84: DTN Podcast | Jim Alstott Ep. 84 | The Tiger of Beijing | Dr. Joy Kong

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 TOPICSLeaving 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."

CHAPTERS0:00 Intro0:38 Meet Dr. Joy Kong1:46 From Beijing to psychiatry5:06 The psychiatric ER's revolving door6:09 Chinese medicine and functional medicine8:57 Her first stem cell patient9:33 Jim's knees, hips and chronic pain13:44 Treating the whole person15:50 Movement, genes and Jim's weight loss19:35 The rotator cuff story21:46 Insurance, big pharma and thinking for yourself23:45 Blending Eastern and Western medicine24:56 Where medicine is headed26:13 "Rolling knife meat"27:36 Spirituality in medical school30:54 August 21, 1991: the visa denial35:25 The Yellow Pages and poking at the universe37:33 A tour guide in Tibet40:26 Vulnerability as a superpower41:47 The friend who hung up43:38 What being the patient taught the doctor48:51 The dark night of the soul53:29 Healing on three fronts54:56 Where Chinese medicine fits56:37 Her mother's story59:16 Energy channels and Western skepticism1:01:45 Advocating for yourself1:03:12 Is stem cell therapy legal in the US?1:04:52 Arthritis and back pain1:08:04 How many treatments?1:10:35 Three things you can do this week1:12:50 Meditation, flow and Taoism1:17:40 The Playlist Round1:26:37 Outro

CONNECT WITH DR. JOY KONGWeb