(Episode 77) Depressed? Essential Oils to Help You Navigate Sadness & Depression (Part 1) and (Episode 78) Depressed? Healing Chronic Depression with Essential Oils (Part 2)

November 22, 2023

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What was your key takeaway from either or both of these episodes? Let us know in the comments below!

Episode 77 Preview

Click here to download a transcript of episode 77.

Globally this is a time of great sadness, anger, and confusion. This level of suffering that is taking place in the world currently is so strong, that as a part of humanity, we are all going to suffer to varying degrees.

When the outer world is in chaos, it’s essential that we cultivate our inner world more deeply. We can create change in the external world by simply changing our individual consciousness.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to navigate difficult emotions through the use of essential oils.

By using your great privilege and awareness to do inner work, cultivation, learning and self-healing, you can make great contributions to the global healing.

To move through the emotions of grief and sadness, we have to regulate the Qi (energy) of both the Lungs and Liver, as well as the Spleen and Stomach, according to Chinese Medicine. In this episode, you’ll learn why this is important as well as how to do this through the use of essential oils.

You’ll learn all about three specific essential oils — Bergamot, Patchouli, and Cumin — that can help relax your central nervous system to reduce anxiety and depression, and improve sleep and digestion.

And as you regulate your Qi from the inside to find your light, you can illuminate the darkness in the world.

Resources Mentioned in Episodes 77 & 78

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Episode 78 Preview

Click here to download a transcript of episode 78

When you're feeling down, know that there's always a solution to bring you back. There's a lot to learn from these emotional states, but it's also important to have tools to navigate these emotions to learn from these experiences and to create a ripple effect to heal the collective.

Regulating the Liver is essential to reduce depression, as well as fortifying the Spleen and Stomach.

In this episode, we’re going to focus on invigorating the blood. The blood in Chinese Medicine is said to store the emotions, the trauma, the memories.

Invigorating the blood can help liberate you from depression.

We’ll discuss three oils to help invigorate the blood and alleviate depression: Litsea (which can also relieve anxiety), Frankincense (which is known as a wound healer, physically and emotionally) and Sandalwood (which is also an important oil to relax your nervous system).

Just by smelling the essential oils, you’ll notice a shift in your mood.

At [7:15] Dr. Setareh Moafi will guide you through a gentle breathing exercise that’ll help you understand the important relationship between the Lungs and the Liver. This will also help you understand the power of essential oils that we discuss in both episodes 77 and 78 to relax the Liver and allow you to breathe more deeply.

It’s no wonder that breathing is such an essential part of meditation and relaxation.

At [10:00] Salvador describes an easy acupuncture point that opens the diaphragm and can be used to apply these essential oils to relieve nausea, aid digestion, breathe more deeply and relax your chest for anxiety.

At [11:02] Salvador shares a formula of essential oils you can use to create a bath to help you sleep, reduce anxiety and calm your nervous system at the end of a stressful day.

You’ll also learn how to use the essential oils as a tool to address more chronic depression at [14:24].

At [16:57] you’ll learn the risks of taking a lot of supplements, as well as why it’s so important to limit the amount of information, food and stimulation you take in to prevent and reduce depression.

At [18:15] you’ll learn how coffee and dark chocolate may not be as beneficial as you might think when you’re dealing with anxiety and depression.

The essential oils can be powerful to liberate you from chronic sadness and depression. The work you do on an individual level will enhance the collective and make you more available for what the world is needing right now.

What was your key takeaway from either or both of these episodes? Let us know in the comments below!

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(Episode 76) Moving Through Grief: 3 Essential Oils to Help You Let Go

November 1, 2023

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Essential oils are allies from nature that defend us from the external world as well as from our internal battles.

Today we’re exploring essential oils in relation to the Metal Element. You’ll learn how imbalances in personality and emotional state can be harmonized using essential oils.

Essential Oils for the Metal Element

Essential oils can help us when we feel weak and vulnerable to the elements, including bacteria, viruses, wind and cold. They can also help us with social factors when feeling uncomfortable in a social situation.

These oils can help us support the functions of the Lungs and Large Intestine, the organs related to the Metal Element, which relates to our immunity.

