Qiological Podcast
454 episodes Last Updated: Jul 08, 25
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.
Episodes
Jul 08, 2025
416 The Meridian Is the Message- A Clinical Cartography of Emotion, Thought and Physiology • Andreas Brüch
Ever wonder if the body tells its own version of your inner story? That maybe the channels don’t just carry qi—but also the shape of your longings, the tempo of your fears, and the echo of old emotional weather? What if meridians are a kind of cartography, not just for physiology, but for the inner landscape of the self?In this conversation with Andreas Brüch, we explore how Saam acupuncture offers a tri-dimensional system for working with emotion, physiology, and the mind. Andreas brings a background in psychology and decades of clinical practice to this discussion on the inseparability of mental and physical experience—and how Korean Saam theory makes that relationship clinically usable.Listen into this discussion as we explore the tri-axial framework of damp/dry, hot/cold, and inward/outward movement; how meridians can reflect patterns of hunger, power, and satisfaction; and why emotional imbalance might be best addressed through constitutional physiology.This one’s for anyone who’s ever sensed that symptoms are also signals—that the channel system is more than flow, it’s also the message.
Jul 01, 2025
415 MagnaPuncture® • Greg Bartosiewicz
Sometimes the tools that help us see clearly aren’t visible at all—like magnetism, sound, and light. We feel their effects more than we can explain them, but when you start to work with these in clinic, something subtle shifts.In this conversation with Greg Bartosiewicz, we get into a layered discussion of acupuncture, magnetism, light, and biofields. Greg’s background in proteomics and medical lab science blends with his acupuncture training to create a practice that’s both grounded and wildly exploratory. He brings insight from decades in high-end biotech and fuses that with Chinese medicine principles in a way that might have you rethinking the tools at your disposal.Listen into this discussion as we explore how electromagnetic fields might influence healing, what red light and sound frequency can offer in a clinical setting, and why Greg uses magnetically-induced fields around needles to shift physiology and perception.This is a conversation for those who suspect there’s more to the medicine than we can see—and who are curious about how principles from physics, biotech, and acupuncture might just be playing together more than we think.
Jun 24, 2025
414 History Series, From Ideals to Institutions—The Making of a Profession • Sibyl Coldham
In the early 80’s as acupuncture was emerging into the mainstream culture in the West, it developed differently in response to the established medical and educational systems already in place.In the USA there was no national health service, while in the UK, that was a pillar of the socio-political landscape. Sybil Coldham was not a practitioner of acupuncture, instead she was involved with the education of acupuncturists and found herself in the center of cultural and political forces that had and have, an influence on the profession. She's the focus of a documentary that was discussed in episode 363 Acupuncture’s Journey to the West. Listen into this discussion about building standards from scratch, pushing back against guru culture, the politics of legitimacy, how Chinese medicine has both struggled with and resisted being absorbed by mainstream systems.
Jun 17, 2025
413 How Much Do You Want It? • Henry McCann
What does it take to truly learn something? To not just know it in theory, but to have it live in your hands? Discipline, repetition, and a touch of obsession might be part of it—but so is heart, motivation, and the magnetic force of curiosity that keeps pulling you forward.In this conversation with Dr. Henry McCann, we talk about what it means to engage deeply with the practice of medicine. Henry reflects on the phase of his life as a musician, how that shaped his sense of discipline, and how that along with decades of clinical work have taught him that mastery often comes through the basics—done over and over with intention.Listen into this discussion on cultivating clinical mastery, the hidden risks of over-relying on lineage, how repetition builds intuition, and why stubborn motivation might be one of your most valuable tools.
Jun 10, 2025
412 Music and Medicine • Christoph Wiesendanger
Sometimes it’s not what we hear, but what emerges in the space just before—where meaning hasn’t formed yet—but something is already calling your attention. It’s that quiet edge of awareness where both healing and mystery tend to show up.In this conversation with Christoph Wiesendanger, a jazz pianist with an abiding interest in Chinese medicine, we explore how rhythm, resonance, and reflective awareness shape both music and healing. Christoph’s journey from childhood exposure to Daoist classics, to martial arts training, the sonic influence of Milford Graves, and years of study with Z’ev Rosenberg, offers a surprising look at the interweavings of music and medicine.Listen into this discussion as we explore how the pulse relates to rhythm, the difference between keeping time and making it, the idea of cultivating yourself through sound, and how silence and intention shape both clinical and musical presence.
