Best Michael Max, L.Ac Podcasts (2024)

1
361 Evil Bone Water • Mark Brinson 1:29:23

2d ago1:29:23

1:29:23

It’s fun to solve problems. Especially when you’re not quite sure what to do, so you have to pay attention and learn what’s important. You must develop the capacity to learn from both your failures and success. Mark Brinson wanted a liniment for patients and was not happy with what was on the market. So he thought he’d just mix up his own. That tur…

1
360 Battlefield Acupuncture • John Howard 1:18:03

9d ago1:18:03

1:18:03

The Chinese are right, the brain is a curious organ. The way the nerves entangle their way into every aspect of our body, and how their gentle electric hum gives us awareness of this container we call ourselves. Pain is how our nervous system lets us know there is a problem. Acupuncture has rightfully been seen and used as a way to intervene. Stran…

1
359 Wu Yun Liu Qi and The Shape of Reality • Rory Hiltbrand 1:38:18

17d ago1:38:18

1:38:18

What is our universe made of? How does it work, and more importantly– what are we doing here and how do we make sense of it? Eternal questions, unanswerable, but maybe the questions are not for answering, perhaps they are for focusing attention. In this conversation with Rory Hiltbrand we take a look at our peculiar situation as Beings in between t…

1
358 History Series, Remember, Acupuncture is Fantastic Julian Scott 1:16:43

23d ago1:16:43

1:16:43

While many are keen on looking to “science up” acupuncture and squeeze it into the thinking and theories of conventional medicine, others are quite content with the weirdness of it. And enjoy playing around in the territory that’s off the radar of Western science. Julian Scott is one of those pioneering acupuncturists whose background in theoretica…

1
357 Eastern and Western Perspectives on Acupuncture • John Rybak 1:23:56

1M ago1:23:56

1:23:56

As anyone who has started an acupuncture practice and tried explaining it to potential patients knows, it’s not easy taking the terminology and thinking of East Asian medicine into English speaking Western culture. The guest of this conversation, John Rybak, has thought long and hard about this. He is keen on helping our profession bridge how we th…

1
355 The Circuitry of Saam Acupuncture • Joshua Park 1:28:24

1M ago1:28:24

1:28:24

Saam acupuncture with its unique channel pairings, perspective on psycho-emotional dynamics, and capacity to interweave the Five Phase with the Six Qi is a powerful tool for understanding the interplay of yin and yang along with body and mind. In this conversation Joshua Park joins us to explore how Saam acupuncture gives us a holistic view and all…

1
354 History Series, In The Footsteps of a Compleat Acupuncturist • Peter Eckman 1:37:26

2M ago1:37:26

1:37:26

In the late 60’s and early 70’s of the last century East Asian medicine began to emerge into mainstream culture. The Reston NY Times article is often cited as a catalytic moment that put the idea of Chinese acupuncture into the minds of Americans. But other streams of medicine from Japan and Korea were also finding their way into the imagination of…

1
353 Points for Peace • Keren Assouline & Guy Sedan 1:39:35

2M ago1:39:35

1:39:35

The Middle East has a long history of war and unrest. Whatever phase of history you’d like to zoom the timeframe, you’ll likely see conflict. In Episode 72 of Everyday Acupuncture Podcast I spoke with an Israeli practitioner on what it is like to live in a place where you’re frequently hearing air raid sirens and headed to a bomb shelter. In this c…

1
352 Quiet Presence, The Gentle Power of Teishin • G Klepper, T Sørensen, E Truitt 1:26:35

2M ago1:26:35

1:26:35

Here’s a question that I find difficult to answer. How does acupuncture work? Beyond the East Asian medicine phrasing that makes zero sense to your average citizen. Just what is going on in the body in response to a sliver thin needle being placed in the flesh? And once you have an answer for that, explain how a “needle” that does not pierce the sk…

1
351 The Trouble with Men • Damo Mitchell 1:32:38

2M ago1:32:38

1:32:38

Women develop through the cycles of seven. Men through the rhythms of eight. Women, more resonate with Blood. Men, with qi. Being human, there is a lot we share in common. Looking at our classic books on medicine, from the point of view of physiology and health, there are differences. And from the perspective of development, going from child to adu…