Many of them help when you’re having difficulty with inspiration in terms of your breathing but also they help with feeling a lack of creativity; when you feel despondent so you can feel more inspired.

Grief could come from a loss of any kind – work, friend, partner, etc.

Essential oils are allies that fortify your soul. Each of the Five Element organ systems have a specific soul expression. The soul of the Lungs is called Po.

Three primary souls inhabit the body – Liver stores Hun, Shen holds onto your experiences and direct experiences with Spirit, and Po is the Corporeal Body which is the most dense aspect of your soul that helps you feel grounded and embodied.

Essential oils related to the Metal Element will help you feel more grounded and more whole within yourself. This is associated with Wei Qi, which is produced by the Lungs via the Spleen and Stomach, and circulates on the exterior to help us defend against external factors as well as social factors that may make us feel vulnerable.

The Lungs, Grief & Self-Definition

One of the virtues of the Lungs is this idea of inspiration. Inspiration can relate to inhalation, taking a deep breath, but it can also relate to motivation and the inspiration to create and be alive.

The first breath you take separates you from your mother and gives you a distinct self-definition. Your final breath takes you out of your body and into the next world.

When the Lungs are weak or stagnant, we start to feel sadness, grief and especially apathy, which is the opposite of inspiration. One thing that’s important to do is strengthen and boost Qi of the Lungs and also clear the stagnation that comes from phlegm in the Lungs that makes us feel more stuck in our lives. (You can learn more about the relationship between the Lungs and grief in this article).

During Autumn, it’s important to moisten the Lungs (we talked about this in episode 74) to combat the dryness that’s common during this time.

On a psychological level, as you nourish Lung Yin, you’re also nourishing your sense of self so it helps you feel more grounded within yourself. The Po of the Lungs is this dense energy that helps you feel more grounded and whole within yourself and more present in the moment.

The stronger your Lungs, the stronger your sense of identity and your sense of embodiment.

Essential Oils & The Final Transition: Death

At [10:00] Salvador describes the recent loss of his father and how he worked with essential oils during the last five days of his life to let go of the Po and fully transition. Salvador describes in detail the beautiful final days and moments of his father’s journey.

3 Essential Oils to Help You Cope with Grief

Pine
Pine essential oil is a warming, drying and spicy mucolytic essential oil that’s commonly used by Native Americans. Pine essential oil helps to strengthen your Qi and is one of the most powerful oils to clear Cold Phlegm (as discussed in Episode 75).
Psychologically, Pine essential oil invigorates the Po by opening the chest, helping you feel less oppressed and giving you self-confidence.
Pine reduces melancholy, pessimism, shame and blame by improving self-image. It’s also an excellent oil to use when you’re feeling stuck.
Pine essential oil is also a great oil to help you when you’re feeling burdened with guilt and to help you let go, which is the greatest virtue of the Lungs.
Clary Sage
Clary Sage essential oil is an uplifting floral oil that’s often used for hormonal balance. Clary Sage essential oil is warming, dry, boosts Qi and also circulates Qi.
It helps when you feel wired and tired, is uplifting and helps you feel more inspired. It’s also an essential oil that helps with sadness and grief and to support the Po.
Cypress
Cypress essential oil is perhaps the most important oil to use when you’re dealing with grief and loss. The Greeks planted cypress trees in graveyards to help the deceased souls in times of grief.
Cypress is astringent, so it’s commonly used when there’s leakage of Qi such as excessive sweating or urination. Cypress is antispasmodic and mucolytic.
It’s an especiialy important essential oil when someone is suffering from grief and when stuck in grief.

Remember that sadness and grief can weaken the Lungs over time, so during times of transition it’s especially important to support the Lungs with essential oils and time in nature to avoid compromising the Lungs.

Essential oils can provide support for your immune system, your mood, as well as to help you move through times when you feel stuck.

As Dr. Setareh states: “Nature is always there to support you.”

What did you think of this episode? Did you find these essential oils helpful during this challenging time?

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Download the Microcosmic & Macrocosmic Orbit Meditations at ⁠⁠acenterfornaturalhealing.com/shop⁠⁠.

