However, second year is also the year of rote memorization in our program, and at the time that wasn’t a skill I possessed.  Not really.  I started to lose steam.  Things were a little precarious until my fourth, clinical, year.  Writing here helped.  Spending lots of time in nature helped.  Seeing patients helped.

Along the way, I was exposed to so many systems of understanding, so many schools of thought.  It was stimulating, and exhausting.  For almost a year after I graduated, I really didn’t want to have anything to do with studying Chinese medicine.

In fact, part of me wondered if I needed to study anymore – maybe just seeing patients was enough?

Since my second year in practice, I’ve redoubled my efforts in the realm of study.  I consider myself a lifelong student, and teaching people both at NCNM and here at Deepest Health has both necessitated and accelerated that learning process.  I expect I will be studying until I cannot study anymore.

I’ve heard similar stories and sentiments from practitioners in the field – even those who have been practicing for many years.  Students, obviously, have plenty to think about and say about studying.

Thus, the focus of this spring’s issue of Chinese Medicine Quarterly is, simply, Study.

What does it mean to study Chinese medicine?  How best to do it?  Is there more than one way to study?  As always, we invite students and practitioners to contribute articles based on their understanding of the simple concept at the center of the issue.  The result is our best issue yet, made even better by the incredible artwork of Eugene Lee.

Ready to buy the latest issue?  Just click this link to be taken to the Chinese Medicine Quarterly page.

You can read all the details about the issue there, of course.  Print versions are available at additional cost.  I just got mine in the mail and it’s gorgeous.  Something about that heft of paper really helps me get into it.

I hope to update you on the future of Chinese Medicine Quarterly soon, as well as letting you know how you can get involved.  Fancy yourself a writer?  There’s space for you here.  Wondering how you can let other people know about the magazine?  Opportunities abound!  Watch for that article soon.

In the meantime, thanks for buying the latest issue.  It helps us to get closer to making the magazine self sustaining.  Self sustaining means more resources available to make the magazine longer, to incorporate new elements like investigative stories and travelogues, as well as paying our editors and designer for all their dedicated, unpaid labor.

Happy spring!

Related posts:

1. Wind – the father of the 100 diseases – new issue of Chinese Medicine Quarterly
2. The importance of the Spleen in studying Classical Chinese Medicine

My students seem hungry for guidance, reassurance and anecdotes related to my path in learning Chinese medicine. When I look at the most popular posts on this blog, they are posts that point to that layer of experience. Thinking on this, I realize that there’s just not a lot of resources out there for people who want to learn about learning. In college, you may end up in some basic “study skills” course, and then are asked to seek out “tutoring” if you are having trouble absorbing the material. The same essential approach is in operation at NCNM, and likely at most schools around the country. While nobody ever teaches anyone how to learn most effectively, we’re all expected to know it, and if we don’t – we’re remedial.

So, we look for others’ stories. We listen to how people we admire learned things. When that information is not divulged readily, students will ask for it. But only if they get the sense that there is a willingness to discuss this all-important topic. I hope to make myself ready to take those questions, I hope to give stories that are helpful.

A student recently expressed frustration at their progress in learning Classical Chinese medicine. This is a first year student, very bright, with the world of Chinese medicine absolutely open and available to him. The problem he is having is similar to one I experienced as a first-year student. Simply, there’s just too much to learn. There is a seemingly endless field of modalities, philosophies, skills, bodies of knowledge – with a concurrently endless pit of internal work to be done. How to do this in four years? How to do this in a way that sets one up for future study, that opens one to a lifetime of deep, real Chinese medicine learning. It’s a painful question, and I empathized deeply with the student ask he spoke with me.

As we talked, I was reminded of a number of students who have spoken with me about similar topics over the last year. There seems to be a basic confusion about the whole process of learning. I’ve read a lot of texts and had a lot of experiences that might help clarify the confusion, but I haven’t been able to distill a simple message that I can communicate to people asking these types of questions. I’m still working on it. However, re-reading one of my favorite books, Wake Up To Your Life: Discovering the Buddhist Path of Attention (Ken McLeod) I ran across a very useful distinction that, I think, speaks to this issue.

