Consciousness and Healing Panel: Marilyn Schlitz, Candace Pert, Rustum Roy, Elliott Dacher

Consciousness and Healing Panel

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Marilyn Schlitz leads a panel of healing pioneers in this informative look at the emerging paradigm of integral medicine.

Marilyn begins with a quick look at the history of healthcare in the United States, from allopathic medical dominance to the current popularity of alternative and complementary medicine. She notes that healthcare choices can be confusing and conflicting, and often fall short of treating the whole person: body, mind and spirit. In contrast, the emerging integral medicine model is based on healing rather than disease, is transformative in nature, and is “integral” in that it incorporates different domains of knowing and experience, both subjective and objective. She outlines seven steps to health renewal that reflect the principals of integral medicine.

Rustum Roy, distinguished research scientist and social activist, then provides an animated, fast-paced presentation of impregnable research about indisputably successful alternative healing modalities that continued to be scoffed at and spurned by the western medical community.

Elliot Dacher, physician, lends his insights about the critical role that contemplative practice plays in wellbeing, stressing that real refuge from suffering and disease can only be found through inner peace. He contrasts hedonic wellbeing, an ephemeral state derived from external stimuli and the pursuit of pleasure/comfort, with eudaimonic wellbeing, a permanent state that is achieved through inner work and compassion.

Candace Pert closes the discussion with a look at the role that emotions play in consciousness and healing. Widely recognized for her research into opiate receptors, endorphins, and peptides, Candace explains how emotions manifest physically as molecules that direct the flow of cells in much the same way as psychotropic drugs, chemically impacting our consciousness and wellbeing.