Strengthen your immune system, restore your gut health, and improve joint mobility and circulation with our unique line of expertly formulated probiotics, digestive enzymes and proteolytic enzymes at www.aharabotanics.com. Use promo code HEALTHY10 for 10% off your first order!

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(Episode 75) Essential Oils for the Cold and Flu Season

October 18, 2023

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In the last episode (episode 74) we discussed how important it is to keep your Lung Qi strong, especially during Fall as well as ways to boost your immune system through lifestyle and dietary changes.

In this episode you’ll learn how to use essential oils to fortify the Lungs to keep the immune system strong for Fall and year-round, as well as how to use essential oils to support your emotional well-being.

In episode 38 we discussed five of the most powerful essential oils to boost your immune system. Some of the information we discuss in this episode will be a review of that earlier episode, but we’ll focus on strengthening the Lungs to make the Fall transition a little bit easier.

These essential oils will help you clear the Lungs, break up phlegm, and help you get rid of a cough. You can use these essential oils as a powerful protector as well as powerful treatment.

In Chinese Medicine, Wind Cold is an early stage of a cold. You may have a stuffy nose and thinner mucus. If you start to feel a postnasal drip, this is an early sign that you should use essential oils to treat the cold before it gets too serious. Cold phlegm can turn into a hot phlegm, developing into a bad respiratory condition with yellow mucus.

These essential oils, like all essential oils, are more than just helpful to the immune system, however, they are a multifaceted approach to holistic healing. You can use them to treat the physical and the emotional ailments we all face. Essential oils go directly to the brain, to the limbic system, or your emotional brain.

An imbalance in the lungs can be related to grief or sadness which can cause us to feel really stuck in our lives. You can use these types of oils to help you break these emotional patterns where you feel you are trapped. Oils help to instigate this change in a therapeutic way. It’s a good idea to keep these essential oils in your medicine cabinet at all times of the year.

The safest way to administer the essential oils is with an essential oils diffuser.

Essential Oil #1: Eucalyptus Radiata

Eucalyptus Radiata is a primary ENT oil (ears, nose, and throat). You can use this oil for both viral and bacterial conditions. It also works well for both hot and cold phlegm. You can use this oil alone or in combination with Essential Oil #2.

Essential Oil #2: Eucalyptus Citriodora

Eucalyptus Citriodora is great for wind-heat conditions, whether you have allergies, inflamed sinuses, or you are sneezing in general.

Essential Oil #3: Bay Laurel

Bay Laurel is also great to cook with; you can drop a leaf into what you’re cooking up and it will help your immune system. As an essential oil, you can use this to break-up phlegm. It will help open your sinuses.

Essential Oil #4: Sweet Marjoram

Sweet Marjoram treats hot phlegm, asthma, or wheezing. This is a relaxant and therefore it does wonders for sore or stiff muscles. This is a great oil to use in your bath. You can also use it to help ease headaches, to cool the Liver, to reduce fire in the body or to help relieve stress and hypertension. This oil is Liver Lung compatible and will help relax the diaphragm which will deepen your breath.

Essential Oil #5: Thyme Linalool

Of the different kinds of Thyme essential oils, Linalool is very gentle. You can use this oil for a cooling and relaxing effect. It is drying so you can use it to break down mucus in the body. You can also use this oil for both Wind Cold and Wind Heat. This is a great oil to use when you notice an infection start to penetrate the throat; you may have a sore throat, sinuses inflamed, or a headache.

These five essential oils can help you ease into the Fall season by protecting and helping you heal from cold or flu symptoms.

Once you’ve listened, let us know which of the oils you’d like to try in the comments below!

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(Episode 74) Supporting Your Immune System During the Fall Transition

October 4, 2023

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In this episode you’ll learn about the different ways you can strengthen your immune system as we head into the Fall or Autumn season. These methods can also be applied to any seasonal change by focusing on some of the body systems, like the Lungs, Colon, Skin, Spleen and Stomach.

These tips will help with digestive issues, and can even be useful for improving weight management and restful sleep.

Hydration

Fall is a time of the Lungs and the climate is drier, which will most impact your Lungs, Large Intestine/colon and skin systems. It’s important to strengthen your Lungs and to combat dryness during this time.

