Evaluating the Shen for Treatment Success

Dao Dan Pai Qigong exercises are a series of standing exercises that harmonize and balance the major energy channels of the body. This series of exercises was 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. It integrates movement with breath and posture to activate and balance qi flow.

Extraordinary Vessels support and consolidate our vital qi and substances. A common misconception among modern acupuncturists is that the primary goal of treatment is simply to relax and calm patients who are overworked, overwhelmed, and overstressed. This can result in excessive needling and prolonged retention times, which suppress the symptoms of modern life stress without addressing the root imbalances at the core of real recovery. Whether we’re working with the Yin Qiao and Yang Qiao, the Yang Wei Mai, the Chong Mai ascending the Du Channel in its third trajectory, or the Dai Mai functioning to secure and lift rather than drain and disperse, each of the Extraordinary Vessels has a unique role in clinical practice. They are particularly relevant in addressing patterns like the spleen’s failure to manage blood, sinking spleen qi, and spleen yang deficiency, commonly seen in cases of prolapse, pregnancy, and more.

What do we have to learn in current times from Muthulu Shakur and Michael Smith’s original seminal writings that can revolutionize the way we treat our clients?  Addressing the overarching bio-psycho-social nature of many conditions is as much a concern today as it ever was. Dr. Khensu Carter, Chair of the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association, will share his experience and insights on how to draw on history to proceed.

The brain health crisis is here: autism, dementia, anxiety, depression, and post-viral syndromes are surging at unprecedented rates. Allopathic medicine is falling short, and the need for safe, evidence-informed, powerful, natural interventions has never been greater. Acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, and laser therapy form a groundbreaking synergistic triad that can enhance neuroplasticity, reduce inflammation, amplify cellular repair, and restore brain function faster and more effectively than any single modality alone. Learn how photoactivation, herbal pharmacology, and acupuncture’s bioelectric influence create a new frontier in patient healing—and how you can integrate this approach to revolutionize your practice and position you at the forefront of preventative healthcare and functional brain healing.

Dao Dan Pai Qigong exercises are a series of standing exercises that harmonize and balance the major energy channels of the body. This series of exercises was 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. It integrates movement with breath and posture to activate and balance qi flow.

For those ready for clinical protocols, this hands-on session will equip you with the exact tools to treat neuroinflammation, cognitive decline, mental health conditions, and post-viral syndromes. You’ll discover how to pair photoactive herbal compounds with specific laser wavelengths to enhance therapeutic effects, how acupuncture unlocks bioelectric conductivity, and how to design customized treatments that restore brain function at an accelerated rate.

Traditionally, the Extraordinary Vessels are considered the most ancient channels, residing within the jing (essence), which can lead to a romanticized view that resists integrating modern tools for access, stimulation, and enhancement. This session will offer an overview of the Extraordinary Vessels and examine how to thoughtfully incorporate electrostimulation, striking a balance between the risk of scattering qi indiscriminately and using it as a focused, strategic tool to amplify the power of these ancient energetic pathways. Particular attention will be given to the Dai Mai and Du Mai, which respond especially well to electrostimulation in cases such as constipation, menorrhagia, and edema of the lower limbs. These presentations often reflect a Dai Mai that is either too lax to hold or too tight to circulate properly, or a Du Mai that must contend with the electromagnetic stress and hyper-adrenal states characteristic of the modern world. The most ancient and the most modern, together, when combined in the right ways, can achieve exciting results.

Join us for a fun and engaging course where you will learn how to read and improve a patient’s shen, a key marker in determining the effectiveness of treatment, through verbal cues and specific acupuncture prescriptions. Examination of facial shen before and after each therapy offers rich insights into a patients' health, prognosis, ming (destiny), and progress. During the intake and treatment process, observation yields valuable information about emotional background, including past traumas, triggers, fears, and faulty beliefs. As a patient's shen brightens with each treatment, or by verbal cues that awaken the patient’s consciousness, we can then educate them about their talents and how to share them with the world. The shen can be elusive; the goal of the course is for participants to develop confidence in reading facial shen and identifying specific facial markers that relate to the patient’s destiny. During the interactive class, you will have the opportunity to read faces and determine shen's measurable change. Several acupuncture point combinations will be discussed in the context of their potential to brighten the shen. The instructor, CT Holman, is a master face reader and long-time student of Lillian Pearl Bridges.

This workshop will utilize magnetic pellets for hands-on practice of modern Korean hand therapy (KHT), one of the most accessible acupuncture and acupressure tools. KHT achieves great results as a stand-alone therapy or in coordination with full-body acupuncture and other techniques for pain and functional disorders involving digestion, reproductive health, metabolic syndromes, and more. KHT can be employed with 5 Element, body correspondences, micro-meridians, extraordinary vessels, and constitutional factors. Students will map correspondences on the hand, review point location, and practice stimulation techniques for use with clients and themselves.

This class will include group acupuncture and discussion regarding how to best incorporate elements of the spirit of NADA into a variety of settings and practices. From substance abuse disorders to mental health, general health, and wellness, discover how to operationalize NADA and group acupuncture to best enrich your practice, your community, and your clients’ health and lives--as well as your own.