In the book (p 59), Ken is discussing the problems that arise when people are beginning a formal meditation practice. In instructing his own students, he tries to orient them around a fourfold understanding:

1. The purpose of the practice : this is why we do what we do
2. The method of the practice : this is what we do to to achieve that purpose
3. The effects of the practice : these are experiences that arise in the day to day effort of practicing the method
4. The results of the practice : these are the long-term achievements that come about through diligent practice of the method – despite some days of negative results

He uses the example of running for exercise to illustrate his point. But one could just as easily apply it to learning Chinese medicine. To be fair, the topic “learning Chinese medicine” is much too broad (and thus part of the frustration I’m seeing in students) so let’s restrict it a bit.

Let’s say I am an aspiring (and/or practicing) herbalist. Let’s say that I have discovered that the essence of learning herbalism is to take the time to deeply know herbs – using a method that my teacher has revealed to me. This method consists of walking through several levels of understanding, beginning with direct sensory perception, progressing through ascertaining “community data” as present in texts like Bensky, through coming to understand these herbs in relationship to other herbs (in formulas and combinations) and all the way to seeing the effects of these herbs on patients.

The purpose of this method is to become an excellent herbalist. To be an excellent herbalist means to be able to prescribe Chinese herbal formulas in a way that is efficient, effective and satisfies some internally derived standard of achievement. That is just one way of describing excellence, surely it has some variation from person to person – but being relatively efficient (thus not taking 10 hours to write a formulas) and definitely effective (the sky’s the limit here) must be present.

So, the purpose and the method are established. It’s the final two elements where things get sticky.

If you sit down to use this method, you’re going to have good days and bad days. Sometimes the Qi is going to flow, you’re going to effortlessly know an herb and feel naturally excited about herbalism and your ability to practice Chinese medicine. Other times it’s going to feel boring, contrived, pointless and you will feel insecure about your student loans, your family’s perception of what you’re doing and your impending entry into clinic. These are the effects of practicing the method – sometimes great effects, sometimes not so great. But one MUST NOT confuse these ups and downs for the RESULTS of practicing the method. You’re not as incredible as you think on your good days, and certainly not as hopeless as you think on the bad ones.

Look at your progress over time. The results are an increasing mastery of the various aspects of herbalism, increasing ability to place your attention on the study at hand and an overall rising in your confidence with regards to Chinese medicine. Being aware that this is a process, that the effects from day to day are not reflective of the overall RESULTS, will do a lot to help you maintain some level of sanity as you learn. Another thing I like about this model is that it places attention on the need for a clear purpose and an overt method. The former doesn’t need to be the same as someone else’s and the latter doesn’t need to be set in stone. But YOU need to be clear about YOUR purpose, YOUR method.

I guess, overall, I think all four elements are deficient in me and my students. I think they’re pretty deficient in our culture overall. So, spend some time thinking about this. With regards to your learning of Chinese medicine (whether you are a brand new student or a long-term practitioner or anything in between) ask yourself:

1. What is my purpose? It’s probably best to restrict this to specific areas of learning – but it may be helpful for some people to have one, overarching purpose. Probably you will have several nesting
   sets. Write them down.
2. What is my method? Perhaps it has been taught to you. Perhaps you have to build one yourself – just try something, test it out, and refine it. It could be as simple as “Memorize and recall 5 formulas a day,” or as complicated as the herbal learning method I hinted at above. Perhaps it relies on learning Chinese and slowly translating Classical texts. More than anything, I want to emphasize that your professors are PROBABLY NOT GIVING YOU A METHOD. So don’t rely on them to do so. It’s just not the way things are, now.
3. What are the effects I experience? It might be helpful to keep a practice diary. Note the good days, the bad days, and the variations. Be very careful not to become too attached to any one particular practice session. Do your practice, and go on with your life.
4. What are the expected and realized results of practice? If you don’t have a teacher to help you figure out the results, again, you may need to posit some yourself. Where do you expect to be in a year, in two? In four? In ten? Who are your models? As you go, be as objective as possible in assessing your progress. Are you seeing results? Why or why not?

