Category: Health & Healing

Gladys McGarey: Activating Our Life Force with Love

At the ripe young age of 102, physician, author, and great-great-grandmother Dr. Gladys McGarey maintains an active consulting practice and in 2023 published her most recent book, The Well-Lived Life. Widely considered the mother of holistic medicine, Dr. Gladys is a cofounder of the American Holistic Medical Association who for more than 60 years has influenced the way we view health, healing, and self-care. 

In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Gladys about her remarkable life—including where she finds “the juice” that fuels her ongoing accomplishments—sharing invaluable insights into keeping life alive as we grow older; offering our light to those who need it; the art of contacting the physician within the patient; coming back to health through “the trickle around the dam”; trusting your inner knowing; how everything in life is a teacher; love as the essence of healing; overcoming fear; the choice to be glad; the five Ls—life, love, laughter, labor, and listening—and how they intersect; reincarnation and karma; Dr. Gladys’s vision of “a village for living medicine”; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Shamini Jain: Healing Ourselves at This Time — T...

What is the future of health and healing? In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Shamini Jain about her vision of the medicine of tomorrow, where not only the physical aspects of who we are but also our emotions, energy, and spirit are all vital considerations in the prevention and treatment of illness. 

Tune in to this illuminating conversation with the author of the book, Healing Ourselves: Biofield Science and the Future of Health, for a glimpse ahead to an emerging, universal flourishing of humanity. Tami and Dr. Jain explore: the body as a garden, the field of psychoneuroimmunology and the link between mind and body, subtle energy and the biofield, the “benevolent challenge” facing humanity at this time, using vibration and sound to work with difficult emotions, energy healing and preventative care practices, a guided biofield vocal toning exercise, the movement toward “whole-person health” in an interconnected world, the neuroscience of social pain and empathy, extending healing to others, surrender and trust, giving ourselves permission to be everything that we want, and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Friedemann Schaub: Becoming the Empowered Leader of Yo...

The subconscious mind has a critical role in our lives—a role that it’s always busy fulfilling. But it also has a problem, explains Dr. Friedemann Schaub: “It pretty much does whatever it started to do early in our lives.” In this podcast, the visionary physician and researcher speaks with Tami Simon about how we can begin to teach our subconscious “not just to go for safety, but to go for fulfillment, purpose, and passion.”

Listen in for insights from his Sounds True publication, The Fear and Anxiety Solution, and his new book, The Empowerment Solution, as Tami and Dr. Schaub explore consciously collaborating with your subconscious; positive and negative emotions; how the subconscious deals with a sense of conditional acceptance and love; changing the filter of not being good enough; discovering the essence of being and the peace that comes with it; the power of yoga, meditation, and other spiritual practices; a guided journey to your core self; escaping oneself versus propelling oneself forward; beliefs, the laws of our life; breaking the habit of people-pleasing; the difference between empathy and compassion; growing through our pain; setting relationship boundaries; finding the marriage between head and heart; trauma healing; learning to treat ourselves like we treat those we love; helping your subconscious trust your conscious mind; self-appreciation; stopping the pattern of defining yourself by your achievements; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com

What Your Feelings Are Trying to Tell You

Though I’m fairly certain you’ve heard otherwise, emotions are a vital part of everything you are: every thought, every choice, every relationship, every dream, every failure, every triumph, every act of violence, and every act of love. When you can learn their language, you can change your life for the better.

And when we can all learn their language, we can change the world.

Hello! I’m Karla McLaren, and I’m excited to announce the upcoming release of the revised and updated edition of The Language of Emotions: What Your Feelings Are Trying to Tell You, which will be available in bookstores on June 27th.

Whether you’re a reader of the original Language of Emotions, or if you’re new to this work, I welcome you to this complete guide to the wisdom in every emotion you have.

The original 2010 version of The Language of Emotions was the first book to approach the emotions in terms of how they function, what they do, and how to work with them. Instead of treating emotions as problems to be solved or eradicated, I focused on them as essential aspects of meaning-making, behavior, and intelligence (which is what they truly are). I approached the emotional realm as an intelligent system that requires all of its members, including tragically disrespected emotions such as shame, anxiety, depression, jealousy, envy, panic, and the suicidal urge (among others). And in so doing, I discovered the healing messages inside all emotions.

But because most of us have been taught to distrust emotions, I was working without a net as I wrote the original version of this book, and I missed some things. Now, after more than a decade of further research and practice, and with the support and camaraderie of an international community of colleagues and friends, I’ve had the opportunity to understand the emotions more deeply.

For centuries, emotions have been repressed, idealized, distrusted, and even despised, yet they were never truly understood. I’m honored to share this updated celebration of the brilliance, ingenuity, healing power, and jaw-dropping genius of our emotions.

 

Welcome!

