Technological teaching : social networking for natural medicine practitioners and a study update
I’ve been working with Saturday features these last few months. I like the idea of a links post, but they don’t get much traffic and they’re sort of boring to write. I figure it makes more sense to offer something of real value while enjoying the process myself. So, on this cloudy Oregon summer morning, I’d like to try something new. On Saturdays, until I find something that works even better, I’ll offer a technological teaching geared toward the natural medicine crowd. Remember when I wrote about why every healthcare provider should have a blog and the ensuing discussion about the apparent misgivings most natural medicine practitioners seem to have about technology? Well, I have a passion for bringing our profession up to speed - we belong on the Internet - people need us! Every week, I’ll try to think of something new to point out. It will still be links-based, but the links won’t just be stuff I think is interesting. Instead, the links will be part of the teaching.
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Before I continue with the technological teaching, I wanted to refer back to another post I made recently about studying Chinese medicine. As school approaches (my last year!) I find myself being forced to think increasingly of how to get myself back into the mindset for institutional education. I’ve also continued to notice my knowledge deficiencies while in clinic. Not to mention, I’m supposed to be working on the thesis required for my Classical Chinese Medicine degree at NCNM. I find that in the summer, I naturally turn away from intense study and towards other things (like blogging) but now it’s time to turn back. In the article referenced above, I decided to try a new method of studying that would allow me to cycle through topics each day. As usual, I bit off a little more than I could chew. In this case, I simply picked too many topics. I found that it was too difficult to keep the categories discreet, and often because of the natural flow of my weeks I was “into” particular topics on particular days.
To refine the process, I will suggest the following topics be studied each day - with the complete group to be studied at least every two weeks. This allows for a more natural decision making process when I sit down to study, yet still ensures that I actually work on each topic. This last part is important, because I find that sometimes I get a little too obsessed with one topic and my knowledge and skill in the other crucial areas suffers.
Topics:
- Formulas : names, dosages, signs/symptoms (especially pulses) and all associated information
- Points : mostly just location and categories for now
- Diagnostics : working more closely with pulses, tongues and other diagnostic information
- Pathology : six conformations/shang han, 19 lines/5 evils, Zangfu/TCM and Western when desired
- Physiology : working with the information I have to keep diving deeper into the physiology of Chinese medicine organ systems and their interrelationships
- Symbolism : working more explicitly with the information I’ve gleaned from Classical texts and my professors at NCNM
If this succeeds, I’d like to see how it works to share something I’ve learned from each topic each week. I know that some of you students out there have been missing the more basic posts I used to write, and my explicit study in these various areas might bear some fruit as far as sharable content is concerned. Stay tuned.
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Now, what about technology? To keep this post as short as possible, I won’t launch into any diatribes. I hope to just show people how valuable the Internet can be and how crucial it is that we, as healthcare providers, link into this rapidly growing method of connection and communication. Today, I’d like to talk a little bit about…
**Social networking**
Human beings are social animals. Some have lamented the invention of the computer, and then the Internet, claiming that it negatively impacts social relationships between people. Now, of course, I think this is a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg question since for our society to accept such a technology implies that we had already gone far afield. That is, of course, if this lamentation has any basis. I’m not ready to deliver a proclamation on that just yet, but I do believe that any such insinuation is probably overstated. Anyway, the thing has doubtless been improved by the invention of blogging and, most recently, the flourishing of social networking tools.
Both blogging and social networking tools share something in common - they encourage conversation among people. You are all mostly familiar with blogging, I assume. You may be less familiar with the various social networking tools. There are quite a few types, and those who are more detail oriented than myself could probably explain them in encyclopedic fashion. But, to keep it real, I offer these simple categories and definitions:
1. Social networking sites that are more about keeping people updated and sharing more static information: These sites are usually larger and more feature-rich. They invite people to develop a very full profile, often include advertising and other monetization, and frequently connect with other types of content (like static websites containing large amounts of information). Most of these do include aspects of the second type, but most people don’t use them that way. I’m thinking here of sites like Facebook, Linkedin, Myspace, Gaia.com and Rootdown.us (links to these sites that allow you to add me easily as a friend are below).
