by Shawn Kirby L.Ac. Eric recently posted a blog on dairy. Judging from the number of responses (14 comments at last count) I’d say Dr. Brand touched a nerve. I find it amazing that something so wholesome, so innocuous as milk, could cause such an… more »

As I prepare to leave for India in a couple of days, it occurred to me that I had posted Part #2 of this series of blogs on marketing solutions several weeks ago and that I won’t be back to post any more for three weeks! So here goes…this is the third m… more »

by Bob Flaws Thus began my training with Mr. and Mrs. Kazi, a training which was to last just short of 20 years. My parents’ house had three rooms upstairs, their bedroom, my bedroom, and a den. However, by this time, my father was sleeping in my bed… more »

by Shawn Kirby L.Ac. Treating patients is a complicated undertaking that requires multiple skill sets. Being a good practitioner is about much more than academics or even hands-on practical skill – ultimately it is about effectively interacting with… more »

by Eric Brand Chinese medicine is intricately connected to Chinese culture. As Westerners, when we study Chinese medicine it is essential that we understand Chinese culture well enough to make meaningful relationships with our teachers. Despite t… more »

by Bob Flaws When I had seen Mr. Kazi at his home in Delhi, he had given me a piece of paper with an address in Manhattan where he said he would be but he did not give me a phone number. So two days after I returned to the States, I took a bus into t… more »

by Eric Brand Xue Jie (Daemonoropis Resina) is a fascinating substance. Also known as Dragon’s Blood, Xue Jie has been used for hundreds of years in many different cultural contexts. Xue Jie is a tree resin that has been used as a medicine, incense… more »

by Bob Flaws Before going on with my story, I feel the need to say something more about Mr. and Mrs. Kazi and their daughter, Jetsun Pema Rinpoche. Many of the things I recount took me years to learn. However, without knowing more about the Kazis, it… more »

by Bob Flaws I don’t remember anything particular of either my visit to Sarnath or Bodhgaya other than that I decided in Bodhgaya that I wasting my time heading for Darjeeling. Even if His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche accepted me as a student, there were… more »

by Eric Brand In the West, we often hear people talk about dairy in the context of TCM, where it is invariably implicated as a number one culprit when it comes to dampness and phlegm. However, while I admit that I am no expert on this subject, I’ve… more »

by Bob Flaws There was a group of four American or Canadian girls and a younger American kid staying at the hotel. Two of the girls were quite good-looking. All were dressed as hippies, and I could smell the hashish coming from under the sill of the… more »

by Bob Flaws We arrived in Luxembourg very early in the morning with another young American in tow. This younger guy was as green as I had been the winter before. When he found out that I had been to India and back and that Jim and I were heading Eas… more »

by Eric Brand As many regular readers know, authentication and quality discernment of medicinals is a topic that I find fascinating. I originally discovered this nerdy fascination when I was still in school for Chinese medicine, and it has only grow… more »

by Bob Flaws It was late May when I arrived at the front door of my parents’ home in Rutherford. I had written to them every week or more while I had been away. So they were not particularly surprised to see me. They knew I was heading back to the St… more »

by Bob Flaws I retraced my steps to Patna where I caught a train back to Delhi. By now I had decided to go back to the United States. In India, it seemed like there was no place that was quite. There was always noise, always hustle and bustle, and th… more »

by Bob Flaws When I felt strong enough to travel, I took a ferry across the Ganges to its north side where there was a train which went up Raxaul on the Nepalese border. This train ride was an overnight one. I remember I was not the only Western hipp… more »

by Bob Flaws In Delhi this time, I bought a pair of leather Indian sandals and a kurta, a long -sleeved, loose, three-buttoned pull-over Indian shirt which comes down to mid-thigh. Then a hippie showed me where there was tailor who spoke English and… more »

by Bob Flaws In Delhi, I met some other Western hippies who had mostly come to India for the dope and the cheap living. They had been in India for several months and had learned how to survive on two or three rupees a day. At the black market rate, t… more »

by Bob Flaws Although I was still somewhat intimidated about getting around India on my own, I found my way to the bus station and boarded a bus to Hardwar. Hardwar or Haridwar is located northwest of Delhi in the foothills of the Himalayas where the… more »

by Bob Flaws As the Air India jet flew over the plains of northern India, I was stunned by the myriad small villages surrounded by their parched brown fields and linked by dirt paths, one to the other stretching out as far as the eye could see in all… more »

I began the following memoir 8-9 years ago. I never finished it, but I thought it might be fun to post the sections I did write here. We'll see how far my wife and our General Manager let me go with this. 1 The acid kicked in as I got up to go to… more »

Yesterday I did something completely new for me….a live TV webinar through TCMTV.com, our friends up in Canada. It made me think back to a time in the early years of TV when it was a science-fiction-conceit that "someday" we’d be talking to each other o… more »

by Bob Flaws One of the first people I studied Chinese medicine with was Michael Broffman, founder of the famous Pine Street Clinic in San Anselmo, CA, and one of the ideas I got from him was the concept of "background beverages." What Michael was r… more »

by Bob Flaws In Shawn's blog over the weekend on making Melissa tincture, he mentioned that, in Tibetan medicine, medicines are typically "empowered" with prayers and "blessings" -- that compounding the physical ingredients is only the first step in… more »

by Shawn Kirby L.Ac. This blog was inspired by a rather unique birthday present I received this year. Following my blog on practical herbal alchemy, or spagyrics, I found myself in possession of a bottle of Elixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse, a… more »

by Eric Brand I just returned from a brief trip to Shanghai and Nanjing. Our friend Bob Felt, the head of Paradigm Publications, was recently put on the Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine’s board of directors. I had the pleasure of joining him… more »

by Bob Flaws I'd like to extend a great good welcome to Malia Kirby on her first day as Blue Poppy's newest customer service representative. Malia is a graduate of Boulder SWAC (Southwest Acupuncture College) and has practiced for a couple of years i… more »