Truth in Motion with Dr. Jocelyn

What Exists?

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

Strip away everything you could possibly doubt. What's left?

In the winter of 1619, a young soldier shut himself in a stove-heated room and set out to answer that question. What he found has shaped how we think ever since. And twelve centuries earlier, a bishop in North Africa had already found the same solid ground.

In this episode, Dr. Jocelyn Michel, D.Ac-CHM, asks the question underneath every other question about our health: what actually exists? Our answer, often one we never chose, quietly decides what gets treated, and what gets missed, in every exam room.

Close out the week with a simple practice you can use today, and a way of thinking that starts from what is.

References

Brinjikji, W., Luetmer, P. H., Comstock, B., Bresnahan, B. W., Chen, L. E., Deyo, R. A., Halabi, S., Turner, J. A., Avins, A. L., James, K., Wald, J. T., Kallmes, D. F., & Jarvik, J. G. (2015). Systematic literature review of imaging features of spinal degeneration in asymptomatic populations. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 36(4), 811–816. https://doi.org/10.3174/ajnr.A4173

Descartes, R. (1998). Discourse on method (D. A. Cress, Trans.; 4th ed.). Hackett. (Original work published 1637)

Frankish, K. (2016). Illusionism as a theory of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 23(11–12), 11–39.

Hoffman, D. D. (2019). The case against reality: Why evolution hid the truth from our eyes. W. W. Norton.

Jensen, M. C., Brant-Zawadzki, M. N., Obuchowski, N., Modic, M. T., Malkasian, D., & Ross, J. S. (1994). Magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine in people without back pain. New England Journal of Medicine, 331(2), 69–73. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199407143310201

Kant, I. (1998). Critique of pure reason (P. Guyer & A. W. Wood, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1781)

Van Til, C. (1955). The defense of the faith. Presbyterian and Reformed.

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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Is Reality Real?

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

Is reality real? And if it isn't, how could we ever do science at all?

In this episode, Dr. Jocelyn Michel, D.Ac-CHM, begins with a documented moment from 1763, when Samuel Johnson kicked a stone to "refute" the philosopher George Berkeley. From there, she looks at how our senses render the world, from the blind spot in every eye to a photo of a dress that split the internet, to a simple mirror box that eased pain in a hand that wasn't there.

She takes a fair look at Donald Hoffman's book The Case Against Reality, along with Kant, the simulation hypothesis, and the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics. Then she shows the twist: using science to argue that reality isn't real undercuts the science itself. Science has to assume three things before it can begin: something is there, it behaves consistently, and we can know it.

A map is not the land, but a good map can still bring us home. That's why we test, repeat, and compare notes, and why pain can be fully real and still shaped by the brain.

This week's practice: when you notice a strong reaction, pause and ask, "Is this what's there, or how I'm seeing it?"

References

Bostrom, N. (2003). Are you living in a computer simulation? The Philosophical Quarterly, 53(211), 243–255. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9213.00309

Boswell, J. (1791). The life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Charles Dilly.

Hoffman, D. D. (2019). The case against reality: Why evolution hid the truth from our eyes. W. W. Norton.

Kant, I. (1998). Critique of pure reason (P. Guyer & A. W. Wood, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1781)

Korzybski, A. (1933). Science and sanity: An introduction to non-Aristotelian systems and general semantics. International Non-Aristotelian Library.

Nin, A. (1961). Seduction of the minotaur. Swallow Press.

Nobel Prize Outreach. (2022). The Nobel Prize in Physics 2022 [Press release]. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2022/press-release/

Plantinga, A. (1993). Warrant and proper function. Oxford University Press.

