“I realized...it's okay to pivot and realize you are greater than that. I think no matter what struggle anyone listens to this podcast is going through, you are greater than that struggle" Nikhil Parekh
@chris6572.bsky.social @soulinmedicine.bsky.social @miriamcolleran2.bsky.social
#Struggle
Becoming a True Human Podcast #17
You are Greater than the Struggle
Chris, Dave talk with guest Nikhil Parekh MD about their past work with VA Whole Health & how to carry on the spirit of that work now that they are outside VA
YouTube shorturl.at/495Xp
Spotify shorturl.at/3j7NN
#WholeHealth #VA
“I realized...it's okay to pivot and realize you are greater than that. I think no matter what struggle anyone listens to this podcast is going through, you are greater than that struggle" Nikhil Parekh
@chris6572.bsky.social @soulinmedicine.bsky.social @miriamcolleran2.bsky.social
#Struggle
Becoming a True Human Podcast #17
You are Greater than the Struggle
Chris, Dave talk with guest Nikhil Parekh MD about their past work with VA Whole Health & how to carry on the spirit of that work now that they are outside VA
YouTube shorturl.at/495Xp
Spotify shorturl.at/3j7NN
#WholeHealth #VA
Physicians across the U.S. are suffering moral injury—not burnout, but moral injury.
PNHP conducted a two-year research initiative to better understand the scope of this crisis, and what can be done to reclaim the medical profession.
Read our full report: pnhp.org/moral-injury...
Friends—You belong, just as you are, and I’m glad you’re here. The unity that suppresses community is not true unity. The oneness that denies diversity is not true oneness. The strength build on hate is not true strength.
This is the message of my new book On Mindful Democracy—check it out!
Inner Democracy.2:
Struggle & the Journey of Inner Democracy
"Struggle is inherent to any practice, and so it is inherent in the practice of inner democracy"
shorturl.at/aOmfJ
@chris6572.bsky.social @soulinmedicine.bsky.social @jeremydavidengels.bsky.social
#Struggle #JourneyOfInnerDemocracy
Post-Burnout Growth presentation
shorturl.at/WFNpa
#burnout #PostBurnoutGrowth #MoralInjury #Suffering #SufferingInMedicine #PhysicianBurnout #PhysicianWellness #Well-Being #Initiation #Mentors #RitualElders
@soulinmedicine.bsky.social @miriamcolleran2.bsky.social
Post-Burnout Growth presentation
shorturl.at/WFNpa
#burnout #PostBurnoutGrowth #MoralInjury #Suffering #SufferingInMedicine #PhysicianBurnout #PhysicianWellness #Well-Being #Initiation #Mentors #RitualElders
@soulinmedicine.bsky.social @miriamcolleran2.bsky.social
Inner Democracy.2:
Struggle & the Journey of Inner Democracy
"Struggle is inherent to any practice, and so it is inherent in the practice of inner democracy"
shorturl.at/aOmfJ
@chris6572.bsky.social @soulinmedicine.bsky.social @jeremydavidengels.bsky.social
#Struggle #JourneyOfInnerDemocracy
Virginia Bluebells
Madison, WI
Carpenter? Bee, visiting the clematis
Spring visitor.
the Clematis captivates my whole garden this time of year
#bloomscrolling #photography #EastCoastKin #naiveteismyforte #bee
Chris Smith's new book
A Soft Way: A Taoist Approach for living with Ulcerative Colitis available!
@chris6572.bsky.social @soulinmedicine.bsky.social @miriamcolleran2.bsky.social @crohns-disease.org.uk @crohnsandcolitisau.bsky.social @crohnscolitisfdn.bsky.social
shorturl.at/46ME2
#TaoTeChing #IBD
Illness as Teacher
We can all use illness as our teacher to become better healers and humans. I view many of the failings of doctors and the medical system as stemming from professionals having only an identity as technicians and not as healers
closler.org/lifelong-lea...
#IllnessAsTeacher #Healing
Colorful sunrise at oceans edge reflected in a pool of water by a beachside rock
Sunrise, Wednesday, 15 April, from Okitu Beach, Aotearoa / New Zealand.
