Chinese astrological calendars - get yours today!
Hey everyone,
It’s been a funny beginning of the Autumn season and I’m doing my best to adapt to the shifting energy. Good things are coming to Deepest Health soon, particularly if you’re a student or relatively new to Chinese medicine (you know, like me) but for now I just have a quick suggestion.
Learn more about the energy of your days as described via Chinese astrology! Fortunately, I have a simple and beautiful way for you to do that. My friend and colleague, Brandon Brown, has just created a quite lovely and accurate calendar that contains all the pertinent Chinese astrological data. By using his calendar you not only help support a fine budding scholar of Chinese medicine, but you also get to learn more about this fascinating system for looking at the world.
After you buy and have used it for a while, come back and let us know how it’s going. I find that paying close attention to these things tends to shift my consciousness quite a bit.
Eric
If you like what you read here, you may want to keep updated by using my RSS feed. Want to know more about RSS/feeds? - read more here. Thanks for visiting!
Tags: astrology, autumn, brandon, calendar, chinese-medicine, earthly branches, energy, heavenly stems, Seasons, studentRelated posts
Simple solution to a complicated study problem
In the post I wrote recently about transitioning to a more self-motivated form of studying, I presented a fairly complicated problem. When you leave the comfy confines of rigorous acaemic life, it becomes difficult to keep focused on scholarly achievement. Okay, that sounds simple. Really, it isn’t. It’s complicated by a whole host of life factors, personal habits and actual needs. I started to work my way through the problem, and ended up a bit more confused than I started out, as friend and blogger G. Michael Reynolds probably could have predicted. :)
Ultimately, the issue is that I’m pretty good at figuring out what’s wrong but not so fantastic at finding solutions. Sometimes. When I do find solutions, I’m sometimes a little dense when it comes to implementing those solutions. But, this blog is - in part - about solutions! What a conundrum. So this is a short post to indicate that I’m trying a new solution for my vexing problem.
For the next eight weeks (until school at NCNM starts back up and things change) I’m going to study for an hour every morning, right after my Qigong practice. It’s only an hour, what harm can it do? This doesn’t mean I’ll never study more than that - but it does mean I won’t feel bad for not doing so. Why only an hour? Well, I’ve got several other obligatory hours in my day and it’s also an amount of time I can fit into even the busiest days in my schedule. An hour also seems to be the minimum amount of time I can study and actually get something out of it.
For this simple study method, I’m going to be dividing my work into fourteen subsections (okay, so maybe it gets a little complicated - but actually just so it gets easy again):
- Acupuncture Points
- Section 1 : locations and cautions
- Section 2 : categories and relationships
- Section 3 : basic (tcm) and advanced (ccm) functions
- Section 4 : important combinations
- Chinese herbs
- Section 5 : single herbs - basic set, wei (flavor) and qi (temperature) both according to TCM and according to the Shennong Ben Cao Jing
- Section 6 : single herbs - advanced set, which basically includes all the herbs we need for the board exam but haven’t learned yet
- Section 7 : formulas - formula names (english and chinese), herbs included, dosages
- Section 8 : formulas - associated pulses (tcm and arnaud)
- Section 9 : formulas - basic and advanced functions
- Chinese medical symbolism and pathology
- Section 10 : symbolism - twelve organ networks and all associated symbolism
- Section 11 : TCM/Zangfu basic physiology and pathology
- Section 12 : The Liuqi (Six conformations)
- Section 13 : Five element physiology/pathology and the 19 Lines of pathology (Neijing)
- Section 14 : Cancer (research project)
Is there other stuff to learn? Sure, but this is the stuff that’s the most important to me right now. I’ve taken all of my notes (electronic and paper) and flashcards and put them in stacks. Obviously the electronic and paper-based information resides in different places. Every day after Qigong, I’ll sit down, pick up a stack and go for it. That means I’ll get through the entire cycle of section 4 times. I’ll report back how it goes. If you have a method for studying such a diverse amount of material in a systematic and effective way, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. Anyone? Anyone?
Eric
Tags: chinese-medicine, erics-habits, scholar, Student Life, study, studyingRelated posts
A fun and effective way for you to start earning money blogging
As I discussed in my earlier post, I believe that healthcare providers should start blogging in bigger numbers. But, really, I think everyone should start providing high quality, easily accessible content via blogs, regardless of profession. It does take time, it’s true, and no small amount of bravery (putting yourself out there can be scary) but the promise of earning an income may help you to overcome your fears.
