Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Heroes, Joseph Campbell, and Jordan Peterson The hero's journey begins with the call to adventure. Jordan Peterson writes that life exists within explored and unexplored territory both inside and outside of the mind. A narrative crisis occurs when our story (map of meaning) is inadequate to explain an anomaly. Heroism sets the hero apart from the group. Identification with the hero serves to decrease the unbearable motivational valence of the unknown. 1 

Helen Gibbons: The 6 Hour Solution to Work stress Helen Gibbons, Chief Psychologist and pioneer of Autogenic Training in Australia,discusses the benefits of Autogenic Training in combating work stress, particularly in the Mining and other high risk industries. Developed by German Neuroscientist Dr Schultz, AT is backed by over 3,000 clinical studies worldwide and is used by NASA astronauts to help them adapt to the physical and psycholocial stressors of space travel. 1 

Vijayaraghavan Padmanabhan: Becoming Aware of Mind-Body-Spirit Medicine The development from Era 1 to Era 2 medicine emphasizes that we are not the body alone; we are mind-body entities. Era 3 medicine indicates that we are not confined to our mind-body; we are mind-body-spirit entities. As is the belief, so is the practice. If the physician believed that he was a mind-body-spirit entity, he would suggest the attitude of 'prayerfulness' by those concerned with the patient. 1 

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Pain, Part 2 I continue to reflect upon chronic pain, beginning with some comments from my colleague, Peter Blum, who is a hypnotherapist and all around healer-guy in Woodstock, NY, and then leading into some brain science that shows that our brains are changed by the experience of pain and begin to link all kinds of unrelated experiences to that pain so that pain becomes multiply determined by more than just the sensations.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: The High Cost of Medically Unexplained Symptoms I write about how the search for the diagnosis for medically unexplained symptoms is an important aspect of what is bankrupting our health care system. We have to solve this problem for manage costs no matter what health care system we have. I acknowledge that some diseases are missed and that some diseases are yet to be found, but suggest that we are much better at findings serious and life threatening illnesses than before.

Elaine Seiler: Make Way for the Energy of Spring!: 5 Tips For Energetic Spring Clearing Author and energetics expert Elaine Seiler shares 5 tips For energetic spring clearing.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: On the Nature of Afflictions In this article I wonder about what illness has to offer us. What is the nature of affliction. Is it a thing or is it a doorway, an invitation to make meaning. All illnesses offer us this opportunity.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Reflections after a Hypnosis Workshop I describe some reflections after co-teaching a hypnosis workshop. Particularly, we look at a person whose story is too large, as big even as the whole United States. How do we work with someone whose story is that large. I describe ways to extract smaller stories, short stories from the large novel, stories that can work within an hour time frame, the usual length of time for mental health or hypnosis encounters.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Mind, body, and unexplained symptoms I describe a woman with a "mystery illness" who has defied the efforts of conventional physicians to diagnose her. She has also been unsuccessful at gaining help from alternative medical practitioners. I show how inflammation is an integrative process which can affect a variety of organs and can be provoked by stress, including the stress of worrying too much. We we can change the underlying process, we can reduce it.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Thoughts after Sundance 2011 I reflect upon Sundance 2011 and what I have learned. I realize that Sundance is about love and compassion and following this red road that leads to these directions. Sundance gives us an opportunity to rise to become spiritual warriors, to find all the benefits and none of the detriments of battle, to create a community of fellow warriors within which we can feel strong, and to transcend our natural limits to become more. 1 

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Sweat Lodge, Prayer, and Community Prayer and community have been stripped away from contemporary health care. Both are sorely needed. I talk about the sweat lodge ceremony as being a laboratory for exposing mainstream healthcare practitioners to the perspective on health and the world of Native American people and show how it produces the kind of connectedness and sense of belonging that we desperately need and which is associated with greater health.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Narrative and Science: Day 13 of the Australian Journey Today was our last full day in Australia and the occasion for a lecture and series of discussions at the University of Melbourne's Center for International Mental Health and School of Population Health. We explored the bridges between science and the indigenous world view of narrative. Particularly we were impressed with how neuroscience is completely supporting indigenous knowledge about narrative and its importance!

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Suicide and Mental Health: Australia Journey Day 2 Lewis and Coyote Institute are on Day 2 of an Australian journey which is a cross-cultural exchange about ideas for mind and mental health. Today we focused upon suicide which elders told us was rare in Australia prior to European contact, but now, all to common. We focused upon suicide as a modern non-indigenous template for the communication of suffering which sometimes backfires leading to accidental death. 1 

Lewis Mehl-Madrona: Hearing Voices and Seeing Visions: What to do? Once upon a time, in most of the world's societies, hearing voices and seeing visions was honored and desired. In contemporary, modern culture it has become the one symptom that allows an immediate diagnosis of a psychotic disorder. In this essay, I write about the downside of pathologizing voices, while still acknowledging that many people suffer enormously from voices and negative visions. I describe how to be healing. 1 

Dr. Cheryl Pappas: Celiac Blues and Greens Celiac disease,invisible, undiagnosed, could be playing havoc with your physical and mental well-being. Learn to listen to your body and you can heal it.