Of the surprises and adaptations 2020 has presented big and small, one I’ve greatly enjoyed has been the opportunity to work with my wife. Dr. Sarah Biffen-Ryan is a Ph.D. in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture, and Herbalism, and I enjoy bragging about her (Valedictorian in her class). That out of the way, we were recently interviewed by the wise and terrific Valerie K. Martin on her very fun Podcast, “What’s the F***ing Point?”

Linked here on Apple Podcasts and here’s a link to the podcast website.

We discuss Sarah’s practice, my practice, superstition, past life regression, my love of the tarot, and “Wellness Realness” which is a kind of shared joke between us that is based on some sincere and informed observations about the wellness industry. Both Sarah and I are part of the wellness industry so we are essentially holding up a mirror and very much including ourselves while we use humor to explore trends, opinions, and truth. It was brilliant to speak with Valerie. Please listen and enjoy at your leisure.

EPISODE NOTES

Valerie: As I told them in the interview, if there were some kind of award for a wellness power couple (I'm sure some magazine is working on it), I would sure as hell nominate Brooklynites acupuncturist Dr. Sarah Biffen and hypnotherapist Daniel Ryan.

Not only are they both accomplished AF, but they're also genuinely very kind and cool people— none of the cringy egotism or false humility you often see with folks at the top of their field, but just grounded expertise and open curiosity.

In this conversation, we go everywhere from exploring how we are making meaning (and not) out of COVID-19, my burning questions about past lives/past life regression therapy, how the hypnosis community reacted to Jordan Peele's Get Out, what acupuncture needles actually do and why you don't need to be afraid of them (I commit to actually trying it after this pandemic mess is over!), and so much more.