Acupuncture for Surviving Adversity 2024 – Cohort 3

This online mentorship has been designed to support practitioners who want to deepen their understanding of how the channel system supports survival. Each level of qi has an associated system that works to maintain our health.  When these systems are overwhelmed by pathogenic experiences, they all have a manner in which they attempt to keep us alive.  The cost for these acts of self-preservation is chronically poor function and habituated resistance to change.

The mentorship will explore each system, identify its go-to survival function, and then discuss the many ways we have to overcome that function to restore our capacity to thrive. The course will help practitioners learn to recognize and treat; acts of self-preservation, latency, and resistance. It will offer perspectives and techniques that will help patients regain sovereignty over their lives and their health.

Community library from February 19, 2024
Macrocosm and Microcosm – A World in Crisis and the 8 Extraordinary Vessels

The format for the cases will be provided upon admission to the mentorship.  The first will be due before Module 4 (June 2024), and the second will be due (Sept/Oct 2024).

Peer discussions through an online forum will be offered and encouraged.  The instructor will not participate in the forum but will peruse the discussions to create clarity during office hours.

If approved, participants will receive 6 CEU/PDA for each of the 6-hour courses in the same manner as they do for online courses by watching the material and completing the assessment tool.  There are no CEU/PDA available for office hours and forum discussions. 

 

What can you expect?

You can expect to:

  • Investigate the channel system in relationship to Wei, Ying, and Yuan Qi.
  • Discuss how the body’s default system setting of “survival” promotes the creation of latency as an act of self-preservation.
  • Explore how each system (Sinews, Luo-collaterals, Primary channels, Divergent Meridians, and 8 Extraordinary vessels) contributes to these acts of self-preservation and the resulting consequences of those acts.
  • Develop techniques and treatment approaches that focus on empowering patients to move beyond survival into states of health that support their capacity to thrive.

How did we get here? How have we survived the adversity, traumas, and tragedies of life to arrive at this moment? What is the cost of this survival? Why do we settle for sub-optimal living where chronic illness is so prevalent? How can we move away from simply surviving towards daring to thrive?

The focus of the mentorship is deep experiential learning, peer connection, and transformation. Although maximizing the quantity of CEU/PDAs will not be a focus, we have made available a maximum of 36 CEU/PDA you can earn during the eight-month program.

A maximum of 36 hours can be earned as live CEUs if you join during the actual Zoom live presentations.

The breakup of available CEUs/PDA’s is as follows.

Mentorship:  six, six hours days (6X6=36)  through the 8 months which can be done as live webinars or watched on-demand (recordings) within 3 months of the live stream for CEU/PDA.

Acupuncture Regulatory bodies our CEU/PDA certificates will fulfill:

  • NCCAOM
  • California
  • Florida
  • Texas
  • CTCMABC
  • CTCMPAO

The following payment options are available:

The early bird rate is $2497 USD if paid in full by Feb 11th, 2024.

The regular rate is $3997 USD, however, you can save $1500 payment by the early bird deadline (Early Bird Ends Feb 11th, 2024).

If the mentorship is not a good fit for you, you can cancel by Feb 29, 2024, and receive a refund of what you have paid, minus a $500 withdrawal fee and the cost of the first module.

No refund as of March 1, 2024.

You cannot transfer or sell your registration to this mentorship.

You will have continued access to the CEU?PDA recordings and handouts as long as we can support them with our technology (at least 2 years).

Please Note: Access to the forums and mentorship special material like expert talks and office hours will end 30 days after module 6 is complete.

There is no guarantee that we will, especially in a world that is subject to so much upheaval, but our hope would be that we will offer the mentorship again after this year. We suggest you don’t delay as we cannot tell you what a year from now will allow

This 6-hour course will offer a perspective on the Sinew channels that moves beyond their traditional use for sprains, strains, neuralgias, and rashes.  We will investigate the relationships between the Sinews, Wei Qi, the Sensory Orifices, and the Po/Corporeal Soul. We will explore the impact that sensory input, conflict, trauma, and challenging interactions have on these channels. In other words, we will try to understand how the Sinew channels function to keep us alive in the face of adversity and what happens they have to do that.

We will review the pathways and functions of each of the Sinews and then place that information into the context of self-preservation. We will discuss how unconscious habituated responses to the world outside may result in postural changes, armoring, hyper-reactivity to external stimulus, pathological gait, and chronic aches & pains.

In this course, we will discuss how to diagnose Sinew pathology and also some approaches to treatment including essential points and techniques for successful Sinew treatments.

