The first weekend in July I ventured down from my idyllic island northeast of Seattle and headed to Portland. As many of you know who follow me on Facebook, I am a huge fan of Lissa Rankin, MD from the New York Time’s bestseller, "Mind Over Medicine". She was attending a conference in Portland that weekend so scheduled a few times to meet with her tribe, talk about her book and hear our stories. I stumbled upon her work a few months back via a friend who ‘liked’ something Lissa posted so I clicked through until I found an interview with Jonathan Fields of “The Good Life Project”. Listen to the interview here: http://bit.ly/1bti2Su After the interview I jumped on her website and ordered her book, "Mind Over Medicine". Her story and philosophy were so familiar to me, I saw parts of my own journey and vision reflected in hers. And even though my past was in luxury hospitality and not a hospital, I understand what it’s like to hold a vision of healing and then find out that the platform you've worked so hard at isn't the right one. Even though you are passionate and committed to the work you are doing, it begins to deplete you more than it nurtures you. Your vision slowly becomes distorted in the confines of the corporation as your body cries out for you to switch gears, make drastic changes and realign back to your vision with integrity and self-love. Read Lissa's story on her blog, “The Anatomy of A Calling” http://lissarankin.com/the-anatomy-of-a-calling When her book arrived I dove in and was left totally inspired by the immense work she put into pulling together scientific research and making a tough case for skeptics. Her journey had lead her on a path to discover a formula to truly help patients heal based upon what she calls, a "Whole Health Carin" wellness model and "The Prescription". You can sign-up to receive a FREE Self-Healing Kit from her website at: http://mindovermedicinebook.com Understanding the mind-body connection and our ability to heal (or make ourselves sick) has fascinated me for over sixteen years and finally lead me to attend a course at Harvard Medical last summer called Mind-Body Medicine and sign-up for a program from the National Institute of Whole Health called “Whole Health Education”. At the beginning of my journey the teachers who helped me to understand the mind-body connection were Dr. Caroline Myss, Dr. Christiane Northrup and Louise Hay. For years I have been sharing whatever insight and wisdom I’ve gained with those in my life and believe that ultimately we teach what we need to learn and so my own healing journey gave me inspiration to help others heal and live vibrant, healthy, happy lives. The first talk with Lissa was scheduled after a long conference day ended at the World Domination Summit. The meeting was informal and scheduled in as a meet-up and book signing. And so I was able to meet her, her husband Matt and share how grateful I am for the work she does. Two days later I attended a talk at the Nia Studio in Portland, this time Lissa shared her “story” and talked about the concepts in her book as well as her vision to heal Healthcare. Hearing her story live brought me to tears; she is an incredible speaker and has an incredible story. One of the physicians who is in her Whole Health Medicine Institute also spoke and I could tell how much she had grown without even knowing her previously. Her ability to speak from her heart was an indication of the healing work Lissa has already done with these physicians, and it was amazing to witness. One of the nurses in the room posed a question, she said she understood the concepts in the book and agrees that we do in fact have the ability to heal and create illness, and yet has seen that some how in the knowing we are responsible for our health and our illness it can really make people (especially women) go into a state of shame and self-critisim, ultimately pushing healing further away. She wondered if Lissa had any suggestions as to what she could say to these women who get stuck in negative self-talk. Lissa asked if anyone had any suggestions so I raised my hand. I shared that one thing that has helped me all of these years has been to view any illness, accident or trauma as an opportunity for healing and awakening. At a very young age I began to realize that there is no such thing as an accident or illnesses without reason. Sometimes it takes a car accident or cancer to wake us up and help us realize that we need to take inventory of what is and isn’t working in our lives. When we have this awareness we can shift from feeling bad to feeling empowered, knowing we have attracted this experience into our lives as a powerful opportunity for healing and as a catalyst for positive transformation in our lives. When I left the talk I felt a fire burning inside, fueling me to keep moving forward with my work and the creation of my Holistic Self-Care Programs. I know it is time and I know it is needed, and Lissa's book is the perfect tool to help people who take my programs understand the concepts of self-healing. Lissa is blazing a trail and laying a solid foundation to empower the health and healing of our society. I know my life is enriched and blessed simply by Lissa doing the work she has been called to do. In Gratitude, Heather If you haven't already, head on over to Lissa websites and order her book at: http://mindovermedicinebook.com |