In this episode of The Living Conversation, we’re joined by Banya Lim—a spiritual acupuncturist and energy coach based in Sedona—who bridges Traditional Chinese Medicine with a more holistic view of healing: body, mind, and soul.

We explore why symptoms often return when the deeper pattern underneath them hasn’t changed, and how the Five Element theory maps emotions to organs (like fear and the kidneys, anger and the liver/gallbladder, sadness and the lungs). Banya shares how intuition can be felt in the body (not just thought in the head), how food/color/taste cravings can be energetic signals, and why “going within” matters when the outside world feels loud.

We also talk about desire—not as something to crush, but something to understand—by tracing the feeling behind what we think we want, and learning how inner alignment becomes outer change.

Guest: Banya Lim (Spiritual Acupuncture + Energy Coaching)

Website: banyalim.com

Free clarity session: available via her website

Topics include: spiritual acupuncture, energy coaching, Traditional Chinese Medicine, yin-yang, five elements, meridians, emotions + organs, intuition vs desire, mindfulness without forcing meditation, inner peace.

I'm Anthony Wright and I'm your host today, co host with Adam Dietz.

Welcome everyone.

And we are on a living conversation and our guest today is Banya Lim.

Welcome Banya.

Thank you, Anthony.

Thank you for having me.

Yes.

And you are a spiritual acupuncturist and energy coach.

And how did you come to being an energy coach and tell us a little bit about what it is that you do.

I think energy coach part thing has been around, around us and with us for many, many years.

I'm just describing it that way so people can kind of understand.

I came from a healer family.

My mom was an acupuncturist and energy healer and intuitive guidance.

And she always talked about bringing back the ancient wisdom, ancient way of doing oriental medicine.

She felt that that's energetical and a spiritual part has been lost in many of the schools and many of the practices that people do.

And we are, when we do healing on people, yes, we are actually using needles to stick into the body.

Focuses achieve.

Right.

But we're working on an energetical part and a spiritual aspect of the person.

So we are dealing with the body, mind and soul, not just the physical aspect.

But she felt that, that we ended up just focusing just the physical part, which is okay because people deal with dealing with a lot of things on a physical level.

But we are not when we don't look at it, look at the person that way and you don't do the healing on all three level, you are not really truly doing a healing on a deeper, deeper aspect of the person.

So when I start practicing, I decided to call my acupuncture, spiritual acupuncture.

And over the years I realized not just the physical part that we have to focus on, but we have to focus on the emotional and energetic part of the.

What's, what's going on.

Because I really, I found out that a lot of times people get better on a physical level, but they coming back with the same symptom over and over.

And then I realized that it was the reason was because they're going back the same lifestyle, same relationships, same environment and same mindset.

And then I start sharing with the people.

This was when I was baby acupuncturist, you know, 30 some years ago.

And I just share with what I know so the connection between the mind, body and soul and I'll just share it with the clients especially let's say lower back pain, especially back.

Right.

Has a connection to fear in oriental medicine.

So I just simply share this information with my Clients.

But they are the one who'd come back with the telling me, you know the.

My back pain really started when I start to really worry and had fear about losing my marriage.

Okay.

But that was the day.

And the lungs has a connection to sadness.

So this is why when you are grieving you get sick easily or you catch cold easily.

That was.

That might be the reason.

Then I might be sharing this information with my client.

There's direct correlation between the lungs and sorrow and sadness.

And then my clients will just share with me their.

With their stories is you know, I started to suffer from this issue when my son passed away or something like that.

That was many years ago.

And I started to put two and two together.

And through my.

My own journey of my own health issue.

Unless we delve into the wholeness of the person, you're not really truly doing the complete healing.

And this evolving to me becoming an energy coach.

Okay, so are you talking about what we mean by shing or heart mind?

Our mentor, Dr. Wu said the problem with people in the west is you're thinking with your.

With your brain and not your mind.

Yes.

In China session in Korean recession.

Yes.

Yeah.

And so how do you approach then?

Are you able to intuit or have a.

An internal body response to know what's happening with your clients?

So what I find that over the years is that body holds.

We consider as a problem especially when we have a pain or ailments.

But also body also holds.

The answer to the solution.

Right.

In all those areas has a direct connection to emotions.

Earlier I mentioned kidneys and bladder emotion is fear.

And the meridians energy.

I don't know if you ever seen an acupuncture meridian.

Oh yeah.

Is running around.

So the back.

The next to the spine.

There's a two line going straight down at a connection kidneys and bladder.