During the day, Wei Qi provides a protective layer along your skin to protect you from the external environment.

If your skin is dry you can use oils to bring back hydration into the skin. You can use sesame oil, shea butter, or coconut oil. These are strong hydration techniques, so be cautious if your skin gets oily quickly, as these heavy oils can clog pores.

Too much exposure to the elements this time of year, especially with the strong winds and cold temperatures, can cause you to contract Wind Cold. The phrase “catching a cold” comes from this idea! Wind Cold can transform into Wind Heat, which is a more infectious and more serious condition.

Since Stomach fluids are a big part of Wei Qi production, hydration is essential.

The water you drink is important because most water sources are stripped of their minerals (like potassium & sodium) and electrolytes. You can make sure the water you drink have these minerals by putting them in your water yourself. You can add a pinch of Celtic sea salt.

Food and Nutrition

Wei Qi rules your immune system and is produced in the Stomach. You can make dietary changes to strengthen your Wei Qi and reduce dryness, or for some people to reduce dampness during the Fall season, and all seasonal transitions.

If you have any skin issues you’re going to want to avoid nuts, and eat more seeds instead. Almonds are great for the Lungs, it strengthens and nourishes them.

However if you need to hydrate the Lungs, eat fruits such as citruses, apples, and pears - pears are the best.

How you cook your foods is important in terms of how this affects your wellbeing.

For instance, to increase the hydrating effect of fruits for the Lungs, you can steam, poach, or even just let the fruit sit in a pot to simmer for a little while. If you bake these fruits instead, this would be more drying.

When cooking fruits, there’s no need to add sugar, but do add spices like cardamon, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. This will introduce the Earth element and it warms some of the cold nature of the fruit.

Even though this is a season of dryness, some people have a dampness problem and not a dryness problem. This could be caused by what they are eating (dairy, sugar, processed carbs) creating mucus and phlegm. Avoid these foods if you do have too much dampness.

To nourish the Earth Element during any seasonal change, eat regularly, don’t skip meals or eat haphazardly.

Intermittent fasting is best suited for those with a lot of Stomach Fire, hypertension and high blood sugar levels. If this is you, having a break from food - a period of cool down - is helpful to your health.

If you are insulin resistant and have poor digestion on the other hand, smaller meals eaten through out the day is the way to go. This is because larger meals can stress the Spleen and weaken the Qi.

You can take digestive enzymes to help break down the food, which helps prevent stagnation and accumulation of heat in the Stomach which can cause constipation. And due to the dryness this time of year, constipation can be more common.

You can order our personal line of digestive enzymes (Ahara Botanics) directly through our store.

If you’re fatigued, your lower back is aching, or you’re prone to burnout, consider eating more seeds. Pumpkin seeds specifically are high in zinc which helps the Kidneys and your immune system.

Rest & Exercise

During this time of season which is moving from Yang to Ying, your energy is shifting from being outwardly expressed to going more inward. This is a time to minimize your relationship with the external world, a time to reset.

This time of year you should be getting more rest to support your immune system.

Eating small amounts of the cooked fruit towards the end of the day can help aide your sleep because it anchors your Lung Qi.

While rest is important this time of year, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t exercise. Exercise keeps the Lungs strong. You should do cardiovascular exercise to get your heart rate up. During the Fall, this can be in the form of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts in as short as 8-10 minutes. In addition to the HIIT workouts, we recommend gentle exercises, such as Tai Chi, Qi Gong, or Yoga.

Once you’ve listened, let us know your experience in the comments below!

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(Episode 73) Solutions for Brain Health and Happiness with Lance Schuttler

September 20, 2023

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In this episode you’ll learn about the wonders of natural healing for mental health and physical well-being with repeat guest speaker, Lance Schuttler. If you missed Episode 60: How to Optimize Your Brain Health with Lance Schuttler, you can listen to that episode to learn even more.

