February 21, 2025 • 44 mins
This episode dives into the intersection of Eastern and Western medicine through a lively discussion with acupuncturist and herbalist Molly Dyer. We explore the holistic approach to healing, the importance of understanding emotional connections to physical health, and how to foster balance in our lives through both medicine and movement.
• Understanding the differences and similarities between Eastern and Western medicine
• The role of emotional health in physical healing
• The philosophy behind the practice name "Light and Dark"
• Importance of individualized herbal prescriptions
• Benefits of integrating creative outlets, like dance, into wellness routines
• Encouragement to seek holistic care as a means to address complex health issues
• Insights into the healing connection between gut health and skin conditions
• Emphasizing the significance of balance in life and wellness practices
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Granddaughter Crow (00:00):
Welcome to Belief, being and Beyond with
your host, granddaughter Crow.
Hi everybody, granddaughterCrow here for yet another
episode of Belief, being andBeyond.
As you know, I love to bringdifferent belief systems to the
table, ask those questions thatwe might be afraid to ask for
(00:23):
the listening audience, as wellas understand that different
belief systems constitute.
To ask for the listeningaudience, as well as understand
that different belief systemsconstitutes how we behave in the
world, our beingness.
But there's always somethingmore.
There's always something beyond, and today I have a wonderful
guest.
We are going to be looking atmore Eastern medicine.
(00:45):
I'm really excited aboutbringing Molly to the table.
Let me give you a little bit ofinsight about Molly.
So Molly Dyer is a licensedacupuncturist and is the founder
of Light and Dark Acupunctureand Apothecary and Tappy Feet.
We'll get into that.
She blends deep healing withhands-on care, balancing classic
(01:09):
wisdom with modern herbalapproaches.
That sounds like something thatwe really need.
Certified by the InternationalTraditional Chinese Dermatology
Association, itcmda right, shespecializes, obviously you can
tell I'm very comfortable withmy friend Molly.
(01:29):
She specializes in treatingacne, eczema and psoriasis,
among a lot of other skinconditions, through traditional
Chinese medicine Chinesemedicine.
She also holds an internationalcertificate in traditional
Chinese medicine pediatrics,which allows her to provide
(01:50):
expert dermatological care forall ages, as well as through
Tappy Feet yes, tappy Feet.
She connects adults through joy, laughter, movement and
creativity in her tap dancingclasses.
So, without further ado, let meintroduce you to what me and my
(02:12):
husband call Miracle Molly.
Say hi to everyone, molly, hi,thanks for having me here.
Oh gosh, I've been lookingforward to it.
I've known you for forever.
Molly Dyer LAc (02:30):
How many years?
15 years?
How many years?
Well, yeah, probably 15,because we met right after, I
think, or?
Granddaughter Crow (02:48):
right before I started acupuncture school
and I'm going on a 10 yearcareer in acupuncture now and
acupuncture school was fouryears long.
So, yes, right at 15 or so.
I love it, I absolutely love it.
So in our discussion I'd kindof like to ask very general
questions and I'll just behonest.
You know there's a lot ofstrangeness in our atmosphere.
I'll call it to you knowwhether it's economic, social,
(03:10):
social justice, lack of socialjustice, all of that.
But there's also concernswithin the medical industry and
pharmaceuticals and insurance.
We won't go there, but we allknow what we're talking about.
And yet that's all Westernmedicine and you know Western
(03:30):
medicine and you know Easternmedicine.
Can you give us a little bit ofa breakdown about your thoughts
on each one and when to useeach one, or what that looks
like?
Molly Dyer LAc (03:44):
and when to use each one or what that looks like
.
Yeah, I mean, you know I'm nota doctor, but my dad is a doctor
.
So when you say I know Westernmedicine, I know it because I
grew up around it.
I've used it my whole life.
I have good doctors and Idiscuss my health with them
openly.
I've had not good doctorsbefore too, right?
(04:10):
So I think, and then, and Ithink that Western medicine is
something that's really good tobe used, you know, when there is
sort of an emergency orsomething that really requires
medication, and one of thethings I love about Eastern
medicine is that there aresometimes there's the
(04:30):
possibility that you don't haveto take a medication for
something because it's not goingto ruin your life to try an
alternative medicine option forthat particular disorder,
whatever it may be.
And in those cases, easternmedicine is great because it can
(04:52):
sometimes keep you off ofhaving to go on more medications
which you know.
Eventually, when you're onseveral medications, you may
have interactions between thosemedications or they may cause
different side effects.
So I think that one of the besttimes to use Eastern medicine
is when you can safely do sowithout putting yourself at risk
.
It's not required that you goto the Western medication for
(05:16):
life-sustaining reasons.
I love it.
Granddaughter Crow (05:19):
So you kind of do a blend of both.
Molly Dyer LAc (05:22):
So you kind of do a blend of both.
Well, no, I don't practiceWestern medicine.
Granddaughter Crow (05:27):
No, I mean the way that you approach.
Is recommended to kind of do ablend of both?
Molly Dyer LAc (05:33):
Yeah, okay.
Well, you know, I've got kindof a diverse group of people
that come into me.
I've got some people thatreally try to avoid going to the
doctor and a lot of times I canhelp them.
Most of the time those arepeople who have a chronic
disorder, and it's true thatchronic disorders there's not.
There's not as many goodsolutions in Western medicine
(05:57):
for chronic disease.
And if they're avoiding goingto the doctor, there are a few
times where I wish they would gobecause I kind of want to know
what the diagnosis would be,because it does inform me from
an Eastern medicine perspective.
But you know, I will let aperson know if I think that that
(06:18):
might be the best possibility,especially if I see something
that I call a red flag, whereit's like this is an emergency
referral, you need to go to thedoctor now.
Then I do, I send them that way.
But I also have a lot of peoplethat just work integratively
between coming to see me andgoing to their regular doctor.
(06:39):
So I get a little bit of youknow.
Granddaughter Crow (06:44):
I love it, I absolutely love it, and I agree
I mean going to like.
In my experience, going to awestern doctor, it's kind of
like.
They're like there's a problem,here's a solution, and it has
side effects.
But when I go, and whether I'mwith my husband or have been on
a visit with just us two due tomy menopause or whatever these
(07:08):
types of things you're likelooking at my tongue and you're
listening and you're like ohwell, how are your feet?
And I'm like, no, I'm tellingyou.
I'm like breaking into coldsweats and you're like well, are
you drinking dark liquids?
Like maybe you know.
I'm just like so you look at itfrom like a totally like
(07:29):
different lens of the holistic,as though I'm one body moving
together, which I suppose I am,and I really appreciate that.
What do you have to say aboutthat?
Molly Dyer LAc (07:41):
Yeah, I mean you're describing something that
my clients say to me a lot,which is like I feel heard when
I come here.
We get to sit down and talk.
It's not a rush, I'm not.
I'm not accepting insurance inmy client, which has its pros
and cons, but the pros are Idon't have to be on this strict,
(08:03):
you know, quick timeline ofseeing people every 15 or 20
minutes, which I don't supposeevery doctor is on, but many are
.
And you're describing also thisholistic way that we practice in
Eastern medicine, which is justwhat makes it the most
beautiful way of practicingmedicine.
(08:26):
It's.
You know, we do look at thebody, mind and spirit and how
they connect.
In fact, I've worked withrecently the child whose mother
was like you know, you're sayingthat these two things are
connected.
I've always thought they wereconnected and doctors just they
(08:47):
don't believe they're connected.
And sure enough, there's a link.
I mean we're very good atfinding how things are connected
in Eastern medicine.
So you know, we do practice froma holistic mindset and we use a
whole different diagnosticsystem, which is why it's so
helpful, because a lot of timespeople have gone to the doctor
(09:09):
and the doctor continues toeither say I don't know what it
is.
Or you've done all the testsand you test great for
everything, but you still havesymptoms.
And so they don't know.
You know, they give you maybe adiagnosis, like you know IBS,
ibs, sorry, ibs is a diagnosissometimes when there's no
(09:30):
diagnosis to be had, you know.
And so in that situation, youknow, I think Eastern medicine
is really helpful because I kindof think of those people as
people who have fallen throughthe cracks, like Western
medicine have no answers forthem and they don't know how to
(09:51):
help them.
