Best Michael Max, L.Ac Podcasts (2024)

1
370 Stroke, Parkinson's and Brain Longevity • Clayton Shiu 1:20:36

17h ago1:20:36

1:20:36

For sure, the health of the brain is absolutely essential to health and wellbeing. As we age, just like with other organs, there is a lot that can go wrong with that curious Sea of Marrow. In this conversation with Clayton Shu we discuss how he went from a focus on orthopedic issues to being concerned with neurology and brain health. Clayton doesn’…

1
369 Tea, Consciousness and Connection • Brian Kirbis 1:12:39

8d ago1:12:39

1:12:39

From the misty mountains of China to the teahouses of Taiwan, Tea has served as a bridge between nature and culture, tradition and modernity. Tea is not just a beverage, but a living entity that carries within it a connective plant wisdom and the potential for personal and societal transformation. In this conversation Brian Kirbis unveils tea's hid…

1
368 Extraordinary Vessels- Archetype and Symbol •Yvonne Farrel & Luke Adler 1:27:41

7d ago1:27:41

1:27:41

Not only is acupuncture strange, with its twelve invisible watersheds of flow and influence. But we have the qi jing ba mai. The strange flows… usually translated as the extraordinary vessels. Some say these are the blueprint that give structure to the embryo as they help to orient and guide development. Others say that these vessels are deeply tie…

1
367 History Series, We Should Aspire to be Magicians • Charlie Buck 1:38:42

17d ago1:38:42

1:38:42

I recently had the good fortune to sit down for a conversation with Charlie Buck, one of the early pioneers in acupuncture and Chinese medicine in the UK. He shared his journey of discovering acupuncture in the late 1970s, a time when it was still quite unknown in the West. Our discussion explored how the landscape of acupuncture education and prac…

1
366 Pursuing Opportunity and Balancing With the Seasons • Ilan Migdali 1:32:26

21d ago1:32:26

1:32:26

Understanding and acknowledging how things are is a terrific starting point. It’s what led Ilan Migdali to not just understand how health insurance worked in California, but opened up a path for him to create an insurance network that specifically aimed at helping acupuncturists to thrive. Beyond the creative and practical work Ilan has done with i…

1
365 Far Out Man, I Need to Know More About That • John McDonald 1:33:03

28d ago1:33:03

1:33:03

I was cautious and reluctant about studying acupuncture when it first really caught my attention. Then there are folks like John McDonald who when he first caught wind of acupuncture thought… far out man, I want to know more about that. That enthusiasm has followed him through his time as a practitioner and even through doing a Ph.D. In this conver…

1
364 Tinkering, Electronics and Measuring Meridians • Adrian Larsen 1:26:22

1M ago1:26:22

1:26:22

Tinkering and creating, I suspect that anyone who's been lucky enough to have grown up in an environment that encouraged exploration, risk taking and curiosity— they've got a perspective that has them asking “why not” instead of “why.” Figuring out how things work is fun. Even more so when you don’t take other people’s word on what is doable or not…

1
363 Acupuncture's Journey to the West • Zoe Coldham 1:11:48

2M ago1:11:48

1:11:48

I had the delightful surprise of Zoe Coldham reaching out to me to tell me about the documentary she’d created that goes into the early days of acupuncture finding its way into the mainstream of British culture. As you probably know, Qiological has been doing a little mini-series on acupuncture’s journey to the west as well. So I was keen to have h…

1
362 History Series- The Art of Finding What’s Needed • Randall Barolet 2:14:03

2M ago2:14:03

2:14:03

The late 60s and early 70s were a time of openness and experimentation. It was the beginning of the civil rights movement, more equality for women, and the recognition that sexuality included more than love between men and women. Cultural norms were questioned and that included dietary practices, the healing arts and the relationship between humans…