But can you really make money blogging? Yes. A little over a year ago, I began a blogging course called Blog Mastermind with blogger and Internet marketer, Yaro Starak. I was drawn into his way of thinking first by reading about his incredible Blog Profits Blueprint which he offered for free on his blog, Entrepreneurs-journey.com. I read the blueprint in about 45 minutes - once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. Here was what I had been waiting for, a way to make money simply by sharing what I’m learning, thus helping my family and eventually (hopefully) taking the pressure off of patient visits when I’m in clinical practice! Fantastic!
I started this blog, Deepest Health, immediately. Unfortunately, my way through the course got a little choppy and I actually ended up having to quit before the end. However, the information I gleaned from those couple of months was more than enough to catapult me from making nothing to making several hundred dollars. I have to admit that, because of the intensity of my schooling (and the rest of my responsibilities) I wasn’t able to do things exactly as Yaro instructed. However, going back over my notes and really implementing what he taught me now has already brought great benefits - resurgences in traffic and a threefold increase in daily income! He’s really got something special.
He’s opening his training program again, newly updated, incorporating the lessons he learned during his last implementation. I can recommend this to anyone who is interested in making an income blogging. I’m happy to talk to you about my experiences in the course - through email or comments.
As is Yaro’s way, he’s offering some great free content as he launches his new membership site. He does this first and foremost because he likes sharing what he learns - but of course he hopes that you will be impressed enough with the free content to consider becoming a paid member. I should also disclose that if you buy into Yaro’s membership program through my link, I will get a commission. I appreciate that extra income and pledge to use it to improve my blog here and also put together my new blog, naturalmedicinesuccess.com, coming soon. On to the free resources…
First, definitely check out the Blog Profits Blueprint - this is an incredible FREE guide that will help you understand the basic way that blogging works and how it generates income. Download the Blog Profits Blueprint.
Second, head over to Yaro’s site and watch his excellent, informative videos that cover his unique take on how to take making money online with blogs to the next level. I was amazed at the quality of this content - I’m already using it to help take Deepest Health to an even wider audience.
Third, sign up using the links on any of those pages I sent you to or by following this link directly to Yaro’s sales page. I promise that you will not be disappointed in your experience. Yaro will take you through the earliest stages (setting up the blog) and step-by-step help you to get up to full functionality, making money and having a great time. I have learned that there are some things that don’t work as well in the natural medicine niche of blogging, and that’s why I’m considering developing a course of my own. But you can easily get up and running and making a profit while getting your face, your name and your unique perspective out there using Yaro’s methods. He offers excellent customer service and connects you with a community of folks who are walking the path alongside you. I found that the member connections were one of the best parts of the program - I think you will, too.
Anyway - thanks for letting me go slightly off topic, here. I really believe that the more natural medicine (and associated) bloggers we have out there, the better health we will have as a community of human beings. I hope you share this opinion and are ready to share your voice with the world. If you do sign up and get a blog going, please contact me as soon as you do and I will put your blog address up on my soon-to-be-created natural medicine blog subpage. I’ll be your first high-quality link, helping you build traffic from search engines and starting your meteoric rise to the highest strata of blogging. :)
Thanks again,
Eric
Tags: Blogging, Business, business strategy, chinese-medicine, community, internet, links, natural-medicine, service, videoRelated posts
How to make the transition from forced study to self-motivated study
Now that I am in my fourth year of schooling in Classical Chinese Medicine, the “academic” pressures lessen in a number of ways. We have a few classes outside of clinic, but they are not academically rigorous in the way that Acupuncture points and Herbal formulas classes were. Our focus now is clinic and our Chinese medicine focused thesis. The latter is, of course, academic - but it’s a very different thing to write a thesis than to study for and take an exam. Since the end of last term, I’ve been struggling to figure out whether and how much - but most of all HOW - to study without the pressure of exams.
Some of you may wonder - if no exams, why study? Every shift, I find things that I’ve forgotten or don’t know. Every shift I realize the importance of having key information readily available in the mind. Every shift I realize that while I know some, I *don’t* know even more. By the end of my first shift I realized that this summer is going to be a time of profound transformation as well as intense study. So, I’ve devised a plan and have been determining how I can dive even more deeply into the material.
There seem to be three key problems:
1. No regular testing to act as carrot and stick leading me forward.
2. Clinic and thesis to balance with other kinds of study.
3. Lack of confidence in what I need to be studying because I don’t have anyone helping me to understand where I should apply my focus.
