function by making new synaptic connections for nerve and brain regions that have been damaged or lost in a neurological patient.

This class examines the use of electroacupuncture in treating reproductive medicine patients. The effect of electrostimulation on the hypothalamus and pituitary system can affect all areas of reproductive health related to hormone release, particularly the receptiveness of the endometrium, follicular growth and oxygenation of the cells, and in-vitro fertilization. Electroacupuncture is also useful to reduce patient stress that can occur during the reproductive cycle. Point selection, electrostimulation frequencies, contraindications, and treatment duration will be discussed to achieve optimal results.

Facial gua sha, facial cupping, microcurrent, LED, microneedling, and more! You can integrate ancillary techniques to enhance the effectiveness of acupuncture and increase results. Help patients participate in their well-being between treatments. These easy and effective tools are perfect additions to your health and beauty toolkit.

The role of the medical practitioner had been the subject of heated debates in Chinese medicine for many centuries before it engaged with Western science and medicine. In this seminar, we will explore how to envision the ideal practitioner as a balanced combination along a continuum that Z’ev Rosenberg has referred to as “scholar” and “technician” — a person practicing both a trained skill and an intuitive art.   After introducing the rationale for viewing Chinese medicine as the “art and science of resonance/macrocosmic attunement,” we will explore what this means in clinical practice. How do we develop, transmit, and cultivate this ideal in Chinese medicine training, both individually and as a profession? And what are the ramifications of this ideal for medical ethics from the classical perspective of “physician’s potency” or “medical power?" For answers, we shall be looking at classical sources, from the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic to Sun Simiao’s Thousand Gold Formulary.

Delving more deeply into the topic of the relationship between classical Chinese medicine and the natural environment, we will explore the Shang Han Lun as a manual describing how to correct our patients’ misalignment with nature. We will also discover what trees, forests, and mycelium can teach us about our own bodies and health, and how this relates to the classical texts. You will leave with practical tools for applying herbal formulas most successfully.