These sites require some set up to be most functional. You go in, set up a profile and add a picture, add groups and interests, find your friends and colleagues and gradually over time will build a group of people (a network) that is easy to connect with. In my experience, the social aspects of these sites are relatively deemphasized. What I mean is that there’s not much conversation going on and often, particularly among the over-25 set, updates are infrequent. They are still very valuable, however. I have found lots of long-lost friends using these tools, plus the integration of microblogging tools (see below) allow for more conversational interaction. The more robust nature of these tools allows for a wider range of functionality as well. For instance, on Gaia.com - a social networking site for “conscious living” - you can write blog entries, list your favorite books, search for information on a variety of alternative lifestyle topics and be informed of upcoming events you may be interested in.
2. Social networking sites that are more about conversing and sharing developing information : These tools are often grouped under the word “microblogging.” Microblogging is a way of sharing short bits of information (under 150 characters) frequently. Using these sites, you set up a small profile and add friends. You can easily update the services (eventually even using your mobile phone) and read others’ updates and in doing so, you have a good sense for what your contacts are doing in any given day. Lots of news bytes are shared using this service - it can be interesting to watch the unfolding of a given story as percieved by people all over the world in all different socio-political circumstances. It’s also an easy way to share links to your latest blog content or ask people for support for charity causes or for promoting your content on sites like Digg and Stumbleupon (which are also, technically, social media sites - but are very different so I won’t cover them here). Twitter and Plurk are the two most popular microblogging services. See links below.
Why should you get involved?
These sites are a great way to start establishing yourself as a presence on the Internet. The conversations you have with others will gradually introduce you into the online flow - which can be very helpful if you ever plan to promote yourself or your clinic online. It’s also a fantastic way to meet people from all over the world and to begin to see things through eyes other than your own. I also find it a very helpful way to keep up with friends, family and colleagues that I otherwise would need to have an hour-long “catching up” conversation with each time I met up with them. Some may say that this is degrading normal human interaction, but I’ve found it only to enrich the relationships I have with people “in real life.”
Join me in the social media revolution - add me as a friend!
Here are my links for the various social media sites. You can click here to add me to your profile and we will be able to see one another’s updates. If you have any questions or anything to share about social media, go ahead and leave a comment at the end of this post and I’ll answer any and all questions as well as participating in any ensuing conversation. I look forward to seeing you all there. :) Note: Some of these links are not going to lead you to my profile, but to the page where you can sign up for an account. Once you do that, you can add me - sometimes using the links below or just by searching for me by my username or password.
- Facebook (I think I’m found as Eric Grey in this service)
- Myspace (I should note that I don’t use this service as much as the others, I’m pylonian here)
- Gaia.com (I’m pylonian on this service)
- Rootdown.us (I’m deepesthealth on this service)
- Linkedin (I believe I’m just Eric Grey on this service)
- Twitter (I’m pylonian here)
- Plurk (I’m deepesthealth here)
It’s worth noting that there are a variety of social networking sites that are specifically aimed at particular groups of people or particular kinds of content. For instance, there is a social networking site for Muslims, as well as one just for sharing information about Travel. There are also photosharing social networks like Flickr. Rootdown.us (listed above) is one such type of site - geared particularly towards people interested in Chinese medicine. I should note that Rootdown isn’t a social networking site as such, but incorporates some of those elements - a practice becoming increasingly common on the Internet.
If you’re interested, here’s a Wikipedia list of most of the popular social networking websites.
