A Pebble in the Cosmic Pond

Sabine Wilms PhD

Tune in every other week for inspiring, joyful, and informative conversations on transforming ourselves, our communities, and the world, in the spirit of ancient Chinese medicine, spirituality, and philosophy. Separating fact from fiction, we aim to bring you medicine from China's distant past, translated here to meet YOUR needs today, in clinic and beyond. I am your host, Dr. Sabine Wilms, medical historian, recovering university professor, and author and translator of more than a dozen books on the Chinese healing arts, from gynecology and pediatrics to medical ethics and materia medica, published by Happy Goat Productions. In addition to writing, I teach and mentor at https://www.imperialtutor.com/, about the roots of Chinese medicine and its larger cultural background. In addition, I will bring in insights from my checkered past as a biodynamic goat farmer and musician, all under the banner of my favorite phrase, “cosmic resonance,” a.k.a. the Chinese ideal of harmony between the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. I really love to inspire people and spread around some good vibrations, which is what I aim to do in this podcast, with the assistance of some of my favorite clinical and academic colleagues, friends, and guides, like Leo Lok (our self-proclaimed "Purveyor of Multiple Perspective") and Dr. Brenda Hood, master physician and specialist in all things Daoism. New episodes will generally drop twice a month, with a free one on the new moon and a bonus one for Imperial Tutor members on the full moon. Check out https://www.imperialtutor.com/membership for more information on my mentorship. Episodes will be roughly an hour long and will follow the format of what you may already be familiar with as the Imperial Tutor’s Tea Time Talks: loosely structured conversations that provide education, inspiration, and connection. If you want to be notified of new episodes, why don’t you subscribe to my newsletter at https://www.happygoatproductions.com/connect? Here are our three main goals: 1. Bridge-building: We gather to explore the liminal sweet spot, in between Heaven and Earth, the distant past and the present moment, East and West, the clinic and the academy, the healer and the scholar, the discernible and the unfathomable, oral lineage and written text, and, ultimately, between Yin and Yang. 2. Collaboration: The treasure house of traditional Chinese medicine is bigger than any single person's expertise, no matter how vast. We actively pursue and embrace a diversity of opinions so that we can collectively deepen our understanding. 3. Authentic Transmission: Translation, from the past to the present, from Chinese to English, from texts to clinical application, etc., invariably involves an alteration and adaptation of the original message. How do we stay as true as possible to the insights expressed in the ancient Chinese texts while still making sense to our listeners? We invite you to consider the creative challenges of this task with us. Potential future topics include: Meditation Sickness and Qigong Psychosis; The Difference Between Responsibility and Fault; Daoist and Confucian Perspectives on Humanity's Role Between Heaven and Earth; The Creation, Development, and Transmission of Medical Knowledge and the Dangers and Benefits of Lineage; Buddhist Perspectives on Reality and Expedient Means; The Wuwei Way; The Weasel and the Yak, and The Frog in the Well; Simple Questions: How to Read the Classics; The Cosmos in Six Lines: The Yijing as a Tool of Healing; Translation, Transmission, Transcendence, Transcreation; Pointing to the Moon: How to Name the Unnameable; Should Return and A Hundred Meetings: What's in a Name; The Fish’s Delight: The Limits of Sense Perception; Clear Talk: Creating Light in Dark Times; Reverberations of the Valley Spirit; Lotus in the Mud: Buddhism and Medicine...

  1. FEB 17

    New Year's Joy: Whales, Spring, and East-West Transmission in Pregnancy Care

    Happy new year of the Yang Fire horse to everybody! In this conversation, recorded on the eve of the Chinese New Year, Leo had set out to share his excitement about the work that we have been doing on our upcoming course on "Nurturing Pregnancy." Sabine got distracted right at the beginning of our recording session by two grey whales passing by and then returning to feed outside her window, as the biggest (literally!) and most amazing sign that spring is truly arriving here on Whidbey Island. So this podcast meanders a bit, between Sabine's attempt to share the joy and love of a spring day, Leo's desire to share some insights on pregnancy care with Chinese medicine, and our serious contemplation of the challenges in this specialized field that Western practitioners of Chinese medicine encounter: We discuss the very unfortunate lack of access to the precious primary sources, historical and contemporary, that reflect the top quality of care that is common in East Asia. Then we explore the difficult clinical reality for practitioners in the West, surrounded as they are by a culture that considers both traditional Chinese medicinal treatments and acupuncture either as dangerous or as ineffective. We lament the unnecessary suffering resulting from the fact that patients in the West are reluctant to lean on their Chinese medicine providers during this tender period, when there is so much Chinese medicine can do! This stands in sharp contrast to China, where pregnant patients often turn to traditional Chinese medicine for addressing common pregnancy symptoms as a safer and more effective alternative to biomedical treatments. Inspired by our close collaboration these past few months in building our upcoming course on "Nurturing Pregnancy," we truly want to help our listeners see the clinical potential in this area as a very potent path for alleviating suffering and sharing "tender loving care," which is ultimately what all of our work is about. May we all spread the love!

