Integral Health:

Using the Mind/Body Connection to Attain a Profound Level of Health and Healing

Often it appears that a health problem has been resolved, and then it reappears in another part of our body. Or, we may feel okay, but we don’t feel great. Is this just the human condition or might there be something more?

Elliott S. Dacher, M.D., has created a philosophy of human flourishing with a step by step program for attaining it. For more than twenty years he practiced internal medicine. Frustrated that he could not treat his patients’ underlying suffering, he searched for a deeper source of healing. Inspired by Eastern philosophies that stressed the connection between mind and body, he studied developmental psychology, stress reduction strategies, wellness, mind/body healing, and consciousness. He developed a “map” based on author Ken Wilber’s integral theory of consciousness that would help people achieve a life of health, happiness, and wholeness.

In Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing Dr. Dacher describes his vision and theory and then guides us through the practice of a program that is being heralded by many prominent holistic practitioners as the next evolutionary step in human development.

The East has studied the mind/body connection for 2500 years, he points out.There is a saying that our mental life can affect our body like writing on water, on sand, or on stone. Chronic stress is like etching on stone, permanently reshaping our mind and body. The ancient Greeks also practiced inner and outer healing. Dacher’s dynamic program incorporates the wisdom from these traditions with new scientific evidence that it may be possible to permanently transform our body, mind, and spirit.

“Integral healing” centers on four aspects of human existence—the inner aspects of the psychospiritual and the interpersonal, and the outer aspects of the biological and the interpersonal. For example, much of today’s mental suffering and disease is related to our being out of touch with the psychospiritual aspect of life. So developing this aspect greatly affects the fullness of our life. Similarly, the more we understand the mind/body connection, the more we can use it to help heal significant medical problems.  He also emphasizes the importance of relationships to health, happiness, and wholeness. The theory explained, Dr. Dacher then offers specific guidelines on how to deal with and make transformative shifts through each of these aspects using various contemplative practices that increase mind/body consciousness and connection. And he shows us how to evaluate our progress so we can determine that we’re ready to proceed from this foundation to the next step:  the creation of a personalized program, using the principles of integral assessment as a guide.

The path to flourishing is through integral health, Dr. Dacher demonstrates. The vision needs to be put into practice, and then we will achieve our goal:  a life of health and purpose, passion, intimacy, and joy.  

About the author:

Elliott S. Dacher, M.D., received his medical degree in 1970 and practiced full-time internal medicine for twenty-one years. He is the author of Whole Healing and Intentional Healing. Dr. Dacher currently studies, practices, and teaches the principles and practices of integral health and healing. He continues to counsel individuals aspiring to use distress, disease, and life itself as a pathway to integral health.

Dr. Dacher is the physician adviser to Davi Nikent, Center for Human Flourishing. He will be with us in January 2007 doing a series of Retreats and talks on his work in Integral Health. Check the Events Calendar on this website for dates and times.

THE BOOK: Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing
By Elliott S. Dacher, M.D.
Basic Health Publications
ISBN: 1-59120-190-X

Available at the following local bookstores:

Novel-Tea Shop, Carbondale, Colorado      970-963-2617

Through the Looking Glass, Glenwood Springs, Colorado      970-945-593

Town Center Booksellers, Basalt, Colorado           970-927-2665

Explore Booksellers, Aspen, Colorado         970-925-5336