Luminary: Rachel Naomi Remen

Luminary: Rachel Naomi Remen

Rachel Naomi Remen is one of the earliest pioneers in the mind/body holistic health movement and the first to recognize the role of the spirit in health and the recovery from illness. She is Co-Founder and Medical Director of the Commonweal Cancer Help Program featured in the Bill Moyers PBS series, Healing and the Mind and has cared for people with cancer and their families for almost 30 years.

She is also a nationally recognized medical reformer and educator who sees the practice of medicine as a spiritual path. In recognition of her work she has received several honorary degrees and has been invited to teach in medical schools and hospitals throughout the country. Her groundbreaking holistic curricula enable physicians at all levels of training to remember their calling and strengthen their commitment to serve life.

She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal. Her newest book, My Grandfather's Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge and Belonging, is a national bestseller. As a master story-teller and public speaker, she has spoken to thousands of people throughout the country, reminding them of the power of their humanity and the ability to use their lives to make a difference. Dr. Remen has a 48-year personal history of Crohn's disease and her work is a unique blend of the viewpoint of physician and patient.

Rachel Naomi Remen is a master storyteller and a great observer of life. The wisdom in her books comes from many places, a loving old grandfather and his books of Jewish mysticism, from sick people and dying people and the doctors and nurses who serve them, from children and animals and the people who sit next to you on airplanes or stand behind you in the grocery store. It is the same wisdom you encounter in your own life every day.

Remen was born into a family of service, of highly skilled doctors and nurses, the children of her grandfather, an orthodox rabbi. As a child, she felt torn between her grandfather who blessed life and her scientific uncles, aunts and cousins who served life. But as the end of the day, it has turned out that these two seemingly divergent life paths may lead to the same destination. As you read her books, you will at first feel like a member of her family but as these stories go on, you will discover that the family you are invited to belong to is the human race itself.