I’d love to hear from folks about their purpose, method, effects and results. This is a pretty raw blog post, I just pumped it out here after doing my daily reading. Do you see problems with what I’m saying? What are they? I always welcome opportunities to refine my own thinking!

Related posts:

1. The Lingshu and becoming a superior Chinese medicine practitioner

I hope this reflection will be useful to all those Chinese medicine students out there who struggle with figuring out what TYPE of Chinese medicine to practice…

Today, on a walk I was taught an important lesson by some late migrating geese. In the late summer and autumn, we get a whole lot of geese flying overhead in my neighborhood. We live pretty close to a couple of wildlife refuges, one being specifically devoted to waterfowl. In general, in Portland, the autumn is always accompanied by the resonant, melodic sound of Canadian geese fleeing Canada. It’s one of those things that is commonplace, yet never seems to lose its magic. I’ve noticed a lot of things in Autumn are like that – the leaves turning, the miracle of the harvest, the start of formal schooling and so on.

Anyway, today I had one of those magic moments – fog bank just rolled in, walking on a hill in clear view of the setting full moon and the rising sun reflecting pink and crimson off of morning clouds. Mushrooms bursting from beneath damp fallen leaves. People out, coffee in hand, walking overly excited dogs. That nestled place between Lung and Large Intestine time – things cracking forth, but the calm and presence of the early morning still laying on its soothing balm. Very nice.

Then there were the geese. There were seven or eight of them, so just a paltry flock. There was some confusion (not uncommon) where they seemed to be trying to figure out which way to go. Now, I know enough about geese to know that just because they seem to be flying North doesn’t mean they’re lost – often they’re just heading to a feeding or resting ground. It’s the larger direction that matters, not my little snapshot views. But, that doesn’t matter for my story. There was some confusion in the sky, and about half started heading clearly North, the other half clearly South. One goose was caught – she flew North, she flew South, she started calling loudly – she seemed pretty distressed by the whole thing.

Finally, she broke South – doing double time to catch up with her chosen group and they continued off into the distance. As I watched them cruise, I got a series of images as I faced South – the direction that all Sages must face, the direction that helps us make sense of so much Chinese medicine physiology and pathology. Mostly, I just got a sense of great peace, of openness, of newness and warmth and a bright future. I thought – good choice, little goose.

Now, I’ve been particularly prone to reading signs in everything these last few weeks, so pardon me. But, the whole drama (!) seemed curiously familiar. I think it might seem familiar to some of you, as well.

At NCNM, I was introduced to a wide variety of schools of thought regarding medicine – herbalism in particular. Without getting too much into it, let’s just say that people can get a little spirited about what they see as the “truth” of the matter. I certainly have been guilty of this. As students, I think we were looking for something to hold on to. Something to call our own – or rather – something to say, “This is right, this is true and I know it, I subscribe to it.” Some way to make sense of the seemingly insurmountable task of learning a medicine that is thousands of years old and must be translated into what we have available in contemporary times.***

I’ve sometimes felt torn because of my particular proclivities and the wrinkles and folds of my personal situation. I had moments when I didn’t want to practice medicine at all. It seemed too impossible to figure out what was right – the clinical stage didn’t clarify things any better than the classroom and I just felt totally overwhelmed. I had moments where I wanted to have a time travel machine and visit Han dynasty and ask Zhang Zhongjing what the whole deal was really about. There were also times when I felt pretty confident, pretty sure, and even a little fanatical about what I was learning. Those times were always followed by a lesson (pride precedes a fall, afterall).

In the last month, things have settled out. I felt very much like that goose for the last year or so, and I’ve started flying in a particular direction. It hasn’t been without its consequences. Moving towards one thing almost always means leaving another behind. Some good goose friends had to be parted from, on some level. I only have so much time and attention. I have had to repeatedly remind myself that the direction I’m turning away from is not WRONG, just different. Demonizing people who think differently from we do only serves to make us demons in the eyes of others. It never serves the quest for knowledge and healing.

