Wise Words
Gladys McGarey
November 30, 1920 - September 28, 2024
on the Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age by Rose Winters
R
ecognized around the world as the mother of holistic medicine, Gladys McGarey was a physician and activist who inspired new ways of thinking about disease and
health. Troughout her expansive career, she championed the integrated use of healing methods from Western, Eastern and Indigenous sources; advocated the use of food to prevent and treat disease; and promulgated the idea that illnesses offer glimpses into our inner selves. McGarey practiced medicine for eight decades, was the co-
founder and former president of the American Holistic Medical Association (now called the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine) and co-founder of the Academy of Parapsychology and Medicine. She was one of the first medical doctors to use acupuncture in the United States. In her book, Te Well-Lived Life: A 102-Year-Old Doctor’s Six
Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age, McGarey offers both practical advice and inspiring wisdom drawn from her own life, as well as from the experiences of patients, family and friends. Here is a selection of excerpts from her book.
Secret I: You Are Here for a Reason Each of us is here for a reason, to learn and grow and to give our giſts. When we are able to do so, we’re filled with the creative life energy that I call the “juice.” Te juice is our reason for living. It’s our fulfillment, our joy. It’s what happens when life is activated by love. It’s the energy we get from the things that matter and mean something to us.
Secret II: All Life Needs To Move Consider life flowing like a forest stream. A tree falls across the stream, creating a small dam, and some sticks come along to build the dam up a little higher. Downstream of the dam, the water flow may slow significantly, but it usually doesn’t stop completely. Even if it does, the water continues to flow
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upstream of the dam, and the movement can be seen in the rising waterline. At some point, the water reaches the top of the dam and a trickle forms on one side or another, going around the dam and continuing downstream. Life reaches for life. Always. Tat means that when we feel
the most stuck, whether physically, emotionally, situationally, or any other way, we may need only to look to where things are still moving. When we put our focus and our energy there, a trickle will form around our dam. Aligning with this trickle will help us realign with life. When we do, we can get up and start moving again. Once that happens, all we need to do is keep going.
Secret III: Love Is the Most
Powerful Medicine Love dispels fear, but it is also blocked by fear. Te two are oſten presented together because they’re constantly in a push-pull game with each other. If fear is our habit, practicing love is a wise solution. And that practice will take us far, because love is infinitely stronger than fear—always. Just as our bodies are born to breathe air, we are born to love. Tat’s why although it’s good to address our fear, it’s even better to focus on our love. Any effort we put toward love—truly, any effort at all—will self-perpetuate, bringing joy, health, and well-being into our lives.
Courtesy of The Foundation For Living Medicine/Michel VIARD from Getty Images/CanvaPro
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