{"podcast":{"title":"A Pebble in the Cosmic Pond","slug":"a-pebble-in-the-cosmic-pond-6320860","podcast_index_feed_id":6320860,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/pebble-in-the-cosmic-pond/","website_url":"https://www.pebbleinthecosmicpond.com/","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/6965970a-2b97-406e-ac7a-03277b54c4cf/VbqJ8vh50gVW4WuvyuVGQlWi.jpg","author":"Sabine Wilms PhD","episode_count":52,"summary":"Tune in every New Moon for inspiring, joyful, and informative conversations with Sabine Wilms and Leo Lok on transforming ourselves, our communities, and the world, in the spirit of traditional 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 your personal practice, in your community, and in the clinic. Sabine Wilms, PhD, is a 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, she runs the only advanced 2-year classical Chinese training program for practitioners of Chinese medicine and contributes insights from her checkered past as a biodynamic goat farmer and musician, all under the banner of her favorite phrase, “cosmic resonance,” a.k.a. the Chinese ideal of harmony between the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. Leo Lok, our \"purveyor of multiple perspectives,\" is a practitioner and independent scholar of Chinese Medicine. A nativ…","last_synced_at":"2026-06-15T16:19:46.400128+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-pebble-in-the-cosmic-pond-6320860"},"episode":{"title":"Nurturing Pregnancy: Modulating the Center","slug":"nurturing-pregnancy-modulating-the-center","published_at":"2026-01-19T07:15:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-pebble-in-the-cosmic-pond-6320860/nurturing-pregnancy-modulating-the-center","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-pebble-in-the-cosmic-pond-6320860","url":"https://pebbleinthecosmicpond.com/episode/nurturing-pregnancy","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/64681cde-c87d-4523-bba7-eec18d62c7cc.mp3","summary":"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.","meta_description":"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 s…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3375,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/a-pebble-in-the-cosmic-pond-6320860/episodes/nurturing-pregnancy-modulating-the-center/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-pebble-in-the-cosmic-pond-6320860/nurturing-pregnancy-modulating-the-center.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}