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350 Sa Sang, Bazi and Food as Medicine • Jaguang Sunim 1:15:50

3M ago1:15:50

1:15:50

East Asian medicine recognizes the central role that food can play in our health and wellbeing. We have various models for understanding the fluctuations and trajectories a human body can travel as we navigate the time we have between Heaven and Earth. In this conversation with Jaguang Sunim we explore the Korean Sa Sang constitutional perspective …

1
349 History Series, There's No End to The Study • Stuart Watts 1:17:12

3M ago1:17:12

1:17:12

The 1960’s and 70’s saw an explosion of alternative health and lifestyle practices appear at the edges of culture. It was a time ripe with possibility and fraught with peril, after all there was a war going on. The kind where men were drafted. As with any troubled time, there is also opportunity. Because as things fall apart, they also fall togethe…

1
348 The Strange Flows • Daniel Atchison-Nevel 1:47:59

3M ago1:47:59

1:47:59

Change happens through time, it unfolds within the rhythmic inhale and exhale, it expresses through lunar and solar cycles, it follows the arc of development, fruition, and decline. There are recognizable pathways and markers that arise within what is mostly a non-linear experience of life. Daniel Atchison-Nevel used to skip school and hang out at …

1
347 The First Four Palaces of Alchemy • Leta Herman 1:18:38

3M ago1:18:38

1:18:38

Alchemy sounds like magic. It sounds like magic because it involves the transmuting of something coarse and without value to something refined and of worth. But really, there is nothing magical about it. It’s the process of finding a corner of the world you want to work on, and applying some elbow grease to make it better. In this conversation with…

1
346 Weaving Together East and West • Joseph and Sam Audette 1:30:04

4M ago1:30:04

1:30:04

You’ve probably heard about family lineage types of acupuncture from Asia. Here in the West, acupuncture is still a bit of a newcomer to the medical scene, but it has been around long enough that we are beginning to see second generation practitioners. In this conversation we have a father son team, Joe and Sam Audette. Joe is a medical doctor and …

1
345 History Series - Things That Don’t Make Sense Will be Helpful to You Later • Ted Kaptchuk 1:04:49

4M ago1:04:49

1:04:49

It was challenging enough for me in the 1990’s to set myself on the path of learning acupuncture. and by then, we had established schools and clear pathways to licensure and a livelihood. But back in the early days it took a rare kind of individual with a big spirit to seek out the knowledge required to learn acupuncture. The guest of this episode,…

1
344 Jing, Authenticity and Mushrooms • Mason Taylor 1:28:50

4M ago1:28:50

1:28:50

Medicinal mushrooms have made their way into the everyday lives of the “old one-hundred names,” us common folk. Formerly rare and precious substances like Ling Zhi and Dong Chong Xia Cao are now cultivated and readily available for people like you and me. Considered to be “higher” level medicinals, these are substances considered more for promoting…

1
343 Chinese Medicine Dermatology • Mazin Al-Khafaji 1:19:52

4M ago1:19:52

1:19:52

Clinical experience and results are paramount in developing skill as a Chinese medicine practitioner. Theory should serve practice, not the other way around. Specializing in certain disease categories like dermatology can accelerate your learning process. In this conversation with Mazin Al-Khafaji we explore how he’s spent the past few decades usin…

1
342 Laughter of the Universe, Qi of The Wood Dragon Year - Gregory Done 1:31:18

5M ago1:31:18

1:31:18

We are here in the midst of winter cold going into the Spring Festival— the new Chinese Lunar year. It might seem strange to consider Spring as beginning in the deep middle of dark and cold, but all beginnings start in the dark. They begin before they can be seen. Qiological is delighted to have Gregory Done back with his perspective on the coming …

1
341 History Series, A Journey into Health, Wellbeing and Longevity • Peter Deadman 1:37:06

5M ago1:37:06

1:37:06

In the mid 70’s there were four English language books on acupuncture. Which wasn’t much to go on. But for the people that started learning acupuncture in those days. It was enough to get started. Suzuki Roshi is famous for saying “in the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts mind there are few.” Which is another way to say be…