Participants will

  1. Review and renew their understanding of the functions and points associated with the 12 sinew channels.
  2. Deepen their understanding of the functions of Wei qi and its relationship to the sensory orifices and the Po/Corporeal Soul.
  3. Learn how to diagnose deeper sinew pathology associated with self-preservation.
  4. Learn techniques and approaches allowing them to create effective sinew channel treatments.

Office hours dates and times
March 4th @ 9 am PT and March 20th @ 7 pm PT

This 6-hour course will explore the importance of the Luo-collateral system in preserving the internal terrain of the body. Once an experience has entered the interior, it must be processed, embodied, or released.  The circulation of Ying Qi and blood is essential to this process. The Luo-collateral system is a Ying Qi system that profoundly affects the circulation of Qi & blood.

This system provides protection for the zangfu against pernicious influence by holding the experience in the blood and creating new blood vessels. If we cannot learn from an experience or reject it as toxic or not useful, then we must create a holding vessel until we can rally ourselves to face the problem.

This is an act of self-preservation that recognizes that sometimes experiences have such an overwhelming emotional imprint that we are unable to let them go. If the emotions are intense enough or if they linger long enough, they will negatively impact organ function and thus survival.  The Luo-collaterals create new vessels as far away from the organs as possible in order to limit the effect the pathogen may have on the zangfu.  The cost of this act of self-preservation is twofold.  One it results in stagnation of qi and blood. Two, it requires qi, blood, and often body fluids to maintain this distancing.  We are therefore using resources that might otherwise be used for more optimal health.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Attendees will review the points and pathways of this system.
  2. Attendees will learn how to diagnose and treat Luo pathology.
  3. Attendees will explore the impact that emotions have on circulation.
  4. Attendees will learn how to recognize “fullness” and “emptiness” in the Luos.
  5. Attendees will experience the progression of pathology in the Luos from the post-natal channels into the constitution.

Office hours dates and times
April 22 @ 9 am PT and May 15 @ 7 pm PT

This 6-hour course takes a look at how the organs of the middle jiao (the Spleen & Fu organs) not only digest food but also help us digest every experience we have in life.  These organs help us to find nourishment even in the face of adversity and they eliminate that which is not nourishing.

The primary channel system maintains organ function and it relies on the middle jiao to provide the raw materials for that purpose. The ability to maintain the ascending and descending of qi is also governed by this system and this supports the circulation needed for digesting life.

The course will explore impediments to digestion including diet, emotions that pervert the flow of qi, lifestyle choices, Yin Fire, Gu syndrome, and possession by Gui. We will look at how the spirit of the Spleen, the Yi, can be supported so that we can create the context for challenging experiences. A healthy Spleen/Yi can create a more stable and grounded environment for facing life’s challenges.

Our investigation will also look at the importance of the Fu organs in their ability to recognize the difference between healthy and toxic input. These are the organs that decide what is acceptable to internalize and they also remove, through elimination, that which is not useful.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Attendees will explore an expended perspective on digestion and its necessity for surviving adversity.
  2. Attendees will review the theories of illness according to the Pi Wei Lun (Spleen Stomach School).
  3. Attendees will learn to recognize the impediments to digestion and their associated mental-emotional imbalances.
  4. Attendees will learn several primary channel treatment approaches to address digestive issues.

Office hours dates and times
June 17 @ 9 am PT and July 3 @ 7pm PT

This 6-hour course will introduce the unique qualities of the Divergent meridians that make them essential in the treatment of life-threatening or life-altering conditions. When our survival is threatened it is the goal of the Divergent meridians to create chronicity.  They slow down the disease process by relocating a pathogenic factor or challenging experience to the joints where it can be trapped, safely away from the organs. This gives us the time we need to rally our resources in order to eliminate the pathogen.

The Divergent meridians are able to create this latency for survival because they manage the relationship between Yuan qi (Self) and Wei qi (interface with Other). 

In this course, we will explore each Divergent and the symptoms that demonstrate that latency has been created. We will look at the organ dysfunction, the emotional signatures, the mediumship that sustains the latency, and the Wei qi zones that are affected by the latency. Once we have a diagnosis, we will discuss if it is in the best interest of the patient to release the latency or support the latency, empowering the patient to reclaim Self.

Course Objectives:

  1. Participants will learn to recognize Divergent pathology based on organ symptoms, emotional signatures, and assessment of physical pain.
  2. Participants will learn how to create simple but effective Divergent treatments.
  3. Participants will deepen their understanding of the relationship between Yuan qi and Wei qi.
  4. Participants will learn techniques and approaches to treatments to release or maintain latency in the Divergents.