But I have a differentdiagnostic technique I'm going
to use to diagnose what theimbalance is that's occurring.
And so I might catch somethingthat Western medicine didn't
catch using that diagnosticsystem of look at somebody I'm
(10:26):
looking at.
Granddaughter Crow (10:26):
Oh, your emotions are down.
Is that due to your thoughts oris it due to your lack of
chemical imbalance in your body?
Yeah, all of that, so I can digit.
So here's a question for youwhy did you name your practice
Light and Dark, Acupuncture andapothecary?
Molly Dyer LAc (10:44):
So it's sort of the conglomeration of a few
things, and the first one isthat my birthday is the winter
solstice and many years ago awise woman I know named
Granddaughter Crow told me thatbusinesses also have a birth
(11:05):
chart and that if I want tochoose a very special day for my
business to be born, then I canmake it intentional what day I
birth my business by making avery specific action on that day
.
So I purchased my LLC on thesummer solstice.
So that's one of the reasonsit's light and dark acupuncture.
Granddaughter Crow (11:28):
And.
Molly Dyer LAc (11:28):
I did that to provide balance and in Chinese
medicine we're always talkingabout the balance between yin
and yang.
I say yang.
That's how we learned it inChinese medicine school.
I know most people say yin andyang, but at any rate, we're
always looking at the balancebetween yin and yang, which you
know are opposing forces whichare both necessary and required.
(11:55):
I think I think your audiencewill understand if I say I'm a
Sagittarius and I historicallywas very much a silver lining
person Like I.
I like being happy, I likehelping people feel hopeful and
(12:17):
I'm really good at that.
But I was not automaticallyvery good at sitting with pain,
with painful moments andchallenge, and a lot of the
medicine that I practice isdoing just that.
So, yeah, I had to get muchbetter at it and I think at the
(12:47):
time that I went to acupunctureschool I was dating and then
married my partner, who is verygood at sitting with challenge
in a person's condition or intheir spirit, and I feel like
through her and throughacupuncture school, I learned so
much about being present withthe darker.
You know, harder, tougher timesthat we go through, and I think
that they're just as importantas you've written many books
(13:09):
about.
They're just as important asthe times where we feel hopeful
and light, and you know so,light and dark acupuncture.
My saying is it's not love andlight acupuncture, it's light
and dark acupuncture for areason.
Granddaughter Crow (13:25):
I love that because it's just like the day
and the night, the winter andthe summer solstice.
It's the balance of the yin andthe yang and I think that,
again, from my shamanistic pointof view, imbalance causes
discomfort and disease.
Balance is good, so it's a verybasic thing.
Disease balance is good, soit's a very basic thing.
(13:48):
And so I want to.
I want to make sure that wetake time to talk about your
focus, which is dermatology, andhow you got there, but I also
okay, it's a little intimidating.
I'm granddaughter crow authorblah blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah blah.
If I were to walk into an herbor to an herb shop or a kiosk or
(14:08):
an apothecary, I'd feel kind ofintimidated because I'd be like
well, I got a headache, what doI do?
You know?
Are you going to give me, likelemon root?
Or you know, I mean what?
Can you kind of take the, the,the intimidation factor off, so
(14:28):
that people feel a little bitmore equipped to know what to
say or to understand play byplay?
What does it look like in mostapothecaries or in yours or your
herb kiosk?
Molly Dyer LAc (14:42):
Yeah, so my, my apothecary is actually not open
to the public.
It's by appointment only, um,which I don't know.
It might not be that wayforever, but um, the reason it's
by appointment only right nowis that I prescribe every herb
that goes out the door here.
So I do that because I thinkthat people sometimes pick up
(15:05):
the wrong thing, like they don'tunderstand.
Like there are, you know, maybe, five different diagnoses that
you could have for acne inChinese medicine and you read
online that such and such herbis good for acne and you go and
pick it up and you're so excitedbut, like, that's not the right
herb for your acne.
(15:27):
So what you need in thatsituation is for someone to
diagnose you and prescribe youthe correct herb for that
condition.
Now there's lots of herbalmedicine you can do at home.
That's easy and fun andexperimental and okay to do at
home.
But when it comes to moresevere conditions, you may as
well hire somebody who's studiedherbs, you know.
(15:50):
So I guess I would say, interms of feeling intimidated,
like please, don't.
Like, please, just say what itis you need, because that's what
I did my training to be able tohelp you with.
You know, like I hope you'llcome to me and say, honestly,
I'm really embarrassed to saythis, but I have this weird
symptom that everyone doesn'ttake seriously, and I just want
(16:10):
to tell you what it is.
And and like everything means,something in Chinese medicine
there's no, there's no, thatdoesn't exist.
It's like, if you noticed it,it exists.
Like I had a person say it'sweird, when I run I hear it
clicking in my right ear andit's like that.
(16:31):
Okay, what does that mean?
That means some like hardenedcrystals in the right ear.
That means some, um, you know,lack of flow through the right
ear.
I have herbs that guide to theright ear, so you know, um, I
guess what I would say is firstof all, don't be intimidated to
hire an herbalist, even if youknow some about herbs, because
(16:53):
how you practice with herbs athome is different than how you
might take herbs for a specificcondition.
And then, um, to understandwhat it looks like, um, I can
speak from my own clinic.
I can't really speak for allthe other herbalists out there.
(17:13):
I imagine that if you'resomewhere else in the world
watching this and you were to goto an herbalist in your
community, it would be somethingkind of similar to what I'm
about to describe, but maybeslightly different.
So for me I like to speak withpeople on the phone first,
because usually herbal therapyrequires more consistency than
(17:37):
people realize.
Or they have questions aboutwhat it's going to cost, or or I
need to make sure that they cantake the herbs that I'm going
to be prescribing before I evenbring them in and, you know, get
started with them.
I don't see the point ofpulling them in here for an
hour-long appointment or90-minute appointment and then
they, you know, can't take theherbs you know.
(18:02):
So I try to kind of figure thatstuff out in a phone call.
That's free.
I do free phone consults andthen, after we've done the free
phone consult, I make arecommendation for how often I'd
like to see them and for howlong, and we set up their
initial session and the initialsession they come in and we just
(18:23):
talk about their whole healthhistory and what's going on.
And because I specialize indermatology, I always take
photos so that I've got somebefore photos that I can compare
with some after photos afterwe've been treating it for a
while.
And then, you know, I'm also anacupuncturist, so some people
(18:45):
opt to do acupuncture alongsidetheir herbal therapy and some
people opt for just an herbalconsultation.
So if we did an herbalconsultation we'd just be
chatting the whole time, but ifwe did acupuncture, they would
rest and lay there with theacupuncture needles for a while
while I put together their herbs.
(19:25):
I love that, either withacupuncture needles or not, and
and I go make their herbalformula.
Granddaughter Crow (19:33):
I love that, and so you guys check out Molly
online lightanddarkacucom.
So that's light L-I-G-H-T andA-N-D, dark D-A-R-K-A-C-Ucom.
You also follow molly on socialmedia at that same address
(19:53):
light and dark acu.
Um, you're enjoying the beliefbeing and beyond podcast and
would like to support it.
I'm on patreon.
Just go to patreongranddaughter crow or you can
find it at granddaughtercrowcom.
Thank you so much.
So you right now serve like theDenver metro area here in
(20:16):
Colorado?
Is that correct?
That's right, yeah, but wouldyou ever like mail outside of
Colorado?
Or is that something where it'sjust you're here and you need
to see us?
Molly Dyer LAc (20:30):
So my license covers me treating only in
Colorado.
So I don't work with peopleoutside of Colorado and I do
sometimes ship herbs to otherareas in Colorado.
Actually, there is a rule thatsays that if you establish care
with me in Colorado, that thenyou can come to me.
(20:50):
Care with me in Colorado, thatthen you can come to me.
So so I do have a coupleclients who have come to me
first in Colorado and then liveelsewhere.
But yeah, so I do ship herbssometimes.
Granddaughter Crow (21:03):
I love that.
I love that and I love what youhave to say.
So you've been doing this for adecade after school and you are
very.
What I love about Molly isshe's very approachable, I mean
as well as serious and yetlighthearted.
(21:26):
So she takes everything thatyou say and she considers it,
and that's what I love about thelight and dark.