Thanks for reading,
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: Blogging, education, fun, internet, links, student, study, studying, Technology, websitesRelated posts
7 Reasons why cool people don’t blog
One of the greatest benefits of blogging is the many relationships you build with other bloggers and blog readers. I believe this is the especially case in a small niche like Chinese medicine. There simply aren’t many active blogs (or even, really, non-blog websites) out there. This creates a pretty small pond in which for fishes of any size to swim. It’s a positive thing in some ways - it’s easy to get to know the folks in the field and the relationships built are pretty intimate. But, having more folks as part of the conversation makes for a more robust conversation! Further, when there are a lot of folks working in a given niche a kind of ecosystem evolves that allows for lots of fruitful cross-pollination, traffic building and ultimately more potential profit for everyone.
I’ve done a lot of thinking about why there aren’t more active bloggers in the world of Chinese medicine. In my research, I’ve discovered that there are a number of niches in the general category of “conscious living” that are bizarrely unfilled or under filled. While there are plenty of people searching for information about more “alternative” topics (like veganism, meditation and Eastern spirituality, simplicity, naturopathic medicine, homeopathy, eco-consciousness, local food, etc…) there aren’t that many people having robust and interesting conversations about these topics. In talking with my friends and reading through some forum and email exchanges, I think I have at least one (mildly tongue in cheek) reason why this phenomenon is occurring.
Simply - consciously living folks who are knowledgeable about these topics are too cool for blogging. :) What can I possibly mean by that? I’m obviously joking a bit, but I do encounter a quite perplexing attitude when I talk about blogging to people in the Chinese medicine and naturopathic community. They look at me as if I’m a creature from another planet, a traitor to my kind or some hybrid of both. After some long thinking, I think I’ve discovered some reasons that these wise, conscious and unbelievably cool people haven’t yet discovered the power of blogging.
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1. They don’t want to spend so much time with computers : I think this is the most crucial item on the list. There is a perception that, in order to be a blogger, you have to be married to your computer. Seeing me blogging probably doesn’t help that perception much. But many people have managed to create active, exciting and profitable blogs on around two hours of active work per day. Further, even creating a blog and posting your thoughts just a couple of times a week can do a lot to counter the weak and outright bad information out there about all the topics I’ve listed above. My point is simple - you don’t have to have your computer glued to your hands in order to be a successful blogger!
I think behind this is the latent idea in the natural medicine community that computer technology is inherently bad. I meet and greet this misperception nearly every day. I understand where it comes from. Many people who use computers frequently don’t lead very healthful lifestyles - long hours of sitting, staring, eating whatever is at hand, terrible posture, etc… it can be a detriment to balance, to be sure. It doesn’t have to be that way. I’d argue that it isn’t that way in the majority of cases. In my time blogging, my lifestyle has become MORE healthful - not less. I don’t believe that I am being invisibly eviscerated by rays of death emanating from my machine. I simply haven’t seen or felt any evidence that this is the case. I think it’s high time that we as natural medicine practitioners and supporters of all kinds of alternative lifestyles take another look at our perceptions of computers and computer technology. Let’s find a way to make it a boon, not a bane.
2. They don’t have time because they’re doing cooler things : A lot of us are very busy. I’m very busy. Oh man, you don’t even know. So very busy. A quick glance at my active project lists shows over sixty currently active projects pulling at my attention. I’m not exaggerating. I have an eleven year old daughter (going on sixteen), I’m in my intern year, I’m student body president at NCNM, active in a number of other organizations, working on projects for both of my main mentors, I’m starting a business and trying to keep up in a number of fields by self-educating. That’s just for starters and doesn’t include my personal projects. What keeps me alive? Self cultivation and the power of the relationships I cultivate both online and offline.
Regardless - this “reason” is related to the first — that blogging has to take a lot of time. It doesn’t. To be truthful, at first it does take some time to get set up and to get used to the work flow. After that, things get easier and only have to get time consuming if you decide to change or expand something. At the most basic level, it can easily be 5 hours or less of your working week. Easily!