    46 min

  2. JAN 19

    Nurturing Pregnancy: Modulating the Center

    Most attention in the medical care of pregnancy focuses on preventing miscarriage in the tender first trimester, on the one hand, and on preparing for a smooth and safe labor and delivery in the last trimester. But what about the middle? In this episode, Leo and Sabine delve into over 2000 years of medical literature on this topic in China to look at the therapeutic potential of the middle trimester in pregnancy. We start out by zooming in on the two formulas for the fourth and fifth months of pregnancy cited by Sun Simiao "in case of injury to the fetus/pregnancy," analyzing their key ingredients title for the intended treatment strategy: "Modulating the Center Formula" and "Making the Center Peaceful Formula," respectively. We then explore ways to achieve these goals by more accessible and possibly safer means, such as by substituting maiya (sprouted barley), breath work, and daoyin to facilitate the free flow of Qi through the channels. Lastly, we take a step back to discuss the unique challenges of caring for not just one but two bodies during pregnancy, as two distinct constellations of Qi, which in turn are interacting with the external environment as mediated through the mother's body. It gets pretty complex but then again, "shaving off mounds and filling in sinkholes," as Zhang Lu puts it so succinctly in his commentary on the formula for "modulating the center" (tiaozhong) is actually not rocket science. It truly is our greatest joy and passion to show practitioners at all levels that you've got this and there is truly something that every one of us can do to support our pregnant friends.

    56 min

  3. 12/19/2025

    The slippery slope between discernment and judgment

    As we all know, when somebody passes judgment on another person, regardless of the validity of that judgment, it will close the door to effective communication and connection. At the same time, one way of defining any healer's role is to serve as a guide who helps the patient on their path back to health and balance. And an important aspect of most clinical sessions, at least in the context of traditional Chinese medicine, is to discern the patient's current condition and determine the causes of any imbalance or deviation from perfect health, so as to choose a therapeutic intervention that will address those. In this process, it is all too easy to slide into judgment. To complicate matters further, one could argue that in some cultural or social contexts, such as Sabine giving critical feedback on the homework of her classical Chinese students, judgment may even be a necessary part of a person's role. Have a listen as we explore the slippery slope between discernment and judgment in an effort to understand and promote effective practitioner-patient communication. Using diet as just one example, we realized the importance of aligning the practitioner's goals with the patient's needs and wants and the power of practicing from the heart and cultivating compassion. Additional Information Virtue-Power: Traditional Chinese Medical Ethics

    1h 2m

  4. 11/20/2025

    Playing with Qi and Other Tools of Self-Care

    We start off this episode by exploring the meaning of "tiao qi" 調氣, which is the title of one of the chapters in Sun Simiao's volume on Yangxing (self-cultivation and longevity). Inspired by Sun Simiao's writings and our work in translating and teaching this material, we start within this context of yangsheng but end up exploring much broader clinical practices. We reject the judgmental tone of "regulating," as a translation of "tiao" 調, in favor of the playful curiosity and flexibility of "modulating," "calibrating," or "playing with." As a side note, it delighted both of us to discover the significance of embodied experience and of discernment rooted in the five senses as we have both been practicing this art of calibration in the tradition of Sun Simiao's teachings over the past couple of years. To understand our own and patients' behaviors that get in the way of healing disease, avoiding suffering, and improving wellbeing, we then looked at the difference between inability and unwillingness to "do what is good for us." But we quickly got more nuanced and changed the direction of our inquiry: To avoid judgment, which is a dead end in useful communication between any two people, we considered searching for obstacles and blockages instead. Could this perhaps be meaningfully expressed in the concept of "Qi stagnation," since this concept goes beyond just physical lack of flow, to include mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions? In the end, we discussed the unaddressed need for specialized training in Chinese medicine so that practitioners can more easily slip into the role of skillful communicator and coach. At the end of the day, what practitioners need, beyond technical expertise, to truly help their patients, are the qualities of equanimity, patience, and more than anything, loving kindness... Additional Information Yangxing — Happy Goat Productions

    49 min

  5. 10/21/2025

    Confucian Willfulness?