Re-Introducing Lance Schuttler, Founder of Ascent Nutrition

Lance Schuttler graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor's degree in Health Science and is the CEO and owner of Ascent Nutrition, a unique, holistic nutrition company. He is also contributing health and wellness writer at the Epoch Times. His work also includes the topics of regenerative agriculture, resource based economies and quantum technologies. He's a facilitator and collaborator of big ideas, visions and projects that spark creative and healing solutions in our world.

Getting Empowered through Natural Healing

While we don’t discourage pharmaceutical drugs, we discuss in this podcast episode the nuances of using both pharmaceuticals and natural healing herbs and foods in combination for a more holistic journey to self-healing. This empowers you to take charge of your own health and well-being.

You’ll learn about how spices can help lift your mood, in particular we delve deep into a spice that’s commonly used in Persian cuisine, known as saffron, which comes from a flower.

If you’re curious to learn more about spices in particular, you’ll definitely want to check out Episode 4: Spice Up Your Life: Using Culinary Spices & Essential Oils to Increase Your Zest for Life to learn how spices can affect your mood.

In this episode, we go into detail on how taking Saffron, Lion’s Mane and Agarikon mushrooms can greatly heal your brain health, mental health, respiratory system, immune system, nervous system, and even boost your motivation.

You’ll hear the scientific explanation, as well as the Classical Chinese medicine perspective, and the spiritual perspective for how all this healing is possible just from taking different herbs and foods.

Once you’ve listened, let us know your experience in the comments below!

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(Episode 72) Ancient Secrets for a Healthy Immune System

August 23, 2023

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In this week’s episode we discuss the Classical Chinese medicine perspective on the relationship between the Heart and Kidneys. In past episodes we’ve discussed the Water and Fire paths and the relationship between these two organ systems in terms of movement and in terms of discovering and living out your life purpose (Listen to episodes 67, 69, and 70).

In this episode we talk about this important relationship in terms of your immune health, and how a healthy immune system is in large part determined by the health of your immune system.

Stress is widely known to cause health problems but the nuances of stress levels matters. Too much stress is not good for you, but also too little stress is equally not good.

Eustress is a type of stress that leads to a positive response and can refer to any type of beneficial stress, whether physical or psychological. Eustress tends to be short-term and often feels exciting, and people perceive it as manageable and even motivating.

Major health problems arise when there is chronic stress that taxes the nervous system, debilitating the adrenals.

To contrast the effects of stress, it’s important to rectify your Qi.

To prevent chronic stress from creating chronic health issues, it’s important to practice more mindfulness as well as exercises that calm anxiety and relax the nervous system. This will help resolve your unhealed wounds, including your psychological wounds.

You’ll learn an easy and short breathing exercise that will help reduce stress in your body and mind at [9:03], as well as help you draw the energy of the Heart down into the Kidneys to deepen this communication.

Learn more why this exercise is so helpful [8:20] and practice this exercise anytime [9:03] whenever you need to rectify your Qi and to restore balance between your Heart and Kidneys.

In this way, you’ll be able to bring the Fire of the Heart into the Water of the Kidneys in order to cultivate self-love.

By bringing this love into your Heart and down to your Kidneys, you can radiate from yourself into the world and to the people around you.

Once you’ve listened, let us know your experience in the comments below!

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(Episode 71) Scalar Light Healing with Tom Paladino

August 2, 2023

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Share your thoughts in the comments below after you’ve listened to the episode. We’d love to hear from you!

In this week’s episode we speak with Tom Paladino and take a deep dive into the relationship between the heart and the kidneys in relation to Chinese medicine and a healthy immune system

Once you’ve listened, let us know your experience in the comments below!

Resources Mentioned This Episode:

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(Episode 70) Unleashing Your Power

July 19, 2023

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In episode 67 you learned how you can use the Water Path to ground yourself and in episode 69 we discussed how the Fire Path can help you to lighten up. In this episode, you’ll learn how you can use the Water Path to generate energy to tap into your power and potential.

The Fire Path creates short term energy bursts, while the Water Path gives you endurance and stamina. But in order to have more energy, you have to rest.

You’ll learn a special Water Path breathing exercise to help you generate power and realize that you’re much stronger than you think [06:10].

We often think we have to exert a lot of energy to achieve our goals (Fire energy) but if we rest and use intention (Water energy) we become more powerful than we ever believed we could be.

