Healing Beyond Technique: My Journey with Dr. Ming Wu
LuChin Mischke May 25, 2025
Learning from Dr.Ming Wu
Visiting and shadowing my mentor Dr. Ming Wu, a renowned Taoist physician, this past week was deeply meaningful. Not only did I learn so much from him, but the trip also helped clear my headspace.
The TuiNa course I took with him—alongside six other participants—was absolutely fascinating. We weren’t just learning the techniques he has refined over the years to treat conditions like asthma, migraines, IBS, fractured bones, and neck or back pain—we were also learning how to stand. Dr. Wu constantly emphasizes the importance of posture when working on a patient. We need to embody Taiji principles —using horse stance or bow stance—to protect both our energy and our physical alignment.
He also insists that all his students and patients actively practice healing arts like Taiji or Qigong. If you’re unwilling to do that, he won’t even take you on as a patient. He doesn’t want people to rely on him to ‘fix’ them—even if that means earning less. His goal is to teach people holistic self-care. He always says that treatment from a doctor is only 30%—the other 70% comes from your own lifestyle and daily practice.
I witnessed this teaching in real time. Two of my classmates, Gabi and Julie, weren’t just students—they were living testimonies of healing.
Gabi had temporarily lost her vision due to Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension. Without treatment, her vision loss could have become permanent. But she was afraid of the high-risk cranial surgery her doctors recommended.
Through a friend’s help—and a bit of luck—she found Dr. Ming Wu. For six months, Dr. Wu treated her with Tuina therapy, once a week for 30 minutes. Gradually, her eyesight returned.
Julie’s story was even more remarkable. At just 30 years old, she described herself as having been ‘at death’s door,’ her Yang energy completely collapsed. A combination of childhood trauma, a serious accident, and relentless work stress had drained her to the core. Dr. Wu brought her back—reviving both her body and spirit with herbal medicine and other traditional TCM therapies.
A Lesson in Letting Go
Being in Dr. Wu’s presence also reminded me of the deeper layers of healing - the power of letting go and returning to the present moment.
He shared a story about two monks helping an elderly person across a shallow stream. The person was bitter and unkind, complaining the whole way. After they parted, the younger monk was upset:
‘We helped her, but she only complained—and she didn’t even say thank you!’
The older monk replied calmly:
“I put her down a while ago. Why are you still carrying her?”
That story struck a chord with me—especially now. Three weeks ago, I had a brain MRI. A small area on the left side of my brain appeared unusual, with a bubbly pattern. Just before my trip to see Dr. Ming Wu, I met with a neurosurgeon. I’ve been told to repeat the scan in three months.
A Conversation with a Bhikkhuni
While visiting Dr. Wu in Massachusetts, we stopped by a Buddhist temple to visit the head bhikkhuni—90 years old, with a broken wrist. Dr. Wu had helped set her bones a week earlier. That day, we were there to help change her bandages and medication.
While Dr. Wu tended to her, I had a quiet moment with a younger bhikkhuni. I asked— very gently—about her life choice. ‘I suppose after choosing this path, you’re always happy?’ I said. “Or … are there times you don’t feel at peace? What do you do then?’
She looked at me with calm eyes and a gentle smile and said, simply:
‘Finding true happiness and inner peace is our lifelong homework.’ She continued, ‘Our respected elder broke her wrist. Her wrist is in pain—but her heart is not.’
It felt as if she chose those last few words just for me. At the time, my own mind was unsettled by the results of the brain MRI.
Then she spoke about the Five Poisons (or ‘Five Hindrances’) in Buddhist teachings: greed or attachment, anger, ignorance, pride, and jealousy. These are the emotional toxins that cloud the mind and hinder clarity—and in many ways, they mirror what Dr. Wu teaches in Taoist medicine.
I realized then: I was very much attached to the result of the MRI, and I was somewhat scared. But holding on too tightly to the fear of illness could interfere with healing. The mind can become its own poison.
It was another reminder that healing isn’t always dramatic. Sometimes it’s subtle, steady, and quiet—just like this bhikkhuni’s presence.
Medicine, Community, and Grace
Dr. Wu is the only doctor I know who cooks for his patients, who takes the time to form community around healing. Many of his patients become students. Many students become lifelong friends. And I am very fortunate to be part of this community.
This trip was also a chance to reconnect with friends I made during my first visit to Dr. Wu.
Candace and Nita each kindly opened their homes and welcomed me—one in West Hartford, one in Maynard—even though we had only briefly met six months earlier. Their generosity made this journey feel like a circle completing itself.
Healing happens in the body, yes—but it also happens in the heart.
Through stories, meals, stillness, and shared breath. Through medicine, through Qigong, through letting go.
Closing & Resources
If you’d like to learn more about Dr. Ming Wu, check out the award-winning documentary at www.whoamifilm.com/watchfilm or visit www.wuhealing.com
May we all remember: healing is a daily practice—and a shared one.
Book overview
In "The Tao Within," the book embarks on a transformative journey of self-discovery, wisdom, and inner harmony. It shows how spirituality becomes a core element in our everyday lives and in maintaining our health. In the chaos of our modern world, we often find ourselves searching for meaning, purpose, and a deeper connection to our true selves.
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In this profound and insightful exploration, Authors, Ming Wu, Ph.D., and Judy Lin, guide us on a spiritual and medical path toward self-empowerment and unveiling the timeless wisdom of the Tao. As we witness more limitations on western medicine, this book is presenting.