3. They’re not self absorbed : As I discussed in a recent article, many people have the perception that you have to be very into yourself in order to project your thoughts to the universe online. I don’t think this is the case. When you’re blogging about a topic that you care about, even if you blog in very personal terms, your focus is the topic - not yourself. Even if you do a little self-promotion (like in promoting your private practice, or a lecture series or a product you just released) the focus is really on informing people about something that might be of interest to them. Further, if we keep in mind that the desire should be to get great information about natural medicine (or whatever topic) out there for people to find - you can have a very giving mindset and be somewhat ego-less in the whole process.
4. They communicate in other, cooler, ways : Some people don’t understand the blogging format and feel that their thoughts are better projected in other, more traditional, ways. Perhaps they have a mailed newsletter or publish articles in industry journals. Perhaps they are fortunate enough to have book deals or a regular newspaper or magazine column. All of these types of people can benefit from blogging. By leveraging this simple and powerful communication medium, they can help magnify the positive educational effects of their print media offerings. My friend and colleague, Abdallah B Stickley, provides a good example of this method with his blogging about his Chinese Medicine Times article.
5. They know it doesn’t make any difference what people say on the Internet: I have been on the Internet since the Internet was born. That’s just a simple truth that, I think, explains why I believe so much in the power of this medium of communication. From the very beginning, I saw how it was changing how people talked to one another (in good and bad ways) and when blogging first began, I rejoiced at how it might allow ordinary people to discuss their experience of life and how they live it. There is something very powerful in sharing one’s take on the world with others and something even more powerful about stumbling upon the works of someone from a very different background with whom you have some resonance. This is made more possible, in my opinion, by the Internet and blogging in particular. I have been changed by the things I read on blogs, and I know people have been changed by what I’ve written here. If that doesn’t matter, I don’t know what does.
6. They’re not techno-savvy because of number one and two above : I think the first two things I mentioned on this list keep people from becoming acquainted with the technology involved in blogging. At my school, NCNM, I would say about 50% of the student population gets confused by simply checking their email. Though it puts me at risk of offending them, I want to say that I feel like this is a kind of feigned helplessness. Because many have this ideological stance against technology (as I’ve said, I think its an erroneous stance) and because they believe themselves to be too busy - they do not learn the requisite skills needed to blog.
What are those requisite skills? Well, checking email is a good start. The ability to navigate a basic word processor is necessary - since most blogging software has similarities to basic word processors. You have to have some familiarity with how the Internet works and how to find information using search engines. From there, you can learn the rest as you go. As I mentioned in my article yesterday, there are training programs available for people who would like to learn to blog - and I can highly recommend Yaro Starak’s Blog Mastermind program. Please read those above linked articles if you want to learn more about the program.
7. Secretly, they don’t think they have much to say : I think the majority of people, at least in the United States, have been trained to think of themselves and their thoughts as fundamentally meaningless. The vast majority of public education in this country kills creativity, makes people question their ability to think and generally tries to produce a buzzing hive of listless worker bees. To put it mildly. Because of this, most people grow up thinking that OTHER people have important things to say and that noone could possibly want to hear what they are thinking or what they believe. It may be that you don’t have much to offer in the way of blogging content - but I doubt it.
Have you faced a major illness, whether in yourself or in someone else? Have you started a business? Do you specialize in something within your field? Have you travelled to a foreign country? Learned another language? Do you have a garden? Do you have any hobbies? Do you have strong political beliefs? Are you an avid researcher of one topic or another? Do you have a family with a strong tradition in something? Do you have allergies or particular food preferences that other people don’t have? Do you excel at finding interesting photographs or stories? The list of questions could go on - if you can answer yes to any of these and similar questions - you can be a blogger. In fact, you SHOULD be. Your adoring public awaits. :)
Note: I should mention that a subset of this last point is the group of people who may have something to say, but don’t think they can write. Yaro actually goes into some detail about the “but I can’t write” objection - but let me assure you - you don’t need to write the next Great American Novel. If you can get your point across, you can blog.