So just recently you decidedthat your passion is a little
bit more in the dermatology ordermatological.
I mean, how do you say that?
Molly Dyer LAc (21:45):
Yeah, that's right, you said it right
Dermatology, herbalism, yeah.
Granddaughter Crow (21:51):
Yeah, and so give us a couple of.
You know why I moved to thisspecialty and you know like,
what, what, what makes you soexcited about that aspect?
Molly Dyer LAc (22:02):
Yeah, Well, my my partner loves to tease me
because I long ago stopped doingvery much to care for my skin
at all, and I'm going to saythat right up front, because it
is actually part of why I am sopassionate about this.
One of the things that was justreally overwhelming to me was,
like there's all kinds of badthings in cosmetics and I just I
(22:26):
stopped wearing makeup.
Now I don't have a problem withanyone wearing makeup, wearing
makeup Now I don't have aproblem with anyone wearing
makeup but I wanted the mostnatural options.
You know, for me, like that'swhat I wanted.
So that's one reason that I wasinterested in dermatology, but
I would say I stumbled upon it alittle bit.
There's a really well-knownChinese dermatologist,
(22:50):
dermatology herbalist, whoteaches a really advanced course
on dermatology herbalism andallows you to get certified with
the International TraditionalChinese Medicine Dermatology
Association after you take hiscourse.
And I took his course because Ihappened to pop on to one
(23:13):
webinar where he was describingdifferent skin conditions and I
thought it might be interesting,because I treat a lot of
children and a lot of childrenhave eczema and I knew he was
going to go over eczema, so Ithought this might be really
good for my practice.
So I hopped on that webinar andmy gosh, I mean it blew my mind
Like it was.
It was watching complete, likejust completely red, dry,
(23:42):
flaking skin become completelynormal and you could see it in
the photos.
And so to watch that big changeand to know that I already use
herbs, I already know how to useherbs I could do that too.
That was something that sort ofenticed me to take his bigger
course.
And when I went to his biggercourse, one of the big lessons
(24:05):
that I learned is, I think, likean herbalist, everything that
came out of his mouth I alreadyunderstood it, Like it was like
my language, and I don'tremember.
I don't have a great memory.
I don't remember anythingexcept for herbs.
I remember herbs.
Like I remember like everydetail about every little herb
(24:26):
that he said like this herb isreally good for folliculitis, or
this combo of herbs is reallygood for folliculitis, Like I
remember that I'm like, oh, thatperson has folliculitis.
I better put in Lian Chao andJin Yan Hua, you know.
So it just that's how my brainworks and I realized like this
is kind of my gift, and so Iwould say that's.
(24:48):
That's one reason I got reallyexcited about it and it was for
me very satisfying becausevisually I can see how much
impact I've created, Right, yourealize, like if I'm treating
anxiety or digestion or pain,like it's all just coming from a
person's perspective, mostlysubjective information about how
(25:12):
well we've done.
But when I, when I clearsomeone's skin, like I can see
how well we've done, so that'sreally satisfying, you know.
So those are some reasons, butgetting into it and doing his
training, One of the reasons Igot became really passionate
about it is because there's justOne of the reasons I became
(25:35):
really passionate about it isbecause there's a lack of great
options in Western dermatology.
There's just a huge lack ofgreat pharmaceuticals for skin
conditions.
Most skin conditions end upwith a need for antibiotics or
steroids.
In some cases those can clear askin condition.
In some cases they can make itworse, such as in the example of
(25:55):
topical steroid withdrawal,which is an awful thing for
people to experience.
It's really truly.
It's like hell on earth forthese people that experience
topical steroid withdrawal andthen, you know, or some,
sometimes it just sort of coversit like a bandaid and then it
just comes back if you stoptaking the meds, you know, and
(26:17):
there's just a lot of cases ofpeople falling through the
cracks, like I mentioned before.
So I found passion for helpinga group of people that I know.
There are just a ton of sort offalling through the cracks
because they're just not greatoptions.
So that's another reason that Igot into it.
(26:39):
And I would say maybe the thirdreason is because I'm just so
passionate about herbs.
So you know, I like acupuncture, I've always liked acupuncture.
It's fun, but it doesn't do thesame thing for me as building
an herbal formula, you knowwhich is just.
That's my creative genius.
Granddaughter Crow (26:57):
Yeah, I absolutely love that.
So I have an odd question,sideball.
Okay, so since acupuncture andherbalist and Eastern medicine
just in a blanket kind of looksat a holistic side of a person,
(27:17):
then would it be safe to saythat somebody comes in for
eczema, acne, and you give thema formula and then they come
back and report not only thatit's clearing up, but the other
positive changes have happened,maybe digestively or lack of fog
(27:38):
brain, am I reaching or am Ibeing?
Molly Dyer LAc (27:40):
psychic, so definitely like logical, logical
yeah.
There's like a definiteconnection between the gut and
the skin and actually one of thereasons I love herbal, the
Chinese herbal medicine, likespecifically Chinese herbal
(28:00):
medicine, is because of the longhistory of using herbs for
dermatological issues and otherissues and other issues, and
there were concepts that werewritten in a book.
That's almost I mean, it'sprobably 2100 years ago, so over
2000 years ago.
(28:20):
There was a book written thattalked about the basics of yin
and yang and how, and in thatbook they talked about how the
skin reflects the inside of thebody and it does.
It tells me everything I needto know.
That was another reason I tookhis training.
I thought, oh, this will helpmy diagnostics.
You know, like, if I can seesomething on the skin and I'm
(28:44):
not 100 percent sure what thediagnosis is, then that might
help me confirm what's going onwith a person is, then that
might help me confirm what'sgoing on with a person.
Oh my gosh, did it ever?
Like I really really understandnow what the skin is telling me
, probably have better skindiagnostic skills than I do
(29:04):
pulse taking skills as a Chinesemedicine practitioner, probably
.
And so that is the kind ofthing that you know is is very
common where you'll see somebodywith sleep challenges and the
herbal formulas that weformulate are for their skin but
(29:25):
their sleep clears up.
Actually, it's intentionalbecause when someone comes in, I
ask them about their skin and Itake photos of it.
But I ask them about all thesedifferent systems, their
digestion, their sleep.
You know their heat level, ordo they sweat?
(29:46):
Do they not sweat?
And where I identify imbalances, I add herbs for those things,
because those imbalances arerelated to why their skin is
showing up the way it's showingup.
So it's on purpose.
And really, as we go throughthe course of treatment, I
adjust the formula several times, either to sort of keep the
(30:07):
skin guessing so that it doesn'tget used to the herbs you know,
or to sort of help the change,the phase of healing that the
person is in, so that the herbalformula needs to reflect what
phase of healing the person isin.
And so, as I go about makingthose tweaks and adjustments,
(30:29):
I'm always asking, like you know, did this mess with your bowels
?
Like, did this, you know,impact your sleep or anything
like that?
And I put in herbs to balancewhatever is out of balance if
it's, if it's necessary.
Granddaughter Crow (30:45):
I absolutely love it.
So you guys check out if youare here in the Denver metro
area and she really her officeis in her clinic is pretty close
to DIA.
So if you want to fly in toDenver, Colorado, look up
lightanddarkacucom and book withMolly on the phone and then go
(31:06):
and see her.
It will be a delight.
So let's shift gears, twirlaround, skirt over.
I don't know how to introducethis Tappyfeet, mytappyfeetcom.
What are you doing?
What are you teaching?
Molly Dyer LAc (31:25):
Okay, tappyfeet is my just side business,
passion.
It's my joy.
I teach only adult tap danceclasses and it's called Tappy
Feet and everyone thinks it'skids because it's called Tappy
Feet, but it's because as adultswe just really have to get out
(31:46):
of our heads and forget aboutstuff for a minute and just have
a good time and connect withour own joy and connect with
other people and move our bodies.
And Tappy Feet is adult tapdance classes.
We have beginner, intermediateand advanced classes and we have
(32:09):
so much fun and the classeshave been growing and growing
and growing.
And somebody said to me theother day she said, molly, I
just love coming in here becausethere are so many, these
classes are getting so big, thisis needed.
And just to hear her say itlike that, these classes are so
fun because there's so manypeople and it's so obvious that
(32:30):
we need this.