1
340 Alchemy, Magic and Channel Personalities • Zachary Lui 1:26:38

5M ago1:26:38

1:26:38

There are aspects of East Asian medicine that touch on the frameworks of Buddhism, Daoism, Shamanism, and Alchemy. What’s more the lenses of philosophy, psychology, spirituality, and cosmology also can come into play when we consider the nature of the channels and points. Touching on existential questions and potentials for healing transformation, …

1
339 Confusion on the Path, The Dangers of Meditation • Leo Lok 1:41:46

5M ago1:41:46

1:41:46

Meditation is seen as an ancient panacea to modern problems. Mindfulness and equanimity will help with your productivity at work, relationships at home, reduce your need for certain medication and in general make you a better version of yourself. But the inward turned gaze often enough does not reveal a tranquil garden, but a junkyard. The promise …

1
338 Researching Chronic Pain in Children • Jonathan Riemer 1:12:00

5M ago1:12:00

1:12:00

Pain is a helpful signal when it works properly as a warning signal. But when that signal goes awry, it dramatically changes a person’s life and also affects their close relationships. Jonathan Riemer has been researching chronic pain in children and he’s found there are social, neurological and psychological aspects to pain and its treatment. List…

1
337 Acupuncture is like Shop Class • Michael Max & Rick Gold 1:48:08

6M ago1:48:08

1:48:08

The curious thing about having someone ask me a question and engage in a conversation of inquiry is that I hear myself saying things that are usually hidden just under the surface of habit and belief. In this episode the guest of the podcast is me. and the host steering the boat… it’s Rick Gold. if you don’t know Rick, listen to episode 323. He’s h…

1
336 Rock & Roll, Synchronicity and the Yi Jing, a history conversation • Z'ev Rosenberg 1:15:46

6M ago1:15:46

1:15:46

We all have some kind of call to follow medicine, otherwise we wouldn’t be in the trade. If you answer that call today, you’ve got a profession you can work yourself into. But back in the late 70’s early 80’s, the profession was still finding its footing. And if you’re like the guest of this episode, Z’ev Rosenberg, having an established profession…

1
335 Academy of Source Based Medicine • M. Brown, W. Ceurvels, E. Even, I. Zavala 1:35:05

6M ago1:35:05

1:35:05

The vast wealth, and it is a wealth, of writing on Chinese medicine is in Chinese. Granted, at this moment in time there is enough material that has made its way into English that you wouldn’t be able to read all of it in one lifetime. That’s far cry from the handful of books of 40 years ago. Still, the history and perspectives that have found thei…

1
334 Lean Into Your Gift • Clara Cohen 1:35:01

6M ago1:35:01

1:35:01

Some people dream of being influencers and social media stars. They are looking for a glamorous life in front of the camera. Not so for the guest of today’s episode who first published a Facebook video as a way to help support her students. It was a complete shock when someone from another country wrote to tell her how they appreciated the help in …

1
333 Prescriptions for Virtuosity • Eric Karchmer 1:21:26

7M ago1:21:26

1:21:26

We practice traditional medicine, or do we? Because Chinese medicine has roots and writings that go back into misty history, it’s easy to imagine we practice much like your average Qing or Ming doctor. But the truth is, the way practitioners worked even just a hundred years ago would be quite foreign to the standards of today. In this conversation …

1
332 History series- Connecting Heaven and Earth Efrem Korngold 1:31:05

7M ago1:31:05

1:31:05

In this conversation, our guest Efrem Korngold said, “the definition of a good paradigm is that you can apply it effectively to new problems.” You know how sometimes you hear something and it stops you dead in your tracks, it rings true in a way that you can feel in your bones, muscles and blood. I heard this and felt the truth of it. What’s more w…

1
331 A Stroll Through the Landscape of the Polyvagal • Karine Kedar 1:18:52

7M ago1:18:52

1:18:52

“My Po made the decision” I’m usually skeptical about most explanations of the “Spirit” of the five Zang viscera. Not that I don’t indulge speculation myself, I most certainly do. But given these ideas come down to us from another time, language, and culture. Given they’ve traveled through through the millennia I’m mightily reluctant to stake a cla…

