Deepest Health Chinese Medicine Podcast : Episode 8 : Interview with Dr. Heiner Fruehauf
Hello everyone -
I’m happy to offer an interview for this edition of the podcast. Dr. Heiner Fruehauf, founding professor of the school of Classical Chinese Medicine at National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, OR, agreed to talk with Deepest Health readers about the nature of Classical Chinese Medicine. I’m incredibly grateful to Heiner for offering his time and wisdom - I think it will be a treat for all of you.
Dr. Fruehauf has been a great inspiration to me as I navigate the deep waters of this discipline, and he is beloved by students of Chinese medicine all over the world. He currently practices at his clinic in Corbett, OR as well as teaching classes at NCNM. He runs the incredible website, Classicalchinesemedicine.org, which is an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning more about the roots of Chinese medicine. In fact, I have an exciting proposition for folks concerning a discounted membership to the site that I will talk about in a separate post sometime this coming week. Stay tuned. If you haven’t perused the great free content Heiner has put up on the site, do visit and check it out.
I want to mention that Dr. Fruehauf also recently launched a line of high quality, professional grade herbal capsules based on Classical principles for a variety of common conditions. Check out the site and see what you think. Every effort has been made to ensure that this is a high quality product. This product is unrivaled by anything on the market of which I am aware.
This podcast was split into two parts - the first of which you can access below. The second part will be released on Monday or Tuesday. Each section is around 30 minutes long. Enjoy!
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Tags: ccm, classical-chinese-medicine, heiner fruehauf, inspiration, interview, Learning, Podcast, Portland, tcmRelated posts
Emotional Freedom Technique and other modalities that use acupuncture points
Deepest Health reader Jason left a comment on the last podcast post that got me thinking. He said,
“Something that I’ve found helpful is Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) which is a real simple method of locking onto an emotional disturbance and neutralizing or at least diminishing its “charge” by tapping certain acupressure points. It works even better when combined with affirmations.”
My partner, Amanda, has done a little research into EFT and I know some folks at school who have used it to get over a variety of minor psychological difficulties such as insomnia and social anxiety. I know that it makes use of acu-points. There are other modalities of bodywork and energywork that make use of the channels and associated points along those channels, but that are not directly associated with the East Asian medical lineages that we normally associate with “Chinese medicine.”
I have to admit that I have traditionally regarded these modalities with some standoffishness. This is my nature being inherently conservative and a lover of all things ancient. The closer to the source, the better, I say. But, some have pointed out that these theories are universal and should not be attached to any particular era or people. I can see the wisdom in that stance. It does not eradicate my essential worry about systems that use the points and channels, yet mostly ignore the thousands of years of understanding that have developed the simple recognition of energy pathways into a complex system of theories that can elegantly rectify any imbalance in the human being.
I’d be interested to hear readers’ take on this - do you have experience with any of these systems of healing? What were your results? How do you feel that they fit under the umbrella of “Chinese medicine” or, at least, “East Asian medicine?” Leave your responses in the comments, providing URLs of relevant sites if possible. I look forward to hearing from all of you.
Eric
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Chinese medicine, the Earth and the Center
When talking about the five elements, particularly as applied to the organ systems of Chinese medicine, it’s easy to find an angle from which to proclaim the supremacy of any of the elements. Fire gets four organs, for instance, one of those being the Emperor - surely it’s the most important. Water, on the other hand, lies at the depths - no element is more revered than water in the cultural literature of the Chinese (the Dao is often said to be like water, the supreme man is said to be like water in taking the lowest place, etc….). Surely water is “top dog,” then. But what of Wood? Wood begins the cycle of the elements from most perspectives - it is the animating principle of the whole system - Wood must be the most important.
So on and so forth. The answer to the question, “Which is most important,” is the absurdly easy and frustrating, “None.” However, Earth could have a better reason than the rest to lay claim to this elusive prize. Earth is the center - the center is the axis upon which everything else spins. Without the center, you just have a group of unassociated pieces, functioning on their own in vain. The center brings it all together, ensures that it functions.