And it's the emotion that governs is fear.

As I say, even in.

You know the lot of things that we unconsciously say has a connection to what we are feeling on the body.

A lot of things we say the phrases I don't feel like they come out by accident.

You know know when we say when fear we say we feel going down the spine.

Right.

And those things.

Why would you say that?

Because we feel it and fear literally feel that energy.

And on a meridian level, on the energy channel.

Channel level.

On acupuncture perspective, you're literally creating blockages on the back side.

Right?

Right.

It goes long enough and you can keep repeatedly having that experience on.

It manifests on a Physical level like aches and pain and back pain.

Yeah.

So the basis of your training is Korean, is that correct?

The school I went to, tcm, Traditional Chinese medicine.

Later I studied also Japanese, but my family background is Korean.

My mom is from Korea, so I studied all three Chinese, Korean, Japanese.

Because I remember particularly I appreciate.

I've studied Yi Ching for many, many years.

And I very much appreciate how important Kongzu or Confucius is in.

In Korea.

Do you have some thoughts, Adam?

Yeah, very, very interesting on so many levels.

Of course.

And one thing that's first I'm starting to process is let me just ask you this.

When so much of spirituality, right.

Has to do with we should maybe just decrease our desire, right?

Decrease our desire.

So then our mind can become clear, our spirituality can come out.

Maybe this is very good for your health also.

Actually, the only thing we need to desire is food, water and sleep.

Right?

So I wonder if food is sometimes I think overlooked in a Western culture.

Western medicine, Western energy healing.

I'm sorry, maybe Eastern energy healing, but Western coming to it overlooks food.

Can you say anything about how food incorporates into.

Into.

Into your system?

Okay, I want to talk.

Talk about this in a 2, 2 area.

The desire part and the food part.

As far as a food.

Acupuncture and oriented medicine is governed by two major theories.

Yin and Yang theories.

Yin and Yang.

I'm sure you've seen a circle.

Absolutely.

There's basically, there's always something exists in the ex.

Exists in the universe.

There's opposite or counterbalancing to it.

Like up and down, left and right, dark and light, men and women, and so on.

And there are five element theories.

Governance, wood, metal, water, earth, and so on.

And actually, if anybody's interested in this, just go to Google image, look for 5 element chart based on acupuncture.

You'll get a whole bunch of them.

Right?

So based on the five element it affects applies to everything that we know.

Direction, emotion, organs, color and taste.

And food.

And you can actually look at it.

And earlier I told you about the emotion.

The kidney is water.

Water's emotion is fear.

Say wood.

Wood element, organs.

Liver and gallbladder.

Liver and gallbladder's emotion is anger.

All right.

And liver and gallbladder meridians run side of the body, like side of the body.

This is why when you get angry, you put your hands on the side, knowingly trying to open up the meridians.

And its taste is sour.

Oh, right.

So when we become intuitive, part of the Qi mastery system is guiding you to Be intuit, be intuitive and instinctive about what is going on in the body.

So you intuitively following what your body is telling you not only and that's one part but there are five levels that we work on one part when you integrate to listen to your body.

Have you ever experienced one someday like you just crave salt.

Someday you just crave salt.

Sour tasting food.

You don't necessarily eat those kind of food.

It's just oftentimes your body's way of telling you that your body needs.

Okay, all right.

And the color for wood is green.

You wake up in the morning, you don't know why you don't you usually wear that particular color of shirt.

But you feel like that's.

That just feels right for you and that's the color is most harmonizing for you for your energy and for your body.

And you just feel different throughout the day.

How do you differentiate that intuition from desire?

Yes.

If just there is element of energy going up in the head.

When desire, when it, when it comes from your thought, when it's instinctive, you feel it in the body.

I often time like to tell people to kind of separate from the head to the body and see you feel it when energy going shooting up to the head that's your thought.

But when you feel it, you feel it in the body.

It could be sometime in your fingertips, sometime in or sometime in your gut.

You just feel it in, in the body.

And you wake up in the morning when you're looking at the green color and you just feel it in your body like it just feels right to wear because the green is connected to liver and gallbladder and it's.

It governs anger.

We probably felt really angry the dead the day before and you just can drawn to the color green or could be taste of sour.

And also it affects the east side of the house for the green.

And I told you liver gallbladder is connected to anger and liver and gallbladder.

People who have liver gallbladder issue, I always ask them to check east side their east side of the house.

It's the base feng shui.

Oh, right, right.

And the house is always messy for those people.

Right.