Prakash, C., Stephens, K. D., Hoffman, D. D., Singh, M., & Fields, C. (2021). Fitness beats truth in the evolution of perception. Acta Biotheoretica, 69(3), 319–341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10441-020-09400-0

Ramachandran, V. S., & Rogers-Ramachandran, D. (1996). Synaesthesia in phantom limbs induced with mirrors. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 263(1369), 377–386. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1996.0058

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The Wonder of a Single Cell

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

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

Bianconi, E., Piovesan, A., Facchin, F., Beraudi, A., Casadei, R., Frabetti, F., Vitale, L., Pelleri, M. C., Tassani, S., Piva, F., Perez-Amodio, S., Strippoli, P., & Canaider, S. (2013). An estimation of the number of cells in the human body. Annals of Human Biology, 40(6), 463–471. https://doi.org/10.3109/03014460.2013.807878

Chalmers, D. J. (1995). Facing up to the problem of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 2(3), 200–219.

Hoffman, D. D. (2019). The case against reality: Why evolution hid the truth from our eyes. W. W. Norton.

Hooke, R. (1665). Micrographia. Royal Society.

Männer, J. (2022). When does the human embryonic heart start beating? A review of contemporary and historical sources of knowledge about the onset of blood circulation in man. Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease, 9(6), 187. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd9060187

Nin, A. (1961). Seduction of the minotaur. Swallow Press.

Penfield, W., & Boldrey, E. (1937). Somatic motor and sensory representation in the cerebral cortex of man as studied by electrical stimulation. Brain, 60(4), 389–443. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/60.4.389

Sender, R., Fuchs, S., & Milo, R. (2016). Revised estimates for the number of human and bacteria cells in the body. PLoS Biology, 14(8), e1002533. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002533

Sender, R., & Milo, R. (2021). The distribution of cellular turnover in the human body. Nature Medicine, 27(1), 45–48. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-01182-9

Spemann, H., & Mangold, H. (1924). Über Induktion von Embryonalanlagen durch Implantation artfremder Organisatoren. Archiv für mikroskopische Anatomie und Entwicklungsmechanik, 100, 599–638.

Talbot, M. (1991). The holographic universe. HarperCollins.

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

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What Is Science, and What Can It Answer?

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

"Trust the science." But what is science, really? And what can it actually answer?

In this episode, Dr. Jocelyn Michel, D.Ac-CHM, starts with a 1586 experiment you can repeat in your own kitchen. Then she lays out what makes something science: it has to be observable, measurable, testable, repeatable, and controlled. She walks through the scientific method step by step, and shows how to use it on a question about your own health. You'll hear the difference between data and models. Finally, she looks at the questions science was never built to answer, and how science and art work together in medicine.

Science keeps us honest. Art keeps us human.

This week's practice: take the health belief you've been questioning and ask, "Could this be tested? If so, how would I test it?"

References

Aristotle. (1984). On the heavens (J. L. Stocks, Trans.). In J. Barnes (Ed.), The complete works of Aristotle (Vol. 1). Princeton University Press.

Begley, C. G., & Ellis, L. M. (2012). Raise standards for preclinical cancer research. Nature, 483(7391), 531–533. https://doi.org/10.1038/483531a

Box, G. E. P., & Draper, N. R. (1987). Empirical model-building and response surfaces. Wiley.

Cleland, C. E. (2001). Historical science, experimental science, and the scientific method. Geology, 29(11), 987–990.

Feynman, R. P. (1974). Cargo cult science. Engineering and Science, 37(7), 10–13.

Guyatt, G., Sackett, D., Taylor, D. W., Chong, J., Roberts, R., & Pugsley, S. (1986). Determining optimal therapy: Randomized trials in individual patients. New England Journal of Medicine, 314(14), 889–892. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM198604033141406

Kearns, C. E., Schmidt, L. A., & Glantz, S. A. (2016). Sugar industry and coronary heart disease research: A historical analysis of internal industry documents. JAMA Internal Medicine, 176(11), 1680–1685. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.5394

McGandy, R. B., Hegsted, D. M., & Stare, F. J. (1967). Dietary fats, carbohydrates and atherosclerotic vascular disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 277(4), 186–192.