You know? Darnit if I don’t feel just like I felt on that hilltop watching those geese disappear. Warmth, openness, a surge of energy, signs from all over God and Creation. It’s not that the other way is wrong, it’s just that this way is right. It leads to more, not less. It opens me into an endless realm of possibility and sweetness. I have already seen the results in my acupuncture, in my herbal prescriptions, in my presence with my patients, and in my bank account.

So, to any of you who are feeling this – particularly you students – take heart. You will find your way. Sit quietly with yourself, go on walks, get treatment, sing songs, talk to animals and go through your rebirth. Getting born is rarely pain-free, but it always opens into a whole universe of experience that was previously unavailable to you. I promise.

—

***Note : I’m not saying that ancient medicine isn’t directly relevant to contemporary times and people. Please. I’m just saying that some of the things they had available, we don’t have available – or very nearly (Fulonggan, for one – Sheng Fuzi for another – there are legal implications for some acupuncture techniques). Further, while there is truly nothing new under the sun – people do have a different way of living, eating, and even dying today and we would be idiots not to at least consider that fact sometimes, even if we are just “treating what we see,” and even if we are (correctly) not taking into account Western disease names and categories, etc…

Many people seem to believe that what they see at first glance is as much as there is to see. Nothing could be further from the truth. My hope is to encourage students, and consistently re-encourage myself, to really SEE things in their fullness. The subtle changes in color, the textures, the shadows cast, the subtle suggestions of where they were on the plant, how they were treated during growth and in processing. It isn’t as if this information is recorded as data and filed away for use in therapy – but just like getting to know a person, all of these tiny pieces of information fill in the skeletal lines of first impressions with color, depth, beauty.

Sight aside, I’ve had a lot of fun with the students at NCNM working with our underused faculty of touch. We have been working with two types of touch, though I haven’t had time to go into depth with either. One of the hardest things about this class is the fact that it’s only an hour. That’s why an online version will be so great – more time, more space! However, this limitation does force me to try to get the teaching down to essentials.

The two ways we are using touch:

1. The most basic – “just touching.” There is a ton of information a person can get from touching an herb, even at the most superficial level. You can get a sense for its density, its heft – particularly in relation to other herbs. You get a greater sense for the texture of the herb. With some herbs, like Mutong, you can start to understand what the herb does – it feels like a filter! Or think about something like Ganjiang that feels like it is, drying and warm. Aside from looking to get a sense for what part of the plant is, simple touching can also give you some good information for the doctrine of signatures. Light things may tend to rise, heavier things to sink – and so on.
2. A little deeper. At NCNM, we are taught a variety of ways to use our hands to perceive more subtle sensations. But, anyone can get good information by just sitting with an herb in their hands. I usually take some time to do some Qigong or prayer, just connecting with subtle reality. Then I close my eyes and touch the herb, allowing my mind to rest and eventually to wander. I may just hold the herb in place, or may manipulate it. Usually, going deeper in this way allows one to get information that is a little outside of what one would expect. Actions, temperatures, even colors start to flood the mind.

This week, with the class, we used blindfolds to isolate the feeling faculty. While in practice I encourage everyone to use all of their senses, it can sometimes be extraordinarily helpful to just focus on one at a time. Exhaust it! See what you can find.

Just using touch, the class interacted with Baihe – lily bulb. Now, note, these are second year students – just learning herbs. Here is the list of qualities they got, blindfolded, without knowing the name of the herb or anything about it beforehand.

• Lung
• Treats diabetes
• Treats arthritis
• Neutral to cooling
• Expels phlegm
• Whitish yellow (I kid you not)
• Slightly transparent (seriously)
• Taiyin
• Claws
• Relieves dampness
• Clears heat
• Pungent – bitter
• Cold
• Replenishing
• Moves, but not through Yang force

There are a lot of interesting observations here, I think you will agree!

Baihe is sweet, according to the Shennong Bencao Jing (SNBCJ) – though later commentators say it is sweet and slightly bitter. In the SNBCJ it is listed as neutral, though later commentators say it is slightly cooling. Of these basic affinities, only the bitter is out of place in what the students found. It does clear heat, and while the dampness and phlegm properties are contrary to basic understanding of the herb, it’s not so far out of the realm of possibility. It is indeed replenishing, related to Taiyin and interestingly, is known to treat diabetes!