Thanks for reading,
Eric
PS: If you’re interested in blogging and even making some money at it, feel free to download the Blog Profits blueprint written by Yaro Starak, my blog mentor. Also, please check out the articles that I linked to above if you haven’t already. Finally, I’m always happy to talk with folks some more about my experience with Blog Mastermind - just email me at d e e p e s t h e a l t h @ g m a i l . c o m, with no spaces between the letters. Also, as always, feel free to share your thoughts and questions in the comments!
Tags: Blogging, Business, community, content, creativity, education, fun, internet, Technology, websitesRelated posts
Three websites I visit every single day
While not every one of these links has a strict Chinese medicine focus, I simply don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t read them daily. I think it’s important to read laterally - out of the field - particularly when that lateral movement has such a clear impact on my development as a future physician. I know we have a fantastic community of readers here, what 2-3 non-Chinese medicine related blogs/websites do you visit every day? For you who aren’t online every day, what sites do you check up on every time you get a chance?
- GTDTimes : A blog dedicated to the work of David Allen, productivity guru and object of many working people’s devoted adoration. It’s relatively new, but officially sanctioned by the David Allen company, and the content is just first rate. If you’re interested in learning more about this GTD thing I’m always talking about or if you just like reading tips about how to make your life more efficient and, thus, more elegant - read this site.
- Buddhanet’s Daily Enlightenment calendar of wisdom : Regardless of whether you consider yourself a Buddhist, this site is worth a look. Each day it offers up a little food for thought with a Buddhist angle. I find it, sometimes, tremendously enlightening.
- The TED blog : Blog of the folks who put together the incredible TED conference that most of you have probably heard about. It’s a great way to keep updated with the newest talks they’re publishing. The talks never fail to be inspiring, thought-provoking, funny or -at the very least - a welcome diversion from a difficult workday. I’d subscribe to this one right away, if I were you. :)
Please do leave links to your favorite non-CM sites below - I’m sure we’d all be interested in expanding our horizons a bit.
Eric
Tags: Blogging, links, websitesRelated posts
Classical Chinese Medicine resources on the web
It’s been a while since I’ve talked about what’s available on the web for people interested in Chinese Medicine. Living in Portland, OR, I have so many amazing wellsprings of knowledge and experience all around me, I sometimes forget that other folks are relatively more isolated from the information they seek. The Internet is a fantastic source for both the more and the less isolated. You just have to know where to look! I’m in the process of updating my Resources page, but I thought I would do a more in depth review of a few of the most promising resources.
1. ClassicalChineseMedicine.org : Internet home of Dr. Heiner Fruehauf, PhD the founder and continued inspiration behind the incredible Classical Chinese Medicine program at National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, OR. I’ve talked many times about Heiner Fruehauf on this site, but let it suffice to say that he is what drew me to this medicine and what he has taught me has helped me to expand my ideas not only about health and healing, but about the world and my place in it.
There are some articles available for free available along the top of the main page, including basic information about Classical Chinese Medicine, some partial translations of Classical Chinese texts and more. You can also access information about upcoming lectures, Dr. Fruehauf’s clinic and a list of excellent links. There is some incredible paid content available as well. For $195 a year, you have access to an ever expanding collection of video and written material from leading voices in the field of Classical Chinese Medicine. This is content you simply will not find anywhere else. You can also obtain NCAAOM continuing education credits through the Associates Forum, which more than justifies the cost. You can check out a preview of the Associates Forum if you haven’t already. I’ve really benefited from the use of this site and I think you will as well.
2. Arnaudversluys.com : Website for Dr. Arnaud Versluys, PhD, leading scholar and clinician of Chinese Medicine in the Shang Han Lun tradition. There are a few gems here, although I think the best is still yet to come. I want to point out the incredible resource that is the Forums section of his website. There are some pretty intense theoretical discussions going on, plenty of food for thought in an environment of open inquiry. I would love to see more people putting their questions out there and sharing their wisdom. You have to sign up to access the forums, but there is no cost and you will not be spammed! You won’t get a follow up email once you register, just try your username and password later the same day to see if you’ve been given access. You can also find information on the now forming Journal of Classics in East Asian Medicine, Dr. Versluys’ diagnostic services, his clinical practice and the upcoming addition of Continuing Education material.
