In much of modern medicine, the patient’s symptoms are equated with the disease. Making the symptoms go away is generally the intention of treatment.  While this approach can provide the merciful benefit of relieving suffering, and in some cases saving lives, it rarely addresses the real cause of the problem. Real health is not restored.

In natural medicine, symptoms are understood to be part of the body’s effort to regain a state of balance following some source of internal or external dysregulation. They can be read as invaluable indicators of the underlying problem.  Treatments that address the root cause have the potential for returning the patient to a state of harmony and wholeness.

In this episode, Heiner and Laurie expand on these ideas, discussing general principles of diagnosis and treatment from the point of view of the natural medicine practitioner.

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Our guest this week and next has a unique perspective from which to compare and integrate conventional and natural medicine. Steve Marsden was by all accounts a successful veterinarian, but felt that his toolkit of drugs and surgery was too limited to reliably achieve the kinds of outcomes that he wanted to with his furry, feathered, and scaled patients.

Although initially wary of natural medicine, he was willing to investigate whether it could broaden and deepen his ability to help animals heal. He was impressed enough with what he found to seek training in natural medicine. There weren’t any training programs in veterinary medicine, so Steve became licensed as a naturopathic physician and a Chinese medicine practitioner.

Steve now runs a busy practice in Edmonton, Canada treating both animals and humans using a broad range of modalities. He also travels the world educating veterinarians about natural medicine. His wealth of experience treating all types of conditions, including many acute and chronic life-and-death situations, has made Steve into a firm believer in the power of natural medicine.

In these two shows, Steve shares his well-earned wisdom on health and healing– touching on such topics as why the placebo effect doesn’t explain the success of natural medicine, how cutting-edge scientific research findings are in accordance with the classical Chinese perspective on the body, and why regulating blood circulation is the key to successful treatment in both animals and humans. Fascinating cases from his clinical practice are described to support his insights.

*The easiest way to get our podcasts is to subscribe to the show via iTunes. Clicking this link will automatically download the shows to your iTunes account.

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In the continuation of this two-part series, Laurie narrates and Heiner translates the biographical story of master Wang Qingyu.

Last week’s episode began with Master Wang’s birth, literally on a battlefield during the Japanese invasion of China. In the second part of this series, Master Wang continues to recount the many traumatic and extraordinary events that fostered his becoming one of the most respected master’s of Daoist medicine and cultivation in China today.

Join us for Part 2 of this inspirational journey of turning misfortune and persecution into a life of compassion and service for others.

For more information about Professor Wang Qingyu, go to Heiner’s website.

Interested in learning more about Classical Chinese medicine? Check out the School of Classical Chinese Medicine.

*The quickest way to get our podcasts is to subscribe to the show via iTunes. Clicking this link will automatically download the shows to your iTunes account.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this two-part series, Laurie narrates and Heiner translates the biographical story of master Wang Qingyu.

The story begins with Master Wang’s birth, literally on a battlefield during the Japanese invasion of China. Master Wang describes the many traumatic and extraordinary events that fostered his becoming one of the most respected master’s of Daoist medicine and cultivation in China today.

Especially touching are his remembrances of his beloved Daoist teacher, Li Jie, a legendary Daoist hermit who taught young Wang the real value of cultivation practices–to know one’s own heart and become a truly good person.

Join us for an inspirational journey of turning misfortune and persecution into a life of compassion and service for others.

For more information about Professor Wang Qingyu, go to Heiner’s website.

Interested in learning more about Classical Chinese medicine? Check out the School of Classical Chinese Medicine.

*The easiest way to get our podcasts is to subscribe to the show via iTunes. Clicking this link will automatically download the shows to your iTunes account.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In the show’s kick-off program, co-hosts Laurie Regan and Heiner Fruehauf talk with renowned cardiologist Ahvie Herskowitz.

Tune in tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. to learn why a “convergence” approach using the best of modern and ancient medicine is the wave of the future for the real resolution of today’s many chronic health issues.