Most interesting to me is the symbolic association of the Lung organ system. Lily, in channel affinity language, does enter the Lung (as well as the Heart). Again, we do have the relationship with Taiyin. But what about the claws?! Now Baihe in its dried form does feel a little like toenails, as many students jokingly remarked. The claw association could have something to do with that, but more than one student did get a sense of actual claws or talons. This, to me, is related to the Tiger – the animal associated with the earthly branch Tai and the Lung organ system. I just thought it was interesting that these associations came up so consistently.

We did several other herbs in class, and I was just astonished at how much information we could get with just an hour of holding the herbs. If you haven’t tried this before, I recommend it. Yes, just the dried herb. While fresh herbs are great, while plants are great, I do believe that the dried herb holds a lot of information in a holographic way. Students in class were getting senses of the way the plant grows, what kinds of conditions it likes, all without having any contact with the living plant at all. Give it a try!

I want to make clear that I’m not suggesting people just sit with herbs and use that information exclusively. It’s a matter of using our sensory experience to enhance and ground the head knowledge of which we get so much. Also, I wonder how long it will take for these students to forget that Baihe is related to the Lung? Won’t they have a slightly better understanding of the herb, having spent a little time with it? What if they were to use all their senses, and consistently reengage with it over a period of months, years? It gives me high hopes for their future as herbalists! Give it a try, and come back here to tell us how it went – add your thoughts in the comments!

Related posts:

1. Setting yourself up for learning success : First, know thyself
2. Listening my way to success in the NCCAOM acupuncture board exam

In my last article, I mentioned my idea that the best way to learn Chinese herbs is through what I’m calling the “relational method.” Before we can dive headlong into the process I am describing, we need to prepare some ground. Today, I want to talk a little about learning in general, relationship styles and relationships skills. My motivation for doing this is twofold.

First, I really believe that an astonishing number of people looking to learn aren’t really sure how they do that best. Yes, folks, there is more than one way to take in information. The way you learned in grade school is NOT necessarily the best one. Second, the nature of my developing theories on teaching and learning are deeply interwoven with the relational method of learning Chinese herbs. I think you’ll see how that works as time goes on.

As I’ve made clear in other posts, I’m a big fan of the concept of learning styles.

I think that the material associated with this concept can help stuck students get unstuck pretty quickly. I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up, I was quite sure that there was only one way to learn – words, words and more words. Fortunately, I’m good with them so I didn’t suffer TOO much. However, some people learn more readily by using their bodies in the learning process. Others really excel when listening, even music, is involved. Still others are visual – but not so verbal – they like pictures and diagrams. These are the basic learning styles most frequently discussed in the literature. Obviously, we’re missing some important learning methodology that we will use in our study of Chinese herbs – the more subtle faculties that have been the tools of herbalists for centuries.

In addition, I find that different types of material often require different methods. That’s actually one place I diverge a bit from the traditional “learning style” literature – I don’t necessarily think that every person has a single method that works well in all cases. Some material lends itself better to one method or another, or a combination of methods. One person may find that using sound to learn herbs is the best method, others may find it to be completely useless. Yet, that same person might find that they can’t use sound to learn points at all. Further, there are some teaching and learning strategies that seem to work well for everyone – for instance associating very vivid imagery with something you are trying to remember. All of that aside, the core of what I’m saying is simply that there are a lot of ways to learn new information.

The first thing you need to do is figure out how you learn best.

Now, some of you will scoff – thinking that such material is below you, you “instinctively” know how best you learn. Fine. For most of you, however, you’re a little bit intrigued by the idea and want to know more. You’re the ones I’m talking to. There are a variety of great tools out there to help you investigate your own learning style. One of the simplest is here. I encourage you to give it a try. Answering the questions honestly is very important – and note that you can tick more than one box. The results of this simple quiz will help you get started in your quest to understand your own learning style. You will get a list of your preferences for free – showing which are the strongest preferences. You can also purchase a downloadable report and e-book to learn more information. I have not tested either of the paid options myself, instead researching more about my preferred learning styles (Read/Write and Aural) on my own using Google.

