#209 Tonic Herbalism & Taoist Practice For The Family Culture with Mason Taylor on The Melissa Ambrosini Show

This one's a ripper, legends. I sat down with Dr. MG McCullough, a classical acupuncturist who trained under Ann Cecil-Sterman in the Jeffrey Yuen lineage, and we went deep - like, Jenga-block-pulled-from-the-middle deep - on what modern acupuncture school actually leaves out. MG's whole thing is that we didn't just simplify Chinese medicine when it got exported West, we pulled the center block out of the tower. The primaries got taught, the channels, sinews, luo vessels, divergences and eight extraordinaries got filed under "extra," and now most acupuncturists are running triage clinics instead of practicing the full system. We get into why that matters, why it's not anyone's fault, what it'd take to rebuild the whole thing from the ground up, and where MG's taking her own practice next. Dr. MG & Mason discuss: The Jenga analogy - how acupuncture education pulled the center block (the classical framework) and left everyone thinking they had the full foundation when they didn't

This one starts light and ends deep. We get into Gynostemma - one of those rare herbs you can take daily without throwing yourself off. Proper longevity tonic, not hype. Then Asparagus Root ("Heavenly Gate") - big for adrenals, reproductive health, and actually getting some perspective when life's a bit chaotic. But the real thread here is the liver. There's a clear pattern right now-people sitting on a lot of anger, resentment, frustration… and trying to "let it go" without ever working with it. Problem is, that's not junk-it's energy. Life force. So instead of suppressing it, we flip it: anger becomes information, resentment becomes direction. It tells you what matters and where your boundaries are. That's where liver health comes in. It's the "general"-the system that gives you clarity and direction. When it's sluggish, everything feels stuck. We also get into liver/gallbladder flushes-not as some extreme detox, but as basic upkeep (if done properly). Prep matters. No shortcuts. Underneath all of it: you can't think your way into health. You've got to feel it, move it, and actually live in your body.

Right, we're kicking off this new series on the Three Treasures - Jing, Qi, and Shen - and I've brought in an absolute legend to help us navigate this. Benny is a fixture around here, living just a stone's throw from the studio, and he's the perfect guide for this series. He comes from a hardcore performance background - sports, movement, the works - but he's spent years deep in the trenches of neurosomatic movement and nervous system work, which makes him the perfect bridge between high-level performance and ancient Taoist principles. We're starting with Jing, but forget the dusty, abstract textbook definitions. Benny's all about the "slow melt." He's here to talk about why we've all been drifting out of alignment and calling it "normal." We've basically turned the health space into another arena of performance where we're constantly searching for the next "optimal" diet or training style to fix us, while our nervous system - the canary in the coal mine - is trying to whisper that we're burning the candle at both ends. We're overriding fatigue, pushing through tension, and treating our body like a project rather than a relationship. Benny's work is all about coming back home to the body. He challenges us to stop treating stillness as just another "de-stress" ritual to check off a packed calendar. Instead, he reframes cultivation as gardening: it's about pulling the weeds - those unresolved tensions and habits - so you can actually grow something. It's not about adding more; it's about clearing space. We dig into why we're so good at ignoring those early signals, and how to stop treating your body like a problem to solve. It's an eye-opening conversation on remembering what's already there - protecting your base, honoring the whispers, and building a life that doesn't drain you dry. It's not easy, but it is real. Let's get to it.

[TRIGGER WARNING]: This episode includes discussion of a traumatic car crash and associated trauma (TBI). Listener discretion is advised, especially for those with past experiences related to car crashes.

The chat features Sara Murdock, an award-winning pharmacist and key integrator on the front line of modern health, addressing the reality that people actively use both pharmaceuticals and natural therapies.