There are two ways to think about Earth seasonally. One perspective holds that Earth is associated with a kind of “late summer,” just before the fall rains begin. Another, which I prefer, holds that the Earth occupies an interstitial space between each season - the 14 days or so around each solstice and equinox - the transitions from one season to another. I’ve heard a variety of perspectives about the actual length of time and the precise arrangement of those periods, but this seems to be a consensus. Regardless, this “in between” nature of the Earth element makes it vital, it governs our transition from one energetic state to another.
Sunday, I went on a beautiful hike in the Columbia River Gorge. I decided to try to open my senses and not impose anything in particular on my experience. The overwhelming message, again and again, spoke of the Earth element. The sweet smell of decay - cloying, almost - with the merest hint of rich wine or butter or something I can’t define. No matter what part of the trail - metallic/mineral rock faces all around sharing their sharp, clean scent - deep, watery pools of clarity lending a weedy, fresh aroma - high and dry grassy plain full of pungency and heat… behind was the deep Earthen bassnote, emanating everywhere. Now, we are not officially in the period around the autumnal equinox, though we are technically within that “late summer” period perhaps - but the working of the Earth energy was present everywhere I looked.
The overwhelming idea that came out of all of this exploration is simple. Earth is at the center, and you must always look to its health. This is why dietary therapy is the root of most successful treatment plans. It’s also why so many of my patients seem to need a simple Earth tonification formula (such as Xiao Jian Zhong Tang) after any other series of formulas. In fact, from now on, I will be carefully examining that possibility with every patient. I feel that this is, in some ways, superior to the rampant practice of throwing some heavily tonifying formula at a patient after a big illness. The idea behind it is the same, but it is actually looking at the source of weakness and not the branches.
(Photos taken by Eric and his family, August 2008)
Tags: earth, five phases, Organ systems, scent, senses, spleen, stomachRelated posts
Deepest Health Chinese Medicine Podcast : Episode 7 : Clinical confidence and memorization
In this episode of the Deepest Health Chinese Medicine podcast, I discuss what it means to have confidence in clinic and why I believe memorization is so important for Chinese medicine practitioners. I do go into a little detail regarding best practices around memorization, and I hope this information will be helpful for everyone.
Look for an interview with Heiner Fruehauf as next week’s podcast, assuming all things go according to plan!
Thank you as always - please do leave comments on this post if you would like to start a discussion about the podcast.
Eric
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Tags: clinic, Learning, memorization, Podcast, studentRelated posts
How the Chinese organ clock yields a more nuanced view of the Heart
Here I will present a basic overview of TCM information concerning the Heart and then add a layer of information gleaned from the Organ clock (a more CCM way of looking at things). I want to do this to demonstrate how the Classical approach yields a more nuanced view than the straight organ-based TCM approach does, including a small aspect of the clinical relevance of this approach. Disclaimer : I’m still a student. :)
The Heart is a central organ system. From the perspective of governmental metaphor, the Heart is most easily compared to the Ruler of feudal society. What does the ruler do? It’s tempting to simply say that he rules and leave it at that. However, most rulers through history have acted less as hands-on managers of their empires and acted more as figureheads - acting as moral compasses, inspiring and motivating the people when needed, acting as interpreters of Divine law and generally providing a center point around which the wheel of government turned. The Heart is said to provide a similar function for the human body. To look at this and say that the Heart is “most important” would be erroneous. The Emperor without his ministers, without the workers, without the land - is nothing. It is an interdependent system. But, still, the Emperor is crucial and a lot of attention should be paid to those things that are crucial. We’ll do so now.
In TCM, the Heart is said to have many functions/associations:
- The Heart contains the Shen, which rules the other “spirits” of the Zang organs
- Shen, as I have explained briefly elsewhere, can be translated as “Spirit” but it contains more meaning than the normal English concept of Spirit. Many contemporary commentators talk about Shen simply as consciousness, but I feel it is more than that.
- The Heart governs the Blood Vessels
- The Heart acts as Ruler of the other organ systems
- The Heart, as related to the brain and consciousness, is in charge of many mental processes (one can see this as similar to the Heart’s function via its relationship to Shen - the fire of consciousness)
- The Heart propels the Blood
- The Heart governs speech
- There are other attributes, but these are the main ones mentioned in a variety of texts.