3. Not strictly Classical, but an invaluable and rapidly developing resource is the Chinese Medicine site, Rootdown.us, my go-to source for basic info on herbs and acupuncture. There are 7 basic portions to the site: Herbs, Formulas, Acupuncture, Tests, Community, Pearls and CEUs. The first three sections are basic information about Chinese Medicine presented in a very accessible format. The databases for these three sections are expanding and being cleaned up all the time. You can also add your experiences with these categories through the “suggestions” tab - such as special clinical information that you’ve learned about a particular formula. Through this tool, I think this section can grow to be a repository of great Chinese medicine information!
The last four sections are incredibly exciting! The testing section is new and is growing daily. Here you can take tests on a variety of Chinese medicine subjects for free, both California-only information and information on the national Board exams. What an incredible asset! I don’t have space to discuss the rest of the sections right now, but they are all well worth your time. Accounts are free - if you sign up, be sure to add me as a “buddy” as the social interaction with colleagues all over the world is one of the primary aims of Rootdown.
4. A newly launched Classical Chinese Medicine wiki was started by a NCNM student. If you don’t know, the idea of a Wiki is that anyone can edit the information and through the power of the group, a rich and accurate resource is created. While it is true that “anyone editing” means that “anyone can add incorrect information,” in general the group will correct any misleading passages quickly - particularly when the amount of subject material is relatively small. I suggest you check it out and add what you know!
5. A couple of resources for research purposes: You can do a Google Book Search for “Classical Chinese Medicine” and restrict it to give you only books that have partial or full previews, then read full pages of various texts. If you’re working with Chinese language texts and would like more information on a particular character, including ancient forms of the character, check out the Chinese Etymology Home Page. Finally, definitely check out all of the articles available for free with Blue Poppy’s “TCMInfo” online database.
6. Finally, I’ve recently come across a number of great Chinese medicine related blogs to add to my daily reading list. I’d like to list them (as well as my old favorites) here and ask you to check them out.
Abdallah B Stickley writes about Chinese Medicine, Islam and clinical practice at Even Unto China
G. Michael Reynolds writes about Asian martial arts, Chinese medicine and many topics at The Life Giving Sword
Yael in Israel writes about many facets of Chinese Medicine and clinical practice at Chinese Medicine Notes
Ross Rosen writes eloquently about Chinese medicine practice and other facets of daily life on his blog
The recently started Five Minds holds a lot of promise in discussing some more esoteric and personal aspects of Chinese medical theory and practice.
Portland Acupuncture Blog is just getting started but covers some specific conditions and provides a ready example of how blogging can be used to promote CM businesses
I don’t mean to leave anyone out - these are just the few that stand out in my mind as being quality sources of Chinese medicine related information with relatively frequent updates.
If you think I’ve missed something vital - add it in the comments and maybe I’ll edit the post and add your choices! Don’t be afraid to self promote… if I missed you and you think I shouldn’t have, it’s probably just because my mind is melted after having PASSED MY CLINICAL ENTRANCE EXAMS. Oh yeah!
Eric
Tags: Acupuncture, Blogging, Blogroll, Character, chinese-medicine-research, internet, scholar, websites
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Fellow sages-in-training
I just realized that I forgot to add the links of my fellow YSLers to the last post - sorry! Please visit these sites and consider adding yourself to the ranks!
Abdallah B. Stickely from Even Unto China
Kimberly Ann from Helfgott Blog
G. Michael Reynolds at Life Giving Sword
Others are participating without electronic homes, including my friend Michael Givens. I will be featuring a nice article from him shortly - not related to the YSL, but certainly indicative of his great efforts to learn this medicine.
If I’ve missed you - shoot me an email and I’ll add you to the list.
Eric
Tags: Blogging, links, websites, Year of Sagely Living
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