There is unlimited potential within us, but we often don’t tap into it because we try to do it through striving instead of through cultivating ourselves. The actions we do or want to do are just as important as the intentions behind those actions.

Water Path breathing is stabilizing and is a great practice for any standing or movement activity.

It’s important to have intention around your posture because not paying attention to where your energy is going can lead to burnout.

Awareness is the first step to healing and the first step to maintain and build your energy. When you do the Water Path breathing exercise while you’re sitting or standing, you’ll not only cultivate your Qi, but you’ll also strengthen your Spleen, which is a major component of your gut health.

Improving your gut health or maintaining your gut health is essential to your mental clarity. Many of the neurotransmitters and hormones we once thought were produced in the brain are actually produced in the gut.

When you sit or stand for long periods it taxes the Spleen, as does overthinking, and all of this eventually impacts your body’s ability to produce neurotransmitters. This can cause you to feel more depressed or feel off in some way. You won’t be able to focus, and it effects your immune system. 70% of your immune cells are produced in your gut.

The other important thing to remember is hydration which is discussed in depth at the end of the episode.

Once you’ve listened, let us know your experience in the comments below!

Resources Mentioned This Episode:

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Sign up now for Dr. Setareh’s free LIVE webinar 3 Secrets to Getting Unstuck in Uncertain Times.

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(Episode 69) Lighten Up: How to Cultivate your Fire Energy

July 5, 2023

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The burden of stress can create tension in the body and mind. By learning how to work with the Fire Path, you can learn how to use this breathing method to relax and loosen chronic tension patterns and ease the burden of mental and emotional strain so you can lighten up. This is especially important if you struggle with anxiety and depression, and generally it’s for all during the Fire season of Summer.

While it’s important to be grounded and to practice earthing, which we discussed in Episode 67, it’s also important to have buoyancy in life, and to be able to lift your mood when life feels heavy.

You’ll learn specific exercises you can do right at home, or anywhere, to release stagnant Fire energy and bring lightness to your body, heart and mind.

Dr. Setareh and Salvador share about the power of shaking, dancing, and finding other ways to express your Fire energy, as well as a visualization exercise to open up the Fire Path in your body.

Harmonizing the Fire and Water Paths is essential and in this episode you’ll also learn which of the paths to focus on at any given time to ground yourself and lighten up.

Once you’ve listened, let us know your experience in the comments below!

Resources Mentioned This Episode:

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(Episode 68) Demystifying Internal Martial Arts with Brandon Gilbert

June 28, 2023

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Click here to download a transcript of our conversation with Brandon.

This episode we welcome back previous guest speaker Brandon Gilbert (Episode 58). In the last episode, Brandon shared about medicinal mushrooms and tonic herbs, but today he’s going to share more about his personal cultivation practices, including the ancient practice of Nei Gong.

Meet Brandon Gilbert, Founder of Hyperion Herbs

Brandon Gilbert has been deeply interested in studying Eastern philosophy since the age of 14. A serial entrepreneur, he started his first business in 2006 after going deep in the alternative health field to resolve his own health issues.

Brandon felt motivated to share his views and experiences with a larger audience. He created the YouTube channel HyperionTv.com in 2009, built up a following, then founded Hyperion Herbs in 2010 to share purely potent tonic herbs and make them accessible and easily available like never before.

Brandon has taught many classes and workshops both online and in person on a wide variety of subjects, ranging from alternative health and healing modalities, herbalism, internal arts and Eastern philosophy.

In addition to running Hyperion Herbs and Hyperion TV, Brandon spends and invests many hours every day training internal arts like Qigong, Neigong, Tai Chi, Chuan and various sitting practices.

Introduction to the Internal Martial Arts

In this week’s episode you’ll learn all about the nuances between similar (often mistakenly interchangeable) terms of internal martial arts such as: Qi Gong, Nei Gong, and Tai Chi.

Many of these internal martial arts believe that our spiritual self, qi, is interconnected with the physical body, shen. If you benefit one the other can benefit, and if you degrade one, the other can degrade as well. In this episode you’ll learn how they are similar and how they greatly differ with one another.