An online quiz won’t give you all the answers, of course. Fortunately, most of the deepest information is readily available to you – in your memory. You need to reflect on your prior learning experiences. Sit for a minute and think about your prior learning experiences – positive and negative, formal and informal. Accept the possibility that you have a unique learning style – be curious about finding it. Consider this a voyage of internal discovery that will help you to excel, not just in Chinese herbalism, but in anything you choose to learn. Here is some guidance you can use in your quest.

• When have you really excelled in a learning situation?
• Better yet, when have you been so immersed in your learning that it didn’t feel like work – you couldn’t even stop if you wanted to – and you retained the information?
• Maybe it was a situation where you were able to explore a topic of your choice in as much detail as you wanted. On the other hand, perhaps it was in a multiple-choice testing environment.
• Perhaps it was during a lecture where the teacher was very animated, using lots of examples and stories. On the other hand, maybe you prefer being nestled deep in the library stacks with a book.
• Perhaps you always study best when there is music playing, or when the information is presented in a musical way?
• Try writing a really vivid description of the times you have enjoyed the most in learning – and make a list of the characteristics of that time. Reflect on those characteristics and try to get a sense for yourself, in general, as a learner. This is also a good time to reflect on those characteristics you prefer in instructors – both formally and informally.

Give yourself time with this exercise, perhaps reflecting on what you’ve found over a couple of days. This information will become useful as we continue.

Leaving that important information aside, I will ask to delve into your own habits and talents yet again.

This time, I would like you to focus on yourself as a person in relationship. When you meet someone for the first time – what do you do? How do you interact with them? Are you forward, asking lots of questions? What kinds of questions? Are you more reserved, responding to questions and observing? What are you looking for? What is the most basic information you feel like you need about a person before you feel that you “know” them on some level? What kind of deeper information do you require before you consider a person “a friend?”

There are lots of possibilities here, I’ll mention just a few to get you started:

• When you meet someone and are getting to know them, are you always fascinated by where they have lived and travelled, and want to know more about their hometown, or where they hang out in the current town where they live?
• Do you prefer to talk about people’s families – their parents, partners, children and friends? Are you always excited to talk about their relationship problems and how they are making things work within their significant relationships?
• Perhaps instead you are attracted to people based on what they do – their activities and work, their function in the world?

There are many ways to know people – some easier to explain than others. Just give it a try – think about the last 10 relationships you have formed (whether shallow or deep relationships) and consider how the relationship developed. What do you talk about? Do you notice any patterns? For those people with whom you share a close bond – how do you know that this bond is close? What do you know about that person, what types of experiences have you shared, that make that a very special relationship?

Obviously – one of the reasons we go from acquaintance to friend often has to do with shared experiences – that will come into play as we continue to talk about a relational method of knowing Chinese herbs. For now, just keep it in mind. Allow yourself to reflect further, both on your learning style and your relationship/communication style. Think about the interactions you have with other beings, even your pets. Jot down what you notice in a journal, and feel free to share it with us here, in the comments.

The next post will discuss how to use what you’ve noticed to go from stranger to acquaintance with our herbal friends. I’ll use myself as an example and my very favorite herb. Look forward to it soon.

—–

If you are interested in reading more about learning styles, I can recommend the books below:

“Learning Styles” (Marlene LeFever)

“So Each May Learn: Integrating Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences” (Harvey F. Silver, Richard W. Strong, Matthew J. Perini)

Related posts:

1. Listening my way to success in the NCCAOM acupuncture board exam

Herbs are not tools

When I learned Chinese herbs in school, I fell in love. In part, that was because the teacher used the Shennong Bencao Jing as part of his teaching materials. This connected me to the larger stream of my tradition while also adding some interesting flavor to the information – those of you who have perused this text will know what I mean. I have seen class notes from other herbs classes, and what I see there helps me to understand why so many people don’t enjoy learning herbs.

The herbs are reduced to a series of bits of data : flavor, nature, channel affinity, primary indications, maybe some formulas or combinations. The students are then asked to absorb a huge number of such bits of data, in preparation for the even more data heavy formulas class. Many students leave this experience feeling more than a little dismayed and disillusioned. That is true even for those who come to school really excited to learn this stuff. I can’t even imagine what it must be like for those of you who don’t like herbs to begin with!