So, yeah, tappy Feet is just areally good time, is what it is,
and I've got an excellentcommunity of tap dancers who are
just some of my favorite peopleon earth.
They're just all so sweet andwe go in there, we dance, we
have a good time, we try to growalso and learn, you know, and
(32:52):
build skills and we nerd outabout Black history, because tap
history is Black history and welove to hear about, you know,
famous tap masters in historywho really made an impact in the
field of tap dance.
Including this particular BlackHistory Month, I've really been
(33:14):
focusing on women of colorbecause, like, really what what
happened in tap history is a lotof women ended up in the chorus
line, so they weren't the starsof the shows, but a lot of them
were really really very good atwhat they do and but their
(33:35):
talent was sort of passed overbecause it was a male dominated
field, which is so funny,because right now we might think
it's a female dominated field,but it's.
It was a male dominated fielddance, dance, I think in general
well, I guess you can't saythat for all styles of dance,
but definitely tap dance and sothis particular year, for Black
(33:58):
History Month, I've beenhighlighting Black women who
were famous tap dancers inhistory.
So that's a fun thing that wedo together.
Yeah, it's just a ton of fun.
I absolutely love that.
Granddaughter Crow (34:13):
So tap dancing, like when you were
little, did you get into it?
How did you decide on it?
Because that's such a uniquelike.
I mean.
You said that you know tappyfeet.
People think children and I'mlike inner child.
This is for your inner child,absolutely.
Your body needs to be over 21,but your inner child needs to be
(34:36):
about four.
So can you tell us how did youget into tap dancing and a
little bit more about where youfound it?
Molly Dyer LAc (34:43):
I think I tap danced one semester when I was
in like sixth grade or something, yeah that's it.
And then I just I was justtaking like a dance class, you
know like a combo dance class,which is really common.
But I didn't get into tap danceright away.
I was a percussionist in highschool and I played, I played
(35:06):
drums in the drum line and Iplayed piano.
I played piano all growing upand so when I went to college I
decided to major in theater andI wanted to be a triple threat.
A triple threat is where you'rea really good singer, a really
good actor and a really gooddancer.
(35:26):
Yeah, and I was not a triplethreat at all.
I don't, I don't even I'm.
It was really not the rightfield for me.
It was.
It was an excellent experience.
I learned a lot and it got meintroduced to tap dance.
So the place where I went tocollege in Gunnison, colorado,
(35:46):
they had something called theGunnison Arts Center there and I
did a lot of like just you know, community theater through them
and I did a lot of like justyou know, community theater
through them and I also took alot of dance classes.
And it was not long afterstarting tap and becoming really
, really obsessed with it that Istarted teaching tap to little
(36:08):
kids, because I'm apercussionist and it just made
sense.
You know your body is it's tapdance is aesthetically pleasing.
You know you watch a tap dancerand you're watching how they
perform, but also it'srhythmically pleasing and as a
(36:30):
tap dancer, it's aestheticallychallenging and rhythmically
challenging, and so that's kindof a fun thing to teach yourself
to both think about how youlook and also how you sound at
the same time.
Granddaughter Crow (36:47):
I love that.
I absolutely love that, andthat also, you guys, gives a
really good work-life balanceyin and yang, day and night.
Day you do dermatology orbiology and night you put on
your tap shoes and you give us ashow and teach others how to
have fun.
Molly Dyer LAc (37:08):
I love that, I will say, as I've been in this
career for a long time andgotten busier and busier, I grew
a lot for a long time.
I grew and grew and grew andthen I just was tired.
I was doing way too much.
So I started doing less and Ireally appreciated doing less
(37:32):
and I did less and less and lessand every single time I did one
less thing I felt better andTappy Feet was never on the
chopping block because thatgives me energy, because having
a good time doing something Ilove, it gives me energy.
(37:53):
So I still I work long, longdays because I'm here till late
for people who need after workhours on Tuesday, thursday and
Friday.
But I teach dance on Monday andWednesday, so I come home even
later on Monday and Wednesday.
So, but it's never been on thechopping block because I don't.
(38:15):
I don't need less of that in mylife, I need more of it.
Sometimes I think maybe I couldfill one more class and maybe I
could teach one more class.
And then my partner says withwhat time?
When would you teach anotherclass?
But I need more of it in mylife.
It's just really positive andfun.
Granddaughter Crow (38:36):
I love that, so I'm about ready to ask you
if there's anything else thatyou want to say.
But while you're thinking aboutthat, people, this is a really
good reminder that a lot oftimes in our lives, we think
that more is better and moreaccomplishes.
More brings us more, whatever,but sometimes less is more.
(39:00):
And so when you think aboutwhat you are spending your
resources on not just money, butyour time, your thoughts, your
heart is it giving back to you,does it make you happy, does it
bring you energy, or are youjust overexpending because of
(39:23):
the narrative that do more, domore, do more?
So thank you for that reminder.
So, molly, is there anythingelse that you just want to share
with the listening audience?
Molly Dyer LAc (39:36):
yeah, I want to respond to what you just said
and I have one other thing thatI could share real quick and
that is um, we live in a veryadrenaline based society and
learning eastern medicine is allabout learning how you balance,
you know, the active side ofyour nervous system with the
(39:58):
restful side of your nervoussystem, in order to promote
better resilience in your body.
And so it, for me, has beenthis long lesson in how do I do
less, because all I've beendoing my whole life is more and
more and more and more.
Some of that is being aSagittarian and some of that is
(40:21):
just being an American.
You know an American, a memberof my community, and you know
somebody who likes to helppeople.
I always take on more and moreand more, and I have been
clearing out space in my lifeand it has been the biggest gift
.
In fact, I didn't even ask forit.
A few times, something happenedwhere I all of a sudden had
(40:46):
more space and I realized, wow,this is great.
Like I'm going to keep doingthis on purpose, you know.
So, yes, I think that's a bigone.
And the only other thing Iwanted to add is why you might
be interested in purchasingherbs through an herbalist
versus something you can findlike a supplement in the grocery
(41:07):
store.
Yeah, and especially through aChinese herbalist.
So actually in the US herbs areregulated as a food supplement
and in China they're regulatedas a pharmaceutical.
So they're actually tested andhave much higher compliance for
(41:28):
their or much more rigoroustesting for their good
manufacturing practices thatthey have to follow in China
than here in the US, justbecause of the way that they
regulate herbs over there andthey're a huge exporter of herbs
.
So they have to be very carefulabout the quality of their
(41:49):
herbs.
So they're very high quality.
And the other reason is, youknow, if you hire an herbalist
you know we talked about youknow an herbalist will help get
the right herb for you.
And one of the things we do aswe go along the process is we
tweak that formula based onwhere you're at so that it'll
(42:10):
continue to work well.
So that it'll continue to workwell.
So I would say sometimes, likethere's little things that you
can pick up an herb at thegrocery store for, but when you
have a more complex disorderyou're going to get, you're
going to save money by hiringsomebody who knows what they're
doing.
Hopefully, long-term you'regoing to have less side effects
(42:34):
because you're working with aprofessional, and long term
you're going to have um, youknow, better, better end results
, because you're working withsomebody who diagnosed you and
chose the right herbal formula.
So, yeah, one of the biggesttakeaways I wanted to say was
that it's not always importantto hire a herbalist for every,
(42:56):
every single little thing, butthere are some scenarios where
it's really good to hire aherbalist because you're going
to save your money and you'regoing to get better results and
you're going to, you know, get abetter, have a better um
opportunity to heal.
So that's my, that's myfeedback, that's my two cents.
Granddaughter Crow (43:18):
I absolutely love it.
I absolutely love it.
So, molly, thank you so muchfor bringing us beyond in our
thinking about medicine, as wellas balance within our self,
within our life, etc.
I just really appreciate youbeing here on the show.
Molly Dyer LAc (43:42):
I really appreciate you too, yay.
Granddaughter Crow (43:45):
So, thank you everyone.
Thanks for tuning in yet againto another episode of Belief,
being and Beyond.
Like subscribe, hit all thebells and whistles so that you
don't miss an episode, please.
If there is somebody who's like, oh well, I kind of want to
know about herbs, send this tothem.
Send this to them.
We bring you a plethora ofdifferent belief systems and
(44:07):
approaches to life and I ask thequestions for you.