    In today's conversation, I asked for Leo's help in exploring Confucius' teachings on social cohesion, authority, and the creation of harmony in self, family, society, and the world, on the one hand, and on ethics, on following our "mandate from Heaven," and standing steadfast by our values, on the other. What does the classic Confucian pair of virtues, ren "Humaneness" or "compassion" and yi "justice" or "righteousness," mean in today's world and how can we possibly use it for guidance in this moment?Does it change Confucius' message on hierarchical relations when we realize, as Sabine reminds us, that Confucius did not address his teachings to those in the lower position (servants and common people, women, younger men, and children) but to the elite men in charge, or in other words, the rulers, elders, and male heads of households?Most importantly, how did Confucius himself respond in situations where the men in power above him did not act in accordance with the values he held? And how do we apply that to today? Whether you are a person who grew up in a traditional Confucian household and culture or are somebody who is looking at traditional East Asian culture from the outside in, we sincerely hope that this conversation is helpful. Right now, it feels to me that Confucius is once again relevant for this dance between self-realization and service to others, through the prism of personal cultivation. For more details on Confucius' original teachings and some literal quotes from the Analects, please read this article by Sabine: Additional Information Confucius and Willful Peacekeeping — Happy Goat Productions

    48 min

  6. 09/22/2025

    Shades of Love in Buddhism

    In today's episode, I got to ask Leo to speak more specifically about the different kinds of love that are found in the Buddhist teachings. Together, we were able to explore how I can make sure that the deep love I feel for my daughter, to use the example closest to my heart, does not turn into a suffocating blanket of mutual needs and wants, as conditional love between parent and child does all too often. Instead, unconditional love can become a powerful generative and regenerative force of healing, when it rests on the solid triple foundation of compassion, well-wishing, and equanimity. This same spiritual foundation can also save us from getting exhausted and disabled by sorrow, whether caused by a personal loss, by us witnessing the suffering of a friend or patient, or by our response, as empathetic beings, to devastating global news. With the support of community, we can find love and joy in that delicate dance between attachment and liberation.

    1h 7m

  7. 08/30/2025

    From Wittgenstein to Wenyanwen: Classical Reflections with Paola

    In this conversation, Leo and Sabine feature our friend Paola Campanelli, an international practitioner and graduate of Sabine's 2-year classical Chinese training program. Together, we explore Paola's journey from philosophy to sinology to Chinese medicine, from her native Italy to China and Taiwan and ultimately to her current home in southern Germany. We discuss Paola's challenges and insights gained through studying classical Chinese, in a range of topics as wide as Paola's life experience, from German philosophy to language acquisition and the importance of grammar, to poetry and the power of beauty and song... We also touch on the value of collaboration in translation and the potential for future projects in a collective of translators that has been Sabine's vision for her Triple Crown Classical Chinese training program. If you want to know about Leo's relationship to Italian opera, make sure you listen to the end for a cliff hanger that I personally cannot wait to find out more about. Additional Information Triple Crown Training Program — Translating Chinese Medicine - Dr. Wilms' 2-year training program in classical Chinese, starting every two years in September

