History Course - Medicine and Healing in China

Episode Description: What is acupuncture from a historical context? How has medicine in China evolved over the past 3,000 years? TJ Hinrichs is a Harvard Ph.D educated, Cornell University Associate Professor, who teaches classes on the history of Chinese Medicine in China. Her newest book, Chinese Medicine and Healing: An illustrated History, covers those topics and so much more. We get to pick her brain (much much larger than our collective brains at Yin Yang Podcast) for about an hour today!

"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."
---Terry Pratchett

TJ Hinrichs

TJ Hinrichs and Linda Barnes have written THE book about the history of Chinese Medicine. In it are the treasures of Chinese medical history. Its origins, its thoughts, its fears, and its answer to widespread epidemics are covered in incredible detail with fascinating facts that many of us never learned in school. Or more exactly, never even heard about from our teachers because they probably didn’t know it as well. Chinese Medicine and Healing begins with Pre-Han dynasty medicine and history and the book continues to the present day. It is filled with details from each historical dynasty and the relevant details taking place at that time that shaped the formation and evolution of Chinese medicine. For example, during the Song Dynasty (960-1126 C.E. for the Northern and 1127-1279 C.E. for the Southern Song) the gradual introduction of printing and publishing provided not only government treatises on disease and treatment, but also made public one of the most pivotal books in all of Chinese medicine, the Shang Han Lun. TJ Hinrichs knowledge is unfathomable. She will throw historical information out and challenge you on what you think you might know. She is also a very entertaining speaker and can talk about any subject from the historical and legendary physicians to the exigencies of the film Forbidden City Cop. She is an engaging historian, storyteller, and quite a proficient at Martial Arts. She is fascinating and fun to read and her book is a must for those who practice Chinese medicine.

 "I think the more diversity that one has in his life, the happier he can be, as long as he is able to do whatever he chooses to do at that given time well."
---Steven Seagal

How Acupuncture Came to Nike

"Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.” "

--- B.K.S. Iyengar.

Acupuncture, Yoga, and Nike have what in common?

 It’s not the beginning of a joke or a script for a movie. Those three aspects have Tiffany Cruikshank as the answer. Tiffany is a Los Angeles based yoga teacher that has also been trained in Chinese medicine. Tiffany has a pre-med Bachelor’s degree in Medicinal Plant Biology & Nutrition and a Masters degree in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine and a specialty in sports medicine & Orthopedics. She, in her relative short time here on earth, has accomplished a great deal and one of the notable aspects of her career is she became the first acupuncturist for Nike. Yes, that’s right, Nike! She was in the right place at the right time and basically designed their respective Wellness Program that included nutrition, yoga, and acupuncture.

An international yoga teacher, author and health & wellness expert Tiffany is known as a teacher’s teacher and has written for and graced the cover of many prominent publications. Internationally acclaimed due to her ability to combine over two decades of dedicated yoga practice & study in Holistic Medicine with over a decade working with patients to create an effective training method training teachers to use yoga as medicine. She has treated hundreds of people with all sorts of physical problems and challenges. Her practice in Yoga Medicine has opened the doorway for herself as well as the countless people she has helped with her combined modalities.

Tiffany is dynamic teacher, healer, and lecturer. She brings a tremendous amount of energy to her classes and to her practice. She can be found integrating Yoga and acupuncture theory in her teaching. She is a stickler for posture and anatomy. Her courses reflect her passion for knowledge as well as her desire to be sure people are working their bodies in the correct manner. She also loves to have fun in her teaching and lectures and her vivacious personality shines through with an infectious smile.

You can find out more about Tiffany Cruikshank at Yogamedicine.com

"Yoga is like music: the rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.” ― B.K.S. Iyengar "

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