Solutions for Problem 1 : No regular testing - the need for the carrot and the stick
Even the most engaged student sometimes will need some help to get motivated. It’s probably an artifact of our No-Child-Left-Behind like culture of education, but testing often serves as a motivational force for people. The carrot has many facets. There is the feeling of a job well done, the praise or relationship development with your instructor, the admiration of your colleagues (!), advancement to higher levels of learning, possible scholarship benefits and so on. The stick likewise has many aspects, most of which are simply the reverse of the “carrot” features above. No one can deny that, regardless of your dedication and internal sense of motivation, we are all motivated to some extent by the carrot and stick approach.
However, I’ve always maintained that in the practice of medicine and similar fields, things are different. When I studied Philosophy, it was crucial that I remember key points, that I be able to build an appropriate argument, see flaws in logic, etc… I had to learn the material that I was studying, sure. But, noone’s health and wellbeing was going to be impacted by how well (or not) I learned various arguments for the existence of God. Nobody’s ability to run around and play with their kids rested on my ability to memorize 42 logical fallacies and their refutation.
In my study of Chinese medicine, every sentence uttered by an instructor could be the key that unlocks a pathological process in a patient. Each formula I memorize takes me one step closer to being able to quickly and elegantly devise a perfect treatment for someone who comes to our clinic. I don’t allow that to stifle me, I also don’t have the arrogance to think that my treatment is going to be what is “saving” or “fixing” people. But, I do see a greater human significance in what I’m studying now compared to everything I have studied before.
I suppose one could see all that I’ve just said as a further instantiation of the carrot and stick - but I think it’s more than that. There’s also the fact that the vast majority of what I’m learning fits into a system of knowledge that is more than it seems. It’s a method of living (see - year of Sagely living), it’s a system for rearranging myself spiritually, for learning to interact more appropriately with the world…
What does this have to do with lack of motivation? Well, here are three tools I use to keep me motivated despite the lack of testing. I’m going to word these in such a way that I feel they can be applied to folks studying pretty much any subject that has a practical application in a similar way to medicine.
1. Get clinical/practical
Though I’m not being tested in the traditional sense right now, every clinic shift is a test. Will I understand how to fit the symptoms and signs into a pattern I can understand, will I be able to come up with at least a few points that would help the person, can I think of a decent formula to send them home with? In some way, this kind of testing is even more intense than the stuff that involves pen, paper and a ticking clock in the background. So, I dive as deeply as I can into the practical applications of what I am learning. Further, I realize that when I leave the site of that practical application, there’s still work to be done. After clinic shifts, I review the cases, analyze the formulas, consider alternative points and herbs, imagine future treatments, investigate the person’s Western diagnoses and prescriptions and so on. This is the real stuff. At first it seemed intimidating. But now, it’s just plain exciting.
Even more importantly, I remember that I’m dealing with human lives as I discussed above. What I’m learning, and how well I learn it, matters. That’s tremendously motivational.
2. Understand what it does for you, personally
Most true professions are meant to shape the professional. You don’t become a lawyer without examining your own life and embodying some kind of lawyer-ness. Perhaps in the law case it would manifest in becoming very cognizant of how the law relates to you personally, learning about historical figures in the field of law and emulating them and generally making yourself into the kind of person who is a great lawyer (and also a lawyer who is a great person). Of course, not all professions reach this lofty goal and even fewer people actually take this seriously.
In Chinese medicine, as I’ve discussed before, this is actually CRUCIAL. Self-cultivating and letting the medicine become part of us isn’t just icing on the cake - it’s the cake. What I’ve been doing is seeing how not studying this material has really been impacting me in larger ways. I’m less likely to do my Qigong and other exercise, I’m less likely to eat well, I’m less likely to adhere to my spiritual discipline, I become a vaguely irritated person in general. Observing this in myself has helped me to understand the deep transformation that this medicine is creating in me. So, as a solution to the lack of motivation, I focus on the many ways that study of Chinese medicine improves me as a person.
I have created a list of five main areas that are significantly improved when I engage deeply with Chinese medicine study. I have created an “ultimate” goal for each of these, with mini-goals that act as signposts along the way. I review these at the beginning and end of each day and allow myself to meditate on each for a couple of minutes. This helps recharge me on a very deep level. Quickly, as an example:
One of my “areas” is that of my physical health and well-being. My “ultimate goal” is to be at my ideal weight, with specific strength goals that are measurable and to have an abiding sense of buoyant energy throughout my day. One of my mini goals is a specific weight and body fat number, another is that I wake reliably at 5am with minimal grogginess. I review these each morning when I wake (not always at 5am!!!) and when I go to sleep at night. I allow myself to think about how my Chinese medicine study reinforces these goals (by helping me learn more about the human body, by learning about my place in the macrocosm, by deepening me in a vigorous Qigong practice, etc…) and how my doing these things reinforces my Chinese medicine study (by giving me more energy and ability to focus, by helping to ensure vigor into my elderly years, etc…) It’s been a profound practice.