Karla McLaren, M.Ed.

Karla McLaren, M.Ed., is an award-winning author, social science researcher, and empathy innovator. She is CEO of Emotion Dynamics Inc., developer of Dynamic Emotional Integration®, and creator of EmpathyAcademy.org. Karla is the author of Embracing Anxiety, The Dynamic Emotional Integration Workbook, The Art of Empathy, The Power of Emotions at Work, and the multimedia online course Emotional Flow: Becoming Fluent in the Language of Emotions. For more, visit karlamclaren.com.

The Trauma Response is Never Wrong

We have been tricked to believe that the trauma response is a sign of weakness and disorder. What science shows us is that the trauma response is in fact a sign of strength and proof of an inherent human drive to survive. We need society to catch up with science, and fast. We are no longer living in an era where we can assume that trauma impacts a minority of the population. Trauma impacts us all. This has always been true, but we can no longer pretend otherwise.

Unbroken is a book about the miracle of the trauma response, the importance of acceptance and self-compassion, and the transformative healing potential that lies within us all. Drawing on my experience as a trauma researcher, coach, as well as my own personal journey of healing, this book offers a new perspective on trauma that emphasizes the wisdom of the body and the resilience of the human spirit.

If you’re struggling with the after-effects of trauma, Unbroken can help you understand your experience in a new light. You’ll learn how trauma impacts the brain, the body, and the spirit, and how you can use this knowledge to start your journey of healing. You’ll discover practical tools and strategies for managing trauma triggers, regulating your emotions, and cultivating self-compassion. Most importantly, you’ll learn that the trauma response is never wrong – it’s a natural and adaptive response to a difficult situation.

One of the most important lessons of Unbroken is that the trauma response is never wrong. This means that even if you’re struggling with symptoms like anxiety, depression, or dissociation, your body is doing exactly what it needs to do to protect you. By embracing this truth, you can start to shift from a place of shame and self-blame to a place of self-compassion and empowerment. The book is chock full of tools that will help you understand and appreciate your trauma response and how to intervene when that response is tripped off unnecessarily. I can’t wait for you to dig in and I can’t wait to hear how this book changes you. It certainly changed me.

MaryCatherine McDonald, PhD, is a research professor and life coach who specializes in the psychology and philosophy of trauma. She has been researching, lecturing, and publishing on the neuroscience, psychology, and lived experience of trauma since the beginning of her PhD in 2009. She’s published two academic books and many research papers, and she is the creator of a trauma-based curriculum designed to serve previously incarcerated folks and veterans

Forest Bath Right Down This Path

Dear Readers, I’m excited that my new picture book  Forest Bath Right Down this Path is part of the Sounds True Kids collection. It’s a book of my heart as it portrays a fog forest—Barred Island Preserve—that my family and I hike every year on our summer vacation in Maine. I’m thrilled that you can enjoy this forest through the window of Khoa Le’s gorgeous illustrations.

As we wander the forest’s moss-lined paths, we smell pines and firs, touch bark and berries, and listen to birds and chipmunks. The hike ends at a rocky beach where we swim and explore tidepools. When we leave, we feel peaceful and calm. The name for this kind of soothing experience is forest bathing.

There’s evidence that smelling chemicals from trees called phytoncides and microbes from soil called mycobacterium vaccae may reduce stress and boost immune function.

I work as a child psychiatrist to help children, teens, and adults, and I’m always looking for ways to help people manage stress and anxiety. Some of the recommendations I make for doing this include exercise, taking time away from screens, meditating, and connecting with family and friends. I try to do these things myself, too! Every morning I take a half hour walk through the woods near my home.

I’m also a parent of two children (now young adults), and I’ve been concerned about the ways phones and screens are interfering with paying attention to the natural world as well as one another. It’s known that spending a lot of time on social media is contributing to the worsening of teens’ mental health. Adults need to take time away from their phones, too. That’s why the main character of my book, Kayla, encourages her father to put away his phone and fully engage in their walk through their forest. Children want their parents’ undivided attention; often they’re the ones encouraging adults to turn off their phones and be present.

I hope this book inspires you to spend time with your loved ones outdoors and soak in all its beauty and mental health benefits. Happy forest bathing!

Wishing you fresh air and sunshine,

Lisa Robinson

P.S. I invite you to download the free story time kit with five activities for children to learn more about forest bathing—from heading out on a sensory expedition to exploring their senses to making art in nature.


Lisa Robinson is a therapist, picture book writer, and nature enthusiast. She lives in Newton, Massachusetts. Every summer her family travels to coastal Maine for two weeks. The highlight of the trip is a walk through Barred Island Preserve on Deer Isle. The animals and plants mentioned in her new children’s book, Forest Bath Right Down This Path, are all found there. Learn more about Lisa and her work at author-lisa-robinson.com.

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