Unfortunately, in our modern-day society it’s the norm to always be stressed, to always be in conflict, and to be overstimulated. This creates blockages in your channels, creating physical and mental ailments. If you slow down and practice these internal arts, your body and mind will heal.

Be sure to listen in to hear the warning Brandon gives about jumping head first into these practices. If you jump into these seated practices before cultivating your body health issues can arise. You also may feel spacey or ungrounded as a result.

Often times, when you work on the body, feeling more internally comfortable and at ease in your physiology, your mental problems like anxiety or depression, naturally ease. It’s like your mind is taking a sigh of relief, releasing these heavy weights of mental problems.

Minds are stubborn and it can be really challenging to change them. Instead you can use your body to change your mind. It’s very empowering when you do these mindfulness practices through the internal martial arts.

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(Episode 20) What is Qi? Interview with Ann Cecil-Sterman (Part 1 of 2)

May 26, 2021

by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac. & Salvador Cefalu, M.S., L.Ac.

Once you’ve listened, let us know in the comments below — what does Qi mean to you?

Our guest today is Ann Cecil-Sterman — a dear friend, colleague and mentor. Cecil-Sterman is a pioneer in the field of Classical Chinese Medicine and the author of the highly acclaimed books The Art of Pulse Diagnosis and Advanced Acupuncture: A Clinic Manual — a required textbook in most acupuncture schools in the United States and the first and only text with a complete and unique protocols for the complement channels.

Ann Cecil-Sterman has also taught the application and methodology of the complement channels, The Art of Pulse Diagnosis, Use of Food as Medicine throughout the world. A longtime student of Dr. Jeffrey Yuen, Cecil-Sterman was also the director of the Classical Wellness Center in Manhattan, New York where she practiced and taught Classical Chinese Medicine.

Ann Cecil-Sterman earned her Bachelor and Masters degree in Music from the University of Melbourne. As a professionally trained flautist, Cecil-Sterman has recorded and performed music for over a decade. In addition to a career in music, Cecil-Sterman has also performed in many broadways across the world. She credits her success in music to her master teachers, who have been a guiding force in her career.

Cecil-Sterman was introduced to Acupuncture at a young age since her parents were proponents of alternative medicine. After moving to the United States with a desire to start a family, Cecil-Sterman experienced the power of acupuncture during a difficult miscarriage that left her wanting to learn more about the practice.

She soon joined Swedish Institute Acupuncture School (closed in 2011) where she had extensive training beyond the primary channels of acupuncture. She has since worked toward expanding the field of acupuncture by training and teaching practitioners and help widen their scope of practice.

Acupuncture & the Concept of Qi

In Chinese philosophy, Qi translates to “air” or “atmosphere” to emphasize the fact that Qi cannot be measured. Cecil-Sterman believes that since Qi is primarily what acupuncturists work with, it’s impossible to gather empirical evidence in acupuncture.

Although Qi is often used in conjunction with organs or entities i.e., liver Qi or mind Qi, it simply stems from our human tendency to organize and label ideas and things around us.

Qi is so embedded into our existence that it’s being theorized as the guiding force of life. In other words, the force that directs DNA to essentially synthesize proteins necessary to develop an organism such as a human being.

In Western medicine, similar theories have been introduced such as the concept of morphic resonance, or morphogenetic field, by Dr. Rupert Sheldrake.

The concept of morphogenetic field mirrors the concept of Qi because it accounts for and explains behavior that could only be transmitted through a network of consciousness. For instance, an experiment by scientists tested whether the practice of washing potatoes by Japanese macaques before consumption could be transmitted to future generations or to other groups of monkeys in nearby islands. To their surprise, the practice of washing potatoes was observed in nearby islands of monkeys even though the two groups did not have any contact. This behavior could be explained by the morphogenetic field or Qi as the network of consciousness that connected the two groups to learn the behavior without initiating contact.

Stay tuned for part two of our interview with Ann Cecil-Sterman where you’ll learn how Qi applies to the cultivation of wellness within the context of digestion, immunity and nutrition.

References

Ann Cecil-Sterman’s website: https://anncecilsterman.com/

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