3. Less desirable solution - focus on bigger carrots and sticks
Obviously, there are always carrots and sticks that we can use for external motivation. The most persistent looming for me is my board exams. I will be taking these throughout my fourth year and in the summer afterward. It’s never too early to study for these exams and they can provide me with a basic structure. I don’t feel that this is an ideal way to motivate myself, but sometimes it’s the only thing that works. Certainly even post-licensure there may be similar external motivators. Perhaps you could mention a few in the comments?
—
There are two more problems I’d like to look at, as described above. First, the issue of balancing study with thesis/clinical work. Second, dealing with the lack of confidence that I’m studying the correct things. I’ll discuss these in a separate post to be released soon. Please also expect another podcast this week - I’m hoping to work on my production and general quality of the podcast. If you have any ideas for what I should discuss, let me know in the comments!
Eric
Tags: chinese-medicine, Student Life, study-methods, studyingRelated posts
The importance of the Spleen in studying Classical Chinese Medicine
I’ve been trying to find a way to make my Year of Sagely Living posts interesting to folks who are not specifically following my progress in that area. To that end, I have created a Year of Sagely Living page of the website where you can see more regular “updates” of my progress, as well as easily access all of the information about the project. When important insights come from that activity, I will expand them into full blog posts here on the main blog. My first insight of enough interest to generate a post involves the symbolism of the Spleen organ system.
脾 Pi - Spleen : Lessons learned from Yin Earth
Earthly Branch Si - The Snake : Lesson - You can take in a lot more than you think, but don’t overdo it
The Spleen is associated with the 6th Earthly Branch 巳 - Si. This is one of the few earthly branches that actually is a picture of the animal that came to be associated with it - the Snake. However, I should note that many people also posit that it is a picture of an infant. The oracle bone figures look more like snakes than babies to me, and as a picture of a snake is how I learned it, but certainly you may disagree.
The snake is a fascinating animal that both attracts and repulses most people. There are many characteristics of the snake that relate to the Spleen in structure and function. I’d like to just mention one that has been particularly helpful to me this week. As the title of this section suggests, I’m interested in the ability of a snake to consume prey much larger than itself.
Now, on the one hand, the Spleen really doesn’t like to be asked to do too much at once - as anyone can attest after a big Thanksgiving dinner. So, perhaps it’s not a perfect symbolic match. On the other hand, the function of the Spleen is to take whatever has been consumed and release the pure essence of that sustenance at a reasonable rate to the rest of the body. Often, even with big meals, we surprise ourselves with our ability to take it in and use it with some effectiveness. As a student, I am consistently asked to shove more information into my head than I think is possible. However, by approaching things deliberately and with confidence, I consistently surprise myself. No jaw dislocation required.
Phase element Earth - the Center : Lesson - Having a solid substrate allows for great transformation
The Spleen is the Yin Earth organ of the body, and as such serves as the stable substrate through which all of the activity of the body takes place. One of our professors mentions how people talk about the Spleen in an inappropriately “active” way. In fact, it is the organ that exemplifies that Wu-Wei principle of getting everything done while doing nothing. It is the rich humus that nourishes everything, yet serves as only a medium for that nourishment - not an active partner in it. Sure, mycobacteria and various little critters serve a vital function in keeping plants healthy, but these are not part of the Spleen principle. The Spleen Earth serves as a healthy place for these organisms to do their work, simply that - and that is more than enough.
Creating a super stable life management system for myself has been vital in my success. Still, it is always a work in progress. Unfortunately instability in my system was one of the keys behind why I was not so productive this week. I thought my system was more or less functional, and that I could work out any kinks quickly and simply. I was wrong. Several scheduling issues emerged that required my immediate attention. I had not fully “cleared my mental inbox” during my last Weekly Review (leaving many projects in an implicit mental stage, cluttering my mind). Most importantly, I had not settled my finances and finished budgeting. Thus, about 80% of my time this week was devoted to rectifying those situations. By the end of this weekend, all of that work will be done and it will serve me for the rest of the term. It will be the medium through which I am able to do all of the other work I do.
