Every one of us began as a single cell. And every one of our own cells came from that one.

In this episode, Dr. Jocelyn Michel, D.Ac-CHM, slows down and steps into wonder. She returns to Delft, where a cloth merchant named Antonie van Leeuwenhoek first saw living creatures in a drop of water, and follows one cell to the roughly thirty trillion it becomes, alongside the thirty-eight trillion microbes that share our bodies. She walks that single cell through five foundational questions: what is real, how we know what we know, what our bodies are for, what we assume when we ask, and what we assume about living bodies.

Along the way, you'll hear about heart cells that beat on their own, cells that listen to their neighbors as they build a body, the ear map used in acupuncture, and the difference between what we observe, what we model, what we experience, and what we hold by faith. And she sits with an open question: how does one cell become someone who wonders?

"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:14

This week's practice: once today, place a hand over your heart, feel it beat, and ask, "What am I assuming about my body right now?"

References

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van Leeuwenhoek, A. (1677). Observations, communicated to the publisher by Mr. Antony van Leewenhoeck, in a Dutch letter of the 9th of Octob. 1676. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 12(133), 821–831.

Yeh, C. H., Chiang, Y. C., Hoffman, S. L., Liang, Z., Klem, M. L., Tam, W. W. S., Chien, L. C., & Suen, K. P. L. (2014). Efficacy of auricular therapy for pain management: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2014, 934670. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/934670

This podcast is for education and inspiration and is not medical advice. Listening does not create a practitioner-patient relationship. Dr. Jocelyn Michel, D.Ac-CHM, is licensed as an acupuncturist in Wisconsin, USA. Please talk with your own healthcare provider before making changes to your care. Guest views are their own. Some links may be affiliate links.

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