Marcey Shapiro - Transforming the Nature of Health: A Holistic Vision of Healing That Honors Our Connection to the Earth, Others, and Ourselves

A fascinating journey to move from dis-ease to well-being, from aloneness and separation to community and oneness. Marcey Shapiro looks with new eyes at the organisms that share our bodies, proposing a model of peace in the realm of medicine and within each of us. She advocates a different understanding of illness. Illustrated with intriguing stories from her clinical practice, where she uses tools of conventional medicine, science, and natural approaches, this is a refreshing read that contains profound insights and a deep spiritual message. Transforming the Nature of Health is sprinkled with very practical meditations and easy-to-follow advice that will change the way you think. A must-read for anyone dealing with a body that is out of balance either physically or emotionally.

C AROL S ABICK DE LA H ERRAN ,
executive director and president of The Monroe Institute

Marcey Shapiro articulates the perfect prescription for better health: focus on positive energy, forgiveness, and love and where appropriate utilize new technologies and therapies that harmonize with nature to restore balance in our bodies and our lives. She challenges the conventional thinking of modern medicine and invites a new perspective that will help transform health and health care.

H ELEN G RACIE , cofounder of Scenar Health

Copyright 2012 by Marcey Shapiro, MD. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the written permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.

Transforming the Nature of Health: A Holistic Vision of Healing That Honors Our Connection to the Earth, Others, and Ourselves is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.

North Atlantic Books publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: The following information is intended for general information purposes only. Individuals should always see their health care provider before administering any suggestions made in this book. Any application of the material set forth in the following pages is at the readers discretion and is his or her sole responsibility.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shapiro, Marcey, 1957
Transforming the nature of health: a holistic vision of healing that honors our connection to the Earth, others, and ourselves / Marcey Shapiro.
p. cm.
Summary: Countering conventional medicines view of health care as a protracted war with germs and disease, Transforming the Nature of Health asks us to consider what medicine would look like if we were at peace with nature and offers a fresh and often playful understanding of health and connectedness based on love, meaning, and respectProvided by publisher.
eISBN: 978-1-58394-377-9
1. Harmony (Philosophy) 2. HealthReligious aspects. 3. Love. 4. Spiritual life. 5. Consciousness. I. Title.
B105.H37S53 2011
128dc23
2011018464

v3.1

For love, and a life journey of living from the Heart,
with all its mystery and wonder.

I DISCUSS MANY PATIENTS EXPERIENCES THROUGHOUT the book. To protect their privacy, the names of my patients and certain identifying details of their cases have been altered, though the essence of their experiences has been preserved.

A S A W ESTERN-TRAINED SURGICAL SUB-SPECIALIST , my entire medical career has been framed by linear thinking, surgical decision-making, fixing problems, and separating the physical body from the spiritual being. I was in a boxmy patients came to me with a physical problem, I diagnosed the disorder, offered therapy to eliminate the complaint, and the encounter was over. Done deal. For twenty-five years, I rationalized my practice of medicine to exclude the spirit of the individual and to disregard all the internal and environmental factors that prompted the patient to enter my office with a complaint. I somehow thought this was the right way to be a healer.

Over the past several years, my partner and I have been on an increasingly deep spiritual journey exploring meaning, mind-body connection, vibrational alignment, purpose, love, source, being. As I opened to this connection, the universe instilled clarity into my life: we are physical manifestations of spiritual source energy.

I first met Marcey Shapiro at an Abraham-Hicks Tahiti cruise workshop. Immediately, her energy was palpable and soothing. There was a deep connection. Soon I discovered that she is a Western-trained medical doctor (MD) practicing a very unusual blend of care. Her interests vary from classic Western medicine to acupuncture, energy work, homeopathic remedies, and so much more. As Marcey and I became friends, I saw and felt a compassionate, aware, and generous total physician. At her core is a person of love, the source of her healing powers.

Marcey Shapiros perspective in Transforming the Nature of Health is so much more than an epiphany. She drills deep into philosophy, religious traditions, politics, physics, and biology with passion, humor, and integrity. As I got lost in this enlightenment, the veil of Western thinking was lifted. Clearly, a patient visiting me with a physical complaint had traveled far down the road of non-alignment, sometimes for years. The physical manifestation of discord with truth and contentment grows and torments the soul until we wake up and pay attention to our heart.

Marcey writes this book from her heart. She clearly visualizes truth with complete non-judgment. I came to tears with her description of the tortured stories of her patients. She then gently redirects the focus to positivity and alignment with total acceptance, love, and wisdom. There is no attachment to the outcome a patient may decide to just stay where they are, and yet, love remains the mainstay of the encounter.

My specialty is urology, a surgical sub-specialty involving linear thinking, judgment, and outcomes. Ive practiced for more than thirty years. As I became more aware of the healing art of medicine, Marcey showed up and I was able to visualize, through her, infinite possibilities in the marriage of surgeon and holistic urologist. Marcey honors the doctor-patient relationship and clearly practices the art of allowing while counseling and advising her patients. And she does this without judgment. Without her even knowing or certainly taking any credit, she has guided me onto a different path of healer, that of exploring solutions on the basis of love. I am so grateful for Marcey Shapiro.