So it's very interesting how their chi, their energy will manifest in their household as well as the body.

Well, we're coming up on a short break here.

I'm Anthony Wright and I am your co host today on the Living Conversation with Adam Dietz.

And we are here with our guest Banya Lim.

And how can people contact you?

Banya just go to my website and you can always sign up for my free clarity session on the site.

Okay.

And it's B A N Y A L I M.

Correct.

Great.

We'll take a short break and be right back.

So stay tuned.

I'm Anthony Wright and I am your co host today on the Living Conversation with Adam Dietz.

Welcome back.

And we're here with our guest Banya Lim, who is a spiritual acupuncturist.

And before the break, Banya, you were talking about how people actually will manifest their symptoms not only in the body, but in their household with feng shui.

And Adam, you had asked about the development of intuition.

Do you recommend and I'm thinking about we are in a new year.

Do you recommend to your clients any sort of grounding exercise or how can you or mindfulness.

Tell us about mindfulness.

How do you assist your clients and our listeners perhaps to deal with the intense energy that seems to be coming through right now for everybody to deal with in the new year?

Yeah.

By the way, I still want to go back to the desired part.

Adam.

Oh, sure, please, eventually.

But let's talk about the question that you have about politically and what's going on in the world.

I absolutely believe that our inner world is getting reflected or mirror and outside.

Yeah.

And oftentimes we can get lost outside.

Oftentimes we can get lost in thinking that only if things change out there, I can finally have a sense of peace within me.

Right.

But you know, it's the other way around when you find sense of peace within the world reflects.

This is why there are so many people out there, although we are looking at and also dealing with the same things.

Some people have a sense of ease about their life and some people, no matter what's going on, it could be just kind of chaotic in their lives.

So I always say just have inventory of your own home first, your own house, your own inner energy.

And I also believe it's also good to ton of news.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Either one or the other side doesn't matter.

Turning that off and find time to go within.

We can definitely get lost there and we can definitely waste so much of energy and time in it and can it's a complete distraction.

So find time to go within and be still.

And it doesn't necessarily have to be meditation.

It could be swimming, it could be hiking.

It could be just simple walking.

Adam, I know you talk about this about when people are caught up in their Thoughts.

It's like stirring up muddy water.

Right, right.

From Lao Tzu, from Dao Te Ching, and also I think banya.

It really resonates where you're talking about going from inner to outer with Confucius.

Great learning.

The first step is all inside.

When you take care of your mind, then you can go out into, you know, cultivate yourself, help harmonize your family, this kind of thing.

Yeah.

So I think it's really beautiful.

And I want to say that, you know, I had an instinct when things were getting kind of heated politically a few months ago to cut my news consumption down a lot.

And it's been very helpful.

I appreciate you saying that for our listeners.

Do you have any other.

Did you get into much of philosophy, like, the roots of where some of this comes from?

Because I know, I know Lao Tzu and Tao Te Ching talks about, you know, in the beginning, there's nothing, then Qi comes, then Yin and Yang, then, then I think five elements, then everything.

Right.

Can you.

Can you say something to our listeners about some of the underlying philosophy and the background of maybe Taoism or Confucianism or Buddhism that.

That informs your work?

I believe it comes down to.

It is either it could be Yin and Yang, Lao Tzu or Buddhism, or five elements.

It's all about helping us to see ourselves as a microcosm of the universe.

Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.

You know, even acupuncture, we have 365 major acupuncture points in the body.

And the 365 matches with 365 days in a year.

And we have 12 major meridians that matches 12 months in a year.

And everything is a reflection of the universe.

I think that's excellent.

I'm really glad you said that.

It also reminds me when I was teaching Taoism or Lao Tzu, I'll talk about.

This is like your breath comes in, your breath goes out, your reverse, reverse and return is a movement of the dao.

Tides go in, tides go out.

Morning rises to noon, goes back to evening, winter begins, goes to summer, back to winter.

Right.

In and out, in and out.

Right.

Similar.

Exactly.

There's natural flow within us that's reflecting what's happening outside.

So when you get to really go in and be with yourself, you get to feel and understand the universe versus within us.

Also, why we want to create outside.

It has to start, and it does start from within us.

That goes back with the desires.

Our journey is not about cutting back or diminishing or just destroying, destroying our desire.

It's all about really honoring our desire.

As long as we are in this physical body, we are going to have desire and we are going to have attachment.

Then let's work with it.

Your attachment, your desire is a certain thing.

Let's work on finding, figuring out the way to get those.

Ultimately what you want is right behind that desire.