If you have a specific topic orquestion that you want me to
ask for you, text the show,scroll down.
If you're listening to this ona podcast, if you're on YouTube,
just comment, but scroll down.
Text the show.
I will get your text.
Won't know your phone number.
(44:27):
I'll know your vicinity.
Won't know your name, so youcan be anonymous or you can be
my new best friend.
So anyway, thank you everyone.
I love you.
See you on the flippity flip.
Welcome to Belief, being and Beyond with
your host, granddaughter Crow.
Hi everybody, granddaughterCrow here for yet another
episode of Belief, being andBeyond.
As you know, I love to bringdifferent belief systems to the
table, ask those questions thatwe might be afraid to ask for
(00:23):
the listening audience, as wellas understand that different
belief systems constitute.
To ask for the listeningaudience, as well as understand
that different belief systemsconstitutes how we behave in the
world, our beingness.
But there's always somethingmore.
There's always something beyond, and today I have a wonderful
guest.
We are going to be looking atmore Eastern medicine.
(00:45):
I'm really excited aboutbringing Molly to the table.
Let me give you a little bit ofinsight about Molly.
So Molly Dyer is a licensedacupuncturist and is the founder
of Light and Dark Acupunctureand Apothecary and Tappy Feet.
We'll get into that.
She blends deep healing withhands-on care, balancing classic
(01:09):
wisdom with modern herbalapproaches.
That sounds like something thatwe really need.
Certified by the InternationalTraditional Chinese Dermatology
Association, itcmda right, shespecializes, obviously you can
tell I'm very comfortable withmy friend Molly.
(01:29):
She specializes in treatingacne, eczema and psoriasis,
among a lot of other skinconditions, through traditional
Chinese medicine Chinesemedicine.
She also holds an internationalcertificate in traditional
Chinese medicine pediatrics,which allows her to provide
(01:50):
expert dermatological care forall ages, as well as through
Tappy Feet yes, tappy Feet.
She connects adults through joy, laughter, movement and
creativity in her tap dancingclasses.
So, without further ado, let meintroduce you to what me and my
(02:12):
husband call Miracle Molly.
Say hi to everyone, molly, hi,thanks for having me here.
Oh gosh, I've been lookingforward to it.
I've known you for forever.
Molly Dyer LAc (02:30):
How many years?
15 years?
How many years?
Well, yeah, probably 15,because we met right after, I
think, or?
Granddaughter Crow (02:48):
right before I started acupuncture school
and I'm going on a 10 yearcareer in acupuncture now and
acupuncture school was fouryears long.
So, yes, right at 15 or so.
I love it, I absolutely love it.
So in our discussion I'd kindof like to ask very general
questions and I'll just behonest.
You know there's a lot ofstrangeness in our atmosphere.
I'll call it to you knowwhether it's economic, social,
(03:10):
social justice, lack of socialjustice, all of that.
But there's also concernswithin the medical industry and
pharmaceuticals and insurance.
We won't go there, but we allknow what we're talking about.
And yet that's all Westernmedicine and you know Western
(03:30):
medicine and you know Easternmedicine.
Can you give us a little bit ofa breakdown about your thoughts
on each one and when to useeach one, or what that looks
like?
Molly Dyer LAc (03:44):
and when to use each one or what that looks like
.
Yeah, I mean, you know I'm nota doctor, but my dad is a doctor
.
So when you say I know Westernmedicine, I know it because I
grew up around it.
I've used it my whole life.
I have good doctors and Idiscuss my health with them
openly.
I've had not good doctorsbefore too, right?
(04:10):
So I think, and then, and Ithink that Western medicine is
something that's really good tobe used, you know, when there is
sort of an emergency orsomething that really requires
medication, and one of thethings I love about Eastern
medicine is that there aresometimes there's the
(04:30):
possibility that you don't haveto take a medication for
something because it's not goingto ruin your life to try an
alternative medicine option forthat particular disorder,
whatever it may be.
And in those cases, easternmedicine is great because it can
(04:52):
sometimes keep you off ofhaving to go on more medications
which you know.
Eventually, when you're onseveral medications, you may
have interactions between thosemedications or they may cause
different side effects.
So I think that one of the besttimes to use Eastern medicine
is when you can safely do sowithout putting yourself at risk
.
It's not required that you goto the Western medication for
(05:16):
life-sustaining reasons.
I love it.
Granddaughter Crow (05:19):
So you kind of do a blend of both.
Molly Dyer LAc (05:22):
So you kind of do a blend of both.
Well, no, I don't practiceWestern medicine.
Granddaughter Crow (05:27):
No, I mean the way that you approach.
Is recommended to kind of do ablend of both?
Molly Dyer LAc (05:33):
Yeah, okay.
Well, you know, I've got kindof a diverse group of people
that come into me.
I've got some people thatreally try to avoid going to the
doctor and a lot of times I canhelp them.
Most of the time those arepeople who have a chronic
disorder, and it's true thatchronic disorders there's not.
There's not as many goodsolutions in Western medicine
(05:57):
for chronic disease.
And if they're avoiding goingto the doctor, there are a few
times where I wish they would gobecause I kind of want to know
what the diagnosis would be,because it does inform me from
an Eastern medicine perspective.
But you know, I will let aperson know if I think that that
(06:18):
might be the best possibility,especially if I see something
that I call a red flag, whereit's like this is an emergency
referral, you need to go to thedoctor now.
Then I do, I send them that way.
But I also have a lot of peoplethat just work integratively
between coming to see me andgoing to their regular doctor.
(06:39):
So I get a little bit of youknow.
Granddaughter Crow (06:44):
I love it, I absolutely love it, and I agree
I mean going to like.
In my experience, going to awestern doctor, it's kind of
like.
They're like there's a problem,here's a solution, and it has
side effects.
But when I go, and whether I'mwith my husband or have been on
a visit with just us two due tomy menopause or whatever these
(07:08):
types of things you're likelooking at my tongue and you're
listening and you're like ohwell, how are your feet?
And I'm like, no, I'm tellingyou.
I'm like breaking into coldsweats and you're like well, are
you drinking dark liquids?
Like maybe you know.
I'm just like so you look at itfrom like a totally like
(07:29):
different lens of the holistic,as though I'm one body moving
together, which I suppose I am,and I really appreciate that.
What do you have to say aboutthat?
Molly Dyer LAc (07:41):
Yeah, I mean you're describing something that
my clients say to me a lot,which is like I feel heard when
I come here.
We get to sit down and talk.
It's not a rush, I'm not.
I'm not accepting insurance inmy client, which has its pros
and cons, but the pros are Idon't have to be on this strict,
(08:03):
you know, quick timeline ofseeing people every 15 or 20
minutes, which I don't supposeevery doctor is on, but many are
.
And you're describing also thisholistic way that we practice in
Eastern medicine, which is justwhat makes it the most
beautiful way of practicingmedicine.
(08:26):
It's.
You know, we do look at thebody, mind and spirit and how
they connect.
In fact, I've worked withrecently the child whose mother
was like you know, you're sayingthat these two things are
connected.
I've always thought they wereconnected and doctors just they
(08:47):
don't believe they're connected.
And sure enough, there's a link.
I mean we're very good atfinding how things are connected
in Eastern medicine.
So you know, we do practice froma holistic mindset and we use a
whole different diagnosticsystem, which is why it's so
helpful, because a lot of timespeople have gone to the doctor
(09:09):
and the doctor continues toeither say I don't know what it
is.
Or you've done all the testsand you test great for
everything, but you still havesymptoms.
And so they don't know.
You know, they give you maybe adiagnosis, like you know IBS,
ibs, sorry, ibs is a diagnosissometimes when there's no
(09:30):
diagnosis to be had, you know.
And so in that situation, youknow, I think Eastern medicine
is really helpful because I kindof think of those people as
people who have fallen throughthe cracks, like Western
medicine have no answers forthem and they don't know how to
(09:51):
help them.
But I have a differentdiagnostic technique I'm going
to use to diagnose what theimbalance is that's occurring.
And so I might catch somethingthat Western medicine didn't
catch using that diagnosticsystem of look at somebody I'm
(10:26):
looking at.
Granddaughter Crow (10:26):
Oh, your emotions are down.
Is that due to your thoughts oris it due to your lack of
chemical imbalance in your body?