Open Science Collaboration. (2015). Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science. Science, 349(6251), aac4716. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac4716

Popper, K. (2002). Conjectures and refutations: The growth of scientific knowledge. Routledge. (Original work published 1963)

Stevin, S. (1955). The principal works of Simon Stevin: Vol. 1. Mechanics (E. J. Dijksterhuis, Ed.). Swets & Zeitlinger. (Original work published 1586)

Full reference list, including philosophy, medicine-as-art, and faith sources: on the blog, Notes from a Fellow Traveler.

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What Is Meaningful Inquiry?

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

"That isn't evidence-based." Maybe you've heard it from a doctor, a news story, or an insurance letter. But what makes an answer meaningful in the first place?

This week on Truth in Motion, we begin laying the foundation. In this episode, Dr. Jocelyn Michel, D.Ac-CHM, explores why we ask questions at all, what researchers count as a meaningful answer, and why research is only one way of seeing the world. She takes an honest look at manifesting and the fear that naming a problem feeds it. She asks whether suffering can ever end. And she looks at what evidence-based medicine really is, how much of medicine actually rests on strong evidence, and when "not evidence-based" is used to deny care.

Every question we ask stands on answers we've already accepted. This week, we start learning to see them.

This week's practice: pick one belief you hold about your health and ask, "Where did I get this?" and "Is it true?"

References

Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial (CAST) Investigators. (1989). Preliminary report: Effect of encainide and flecainide on mortality in a randomized trial of arrhythmia suppression after myocardial infarction. New England Journal of Medicine, 321(6), 406–412. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM198908103210629

Ebell, M. H., Sokol, R., Lee, A., Simons, C., & Early, J. (2017). How good is the evidence to support primary care practice? Evidence-Based Medicine, 22(3), 88–92. https://doi.org/10.1136/ebmed-2017-110704

Fanaroff, A. C., Califf, R. M., Windecker, S., Smith, S. C., Jr., & Lopes, R. D. (2019). Levels of evidence supporting American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and European Society of Cardiology guidelines, 2008–2018. JAMA, 321(11), 1069–1080. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.1122

Jaeschke, R., Singer, J., & Guyatt, G. H. (1989). Measurement of health status: Ascertaining the minimal clinically important difference. Controlled Clinical Trials, 10(4), 407–415. https://doi.org/10.1016/0197-2456(89)90005-6

Levy, B. R., Slade, M. D., Kunkel, S. R., & Kasl, S. V. (2002). Longevity increased by positive self-perceptions of aging. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(2), 261–270. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.83.2.261

Lo, J., Long, M., Wallace, R., Salaga, M., & Pestaina, K. (2025). Claims denials and appeals in ACA Marketplace plans in 2023. KFF. https://www.kff.org/private-insurance/claims-denials-and-appeals-in-aca-marketplace-plans-in-2023/

Marshall, B. J., Armstrong, J. A., McGechie, D. B., & Glancy, R. J. (1985). Attempt to fulfil Koch's postulates for pyloric Campylobacter. Medical Journal of Australia, 142(8), 436–439.

Prasad, V., Vandross, A., Toomey, C., Cheung, M., Rho, J., Quinn, S., Chacko, S. J., Borkar, D., Gall, V., Selvaraj, S., Ho, N., & Cifu, A. (2013). A decade of reversal: An analysis of 146 contradicted medical practices. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 88(8), 790–798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2013.05.012

Ramakrishnan, K., & Salinas, R. C. (2007). Peptic ulcer disease. American Family Physician, 76(7), 1005–1012.

Sackett, D. L., Rosenberg, W. M. C., Gray, J. A. M., Haynes, R. B., & Richardson, W. S. (1996). Evidence based medicine: What it is and what it isn't. BMJ, 312(7023), 71–72. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.312.7023.71

Slawson, D. C., Shaughnessy, A. F., & Bennett, J. H. (1994). Becoming a medical information master: Feeling good about not knowing everything. Journal of Family Practice, 38(5), 505–513.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. (2022). Some Medicare Advantage organization denials of prior authorization requests raise concerns about beneficiary access to medically necessary care (OEI-09-18-00260).

