What Gifted Men!

My friend Milla Ilieva gifted me mightily yesterday. She had invited me to join her at a Health & Wellness Day, that was part of an ongoing series called Times Talks. Tina Parker-Pope, consumer health columnist for The New York Times, did a great job of moderating fabulously informative and inspiring interviews with Dr. Deepak Chopra and Dr. Mehmet Oz. These men have long been heroes of mine.

I’ve already written with gratitude about Dr. Chopra. His ‘quantum healing’ work surfaced shortly after my intense indoctrination into the marvels of the body/mind/spirit connection as a student of the extraordinary teacher and healer, Hilda Charlton. This turned out to be an indoctrination that healed me and totally transformed my life. Our scientific community and Dr. Chopra were now making available to the masses what Hilda had been teaching, and the ancient wise ones espousing, for millennia – that the Universe and everything in it is energy. And that in the case of us humans, this energy pulsing unceasingly within us, is profoundly affected by our thoughts and the feelings they engender, as well as our beliefs and attitudes. These can be either healthful to our physical bodies or harmful to them. As Chopra tells us repeatedly our bodies are not frozen sculptures in time and space, they are pulsating energy, ever changing, ever renewing themselves. They are self repairing mechanisms, which is a constant message in my own work. He spoke of addictions yesterday and encouraged us to become increasingly aware of our choices. We always have choice. Expanding awareness is the antidote to addictions, along with finding ways to inspire ourselves. Inspiration always works, he said. His message was abundant with far too much wisdom and information to cover here, but his parting words for our ongoing wellness were:

1) Good Sleep
2) Awareness of everything we put into our bodies
3) Taking the Vow for Wellness (make one up for yourself)
4) Moving – the body needs to move!

Dr. Mehmet Oz appeared on my radar in the 90’s when the Magazine Section of the Sunday Times presented an in depth article about his prowess as a cardiac surgeon. The pictures showed him to be quite a young man, extremely attractive – movie star looks – with great respect for, and close affiliation with, healers. My heart smiled. Now, of course, he’s a really big star with his own TV show, which evolved out of his many appearances on Oprah where he educated the masses about health and well-being. He shared with us yesterday that although his surgical practice was wonderfully fulfilling, he lived for a long time with the frustration that his patients didn’t need to have arrived at such a difficult and painful place in their lives. So much of their disease was preventable. He finally decided to go outside the box and teach us how to truly care for ourselves, so that many of us won’t have to undergo such invasive treatments. Though the TV show demands a lot of his time, he still operates one day a week. He knows that this intimate involvement with his patients remains a big part of his purpose in life. He encourages us all to make peace with our purpose in life. Like Dr. Chopra, he emphasizes having good sleep each night – most of us need seven to seven and a half hours. He encourages developing eating habits that truly nourish our body/mind system as well as doing some form of exercise every day. He feels that first thing in the morning a brief routine of stretching will serve us tremendously. Once our many faceted days begin, exercise often falls between the cracks. I can relate to that one. Dr. Oz exudes enthusiasm and joie de vivre. His vibrant aliveness in person and on TV is totally infectious. I’ve thought from the first time I saw him on Oprah that this man would do more for preventative medicine than any one on the planet. He reaches millions with his message of taking responsibility for our own lives. He’s delightfully human and fun and brilliantly aware of the love and caring that are mandatory for our own well-being and the health and well-being of our world. My heart overflows with gratitude for these two divinely gifted men. Thank you, Dr. Oz! Thank you, Dr. Chopra! Thank you Milla!