In truth, despite all of these things, most Heart related pathologies diagnosed in TCM have to do with mental function or, sometimes, heart organ abnormalities (such as blood stasis in the Heart yielding angina). In clinic, I mostly see Heart Qi/Blood deficiency (with palpitations and poor memory) and some version of the confusingly named “Heart Fire” resulting in insomnia, anxiety and some type of vexation. Rarely do I see doctors diagnosing a problem with the heart when there are circulation problems (blood vessels) or speech problems. Further, I think that there should be more attention paid to the fact that, as EMPEROR of the other organ systems, the Heart may be a great place to look when a seemingly unrelated pathology is difficult to cure with the methods we would normally utilize. While I will not focus much on blood vessel or speech problems in this article - I would like to do so in the future.
For now, to help us understand the Heart a little more deeply, I offer a brief exposition of some of the basic symbols associated with the Heart on the Chinese medicine organ clock. I will then describe some ways we can use this understanding to expand on the basic information we learn from TCM literature.
What do we learn about the Heart organ system from the organ clock?
Temporal nature : 11-1pm (High Noon) and the Summer Solstice
At first glance, the pairing of the Heart with high noon makes intuitive sense. This is the time we associate with the zenith of the sun, the burning off of morning fogs, the time when all things are apparent, illuminated, complete. But look again at the symbol for the taiji and superimpose this over the organ clock. Remember these symbol fields are multi-layered and 
while some aren’t meant to be compared one-to-one, the flow of Yin and Yang through the organ clock (and through the days on Earth) is a crucial piece of information in our understanding of organ systems.
This is the time of the birth of the Yin. Which brings us to another temporal aspect of the Heart - it is situated at the time of the Summer solstice. The solstice is the time of the greatest day length - so again, it is all flourishing and awake and alive. However, the hidden principle is the one of the birth of the dark - for the zenith of a thing always brings about its immediate descent into expiration. What goes up must come down.
What does this tell us about the Heart? That while it is a very Yang organ, as the Emperor should be, but it also contains a deep Yin principle within it. Our professor, Heiner Fruehauf, often relates the Heart to the feminine principle - which makes sense given this information. In that way, it may be more accurate for us to think of the Heart as the Empress - or some amalgam of the Emperor and Empress. Here is perfect control, high intelligence, beauty, grace, compassion, mercy and power. It is an intensely active principle - Yang - but with this huge strength of the Yin.
Why do I say that the strength of Yin is large when it is, in reality, just the beginning of the growth of Yin? Because the entire momentum of Yin’s growth starts at this point - it somehow contains the whole force of the future splendor of Yin’s fullness. It is strong in the sense that is young, vital, and on the ascent.
I think this Yin principle is very important. At the height of summer, at the height of noon, this is when we may have the tendency to go all upward and outward - but it is crucially important that we go within, nourish our deep spiritual nature. Some cultural customs bear this out - such as the tradition of the midday siesta and the many spiritual activities that go on around the summer solstice. I think that, in some ways, the failure to do this can be seen in American capitalist culture. The principle of constant up, out, grow, flourish is often not balanced with careful reflection, willingness to “stand down,” controlled descent and respect for the more passive aspects of the universe. This failure has penetrated the consciousness of many American people and others affected by this philosophy and may have something to do with much of the pathology we see today. More about this later.
Earthly Branch Wu : combined with the symbolism of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac
The Earthly branch Wu 午, reinforces what we’ve already discussed about the Summer Solstice - given that it is the Earthly branch associated with that part of the year. It is a picture of either a battering ram or a mortar and pestle, and thus we see again the idea of death or destruction in this life affirming and light giving symbol of the Heart. Wu 午 is also associated with the number five insofar that it is pronounced the same as 五, Wu - “five.”
