The Most Influential Person In My Life Just Died: A Tribute To Rachel Naomi Remen, MD
I write a lot about bad spiritual teachers. Part of why I can tell the good ones from the bad ones is because I was blessed to have a really wonderful teacher, who swept me under her wing right after I quit my hospital job at 37 years old. Last year for Mother’s...
No, You Don’t Need To Get Over Your Ego. You Might Actually Need To Strengthen It.
“Your ego is the problem,” says the guy on stage from the lotus position. “You have to transcend your ego,” he bellows, while claiming he has the 411 direct dial to God and seeming clueless about how egotistical such a claim might be. While informing you that the...
10 More Things I Still Believe About Health (Part 2)
If you missed Part 1 of this series 10 Things I Still Believe About Health After Debunking Everything I Now Think Is Nonsense, please start there. This is a continuation of what’s left after getting indoctrinated into (and then deconstructing) both the world of...
10 Things I Still Believe About Health & Wellness (After Debunking Everything I Now Believe Is Nonsense)
To those of you who are new to my work, you might not know that I wrote a New York Times bestselling book called Mind Over Medicine back in 2013, which led to two PBS specials, four TEDx talks, and a training program for medical doctors in the principles from that...
It’s Not Selfish To Put Your Needs First When You’re “Relationsick”
I’ve been writing a lot lately about corruption in the spirituality, wellness, and energy healing spaces, something I figured out about a decade ago, when I quietly shifted my health care and healing work towards more ethical, grounded, and non-bypassing...
15 Ways To Protect Yourself From Getting Hooked By A Charismatic Leader
I’ll never forget the way I felt when Aisha/Pema Salem took the stage at SAND. I’d been listening to these boring old white male non-dual teachers all day. I was there with my BFF Dennis, and Dennis kept saying, “Listening to these guys talk about spiritual...
How Power Destroys Empathy & Compassion
In 2007, after twelve years of training to become a doctor, I left the hospital, only seven years after completing my training. Why? Because, in my estimation, to rise in the medical hierarchy requires trading in empathy and compassion for power- and it’s a bad...
Coping With The Extent Of American Misogyny In The Wake Of The Epstein Files
After a week of shocking Epstein revelations, the powers that be are trying to change the subject. I’m no scholar in Middle East politics, so I won’t say anything other than I’m anti-genocide, I’m pro-human rights, and I don’t believe there’s any excuse for mass...