1
330 Acupuncture and Non-Ordinary States of Reality • John Myerson 1:14:32

7M ago1:14:32

1:14:32

You don’t need to practice acupuncture for very long to realize that people frequently slip into a deep state of quietude and repose. Often enough, they come out of a session with a completely different look to their eyes, they move slower and with a more integrated coordination, they’re focused less on the noise in their life, and more on the pote…

1
329 Alchemy and Transformation In Clinical Work • Leta Herman 1:29:56

8M ago1:29:56

1:29:56

I’ve often enough equated the word Alchemy with Magic. Hoping for something that would quickly and painlessly transform the troubles dogging me. Perhaps this is possible with magic, but alchemy, that is a process of preparation, distillation and attentiveness. It’s a undertaking that requires a kind of containment and the transformative power of ti…

1
328 Learning Acupuncture When There Weren’t Any Schools • Jake Fratkin 1:29:56

8M ago1:29:56

1:29:56

It’s surprising the unexpected paths we trod that lead us to our destiny. Especially when you’re headed into a profession or line of work that does not yet exist. In this conversation with Jake Fratkin, we meander through tales of back pain, bitter herbs, beginner's luck and crooked judges. We reflect on the joys and uncertainties of following your…

1
327 An Acupuncture Perspective on the Shang Han Lun • Maya Suzuki 1:21:24

8M ago1:21:24

1:21:24

There are several foundational texts that lay the groundwork for Chinese herbal medicine. Usually when you think about the Shang Han Lun, you’d immediately think of herbs. And when you think about the various herbs that make up the classic prescriptions, you’ll realize they all have a flavor, direction and character. In essence— a kind of qi. In th…

1
326 80/20 of Nutrition • Brenda Le 1:04:31

8M ago1:04:31

1:04:31

Confused by all the diet advice out there? Me too! Seems like there's always a new fad telling us what to eat– or not. I'm a fan of the 80/20 principle and I’ve been wondering if that might apply to diet, especially if you’re using diet as a way to improve health. I chew this over with acupuncturist and nutritionist Brenda Le and see if we can unta…

1
325 Putting Your Heart In It • John Nieters 1:44:00

8M ago1:44:00

1:44:00

We have plans, but our destiny usually is not found in the maps we make of the world. It shows up in unexpected, random and often unguarded moments. There’s a lot we “do.” It does not come from knowing, but we can spin up a story in retrospect. In this conversation with John Nieters we notice how our work in time tends to simplify. That our plans a…

1
324 Ghost Points • Ivan Zavala 1:22:14

9M ago1:22:14

1:22:14

Ghost points. Read those words and let the sound echo into your head, your heart and body. Ghost points. Just the words carry an energy. An energy of spirit, of embodiment, or not. The words suggest something of the spirit that can go astray. Like a decision to never let a particular bad experience ever happen again, or on the other side, the addic…

1
323 Founding the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine • Rick Gold 1:41:51

9M ago1:41:51

1:41:51

If you don’t know where you want to go, it’s fine not to know where you’re going. Not all journeys have a destination– at least, not in the beginning. In the beginning you’re opening to options, surveying the landscape, getting a feel for who you are in the territory. It's the Open part of “Open, Close, Pivot.” Rick Gold, one of the founders of the…

1
322 Alchemy of the Organs • Peter Firebrace 1:41:40

9M ago1:41:40

1:41:40

Li Shi Zhen and Sun Si Miao, they shared an interest in alchemy. Often enough in our clinical work, patients will describe what happened with them as being magical, but as practitioners we know its not magic, its medicine. But it’s a medicine that works outside the parameters of Western thought, and the consensus of settled science. In this convers…

1
321 Continuity and Change Within the Tradition of Chinese medicine • Volker Scheid 1:30:36

9M ago1:30:36

1:30:36

Chinese medicine looks to the perspectives of the past to understand the unfolding present. And for sure, there are threads of connection and perspective that come down to us through the curious tides of history. At the same time, there is this unique moment. What we hold, what we discover, these are yin yang aspects of how to make sense of a medic…