Yeah, all of that, so I can digit.
So here's a question for youwhy did you name your practice
Light and Dark, Acupuncture andapothecary?
Molly Dyer LAc (10:44):
So it's sort of the conglomeration of a few
things, and the first one isthat my birthday is the winter
solstice and many years ago awise woman I know named
Granddaughter Crow told me thatbusinesses also have a birth
(11:05):
chart and that if I want tochoose a very special day for my
business to be born, then I canmake it intentional what day I
birth my business by making avery specific action on that day
.
So I purchased my LLC on thesummer solstice.
So that's one of the reasonsit's light and dark acupuncture.
Granddaughter Crow (11:28):
And.
Molly Dyer LAc (11:28):
I did that to provide balance and in Chinese
medicine we're always talkingabout the balance between yin
and yang.
I say yang.
That's how we learned it inChinese medicine school.
I know most people say yin andyang, but at any rate, we're
always looking at the balancebetween yin and yang, which you
know are opposing forces whichare both necessary and required.
(11:55):
I think I think your audiencewill understand if I say I'm a
Sagittarius and I historicallywas very much a silver lining
person Like I.
I like being happy, I likehelping people feel hopeful and
(12:17):
I'm really good at that.
But I was not automaticallyvery good at sitting with pain,
with painful moments andchallenge, and a lot of the
medicine that I practice isdoing just that.
So, yeah, I had to get muchbetter at it and I think at the
(12:47):
time that I went to acupunctureschool I was dating and then
married my partner, who is verygood at sitting with challenge
in a person's condition or intheir spirit, and I feel like
through her and throughacupuncture school, I learned so
much about being present withthe darker.
You know, harder, tougher timesthat we go through, and I think
that they're just as importantas you've written many books
(13:09):
about.
They're just as important asthe times where we feel hopeful
and light, and you know so,light and dark acupuncture.
My saying is it's not love andlight acupuncture, it's light
and dark acupuncture for areason.
Granddaughter Crow (13:25):
I love that because it's just like the day
and the night, the winter andthe summer solstice.
It's the balance of the yin andthe yang and I think that,
again, from my shamanistic pointof view, imbalance causes
discomfort and disease.
Balance is good, so it's a verybasic thing.
Disease balance is good, soit's a very basic thing.
(13:48):
And so I want to.
I want to make sure that wetake time to talk about your
focus, which is dermatology, andhow you got there, but I also
okay, it's a little intimidating.
I'm granddaughter crow authorblah blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah blah.
If I were to walk into an herbor to an herb shop or a kiosk or
(14:08):
an apothecary, I'd feel kind ofintimidated because I'd be like
well, I got a headache, what doI do?
You know?
Are you going to give me, likelemon root?
Or you know, I mean what?
Can you kind of take the, the,the intimidation factor off, so
(14:28):
that people feel a little bitmore equipped to know what to
say or to understand play byplay?
What does it look like in mostapothecaries or in yours or your
herb kiosk?
Molly Dyer LAc (14:42):
Yeah, so my, my apothecary is actually not open
to the public.
It's by appointment only, um,which I don't know.
It might not be that wayforever, but um, the reason it's
by appointment only right nowis that I prescribe every herb
that goes out the door here.
So I do that because I thinkthat people sometimes pick up
(15:05):
the wrong thing, like they don'tunderstand.
Like there are, you know, maybe, five different diagnoses that
you could have for acne inChinese medicine and you read
online that such and such herbis good for acne and you go and
pick it up and you're so excitedbut, like, that's not the right
herb for your acne.
(15:27):
So what you need in thatsituation is for someone to
diagnose you and prescribe youthe correct herb for that
condition.
Now there's lots of herbalmedicine you can do at home.
That's easy and fun andexperimental and okay to do at
home.
But when it comes to moresevere conditions, you may as
well hire somebody who's studiedherbs, you know.
(15:50):
So I guess I would say, interms of feeling intimidated,
like please, don't.
Like, please, just say what itis you need, because that's what
I did my training to be able tohelp you with.
You know, like I hope you'llcome to me and say, honestly,
I'm really embarrassed to saythis, but I have this weird
symptom that everyone doesn'ttake seriously, and I just want
(16:10):
to tell you what it is.
And and like everything means,something in Chinese medicine
there's no, there's no, thatdoesn't exist.
It's like, if you noticed it,it exists.
Like I had a person say it'sweird, when I run I hear it
clicking in my right ear andit's like that.
(16:31):
Okay, what does that mean?
That means some like hardenedcrystals in the right ear.
That means some, um, you know,lack of flow through the right
ear.
I have herbs that guide to theright ear, so you know, um, I
guess what I would say is firstof all, don't be intimidated to
hire an herbalist, even if youknow some about herbs, because
(16:53):
how you practice with herbs athome is different than how you
might take herbs for a specificcondition.
And then, um, to understandwhat it looks like, um, I can
speak from my own clinic.
I can't really speak for allthe other herbalists out there.
(17:13):
I imagine that if you'resomewhere else in the world
watching this and you were to goto an herbalist in your
community, it would be somethingkind of similar to what I'm
about to describe, but maybeslightly different.
So for me I like to speak withpeople on the phone first,
because usually herbal therapyrequires more consistency than
(17:37):
people realize.
Or they have questions aboutwhat it's going to cost, or or I
need to make sure that they cantake the herbs that I'm going
to be prescribing before I evenbring them in and, you know, get
started with them.
I don't see the point ofpulling them in here for an
hour-long appointment or90-minute appointment and then
they, you know, can't take theherbs you know.
(18:02):
So I try to kind of figure thatstuff out in a phone call.
That's free.
I do free phone consults andthen, after we've done the free
phone consult, I make arecommendation for how often I'd
like to see them and for howlong, and we set up their
initial session and the initialsession they come in and we just
(18:23):
talk about their whole healthhistory and what's going on.
And because I specialize indermatology, I always take
photos so that I've got somebefore photos that I can compare
with some after photos afterwe've been treating it for a
while.
And then, you know, I'm also anacupuncturist, so some people
(18:45):
opt to do acupuncture alongsidetheir herbal therapy and some
people opt for just an herbalconsultation.
So if we did an herbalconsultation we'd just be
chatting the whole time, but ifwe did acupuncture, they would
rest and lay there with theacupuncture needles for a while
while I put together their herbs.
(19:25):
I love that, either withacupuncture needles or not, and
and I go make their herbalformula.
Granddaughter Crow (19:33):
I love that, and so you guys check out Molly
online lightanddarkacucom.
So that's light L-I-G-H-T andA-N-D, dark D-A-R-K-A-C-Ucom.
You also follow molly on socialmedia at that same address
(19:53):
light and dark acu.
Um, you're enjoying the beliefbeing and beyond podcast and
would like to support it.
I'm on patreon.
Just go to patreongranddaughter crow or you can
find it at granddaughtercrowcom.
Thank you so much.
So you right now serve like theDenver metro area here in
(20:16):
Colorado?
Is that correct?
That's right, yeah, but wouldyou ever like mail outside of
Colorado?
Or is that something where it'sjust you're here and you need
to see us?
Molly Dyer LAc (20:30):
So my license covers me treating only in
Colorado.
So I don't work with peopleoutside of Colorado and I do
sometimes ship herbs to otherareas in Colorado.
Actually, there is a rule thatsays that if you establish care
with me in Colorado, that thenyou can come to me.
(20:50):
Care with me in Colorado, thatthen you can come to me.
So so I do have a coupleclients who have come to me
first in Colorado and then liveelsewhere.
But yeah, so I do ship herbssometimes.
Granddaughter Crow (21:03):
I love that.
I love that and I love what youhave to say.
So you've been doing this for adecade after school and you are
very.
What I love about Molly isshe's very approachable, I mean
as well as serious and yetlighthearted.
(21:26):
So she takes everything thatyou say and she considers it,
and that's what I love about thelight and dark.
So just recently you decidedthat your passion is a little
bit more in the dermatology ordermatological.
I mean, how do you say that?
Molly Dyer LAc (21:45):
Yeah, that's right, you said it right
Dermatology, herbalism, yeah.
Granddaughter Crow (21:51):
Yeah, and so give us a couple of.
You know why I moved to thisspecialty and you know like,
what, what, what makes you soexcited about that aspect?