Ata mārie / Good Morning ☀️
Online Book Launch Symposium The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Suicide Eds. M. Cholbi and P. Stellino 21 April, 2026 15:00-19:15 (UK TIME - GMT+0) 15:00-15:15 Michael Cholbi (University of Edinburg), Introduction 15:15-15.45 Steven Luper (Trinity University), What Is Suicide? 15:45-16:15 F. M. Kamm (Henry Rutgers University), The Rationality of Suicide 16:15-16:30 Break 16:30-17:00 Paolo Stellino (NOVA University of Lisbon), Suicide’s Relation to Freedom 17:00-17:30 Hane Htut Maung (Lancaster University), Suicide and Mental Illness 17:30-18:00 Andrea S. Asker (Stockholm University), Suicide and Pessimism 18:00-18:15 Break 18:15-18:45 Becky Millar (Cardiff University), Grief and Suicide 18:45-19:15 Susan Kennedy and Erik Ramirez (Santa Clara University), Suicide, Social Media, and Artificial Intelligence Join Zoom Meeting: https://ed-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/89838962731 Meeting ID: 898 3896 2731 Passcode: P0B6xj26
I look forward to the book launch for the Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Suicide next week. I will be speaking about my chapter on suicide and mental illness from a philosophy of medicine perspective.
Ubuntu as similar to interbeing is the convergence across traditions that validates both. Sub-Saharan philosophy and Buddhist ontology arriving at the same structural claim through different paths. The convergence is evidence, not coincidence.
Illness as Teacher
We can all use illness as our teacher to become better healers and humans. I view many of the failings of doctors and the medical system as stemming from professionals having only an identity as technicians and not as healers
closler.org/lifelong-lea...
#IllnessAsTeacher #Healing
"When we hear the term chronic illness, we think of pain. Limitation. A life narrowed by what the body can no longer do. But what if chronic illness carries a quieter invitation—one that opens into deeper presence, gentler wisdom, and a more intimate relationship with the self."
#IllnessAsInvitation
"Inspired by an ancient text—the Tao Te Ching—and shaped through the lens of modern life and technology, Smith began rewriting its teachings for life with chronic illness.
A Soft Way is the result of that inquiry."
#TaoTeChing #ChronicIllness #Healing #UlcerativeColitis #IBD
@chris6572.bsky.social
"After living for years with ulcerative colitis, Chris Smith encountered a question that changed everything: What if this experience isn’t something to fight or fix, but something to listen to?"
#UlcerativeColitis #ChronicIllness #Taoism #ASoftWay #IBD #ASoftWay #Taoism
@chris6572.bsky.social
Chris Smith's new book
A Soft Way: A Taoist Approach for living with Ulcerative Colitis available!
@chris6572.bsky.social @soulinmedicine.bsky.social @miriamcolleran2.bsky.social @crohns-disease.org.uk @crohnsandcolitisau.bsky.social @crohnscolitisfdn.bsky.social
shorturl.at/46ME2
#TaoTeChing #IBD
I'll be there!
Virtually...
Sandhill Cranes
Middleton, WI
@larkwren.bsky.social
@soulinmedicine.bsky.social
@chris6572.bsky.social
#SandhillCranes #bird #photography
"I view many of the failings of doctors and the medical system as stemming from professionals having only an identity as technicians and not as healers. Technicians follow protocols, but healers connect with humanity—their own as well as that of the patient."
#Technician #Healer
"Illness as Teacher"
my new piece on Closler
"We all get sick—and as clinicians we treat illness and we also sometimes cause illness"
@soulinmedicine.bsky.social @chris6572.bsky.social @miriamcolleran2.bsky.social
#IllnessAsTeacher #ChronicIllness #Iatrogenic #Healing
closler.org/lifelong-lea...
UW Madison Mindfulness Program
Mindfulness for Digestive Well-Being
Your gift supports our vision of accessible mindfulness training for all people.
give.wiscmedicine.org/give/402891/...
#Mindfulness #DigestiveWellBeing
@soulinmedicine.bsky.social