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Healing, Prevention, and Hope

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

Holistic care isn't only for when you're sick. It can keep you well. In this episode, Dr. Jocelyn closes out the first week of Truth in Motion with hope rooted in design, history, and evidence. She explores how your body was made to heal, why prevention has always been the oldest goal of medicine, and what staying well looks like in real life.

She also looks at the true meaning of hope. In Hebrew, the word for hope also means a cord you can hold onto; in the New Testament, hope is called an anchor for the soul. She shares research showing that how you see yourself affects how you heal, and evidence that acupuncture works for chronic pain. Plus, a recent patient's story of relief after eight years of nothing helping.

References (APA 7th edition)

Levy, B. R., Slade, M. D., Kunkel, S. R., & Kasl, S. V. (2002). Longevity increased by positive self-perceptions of aging. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(2), 261–270. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.83.2.261

Rozanski, A., Bavishi, C., Kubzansky, L. D., & Cohen, R. (2019). Association of optimism with cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Network Open, 2(9), e1912200. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.12200

Vickers, A. J., Vertosick, E. A., Lewith, G., MacPherson, H., Foster, N. E., Sherman, K. J., Irnich, D., Witt, C. M., & Linde, K. (2018). Acupuncture for chronic pain: Update of an individual patient data meta-analysis. The Journal of Pain, 19(5), 455–474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2017.11.005

Scripture references: Joshua 2:18 (tikvah as cord); Hebrews 6:19 (hope as an anchor for the soul).

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Treating the Root

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

When the same health struggles keep coming back in new forms, it's often because only the symptoms are being treated. In this episode, Dr. Jocelyn explains what it really means to treat the root. She introduces functional medicine, a modern systems-based approach to finding root causes, and shares why she calls traditional East Asian medicine the original functional medicine.

Then she takes you inside the treatment room. You'll hear how practitioners gather information through the Ten Questions, the tongue, the pulse, and palpation, and get an introduction to muscle testing and Nutrition Response Testing. Finally, she compares these approaches with how Western medicine is usually practiced today, and explains why, for chronic problems, asking "why" matters.

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The Practice of Medicine and the Proactive Patient

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

Why do so many medical appointments end with a prescription? In this episode, Dr. Jocelyn looks at how the law defines the practice of medicine, and how the word "medicine came to mean drugs, both in everyday languae and in federal law. She explains applied pharmacology: what it is, where it saves lives, and why it isn't the same as asking what caused the problem in the first place.

You also get a first look at the many root causes of disease--physical, lifestyle, emotional, and spiritual. Dr. Jocelyn closes with what you can reasonably expect from a good doctor and practical steps to become a proactive patient: someone who comes prepared, asks quesitons, and owns their part in getting well.

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The Doctor, The Patient, and the Relationship Between Them

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

What is a doctor, really? What does it mean to be a patient? And, why does the realtionship between the two matter so much for your health?

In this episode, Dr. Jocelyn explores where these words come from. "Doctor" means teacher, and "patient" means one who bears something, but not one who has to be passive. She explains the difference between a doctor and a physician, and why medicine has always been an art as well as a science. Drawing from Erich Fromm's The Art of Loving. She reads from the oath she swore when she completed her doctorate, and shares a striking teaching from Chinese medicine: the patient is the root, and the practitioner is the branch.

Whether you're navigating your own health or caring for someone else, this episode will change how you walk into your next appointment.

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Welcome to Truth in Motion with Dr. Jocelyn

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

Welcome to the very first episode of Truth in Motion. I'm Dr. Jocelyn Michel, D.Ac-CHM, a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, craniosacral therapy practitioner, and Insight Life Coach.

This podcast is for you if you're tired of quick fixes and surface answers, and you want to know what's actually true about your body, your mind, and your spirit. In this episode, I share why I'm starting this podcast, who its for, and where we're headed together.

New lessons drop five days a week, about fifteen minutes each, designed to build on one another. Start her and walk with me.

Learn more at www.healingpathacupuncture.info

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