This brings us to consideration of the association of the number five and the Heart. We should note that we’re talking about the fifth month when we talk about the Heart. The number five is extremely important in Chinese cosmology - witness the deep symbolism of the five elements and a whole variety of other symbolism assocaited with five. There’s just so much that I could say in this realm (and actually did, but then deleted to save your poor eyes) but I will have to stop here for the sake of article length.
The Earthly Branch Wu 午 is related to the Horse in the Chinese Zodiac. Remember, the Earthly Branches were associated with an animal to help them be easier to understand by the common people. The Horse is a particularly fascinating symbol for the Heart, which I could talk for a long time about. But consider just a few simple items. The horse is tireless, constantly galloping away, carrying great loads, even fighting in battle - just as our physical Heart must
persist throughout our lifetimes. The horse seems to share a Shen level connection with the human being - a really close rider and horse seem to read one another’s minds, few verbal commands are needed when the relationship is strong. The horse is one of the most beloved animals in all cultures, people sometimes take better care of their horses than they do their children!
I am certain there is more to understand about the horse - I would love to hear what people come up with in the comments to this post - please post below!
As always, there are many more symbols that we can pull from the organ clock to help us understand the Heart more deeply - but let’s work with what we have so far.
How does this help us understand the Heart more completely?
There’s a lot one could say about these symbols. The most important take-home message I have received is the crucial nature of respecting the Yin nature of the Heart. However, I don’t think you should start dousing your anxiety ridden patients with cooling herbs! On the contrary, they probably need Fu Zi. Which actually brings me to an important relationship and my overall point. You’ll excuse me if I diverge a bit into conjecture and philosophical exploration? Thanks.
We often talk about the relationship of the Heart and Kidney - fire and water. They are obviously related via their Liuqi designation of Shaoyin, or lesser Yin. We learn that the Shaoyin fire of the Heart must descend through the Earth to reach the Shaoyin water of the Kidney. In doing so, the cold Kidney water, the depth of our wisdom and lineage, is animated by the pure fire of Spirit and consciousness. Wisdom without use of that wisdom is nothing but a lifeless puddle. Likewise, the pure Kidney water must be steamed up to cool and contain the sometimes over-exuberant Heart Shen. Consciousness without wisdom quickly becomes tyranny and zealotry.
This is one way that I understand the importance of using Fu Zi even in the case of patients who appear to have lots of flaring Heat - such as patients with intense insomnia and anxiety. So many TCM physicians would balk at serving Fu Zi to such a patient. To provide one example of a powerful use of this principle, let’s go to that little book known as the Shang Han Lun.
下之後．復發汗．晝日煩躁不得眠．夜而安靜．不
嘔不渴．無表證．脈沈微者．乾薑附子湯主之
Xià zhīhòu．fù fāhàn．zhòurì fánzào bùdé mián．yè ér ānjìng．bù
ǒu bù kě. wú biǎozhèng．mài chén wēi, shēn wú dà rè zhě,gān jiāng fùzǐ tāng zhǔ zhī.
When precipitation has been used, yet sweating is then promoted so that the person in the daytime is vexed, agitated and sleepless, but by night time becomes peaceful and retching, thirst, exterios signs and great generalized heat are all absent, and the pulse is sunken adn faint, then Gan Jiang Fu Zi Tang governs (Mitchell/Ye/Wiseman version).
While I would like to think that most doctors would see patient with this picture - particularly the faint pulse - and realize that an intensely warming formula can be indicated, I think that most would still shun such strength and instead use something milder, more cooling, and most likely less effective.
One more point and then I’ll close this article. I believe that this fire-water relationship and the general Yin nature of the Heart leads us to realize the wisdom of having a well-developed spirituality. Only by combining the deep wisdom of contemplation (dwelling in the water) with the animating ecstacy of consciousness (dwelling in the fire) can we have balance. Advising our patients to nourish themselves in this way - of course without necessarily promoting a particular practice or tradition - may go a long way to helping them achieve greater health.
Tags: balance, clinic, earthly branches, fire, heiner fruehauf, horse, insomnia, law, organ system, Organ systems, organ-clock, shang-han-lun, spirituality, symbolism, taiji, traditional-chinese-medicine, water
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