Mehl-Madrona’s story of searching for his ancestral roots beneath the forest of Christianization, colonization, and assimilation becomes a story of seeking mind, body, spirit, and community integration. When he entered Stanford University School of Medicine in California, in 1973, Lewis realized that his culture had much to offer mainstream society – through its understanding of the power of story and through its understanding of healing and transformation.
The need for a parallel path to bio-medicine became apparent in medical school when he learned from the professor of medicine and pharmacology that “life was a relentless progression toward death, disease, and decay. The physician’s job is to slow the rate of decline.” By the weekend, he had found a Cherokee healer with whom to study. That was 1973 and he hasn’t stopped his studying with elders. He will describe the guidance they have given him toward achieving a balance among mind, body, spirit, and community, which represent the four directions of the medicine wheel.
Lewis’s Podcast Interview on Sounds True
An in-depth look at the therapeutic and transformative powers of storytelling in Native American and other cultures • Explores how to create a healing state of mind using stories • Includes healing stories from Native American traditions and other cultures … Continue reading →