Part OneWhat if the body wasn’t a fixed map, but a living, improvisational landscape?In this conversation with Lan Li, a historian, filmmaker, and rhythm-savvy thinker at the crossroads of medicine and imagination, we explore how anatomy is more than skin and sinew—it’s a set of metaphors, shaped as much by culture as by scalpels. Lan brings insight from her work in neuroscience, film, and Chinese medicine to help us consider how maps of the body aren’t just drawn—they’re felt, narrated, and revised in real time.Listen into this discussion as we explore the improvisational nature of clinical work, the metaphoric structure of anatomy, the interplay between nerves and meridians, the persistence of imagination in medical history, and why ancient images might still be some of our most useful tools.This episode invites a reimagining of what it means to know, feel, and practice medicine. Especially when inquiry is more like music than math.
The roots of tradition sometimes take hold in unexpected soil. What happens when traditions from France, Korea, and China converge in one practitioner’s hands? There’s a kind of alchemy in the way knowledge travels—through stories, teachers, and clinical results that raise the question of what is going on here.In this conversation with Jacques MoraMarco, we explore the shape of a career that’s spanned over five decades. From his early exposure to French-Vietnamese and Korean teachings, to his role in building acupuncture education in the U.S.—Jacques has carried multiple lineages while helping to shape what Chinese medicine looks like in the modern clinic.Listen into this discussion as we talk about the perspective of different streams of practice, the shift from apprenticeship to formal schooling, and how European and Korean influences still echo in his work.
What do we do when the world feels like it’s unraveling? How to respond when our systems—political, economic, medical—feel brittle, even broken? It’s easy to fall into despair, or look away. But maybe what we’re being asked to do is look closer. To stay present.In this conversation with Ed Neal and Mel Hopper Koppelman, we explore the edges where medicine, ecology, and culture meet. Both are thinkers who don’t shy away from complexity. Ed draws from classical Chinese texts and ecological systems. Mel, from her knowledge of science and systems thinking.Listen into this discussion as we explore the role of Chinese medicine in times of crisis, the importance of narrative and metaphor in clinical work, how despair and possibility coexist, and the invitation to practice medicine as an act of presence and participation.
May 13, 2025
408 Peripatetic Acupuncturist • Irina Cividino
Sometimes the best opportunities don’t look like opportunity—they look like risk. Like driving hours into the mountains. Like renting a stranger’s massage room and hoping someone shows up. But there’s a strange kind of capacity that comes from following a hunch—especially the kind that seems to go against the grain.In this conversation with Irina Cividino, we explore her unconventional path as a peripatetic acupuncturist serving remote towns in the Canadian Rockies. What started as a weekend experiment became a thriving circuit of clinics in communities with little to no access to acupuncture. Irina brings both practical wisdom and a spirit of quiet boldness to the work.Listen into this discussion as we explore building a low-overhead mobile practice, using local Facebook groups for patient outreach, how geography shapes clinical presentations, and the surprising clarity that comes from being in motion.This is a story about acupuncture. But more than that, it’s about trusting your instincts, listening to your patients, and crafting a life that follows your values with courage and curiosity.
Technology is evolving fast—and it’s starting to mirror us in ways that are both fascinating and a little unsettling. As AI becomes part of our daily lives, it raises an important question: how do we stay human while working with machines that mimic us?In this conversation with Vanessa Menendez-Covelo, we explore the intersection of Chinese medicine and artificial intelligence. With a background in both fields, Vanessa shares thoughtful insights on how AI tools can support, challenge, and even reshape our work as practitioners.Listen into this discussion as we talk about writing clinical notes with AI, the ethics of machine-generated empathy, what happens when AI “learns” your voice, and how these tools might influence the future of medicine.This isn’t a conversation about hype—it’s about curiosity, discernment, and remembering that the real wisdom in healing still comes from the human side of the equation.