Dr. Sue Health SoulFULLY : Issue 02 PREVIEW by Dr. Sue Health SoulFULLY

ISSUE NO.02

COMING OUT

OF MY SPIRITURAL CLOSET

WHAT IS YOUR HEART CALLING YOU TO DO?

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» Dr. Sue Health SoulFULLY is designed to help you: BALANCE YOUR BODY, QUIET YOUR MIND. OPEN YOUR HEART & CONNECT WITH SPIRIT. Tools to nourish your Health SoulFULLY.

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HERE WE GO... In Coming Out of My Spiritual Closet as a medical doctor, I feel like I’m standing naked in front of you. This is it. This is me: a medical doctor curious about the role of spirituality within medicine. I have a lot of questions, some answers, and a whole lot of passion. My two greatest passions are health and spirituality. It’s my dream that the “heart” of medicine (intuition) be taught in medical school and residency programs alongside the “head” of medicine (intellect). The divine within me yearns to spiritually serve my tribe—doctors. What does your heart call YOU to do? What closet are YOU afraid to come out of? In the Stir Your Soul and Take Action sections of this issue, you’ll grace yourself with your divine dream and uncover the WHY behind what you want. THERE IS A PART OF YOU THAT IS LIMITLESS, THAT KNOWS WITHOUT KNOWING, THAT LOVES WITHOUT FEAR. Every one of us is a spiritual being living a human experience. Each one of us is called to do great things—divine work. Quieting your mind softens your ego and opens your heart to hear what your Spirit (God within you) calls you to do. All you have to do is follow your heart’s desire. What’s the big deal? That should be a piece of cake, right? YES … as long as you feel yourSelf worthy to do that great work and GET YOUR EGO OUT OF THE DRIVER’S SEAT. With passion as your fuel you “... become an instrument of God, you help the Soul of the World, and understand why you are here.”—Paulo Coelho What does Spirit call YOU to do? Let’s find out. Here we go …

Susan McCreadie, MD

drsuemccreadie.com @drsuemccreadie

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6 YES! THIS! What's tugging at your heart?

FINDING SPIRIT TRIBES

HERE COME THE FEAR BOMBS

Who you seek is seeking you.

Are YOU your biggest obstacle?

CHOOSING LOVE OVER FEAR

STIR YOUR SOUL

It's a full-time job!

"I have a dream ..." What's yours?

TAKE ACTION

YOUR HEART COMPASS

Hear yourself speak your dream.

What is your heart calling you to do?

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I S S U E NO . 02

Q&A

SALVATION

An interview with Jeri Dyson, MD.

Living from your heart is saving you.

46 DR. SUE'S FAVORITES FOR BODY, MIND, SPIRIT

EDITOR: Kim Soroka COPYEDITOR: Sheridan McCarthy GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Livvy Zimmerman DR. SUE PHOTOGRAPHY: Melissa Hutchinson DR. SUE HAIR/MAKEUP: Gary Leming Subscribe at www.drsuemccreadie.com Questions contact us at www.drsuemccreadie.com/contact-us Copyright Â© 2016 Susan McCreadie, MD

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YES! THIS!

regnant with my oldest, I hit Einstein Bros Bagels drive-thru on the way home from working out. The usual: everything bagel with strawberry cream cheese.

Hormones. Alone in the car while driving home eating that yumminess, I was deep in conversation with myself. I can’t remember if I said it out loud or to myself, but I asked, “WHY am I a doctor, anyway?” I was a year into my solo primary care practice and I couldn’t figure out why I was a doctor. I think my question stemmed from my desire to stop primary care-ness (which I never really loved) and do what I love— help affected kids heal.