Clock pair/hexagram pair with the Triple Burner : Keep a balance between Yin and Yang
Around the organ clock, we can find many interesting relationships among the organ systems. The relationship between Spleen and Triple Burner is particularly interesting because these organs are united by their hexagram relationship and their actual position around the clock. When two organs are directly across the organ clock, we call them clock pairs and as I’ve mentioned before, we were taught to think of them as being able to “take one another’s shift” so they share some type of functionality. Hexagram relationships are more subtle and difficult for me to understand. Here is a diagram I drew during my first 
year at NCNM showing the hexagram relationships around the organ clock. The drawing is, admittedly, a little shaky. :)
The Spleen is associated with Hexagram 1 - 
Qian 乾, often translated as force, heaven, the creative and, sometimes, simply as Yang. It is made of six Yang lines, and is the most Yang hexagram of the Yijing. Funny considering what I just said about Earth and the Spleen! That’s the way of Chinese medicine philosophy sometimes. The hexagram of the Triple Burner is #2 - Kun 坤, often translated as
the receptive, Earth and sometimes, simply as Yin. It is made of 6 Yin lines and is the most Yin hexagram of the Yijing. Unlike the Spleen, this makes a lot of sense for the mysterious and seemingly immaterial Triple Burner organ system.
It’s easy to see the relationship between these two hexagrams - they are opposites and create the dynamic Yin-Yang tension that characterizes the fundamental state of the entire Universe. I’ll briefly explore the Triple Burner-Spleen relationship, but certainly there is much more to say about the shared symbolism of these two important organ systems.
The Spleen and Triple Burner are both responsible for aspects of fluid metabolism, in a way they help to keep a balance between wet and dry in the body. Another organ with a relationship with wet-dry balance is the Lung, which is united to the Spleen in its 6 conformation assignment as Tai Yin. Wet and dry are two obvious manifestations of Yin and Yang, respectively. Another Yin/Yang symbol within Spleen and Triple Burner is the relationship between being in the world and being removed from it. The Triple Burner is the mysterious organ system of deep darkness and in-between-ness. The Spleen is more straightforward, and engaged in the vital business of getting things done in the world, despite it’s passivity that I discussed before.
Extending these analogies, I found myself considering the vital importance of balancing two categories of intellectual activity. First, the more “Yang” activities of memorization, reading and listening to lectures, and studying explicitly for tests. On the other hand, the more “Yin” activities of contemplation, creative thinking, and experiencing Chinese medicine principles as they operate in nature. When I don’t achieve a balance between these two types of activity, pandemonium results.
I was experiencing strange digestive and mental symptoms all this week, and found myself really perplexed by it until I thought of Spleen. It is often said that student life harms the Spleen and Heart the most. The Heart because of the incessant use of the mind, which is related with the Heart in Chinese Medicine. The Spleen because of its association with pensiveness/overthinking and worry. When we find ourselves thinking something to death or being obsessively concerned with some event - our Spleen suffers. This was certainly happening to me and I definitely noticed. As a solution, I have decided to look at my schedule again and find a way to incorporate more straightforward “study” (memorization, reading and rewriting notes, etc) with more contemplative creativity. Although the latter may not help me on tests, it will definitely help me as a practitioner and help keep my Spleen from suffering overmuch.
Archetype : The Great Yu - Channel things away instead of damming them up
One of the archetypes we learn about being related to the Spleen is the Chinese folk hero the Great Yu. It is said that he was able to stem the great flood when his father failed. His father’s strategy was to create huge earthen dams to hold back the floodwater, which inevitably broke. Yu took a different perspective, creating great ditches to lead the water away to the ocean. We are often taught in Chinese medicine school that the Spleen does something similar in water metabolism of the body - guiding dampness away from the body at a steady clip, instead of trying to create barriers to keep it away from vital organs and processes.
I learned this Spleen lesson gradually through the week. A number of projects dumped on to my lap and it was only listening to David Allen’s Getting Things Done Fast on audiobook that jolted me into healthy Spleen mode. One of the things that Mr. Allen recommends is to look at every project/action you have in front of you and figure out whether it actually BELONGS to you. Many times we take on projects that are not properly or best left with us. Delegate! Delegate! Delegate! Lead the floodwaters away. :)
There’s plenty more to say about all of these symbols, as usual - I’ve only just scratched the surface of the surface. Noone knows this stuff like Heiner Fruehauf, my esteemed teacher. Be sure to visit his website at Classicalchinesemedicine.org if you’re interested in learning this kind of information in more depth from someone who actually knows what they’re talking about! Also be sure to visit the Year of Sagely Living page and consider joining us in our quest to be the best human beings we can be.
Eric
Tags: academics, balance, Character, chinese-medicine, classical-chinese-medicine, etymology, habits, hexagram, Learning, Organ systems, snake, spleen, study, studying, symbolism, Year of Sagely Living
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