Molly Dyer LAc (22:02):
Yeah, Well, my my partner loves to tease me
because I long ago stopped doingvery much to care for my skin
at all, and I'm going to saythat right up front, because it
is actually part of why I am sopassionate about this.
One of the things that was justreally overwhelming to me was,
like there's all kinds of badthings in cosmetics and I just I
(22:26):
stopped wearing makeup.
Now I don't have a problem withanyone wearing makeup, wearing
makeup Now I don't have aproblem with anyone wearing
makeup but I wanted the mostnatural options.
You know, for me, like that'swhat I wanted.
So that's one reason that I wasinterested in dermatology, but
I would say I stumbled upon it alittle bit.
There's a really well-knownChinese dermatologist,
(22:50):
dermatology herbalist, whoteaches a really advanced course
on dermatology herbalism andallows you to get certified with
the International TraditionalChinese Medicine Dermatology
Association after you take hiscourse.
And I took his course because Ihappened to pop on to one
(23:13):
webinar where he was describingdifferent skin conditions and I
thought it might be interesting,because I treat a lot of
children and a lot of childrenhave eczema and I knew he was
going to go over eczema, so Ithought this might be really
good for my practice.
So I hopped on that webinar andmy gosh, I mean it blew my mind
Like it was.
It was watching complete, likejust completely red, dry,
(23:42):
flaking skin become completelynormal and you could see it in
the photos.
And so to watch that big changeand to know that I already use
herbs, I already know how to useherbs I could do that too.
That was something that sort ofenticed me to take his bigger
course.
And when I went to his biggercourse, one of the big lessons
(24:05):
that I learned is, I think, likean herbalist, everything that
came out of his mouth I alreadyunderstood it, Like it was like
my language, and I don'tremember.
I don't have a great memory.
I don't remember anythingexcept for herbs.
I remember herbs.
Like I remember like everydetail about every little herb
(24:26):
that he said like this herb isreally good for folliculitis, or
this combo of herbs is reallygood for folliculitis, Like I
remember that I'm like, oh, thatperson has folliculitis.
I better put in Lian Chao andJin Yan Hua, you know.
So it just that's how my brainworks and I realized like this
is kind of my gift, and so Iwould say that's.
(24:48):
That's one reason I got reallyexcited about it and it was for
me very satisfying becausevisually I can see how much
impact I've created, Right, yourealize, like if I'm treating
anxiety or digestion or pain,like it's all just coming from a
person's perspective, mostlysubjective information about how
(25:12):
well we've done.
But when I, when I clearsomeone's skin, like I can see
how well we've done, so that'sreally satisfying, you know.
So those are some reasons, butgetting into it and doing his
training, One of the reasons Igot became really passionate
about it is because there's justOne of the reasons I became
(25:35):
really passionate about it isbecause there's a lack of great
options in Western dermatology.
There's just a huge lack ofgreat pharmaceuticals for skin
conditions.
Most skin conditions end upwith a need for antibiotics or
steroids.
In some cases those can clear askin condition.
In some cases they can make itworse, such as in the example of
(25:55):
topical steroid withdrawal,which is an awful thing for
people to experience.
It's really truly.
It's like hell on earth forthese people that experience
topical steroid withdrawal andthen, you know, or some,
sometimes it just sort of coversit like a bandaid and then it
just comes back if you stoptaking the meds, you know, and
(26:17):
there's just a lot of cases ofpeople falling through the
cracks, like I mentioned before.
So I found passion for helpinga group of people that I know.
There are just a ton of sort offalling through the cracks
because they're just not greatoptions.
So that's another reason that Igot into it.
(26:39):
And I would say maybe the thirdreason is because I'm just so
passionate about herbs.
So you know, I like acupuncture, I've always liked acupuncture.
It's fun, but it doesn't do thesame thing for me as building
an herbal formula, you knowwhich is just.
That's my creative genius.
Granddaughter Crow (26:57):
Yeah, I absolutely love that.
So I have an odd question,sideball.
Okay, so since acupuncture andherbalist and Eastern medicine
just in a blanket kind of looksat a holistic side of a person,
(27:17):
then would it be safe to saythat somebody comes in for
eczema, acne, and you give thema formula and then they come
back and report not only thatit's clearing up, but the other
positive changes have happened,maybe digestively or lack of fog
(27:38):
brain, am I reaching or am Ibeing?
Molly Dyer LAc (27:40):
psychic, so definitely like logical, logical
yeah.
There's like a definiteconnection between the gut and
the skin and actually one of thereasons I love herbal, the
Chinese herbal medicine, likespecifically Chinese herbal
(28:00):
medicine, is because of the longhistory of using herbs for
dermatological issues and otherissues and other issues, and
there were concepts that werewritten in a book.
That's almost I mean, it'sprobably 2100 years ago, so over
2000 years ago.
(28:20):
There was a book written thattalked about the basics of yin
and yang and how, and in thatbook they talked about how the
skin reflects the inside of thebody and it does.
It tells me everything I needto know.
That was another reason I tookhis training.
I thought, oh, this will helpmy diagnostics.
You know, like, if I can seesomething on the skin and I'm
(28:44):
not 100 percent sure what thediagnosis is, then that might
help me confirm what's going onwith a person is, then that
might help me confirm what'sgoing on with a person.
Oh my gosh, did it ever?
Like I really really understandnow what the skin is telling me
, probably have better skindiagnostic skills than I do
(29:04):
pulse taking skills as a Chinesemedicine practitioner, probably
.
And so that is the kind ofthing that you know is is very
common where you'll see somebodywith sleep challenges and the
herbal formulas that weformulate are for their skin but
(29:25):
their sleep clears up.
Actually, it's intentionalbecause when someone comes in, I
ask them about their skin and Itake photos of it.
But I ask them about all thesedifferent systems, their
digestion, their sleep.
You know their heat level, ordo they sweat?
(29:46):
Do they not sweat?
And where I identify imbalances, I add herbs for those things,
because those imbalances arerelated to why their skin is
showing up the way it's showingup.
So it's on purpose.
And really, as we go throughthe course of treatment, I
adjust the formula several times, either to sort of keep the
(30:07):
skin guessing so that it doesn'tget used to the herbs you know,
or to sort of help the change,the phase of healing that the
person is in, so that the herbalformula needs to reflect what
phase of healing the person isin.
And so, as I go about makingthose tweaks and adjustments,
(30:29):
I'm always asking, like you know, did this mess with your bowels
?
Like, did this, you know,impact your sleep or anything
like that?
And I put in herbs to balancewhatever is out of balance if
it's, if it's necessary.
Granddaughter Crow (30:45):
I absolutely love it.
So you guys check out if youare here in the Denver metro
area and she really her officeis in her clinic is pretty close
to DIA.
So if you want to fly in toDenver, Colorado, look up
lightanddarkacucom and book withMolly on the phone and then go
(31:06):
and see her.
It will be a delight.
So let's shift gears, twirlaround, skirt over.
I don't know how to introducethis Tappyfeet, mytappyfeetcom.
What are you doing?
What are you teaching?
Molly Dyer LAc (31:25):
Okay, tappyfeet is my just side business,
passion.
It's my joy.
I teach only adult tap danceclasses and it's called Tappy
Feet and everyone thinks it'skids because it's called Tappy
Feet, but it's because as adultswe just really have to get out
(31:46):
of our heads and forget aboutstuff for a minute and just have
a good time and connect withour own joy and connect with
other people and move our bodies.
And Tappy Feet is adult tapdance classes.
We have beginner, intermediateand advanced classes and we have
(32:09):
so much fun and the classeshave been growing and growing
and growing.
And somebody said to me theother day she said, molly, I
just love coming in here becausethere are so many, these
classes are getting so big, thisis needed.
And just to hear her say itlike that, these classes are so
fun because there's so manypeople and it's so obvious that
(32:30):
we need this.
So, yeah, tappy Feet is just areally good time, is what it is,
and I've got an excellentcommunity of tap dancers who are
just some of my favorite peopleon earth.
They're just all so sweet andwe go in there, we dance, we
have a good time, we try to growalso and learn, you know, and
(32:52):
build skills and we nerd outabout Black history, because tap
history is Black history and welove to hear about, you know,
famous tap masters in historywho really made an impact in the
field of tap dance.
