When I was in acupuncture school more than 30 years ago and after – I had the opportunity to study Hara diagnosis (The Hara is the abdomen)with Kiiko Matsumoto and Stephen Birch quite intensively. They wrote Hara Diagnosis: Reflections on the Sea (Paradigm title)
In my own practice I have consistently felt the tummies of all my patients in every session, finding the abdomen an invaluable source of clear diagnostic information. When I first heard about the use of abdominal diagnosis in relation to herbal diagnosis I was excited to find out how I could integrate this. Then I met Nigel Dawes. Nigel Dawes studied Kampo (Herbal Medicine) in Japan where the art of Fu Ku Shin (abdominal diagnosis) for determining herbal formulas is highly developed. Two years ago, White Pine Institute hosted a 10 month course on Kampo with Nigel Dawes. In a small focused group we studied and practiced Fu Ku Shin (abdominal diagnosis) in relation to herbal formulas. After the course, as I was working on integrating the material, I found I had some questions so I wrote to Nigel. His answers were so clear, succinct and helpful. I thought our conversation would be helpful to post as blog entries.
So, over the next few days, I will be posting blog entries of my questions for Nigel and his answers.
For those of you interested in Kampo, you might check out Nigel’s recently published book KAMPO: A Clinical Guide to Theory and Practice
Stay tuned for some very clinically valuable blog posts!
I look forward to reading your blogs always, but especially these next ones you will post with Nigel’s answers. I had the opportunity to study with him this fall in New Mexico and his system is really exciting and makes so much sense to me. I have been a body worker for almost 10 years and to have the client’s body tell you what they need is so refreshing and honest. I have just graduated from acupuncture school in December, and look forward to studying Kampo more in the future. Thanks in advance for posting this dialogue btwn you and him. ~ Jen Jackson