1
361 Evil Bone Water • Mark Brinson 1:29:33

2M ago1:29:33

1:29:33

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 1:18:13

3M ago1:18:13

1:18:13

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 1:38:28

3M ago1:38:28

1:38:28

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 1:16:52

3M ago1:16:52

1:16:52

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 1:24:05

3M ago1:24:05

1:24:05

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
356 Considering Yi- Meaning, Significance and Conception • S. Boyanton, L. de Vries, V. Scheid 1:24:00

3M ago1:24:00

1:24:00

Brenda Hood often reminds me “Chinese concepts, especially classical Chinese concepts, are big and multidimensional. They are extremely dependent on context and while shades of meaning often cross over, they can be quite different and be more or less encompassing of ideas depending on actual context.” Which is why I’m always questioning myself when…

1
355 The Circuitry of Saam Acupuncture • Joshua Park 1:28:34

4M ago1:28:34

1:28:34

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…

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354 History Series, In The Footsteps of a Compleat Acupuncturist • Peter Eckman 1:37:36

4M ago1:37:36

1:37:36

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 1:39:44

4M ago1:39:44

1:39:44

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 1:26:44

4M ago1:26:44

1:26:44

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 1:32:47

5M ago1:32:47

1:32:47

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…

1
350 Sa Sang, Bazi and Food as Medicine • Jaguang Sunim 1:15:59

5M ago1:15:59

1:15:59

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 1:17:22

5M ago1:17:22

1:17:22

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 1:48:09

5M ago1:48:09

1:48:09

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 1:18:47

6M ago1:18:47

1:18:47

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 1:30:13

6M ago1:30:13

1:30:13

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 …

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345 History Series - Things That Don’t Make Sense Will be Helpful to You Later • Ted Kaptchuk 1:04:59

6M ago1:04:59

1:04:59

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 1:28:59

6M ago1:28:59

1:28:59

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 1:20:01

6M ago1:20:01

1:20:01

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 1:31:28

7M ago1:31:28

1:31:28

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 …

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341 History Series, A Journey into Health, Wellbeing and Longevity • Peter Deadman 1:37:15

7M ago1:37:15

1:37:15

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…

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340 Alchemy, Magic and Channel Personalities • Zachary Lui 1:26:47

7M ago1:26:47

1:26:47

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 1:41:56

7M ago1:41:56

1:41:56

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 1:12:10

8M ago1:12:10

1:12:10

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…

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337 Acupuncture is like Shop Class • Michael Max & Rick Gold 1:48:17

8M ago1:48:17

1:48:17

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 1:15:55

8M ago1:15:55

1:15:55

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 1:35:14

8M ago1:35:14

1:35:14

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 1:35:11

9M ago1:35:11

1:35:11

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 …

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333 Prescriptions for Virtuosity • Eric Karchmer 1:21:35

9M ago1:21:35

1:21:35

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 …

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332 History series- Connecting Heaven and Earth Efrem Korngold 1:31:15

9M ago1:31:15

1:31:15

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 1:19:01

9M ago1:19:01

1:19:01

“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…

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330 Acupuncture and Non-Ordinary States of Reality • John Myerson 1:14:41

10M ago1:14:41

1:14:41

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 1:30:06

10M ago1:30:06

1:30:06

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 1:30:06

10M ago1:30:06

1:30:06

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…

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327 An Acupuncture Perspective on the Shang Han Lun • Maya Suzuki 1:21:33

10M ago1:21:33

1:21:33

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 1:04:41

10M ago1:04:41

1:04:41

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 1:44:10

11M ago1:44:10

1:44:10

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 1:22:23

11M ago1:22:23

1:22:23

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 1:42:01

11M ago1:42:01

1:42:01

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 1:41:49

11M ago1:41:49

1:41:49

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…

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321 Continuity and Change Within the Tradition of Chinese medicine • Volker Scheid 1:30:46

12M ago1:30:46

1:30:46

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…

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Michael Max, L.Ac Podcasts

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