While knowing the basic information is important (flavor, nature, etc) dwelling too long in the lap of this information without moving beyond is deadening. It causes one to relate to the herbs as tools, as objects, as things to be manipulated. Theories and ideas come to the foreground and drown out the mutable, messy relationship that has been the experience of herbalists for centuries. All of you know that I’m a sucker for data (and databases) and also have a deep and abiding love for theory. However, I know their place, and I know their peril.

Ultimately, I see herbs as Beings with which I can have a relationship. This relationship has many of the same facets, and requires many of the same skills, that I use in my relationships with human beings. When I come into this fully, I am more easily able to understand herbs, remember herbs and – most importantly – accurately and effectively prescribe herbs to my patients. Yep, folks, this is clinically relevant stuff. Seriously!

Even if you don’t believe it is TRUE, try thinking of herbs as Beings with a capital B

What would it be like if you were to think of herbs as something with which you can have a relationship? I mean a real relationship. I’m talking about “getting to know them” and “developing rapport” and “sharing experiences” and “building memories” and all the rest. What if you thought about herbs as multi-faceted Beings with likes, dislikes, a home, a family, preferred activities, favorite places, present, past and future? What if you used the same skills you’ve learned in building relationships to get to know herbs? It’s possible, it’s powerful and it’s what helped me to learn herbs so deeply that they infiltrate my dreams on a regular basis!

I would like to share some best practices about this, and some stories about how it has helped me move into a whole different world with regards to my herbalism. I’ll break it down into bite-sized chunks, however, and release it over the next few days. So, please read tomorrow to learn more about building your relationship with Chinese herbs. As always, I’m interested to hear what you have to say in the comments. Have you done something similar to what I’m describing, either with Chinese herbs or something else? Has this post stimulated any thoughts or discussion? Let us know – it’s easy to leave a comment on the post – no sign up is required.

Update : I passed!  :)

As I said before, I’ve been spending a significant amount of time studying for and taking my NCCAOM acupuncture board exams.  As I said in my last post…

“…I’ve successfully completed the foundations and biomedicine exams already.  I found them to be much different from what I was expecting. I know I am not allowed to share much about my experience – but I’ll just say that I don’t think any commercially available study aid helped me…”

This includes the much lauded TCMTests.com.  Don’t get me wrong, I think they offer a great service.  If nothing else, they allow you to have some degree of comfort with the format and general content of the test.  However, the specific topics covered in the real test were not touched on much by the practice tests on that site or on the official NCCAOM site.  Others may not share my experience, I know.

As an alternative, I recommend you go through the list offered by NCCAOM (content outline) and read through the texts they indicate as sources for question writing.  I found that these outlines were quite accurate, and I would pay attention even to those topics that seem less important.  While some of the more minor subjects may not come up often, one really unexpected question can really throw you off your rhythm.

Also, it will help you to be a good test taker and – perhaps most importantly – to be lucky. 

Now, I’m studying for the “big one,” the exam about acupuncture and point location.  I actually postponed the test once, because as I dove into studying the material I really found out how unprepared I am – at least by my reckoning.  Why?  Certainly not because my education has lacked quality.  It doesn’t reflect on my ability to treat patients.  It doesn’t reflect on some lack of scholarly rigor on my part.  Quite the reverse is true, I think.  Why?

Simply,  NCNM doesn’t teach to the test.  We don’t read Maciocia as a textbook.  We learn TCM pattern differentiation, sure, but we learn so much more that is (in my opinion) far more compelling.  So, as students, most of us choose not to focus much on the TCM stuff we are taught.  Even those professors who might be thought of as “more TCM” on our faculty have a wealth of Classical information and clinical pearls they are constantly divulging – so the TCM stuff tends to get swept under the rug a bit.  So, what’s a guy to do?

