The Tiger of Beijing

Dr. Joy Kong left post-Tiananmen Beijing at 20 with a rejected visa and almost nothing in her pockets. What she did next is something most of us would never try. She opened the Beijing Yellow Pages, found the best hotels in the city, and started calling rooms at random until somebody, somewhere, opened a door.

She calls it poking at the universe. That poking turned into a job as a tour guide in Tibet, a way to America, and eventually a seat at UCLA medical school. Joy became a psychiatrist, spent years watching the psychiatric emergency room work like a revolving door, and went looking for a way to help people actually heal. Today she's a triple board certified physician who trains doctors around the world in regenerative medicine, and her memoir is The Tiger of Beijing.

We talk about the day her visa was denied and the three days of grief that turned into fuel, and the grandmother who nicknamed her "rolling knife meat" because no knife could cut her. Joy opens up about the darkest stretch of her life, surrounded by brilliant classmates at UCLA and feeling so small she questioned why she was here, and about cutting anatomy class to go sit in temples. She explains why she heals on three fronts, mind, body and spirit, and which one most people skip. She shares her mother's story and the Chinese medicine she grew up with, and why she believes East and West need to borrow from each other. I share how meditation became the linchpin of my own weight loss, and for anyone who can't afford treatment right now, Joy gives three things you can start on this week.

And stay for the Playlist Round: a Taiwanese pop song about a kid daydreaming in class, the first American song she ever heard, John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads," discovering Carole King in San Francisco, and "Amazing Grace."

Dr. Kong shares her own views and experience; nothing in this episode is medical advice. Talk with your own doctor before starting or stopping any treatment.

KEY TOPICS
Leaving post-Tiananmen Beijing · A visa denial and the Yellow Pages · Poking at the universe · Tour guide in Tibet · From psychiatrist to regenerative medicine · The psychiatric ER as a revolving door · Spirituality in medical school · The darkest point at UCLA · Mind, body and spirit · Chinese and Western medicine · Three things you can do this week · Meditation, flow and Taoism

SOUND BITES
"You have to poke at the fabrics of the universe."
"Taking care of your vessel is a spiritual act."
"We're actually very, very complex, and this is an interconnected little universe that we carry around with us."
"Be who you are. Just be true to yourself."
"Life is very fluid, and we have to go with what life gives us."

CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:38 Meet Dr. Joy Kong
1:46 From Beijing to psychiatry
5:06 The psychiatric ER's revolving door
6:09 Chinese medicine and functional medicine
8:57 Her first stem cell patient
9:33 Jim's knees, hips and chronic pain
13:44 Treating the whole person
15:50 Movement, genes and Jim's weight loss
19:35 The rotator cuff story
21:46 Insurance, big pharma and thinking for yourself
23:45 Blending Eastern and Western medicine
24:56 Where medicine is headed
26:13 "Rolling knife meat"
27:36 Spirituality in medical school
30:54 August 21, 1991: the visa denial
35:25 The Yellow Pages and poking at the universe
37:33 A tour guide in Tibet
40:26 Vulnerability as a superpower
41:47 The friend who hung up
43:38 What being the patient taught the doctor
48:51 The dark night of the soul
53:29 Healing on three fronts
54:56 Where Chinese medicine fits
56:37 Her mother's story
59:16 Energy channels and Western skepticism
1:01:45 Advocating for yourself
1:03:12 Is stem cell therapy legal in the US?
1:04:52 Arthritis and back pain
1:08:04 How many treatments?
1:10:35 Three things you can do this week
1:12:50 Meditation, flow and Taoism
1:17:40 The Playlist Round
1:26:37 Outro

CONNECT WITH DR. JOY KONG
Website: https://joykongmd.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@joykongmd
Instagram: @dr_joy_kong
Book: The Tiger of Beijing

TODAY'S PLAYLIST
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6l9FlZNOMLP2kbQJPliaxO

FROM YOUR HOST
Mentioned in this episode or just want to go deeper?
📖 Did I Just Have a Spiritual Awakening, or Was It Something I Ate? https://a.co/d/020nrzCH
🌐 jimalstott.com https://www.jimalstott.com
🎙️ dtnpodcast.com https://www.dtnpodcast.com

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