mind-body medicine

Latest posts from Shannon's blog

5 Books That Changed Me in 2020

In 1993 author Peter James caused a global outrage when he published his thriller Host on two floppy disks. The first “electronic novel,” which is about a scientist who downloads his brain into a computer and has his body frozen, was considered the beginning of the end of literature as we know it, not because … Read full article »

The Surprising Things Said By Four Mind-Body Health Experts

When the conference director of Happiness and Its Causes asked me to host a panel discussion between experts on deepening our mind-body connection so that we can lead healthier lives, I was delighted. It’s a topic I’m dedicated to raising awareness about and the lineup was terrific. There was Michael Mosely – the famed English … Read full article »

Books That Changed Me in 2016 (and how to find a health book that you can trust)

I was recently browsing the health section of my favourite book store, looking for a good book for a friend who recently discovered that she has a serious chronic disease and faces a lengthy period of medical treatments. I wanted to find something that would inspire and uplift her, something with credible and useful information, … Read full article »

Why Stress Is Surprisingly Good for You

My heart was pounding and the butterflies in my stomach were more like tap dancing elephants. I was at the Sydney premiere of The Connection about to stand up in front of seven hundred people and introduce a film that had taken me three years to make – a film I had given my heart … Read full article »

Crazy, Busy, Overwhelmed. Why You Don’t Have Time.

Last week I found myself caught up in an airplane boarding queue as my fellow passengers hustled and bustled to get settled in seats. The plane was packed full of corporate commuters traveling between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s two busiest cities. There was a sense of chaos in the air.   As harried passengers pushed … Read full article »

Flipping the Switch on Genes Affecting Disease

When my doctor first told me that he thought I had Lupus, he couldn’t offer me a cure or a cause. By way of explanation for why my immune system had turned on my normal healthy tissue, he said that the disease was probably genetic. The implication was that I got dealt an unlucky hand … Read full article »

A Letter to Skeptics of Mind Body Medicine

Dear Skeptic,   On my recent holiday in the US, I met a father of three young kids who has a chronic illness which conventional medicine says is likely to slowly progress until he is disabled. He has Multiple Sclerosis. I asked him if he was familiar with the work of Professor George Jelinek who … Read full article »

How To Use Your Mind To Control Your Heart Rate

You may be familiar with research showing that highly trained Tibetan monks are able to control their body temperature by using the power of their mind, even to the point they are able to dry wet blankets with their body heat. This was first recorded by Dr. Herbert Benson, one of the world’s leading scientists … Read full article »

Angry Outbursts And Their Deadly Consequences: New Study

Dr. Craig Duncan was not supposed to have a heart attack. The 43-year-old leading sports scientist was as fit as the elite Australian athletes he trained. He ran every day. He was vegetarian. He had no sign of heart disease – not high blood pressure or high cholesterol. In fact he’d recently had an ECG … Read full article »

How to change your brain’s stress response

I’d like to tell you the story of an apprehensive pack of lab rodents that have been able to teach us something profound about stress. If you’ve seen my film The Connection you will have heard a little about these animals, which were studied by scientists at the National Centre for Biological Sciences.   In … Read full article »

Why Google is Giving Me Hope

You would expect the business card of a man who was one of the first people to be employed by Google to read Head Programmer or Manager of Digital Innovation, but when Chade-Meng Tan handed me his card, it gave him the title of ‘Jolly Good Fellow’ with a subtitle ‘Which nobody can deny.’   … Read full article »

The Health Benefits of Holiday Rituals

In just seven days I will be competing for a coveted prize. Like many challenges worth setting one’s mind to, the actual winnings are not as valuable as the prestige of triumph. The competition will be fierce and although to a certain extent the outcome will be out of my control (I have my suspicions … Read full article »
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SHIPS IN AUSTRALIA IN 1-2 DAYS. SHIPS INTERNATIONALLY IN 5-7 DAYS. From the director of the internationally acclaimed documentary of the same name, MY YEAR OF LIVING MINDFULLY is a book filled with compelling stories, groundbreaking science, and unexpected insights that go to the heart of what it me Read full article »
Download 'The Connection' to keep forever. WHAT YOU GET DRM free MP4 download of ‘The Connection’ (73 Mins) Free access to stream of 'The Connection' for 14 days via your downloads page. Please use this option for watching the film on any iOS devices. Subtitles: French, German, Italian, Portuguese & Read full article »
Download My Year of Living Mindfully to keep forever. WHAT YOU GET: • A DRM free MP4 download of My Year of Living Mindfully (98 Mins). • Free access to stream My Year of Living Mindfully for 14 days via your downloads page. Please use this option for watching the film on any iOS devices • Subtitles Read full article »
Get a 14 day pass to stream My Year of Living Mindfully to your computer or smart device. Available in HD. WHAT YOU GET A 14 day pass to stream My Year of Living Mindfully (98 Mins) English Closed Captions are available with streaming Subtitles available in Italian / Portuguese / Spanish / Malay / H Read full article »