I was born into a German family of medical doctors with a passion for natural healing. My great-grandfather apprenticed with Father Sebastian Kneipp, a pioneer of the holistic therapy movement in 19^th century Europe. After the war, my grandfather built and maintained one of the few stand-alone homeopathic hospitals in Germany. Since my childhood days, I found myself exposed to the philosophy that “nature cures all,” and was taught to regard the modalities of modern medicine with a high degree of suspicion and apprehension. Before I left home for college, I was never prescribed antibiotics but received old-fashioned nature cure treatments such as herbs, homeopathy, clay packs, and a combination of sun, air, and salt-water baths.

Growing up as the oldest son of the oldest son in a line of German doctors during the 1970s, I felt compelled to do something radically different from my ancestors and immersed myself in the exotic field of Chinese language, history and culture. Being selected as one of a few foreign students who were allowed entry into the walled-off country of China in 1982, I had the unique opportunity to see Maoist China before modernization. I found my American wife in Shanghai, and eventually ended up in the scholarly environment of the University of Chicago, all set to become a professor of Chinese literature after delivering my doctoral dissertation in 1990. After receiving the shocking news of a cancer diagnosis at a relatively young age, however, I decided to leave the traditional academic lifestyle and return to China for what eventually became 4 years of spirited immersion in Qigong, herbal science, acupuncture and other clinical aspects of Chinese medicine. I fondly recall this time, which is still the foundation of my beloved career in one of the most complete and sophisticated systems of holistic healing on record. Since there were still very few foreigners living permanently in China at that time, my teachers at the traditional Chinese medicine university taught me the intricacies of the art and science of Chinese medicine while drinking tea at their kitchen tables. In addition, I met some extraordinary individuals who taught me some of the more esoteric aspects of Chinese medicine in a traditional teacher-disciple relationship, such as various styles of movement and quiet meditation, classical pulse diagnosis, and Daoist folk herbalism.

When my family and I returned to the United States, I felt a strong desire to contribute to the nascent process of transmitting traditional Eastern medical knowledge in the West. I had learned firsthand about the clinical power of holistic medicine, and wanted to do my part in the pioneering task of bringing some of the effective modalities of Chinese medicine to chronically ill people who have found no satisfying solutions for their conditions in the field of modern biomedicine. This journey led to the founding of the School of Classical Chinese Medicine at National College of Natural Medicine (NCNM), which has since emerged as an international forum for the teaching and research of ancient medical wisdom.

From a young age, I was interested in what makes people tick. I was fascinated by the field of animal behavior, both because of a love of nature and because I thought it would provide insights into human nature. My college studies in animal behavior led in an increasingly reductionistic direction–from physiological psychology, to neurobiology, and finally to the biophysics of brain cells. While I enjoyed doing research in these areas, I began to feel that the mechanistic answers it produced were too far removed from the deeper philosophical and spiritual questions that were my real passion.

I began to read a lot about natural medicine and spirituality, and met more and more friends and colleagues with similar interests. I added meditation and taiji to my obsession with jazz tap dancing. By the time I finished my doctorate in 1990, I was searching for a career path that was more whole for me.

I worked for a couple of years developing programs and curricula for the Division on Addictions at Harvard Medical School, and then in 1993, enrolled in the naturopathic medicine program at the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. In addition to the core studies of homeopathy, herbalism, hydrotherapy, nutrition and physical medicine, I was drawn to the qigong retreats in the classical Chinese medicine program that had just begun under the direction of Dr. Heiner Fruehauf. I started participating in annual trips to China led by Heiner and his wife Sheron, to study qigong with Professor Wang Qingyu, official lineage holder of the Jinjing School of Qigong. This system of movement and meditation made sense to me–from the basic principles to the walks and forms designed to bring you into the present moment and deepen your perceptions and awareness. I was especially drawn to this lineage because of Professor Wang’s emphasis on “becoming a better person”.

Upon graduating from NCNM, I started a private practice as a naturopathic physician and pursued additional training at the Hahnemann College of Homeopathy and The Jaffe Institute of Spiritual and Medical Healing. I continued to study qigong in Portland and China, and began to teach classes for the general public and NCNM students. In 2004, I returned to NCNM to help develop a holistic basic science curriculum for the classical Chinese medicine program. I took on the role of dean, and continue to teach qigong at the school. I am deeply honored to work with wonderful colleagues in the service of students and faculty committed to the pursuit of harmony, self-responsibility, and real transformation. Together, we seek real healing for ourselves, our patients, and the planet.