Ironically, now at the end of my education, I feel that I’ve finally settled on some winning learning strategies.  As I studied for this test, I started to use every trick in the book to get the stuff to stick.  I had huge pieces of easel pad paper taped up all over my house, I was using innovative mindmapping software, I was making flashcards, I was making diagrams… All of these strategies were definitely helping, but then I ran across an article discussing multiple intelligences, then through some web searching another one about the VARK learning styles theory.  The particulars aren’t super important, but it got me thinking about how I learn most effectively.

For me, it’s all about the auditory.  I learn very well from lectures – even better if I record them and listen to them a hundred times.  I learn well from music, from silly songs, and also from speaking things aloud.  It was a small insight, but when I really realized this – I went to town with it.  I’d like to share some of the strategies I am using that appeal to my auditory learning style.  I should mention that I feel that I learn quite well from reading and writing things as well – but I wanted to talk particularly about the auditory aspects today.

1.  I am a big fan of Cal Newport’s blog, Study Hacks.  Among a lot of other great advice, he recommends that students use a method called “quiz and recall.”  Using this method, you collapse lecture notes (or other material) into “big ideas” with one sentence prompts.  You then move through those one sentence prompts and give a pretend lecture to nobody in particular.  I do this in the backyard, pacing through my living room and on my daily walks.  You can follow the link above to learn more.

With the material I’m studying now, I’ve had to alter the method a little bit.  Because I’m not really working off of any notes, I simply let my prompt be the name of a channel or TCM syndrome.  With the latter, I actually break it down a bit – working off of a list of diseases and their differentiations.  So, I might come to a prompt that says Gan Mao due to Wind-cold.  Then I lecture passionately concerning the points involved, their categories and locations, the needling method employed and so on.  This has been incredibly powerful.

2.  There are a couple of commercially available audio products designed to help you learn and review Chinese medicine related information.  I’ve tried Tunes for Tangs and Songs for Sans as well as the product I review below.  I’ll talk about Tunes for Tangs in another blog post in the future.

Radioqi.com offers a set of MP3′s called AcutherapeuticA that are meant to be used in learning and reviewing the acupuncture points by channel.  These recordings include a soothing female voice speaking over some repetitive trip-hop style electronic music.  The voice lists the point designator (HT1, etc), the Chinese name and an English translation, any pertinent categories (Yuan source, etc) and finally some basic TCM actions.  Sometimes, they will offer a little more – such as a particular contraindication (like LI-4 being contraindicated in pregnancy).  They also include a two-file set of the 100 most popular acupuncture points set against more upbeat music.  I have not tried the second product, but I own several of the channels set over the more soothing music.

It’s undeniable that this product has helped jog my memory about some of the less used points.  Because I’m largely an auditory learner, the stuff goes in my head with the music and sticks there.  There is something quite compelling about the ability to go on a walk in the dawning summer sun and be studying at the same time.  As I’ve discussed elsewhere, and doubtless will again, I’m a huge fan of audio learning for that very reason.  However, I’m very disappointed that Radioqi has not included location information!  I also feel that the voice speaks a little too quickly through the action information.  Because of these shortcomings, and also because I can’t afford the ~$100 it takes to buy all the channels, I hit on one final (and my favorite) acupuncture audio learning solution.

3.  I have a MacBook, which has a great built-in microphone.  I also own the excellent free audio editing program Audacity.  Sitting here, frustrated with my limited choices as far as audio learning of acupuncture goes, I hit on a natural solution.  Make my own MP3′s!  I simply recorded myself reading out of my favorite text for studying for the acupuncture exam (link broken – no longer available online), adding commentary as I thought of it.  For instance, when talking about a Yuan source point, I might mention e
verything I know about that category of point.  In a couple of instances, I played the excellent Yi Ching Music for the Health CDs, in the background, using the element corresponding to the channel I was studying.  I then exported these as WAV files from Audacity, and added them to my iTunes library, converting them to MP3s in the process.  Finally, I loaded these onto my iPhone for listening to on the go.

While it’s a bit weird listening to myself talking about acupuncture channels, it has been very helpful.  The points are sticking in a way they haven’t before.  I’m going to try this technique for syndrome differentiation as well.  After this exam, when my time opens up a bit, I plan to use some version of this technique to continue learning about formulas.

If you know of other audio learning techniques – let us know in the comments!