But it's okay because oftentimes we can get lost in this.

These things that we want to get.

Once you get, you know that what you truly wanted was something deeper than this.

And getting to this place is the key to achieving this desire.

For example, I want to have this beautiful house or I want to get married to this beautiful woman, whatever that might be.

What you really want is the future feeling behind that, that emotion behind that.

And so we can get lost in having and doing.

Most of the day.

We are lost in having and do I want to have this, I want to do this.

Then why do you think that you will feel if you have this?

What do you think that you feel when you do this?

This is the being part, this is the doing part.

So when you reverse this, you get to do this.

So the be first.

We can get lost in doing right?

We can't.

We are our lives all lost in this doing part, having and doing.

And we forget that when we think about it.

When we have this and being.

Doing what?

How are you gonna be?

That being part is why we get to experience and get to through being still.

Go ahead.

I was wondering if as you're describing that, I'm thinking your examples were very clear.

House or wife.

And if you can, is it also true that if you can contemplate the feeling that you want to get from these things, then you can maybe have that feeling just by contemplating?

Oh yes.

Whatever way you can feel it.

Feel it feeling.

I don't know who wrote it.

I think some old olden days someone wrote.

I think it's a free.

I think Neville Goddard probably said feeling is the secret and five element theory, Yin and yang is.

And also acupuncture.

It's all about coming back to here and realizing that we are the manifestor.

We are the creator of our own reality.

We are the creator of this universe.

We have 365 acupuncture points in the body.

We have 12 meridians within the body.

Each organ holds connected to its very specific emotions.

And we are so busy getting lost in the outside.

When you come back here.

Everything literally what we are looking for is within us.

And find time to look for those.

Find time to just being in that energy as much as you.

As you can.

And not only you get to get to achieve what you desire, but also you get to create sense of healing and harmony for yourself and for others.

Because when you heal, when you access that energy that's within, outside has to reflect that.

Okay.

You know, one of the things that I remember Alan Watts talking about, Alan Watts, who was the.

The British student and he brought 10 and.

And Taoism to.

To the United States.

And in Buddhism, from what I understand, the Buddha said we suffer because we desire, and when we desire something, we separate ourselves from it.

And so the real.

There was a breakthrough that I had about listening to Alan Watts saying the, The.

The error that we make in desire is to say that we are the thing that we desire and ourselves are separated things, but to the error that we make is a separation.

So one of the things that I came to understand what there's no separated Anthony.

And there's just what is happening here, what the universe is doing here, and what the universe is doing where Adamant is.

Is, and what the universe is doing where Banya is, and what the universe is doing where our listeners are in this moment.

But you're also talking about coming back to the moment and then the whole cosmos manifests from our ching, right from our core.

Is that right?

Chi?

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

And is that one of the things that you assist people?

Yeah.

Come to through harmony.

One of the main diff.

I wouldn't say even difference, but I think, clarification, I'm a this myself.

Yeah.

I think people misunderstand when Buddha say life is suffering and they just accept that I just have to deal with this.

Right, right.

No, I think suffering is a choice.

Yeah.

Yep.

The moment you choose something different, everything else changes.

And whatever you choose, whatever you desire based on that, you can create in the world.

So chi master system is basically about creating your dreams, whatever they might be.

As long as it's aligned with your soul, we can work on there.

Yep.

Yeah.

And I'm really have this sense and I.

That there's really no accidents, that everything is happening the way that it should.

Our mentor, Dr. Wu, used to talk about Tian Ming, which is heaven's destiny.

And do you have a sense of that from the chi masters that.

That you have been learning from?

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Everything that we are experiencing, everything we are having right now, we are here and we're experiencing for a reason.

And we're exactly where we're supposed to be.

Every moment.

We.

You can choose on other things.

Another path, another journey.

You're exactly where it's supposed to be based on what we have gathered so far and we had to go through every single thing there.

There's no accident.

Absolutely no accident.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I'm very grateful that we have gathered here to.

Yes.

To talk together.

We're gonna we're coming up on another break.

I'm Anthony Wright and I am your co host today with Adam Dietz.

And we're on the Living Conversation with our guest Banya Lim.

And where are you located, Banya?

I'm in Sedona.

Okay.

But people can contact you through your website and you said that you do a set, you do sessions on your website on or online?

Yes, most of my sessions online these days.

You can go to banyalim.com and that's.

B A N Y a L I N as one word dot com.

Yes.

Great.

All right.

We're going to take another short break and we'll be right back.

So stay tuned.