    54 min

  8. 08/23/2025

    The Joys of Reading the Chinese Medicine Classics

    In this episode, we (Sabine Wilms and Leo Lok) invited the Spanish practitioner and teacher of Chinese medicine Manu Moreno to share with us his personal journey of learning, practicing, teaching, and translating Chinese medicine. Manu generously introduced us to his childhood experiences, including his struggles with dyslexia, guidance from dreams and past-lives experiences, and connection to his family healing tradition, all of which eventually led him to drop everything and move to China. There, he immersed himself completely in the language and culture and ended up studying Chinese medicine in a rare combination of an institutional education and personal lineage transmission. Our conversation explored the importance of cultural immersion, the challenges of learning classical Chinese, and the role of traditional teaching methods in understanding the complexities of Chinese medical texts. We discussed how to strike a balance between the need for modern interpretation and our shared commitment to honoring traditional knowledge, and briefly contrasted Manu's two experiences of learning classical Chinese: First as a student among fellow Chinese students in China, and then as a participant in Sabine's training program in classical Chinese for Western practitioners. If this episode has whetted your appetite for learning classical Chinese yourself, you may want to consider enrolling in Sabine's two-year intensive training program that starts September 11, 2025 with the "Foundations" course. Find out more AT HER "TRANSLATINGCHINESEMEDICINE.COM" WEBSITE.Additional Information Triple Crown Training Program — Translating Chinese Medicine - Dr. Wilms' 2-year training program in classical Chinese, starting every two years in September

    1h 7m
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Trailers

4.8
out of 5
17 Ratings

About

Tune in every other week for inspiring, joyful, and informative conversations on transforming ourselves, our communities, and the world, in the spirit of ancient Chinese medicine, spirituality, and philosophy. Separating fact from fiction, we aim to bring you medicine from China's distant past, translated here to meet YOUR needs today, in clinic and beyond. I am your host, Dr. Sabine Wilms, medical historian, recovering university professor, and author and translator of more than a dozen books on the Chinese healing arts, from gynecology and pediatrics to medical ethics and materia medica, published by Happy Goat Productions. In addition to writing, I teach and mentor at https://www.imperialtutor.com/, about the roots of Chinese medicine and its larger cultural background. In addition, I will bring in insights from my checkered past as a biodynamic goat farmer and musician, all under the banner of my favorite phrase, “cosmic resonance,” a.k.a. the Chinese ideal of harmony between the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. I really love to inspire people and spread around some good vibrations, which is what I aim to do in this podcast, with the assistance of some of my favorite clinical and academic colleagues, friends, and guides, like Leo Lok (our self-proclaimed "Purveyor of Multiple Perspective") and Dr. Brenda Hood, master physician and specialist in all things Daoism. New episodes will generally drop twice a month, with a free one on the new moon and a bonus one for Imperial Tutor members on the full moon. Check out https://www.imperialtutor.com/membership for more information on my mentorship. Episodes will be roughly an hour long and will follow the format of what you may already be familiar with as the Imperial Tutor’s Tea Time Talks: loosely structured conversations that provide education, inspiration, and connection. If you want to be notified of new episodes, why don’t you subscribe to my newsletter at https://www.happygoatproductions.com/connect? Here are our three main goals: 1. Bridge-building: We gather to explore the liminal sweet spot, in between Heaven and Earth, the distant past and the present moment, East and West, the clinic and the academy, the healer and the scholar, the discernible and the unfathomable, oral lineage and written text, and, ultimately, between Yin and Yang. 2. Collaboration: The treasure house of traditional Chinese medicine is bigger than any single person's expertise, no matter how vast. We actively pursue and embrace a diversity of opinions so that we can collectively deepen our understanding. 3. Authentic Transmission: Translation, from the past to the present, from Chinese to English, from texts to clinical application, etc., invariably involves an alteration and adaptation of the original message. How do we stay as true as possible to the insights expressed in the ancient Chinese texts while still making sense to our listeners? We invite you to consider the creative challenges of this task with us. Potential future topics include: Meditation Sickness and Qigong Psychosis; The Difference Between Responsibility and Fault; Daoist and Confucian Perspectives on Humanity's Role Between Heaven and Earth; The Creation, Development, and Transmission of Medical Knowledge and the Dangers and Benefits of Lineage; Buddhist Perspectives on Reality and Expedient Means; The Wuwei Way; The Weasel and the Yak, and The Frog in the Well; Simple Questions: How to Read the Classics; The Cosmos in Six Lines: The Yijing as a Tool of Healing; Translation, Transmission, Transcendence, Transcreation; Pointing to the Moon: How to Name the Unnameable; Should Return and A Hundred Meetings: What's in a Name; The Fish’s Delight: The Limits of Sense Perception; Clear Talk: Creating Light in Dark Times; Reverberations of the Valley Spirit; Lotus in the Mud: Buddhism and Medicine...

Information

  • Creator
    Sabine Wilms PhD
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    48
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Sabine Wilms PhD
  • Show Website
    A Pebble in the Cosmic Pond

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