1
320 What I Learned in the Last Year From Teaching • Deborah Woolf 1:24:17

10M ago1:24:17

1:24:17

I still remember the moment when I realized that the character for Listen in traditional written Chinese was composed of the characters for Ears, Eyes, and Heart. Twenty two little strokes that unambiguously describe what is required to genuinely listen. Deborah Woolf has spent the past year teaching a course on basic Chinese for East Asian medicin…

1
319 I had no idea what I was in for • Dan Bensky 1:46:24

10M ago1:46:24

1:46:24

If you’ve studied Traditional East Asian Medicine in English, you no doubt have benefited from the work of today’s guest. Dan Bensky has translated, written, published and taught for more years than most students entering an acupuncture school now have been alive. He set off for Taiwan in the early 70’s to follow his interest in learning Chinese. T…

1
318 A Peripatetic Education • Andy Ellis 1:38:17

10M ago1:38:17

1:38:17

The book we used for studying acupuncture points at the Seattle Institute of Oriental Medicine was Foundations of Chinese Acupuncture. That along with Grasping the Wind were my entry into the study of channels and points. Both of those books had the handiwork of today’s guest, Andy Ellis. Beyond those early translations, Andy has his fingerprints o…

1
317 Following a Hunch • Malvin Finkelstein 1:17:28

10M ago1:17:28

1:17:28

Often enough at the beginning of a sea change, you don’t know what’s coming next. You’re already part of a current, a flow, and while you can steer within current, you’re caught up in a flow that is beyond your capacity to fully understand. In this conversation with Malvin Finkelstein we take a trip in the Wayback Machine to 197xx and his first enc…

1
316 Growing Up with Herbs • Yvonne Lau 1:44:04

11M ago1:44:04

1:44:04

What you grow up with, that’s what becomes normal. You could be smack dab in the middle of something extraordinary, but it’s simply everyday life for you. In this conversation with Yvonne Lau we reflect on her experience of growing up as the daughter of immigrants from Southern China who ran an herb store in San Francisco’s Chinatown. It was a time…

1
315 Importance of Structure, and the Freedom That Comes From It • John Myerson 1:18:20

11M ago1:18:20

1:18:20

What do you do if you’re interested in learning and practicing acupuncture, but there are no schools, standards or licensure? You built it yourself; with help of other spirited colleagues. In this conversation with John Myerson we go back to the days when acupuncture was just coming into the mainstream of American life. It wasn’t there yet— but it …

1
314 Channel Dynamics, Time Streams and Unlocking Latency • Sean Tuten 1:34:40

11M ago1:34:40

1:34:40

The transport points are rich in story, function, connection and seem to have a capacity for engaging qi in profound ways as it flows from the tips of the fingers and toes, up to the elbows and knees. Lou points are particularly interesting as they both connect yin and yang channels. In this conversation with Sean Tuten we investigate the capacity …

1
313 The Heart of Practice • Ross Rosen 1:35:37

11M ago1:35:37

1:35:37

The heart of our work, often enough, leans on the connections and capacity of the heart. In this conversation with Ross Rosen we explore the importance of the patient-practitioner relationship, the concept of negotiating a diagnosis and some Daoist practices in medicine. Listen into this discussion on practical clinical strategies and how tradition…

1
312 Nature in Medicine • Ed Neal 1:40:33

12M ago1:40:33

1:40:33

East Asian medicine is a nature based medicine. And nature… nature is weird, and mysterious. And as much as we like to come up with “Laws of Nature” they are more like approximations. Useful for sure. But you’re asking for trouble if you confuse the map with the territory. And with nature, the territory is always changing. How do you keep your sens…

1
311 理法道術 Principles, Methods, Knowing and Know-How • Jason Robertson & Stephan Brown 1:31:01

12M ago1:31:01

1:31:01

The story of the blind men exploring the elephant is alluded to often enough that it’s easily dismissed as cliche. And yet, the profound truth of how our senses and meaning making influence of our mind are worth pausing to consider. In this conversation with Jason Robertson and Stephen Brown we consider the 理 Li, the patterning or connective cohere…

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Michael Max, L.Ac Podcasts

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