Including this particular BlackHistory Month, I've really been
(33:14):
focusing on women of colorbecause, like, really what what
happened in tap history is a lotof women ended up in the chorus
line, so they weren't the starsof the shows, but a lot of them
were really really very good atwhat they do and but their
(33:35):
talent was sort of passed overbecause it was a male dominated
field, which is so funny,because right now we might think
it's a female dominated field,but it's.
It was a male dominated fielddance, dance, I think in general
well, I guess you can't saythat for all styles of dance,
but definitely tap dance and sothis particular year, for Black
(33:58):
History Month, I've beenhighlighting Black women who
were famous tap dancers inhistory.
So that's a fun thing that wedo together.
Yeah, it's just a ton of fun.
I absolutely love that.
Granddaughter Crow (34:13):
So tap dancing, like when you were
little, did you get into it?
How did you decide on it?
Because that's such a uniquelike.
I mean.
You said that you know tappyfeet.
People think children and I'mlike inner child.
This is for your inner child,absolutely.
Your body needs to be over 21,but your inner child needs to be
(34:36):
about four.
So can you tell us how did youget into tap dancing and a
little bit more about where youfound it?
Molly Dyer LAc (34:43):
I think I tap danced one semester when I was
in like sixth grade or something, yeah that's it.
And then I just I was justtaking like a dance class, you
know like a combo dance class,which is really common.
But I didn't get into tap danceright away.
I was a percussionist in highschool and I played, I played
(35:06):
drums in the drum line and Iplayed piano.
I played piano all growing upand so when I went to college I
decided to major in theater andI wanted to be a triple threat.
A triple threat is where you'rea really good singer, a really
good actor and a really gooddancer.
(35:26):
Yeah, and I was not a triplethreat at all.
I don't, I don't even I'm.
It was really not the rightfield for me.
It was.
It was an excellent experience.
I learned a lot and it got meintroduced to tap dance.
So the place where I went tocollege in Gunnison, colorado,
(35:46):
they had something called theGunnison Arts Center there and I
did a lot of like just you know, community theater through them
and I did a lot of like justyou know, community theater
through them and I also took alot of dance classes.
And it was not long afterstarting tap and becoming really
, really obsessed with it that Istarted teaching tap to little
(36:08):
kids, because I'm apercussionist and it just made
sense.
You know your body is it's tapdance is aesthetically pleasing.
You know you watch a tap dancerand you're watching how they
perform, but also it'srhythmically pleasing and as a
(36:30):
tap dancer, it's aestheticallychallenging and rhythmically
challenging, and so that's kindof a fun thing to teach yourself
to both think about how youlook and also how you sound at
the same time.
Granddaughter Crow (36:47):
I love that.
I absolutely love that, andthat also, you guys, gives a
really good work-life balanceyin and yang, day and night.
Day you do dermatology orbiology and night you put on
your tap shoes and you give us ashow and teach others how to
have fun.
Molly Dyer LAc (37:08):
I love that, I will say, as I've been in this
career for a long time andgotten busier and busier, I grew
a lot for a long time.
I grew and grew and grew andthen I just was tired.
I was doing way too much.
So I started doing less and Ireally appreciated doing less
(37:32):
and I did less and less and lessand every single time I did one
less thing I felt better andTappy Feet was never on the
chopping block because thatgives me energy, because having
a good time doing something Ilove, it gives me energy.
(37:53):
So I still I work long, longdays because I'm here till late
for people who need after workhours on Tuesday, thursday and
Friday.
But I teach dance on Monday andWednesday, so I come home even
later on Monday and Wednesday.
So, but it's never been on thechopping block because I don't.
(38:15):
I don't need less of that in mylife, I need more of it.
Sometimes I think maybe I couldfill one more class and maybe I
could teach one more class.
And then my partner says withwhat time?
When would you teach anotherclass?
But I need more of it in mylife.
It's just really positive andfun.
Granddaughter Crow (38:36):
I love that, so I'm about ready to ask you
if there's anything else thatyou want to say.
But while you're thinking aboutthat, people, this is a really
good reminder that a lot oftimes in our lives, we think
that more is better and moreaccomplishes.
More brings us more, whatever,but sometimes less is more.
(39:00):
And so when you think aboutwhat you are spending your
resources on not just money, butyour time, your thoughts, your
heart is it giving back to you,does it make you happy, does it
bring you energy, or are youjust overexpending because of
(39:23):
the narrative that do more, domore, do more?
So thank you for that reminder.
So, molly, is there anythingelse that you just want to share
with the listening audience?
Molly Dyer LAc (39:36):
yeah, I want to respond to what you just said
and I have one other thing thatI could share real quick and
that is um, we live in a veryadrenaline based society and
learning eastern medicine is allabout learning how you balance,
you know, the active side ofyour nervous system with the
(39:58):
restful side of your nervoussystem, in order to promote
better resilience in your body.
And so it, for me, has beenthis long lesson in how do I do
less, because all I've beendoing my whole life is more and
more and more and more.
Some of that is being aSagittarian and some of that is
(40:21):
just being an American.
You know an American, a memberof my community, and you know
somebody who likes to helppeople.
I always take on more and moreand more, and I have been
clearing out space in my lifeand it has been the biggest gift
.
In fact, I didn't even ask forit.
A few times, something happenedwhere I all of a sudden had
(40:46):
more space and I realized, wow,this is great.
Like I'm going to keep doingthis on purpose, you know.
So, yes, I think that's a bigone.
And the only other thing Iwanted to add is why you might
be interested in purchasingherbs through an herbalist
versus something you can findlike a supplement in the grocery
(41:07):
store.
Yeah, and especially through aChinese herbalist.
So actually in the US herbs areregulated as a food supplement
and in China they're regulatedas a pharmaceutical.
So they're actually tested andhave much higher compliance for
(41:28):
their or much more rigoroustesting for their good
manufacturing practices thatthey have to follow in China
than here in the US, justbecause of the way that they
regulate herbs over there andthey're a huge exporter of herbs
.
So they have to be very carefulabout the quality of their
(41:49):
herbs.
So they're very high quality.
And the other reason is, youknow, if you hire an herbalist
you know we talked about youknow an herbalist will help get
the right herb for you.
And one of the things we do aswe go along the process is we
tweak that formula based onwhere you're at so that it'll
(42:10):
continue to work well.
So that it'll continue to workwell.
So I would say sometimes, likethere's little things that you
can pick up an herb at thegrocery store for, but when you
have a more complex disorderyou're going to get, you're
going to save money by hiringsomebody who knows what they're
doing.
Hopefully, long-term you'regoing to have less side effects
(42:34):
because you're working with aprofessional, and long term
you're going to have um, youknow, better, better end results
, because you're working withsomebody who diagnosed you and
chose the right herbal formula.
So, yeah, one of the biggesttakeaways I wanted to say was
that it's not always importantto hire a herbalist for every,
(42:56):
every single little thing, butthere are some scenarios where
it's really good to hire aherbalist because you're going
to save your money and you'regoing to get better results and
you're going to, you know, get abetter, have a better um
opportunity to heal.
So that's my, that's myfeedback, that's my two cents.
Granddaughter Crow (43:18):
I absolutely love it.
I absolutely love it.
So, molly, thank you so muchfor bringing us beyond in our
thinking about medicine, as wellas balance within our self,
within our life, etc.
I just really appreciate youbeing here on the show.
Molly Dyer LAc (43:42):
I really appreciate you too, yay.
Granddaughter Crow (43:45):
So, thank you everyone.
Thanks for tuning in yet againto another episode of Belief,
being and Beyond.
Like subscribe, hit all thebells and whistles so that you
don't miss an episode, please.
If there is somebody who's like, oh well, I kind of want to
know about herbs, send this tothem.
Send this to them.
We bring you a plethora ofdifferent belief systems and
(44:07):
approaches to life and I ask thequestions for you.
If you have a specific topic orquestion that you want me to
ask for you, text the show,scroll down.
If you're listening to this ona podcast, if you're on YouTube,
just comment, but scroll down.
Text the show.
I will get your text.
Won't know your phone number.
(44:27):
I'll know your vicinity.
Won't know your name, so youcan be anonymous or you can be
my new best friend.
So anyway, thank you everyone.
I love you.
See you on the flippity flip.
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