Office hours dates and times
Aug 5 @ 9 am PT and Aug 14 @ 7 pm PT

This 6-hour course will explore the nature of the 4 Seas of the 8 Extraordinary Vessels.  The course will discuss the capacity of the Chong, Du, Ren, and Dai mai to provide the essential resources needed to face life’s greatest challenges.  We will investigate the importance of these vessels in supporting the constitution and authentic Self.  Each of the 4 Seas is a reservoir of a vital substance that is a divine gift that allows us to pursue a meaningful life. These vessels govern growth and development through the 7/8 year cycles of Jing and they contain all that we need to thrive and fulfill our purpose.  They make us who we are and support us when we have to face life-threatening or life-altering experiences.

In this course, we will look at each vessel and determine how it supports our growth and development.  We will explore what can go wrong with each Sea and how that affects our ability to move from surviving to thriving. The course will offer a way to connect the physical and psychological symptoms of pathology in each Sea to our ability to successfully face adversity. When we are disconnected from these Seas we are less adaptive, less flexible, and less able to live our lives fully. 

Course Objectives:

  1. Participants will review and deepen their understanding of the 4 Seas as resources for life.
  2. Participants will learn to recognize pathology in each Sea for the purpose of a clear diagnosis.
  3. Participants will be introduced to the ideas of curriculum, resources and latency for self-preservation.
  4. Participants will learn how to create simple, elegant and effective treatments using the 4 Seas.

Office hours dates and times
Sept 9 @ 9 am PT and Sept 25 @ 7 pm PT

The Wei and Qiao Mai are the 4 Transporters of the 8 Extraordinary Vessels[8EV]. They are the vehicles of circulation that distribute the vital substances that are held in the 4 Seas (Chong, Du, Ren, and Dai Mai). These vessels take what we are given as our birth right in the form of our constitution and they allocate those pre-natal resources as we need them. They are the vessels that fuel life’s journey. As the circumstances of our lives change our need for specific resources also changes. The Transporters help us to adapt. They recognize the changing needs and try to maintain continuity while the world around us
changes.

As we face adversity, we are asked to adapt over and over again. The 4 Transporters also adapt and we begin to develop a “character style” that determines how we will face life’s challenges like aging or conflict in relationships. When our Transporters are healthy, we can process life’s challenges with more ease and grace. We can use our resources wisely and we can move from surviving to thriving more efficiently. When they are unhealthy, we become stuck in a state of being that is less fulfilling and less balanced. Healthy circulation (transportation) is an essential ingredient in healthy living.

Course Objectives:

  1. Participants will review the pathways, points, and functions of each of the transporters.
  2. Participants will learn to recognize the symptoms of pathology in each of the transporters.
  3. Participants will be introduced to the concept of character style and be able to apply that
    concept to the diagnosis of the transporters.
  4. Participants will learn how to create effective treatments using the 4 transporters.

Office hours dates and times
October 7 @ 9 am PT and October 23 @ 7 pm PT

Module 1 – Sinew Channels: Interface with the World Outside Webinar
Sunday, February 25, 2024 @ 9:00 am PT – 4:00 pm Pacific Time (PT)

Office hours dates and times (each will be about 2 hours)
March 4th @ 9 am PT and March 20th @ 7 pm PT

Module 2 – Luo-collaterals: The Internal Terrain-Emotions, Memory and Blood Flow
Sunday, April 7, 2024 @ 9 am – 4 pm Pacific Time (PT)

Office hours dates and times (each will be about 2 hours)
April 22 @ 9 am PT and May 15 @ 7 pm PT

Module 3 – Digesting Life: Post-natal Qi and the Middle Jiao
Sunday, June 2, 2024 @ 9 am – 4 pm Pacific Time (PT)

Office hours dates and times (each will be about 2 hours)
June 17 @ 9 am PT and July 3 @ 7pm PT

Module 4 – Divergent Meridians: The Conflict Between Self & Other
Sunday, July 14, 2024 @ 9 am – 4 pm Pacific Time (PT)

Office hours dates and times (each will be about 2 hours)
Aug 5 @ 9 am PT and Aug 14 @ 7 pm PT

Module 5 – 4 Seas of the 8 Extras: Resources Needed for a Lifetime of Adversity
Sunday, August 25 @ 9 am – 4 pm Pacific Time (PT)

Office hours dates and times (each will be about 2 hours)
Sept 9 @ 9 am PT and Sept 25 @ 7 pm PT

Module 6 – 4 Transporters of the 8 Extras: Managing Resources Through Adversity
Sunday, September 29, 2024 @ 9 am – 4 pm Pacific Time (PT)

Office hours dates and times (each will be about 2 hours)
October 7 @ 9 am PT and October 23 @ 7 pm PT

Fill out the form and we will email you when Cohort 4 is open for applications