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“WHY am I a doctor?” The answer I heard floored me. “It’s your SALVATION.” What? What does that mean?!? Sounds Christlike. I drove home and immediately looked up the definition of salvation. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, salvation is “deliverance from sin and its consequences, believed by Christians to be brought about by faith in Christ.” Wow. That’s DEEP. Reading that definition left me with more questions. How can being a doctor somehow save me from sin, but only if I believe in Christ? Do I believe in Christ?

deer in headlights. Caught off guard, I didn’t have an answer. Shouldn’t I have a clear answer to such a simple question? I stumbled over my words a bit and replied, “I BELIEVE THERE ARE MANY PATHWAYS TO GOD.” Raised Christian, I went to church weekly throughout high school. I fell off the church wagon in college, med school, and residency and then jumped back on after meeting my husband—but it’s been a bumpy ride. Church soothes his soul, yet agitates mine. It feels like I’m trying to wear a suit that doesn’t quite fit. It’s a little itchy. Is it the language? The human-interpreted rules? Something else? Maybe it’s my relationship with Christ or lack of it? I’ve never felt Christ was my one and only Savior.

A dozen years later a patient walked into my office and asked me point blank, “Are you a Christian?” I stared back at him like a

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The broader definition of salvation from the dictionary is “a means of being saved from harm, ruin, or loss.” Okay, then being a medical doctor somehow protects me? Maybe the “M” and the “D” provide me the title to safely practice medicine the way my heart desires. That sounds good. I’ll receive that! Protection. Safety. Thank you. But the dust didn’t settle. Safety is great, but the answer I heard wasn’t “to be saved”—it was “salvation.” One doesn’t hear that word in secular circles, so on some level the reason I’m a medical doctor had to be spiritual. I really didn’t know what to do with that thought. It scared me. So I dropped it. I let it go, but the spiritual tug kept pulling at me.

WHAT'S TUGGING AT YOUR HEART? Maybe you don’t know what’s tugging at your heart, but you

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can feel that where you currently are is not your final destination. Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times best-selling author of Eat Pray Love, refers to this feeling as NOT THIS. She describes it as a moment in life when your body, your heart, and your soul will gather together, look at the situation you are in (your toxic job, your failing marriage, your addiction, your depression) and say, "NOT THIS â&#x20AC;Ś I was not meant for this." But if not this, then what? Who knows! But at least you start with knowing NOT THIS and, because youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re brave enough, you take some action that will eventually evolve into a Plan B that urges your body, mind, and heart to declare:

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FINDING

ps irit tribes I S S U E NO . 02

ithin two years of the birth of my oldest child, my primary care career was over. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;this little angel of loveâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;made it crystal clear that if I was to spend

any time away from her holiness, I had to be doing something I absolutely LOVED. That was not primary care. I re-evolved into a consultative holistic pediatrician. I focused on helping children who were falling through the cracks of standard medical care, using nutrition, herbs, and homeopathy. These were the children my heart had been longing to serve.

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Over the next decade my spirituality grew exponentially. It was my fourth miscarriage that accelerated my desire for personISSUE al growth. I had to find a higher meaning for my deep sorrow. I found myself asking questions. I didn’t ask God or Christ—I asked angels. I have no idea why I chose angels. Maybe angels chose me. I LOVED being in my spiritual closet learning about angels, archangels, ascended masters, and the difference between guardian angels and spirit guides. It filled me UP with light and love. My grief eased. I BEGAN TO SEE A HIGHER REASON FOR WHY THINGS HAPPEN. Illumination. I began to trust in divine order, even though I couldn’t see where

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it would lead beyond my next step. BUT I never, ever shared my angel passion or spiritual truths with anybody except my NO . 02friend and my husband. best They saw me with crystal clarity: a curious soul following her heart, wherever it led. Once I began journaling with Spirit daily, the Salvation tug returned. I began hearing the message that I was to teach others about spirituality as a medical doctor. I resisted. “I’m a medical doctor! Are you crazy?!?!” Anyone in their right mind would resist. Doctors don’t talk about angels, let alone teach about them. OMG. NO!!! Don’t ask me to do this. I can’t, I just can’t. I’ll be killed.

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I’ve already stepped outside my tribe by practicing medicine holistically. But this will certainly kill my “M” and “D.” I’ll be persecuted for sure. Not by family, friends, or the parents in my practice but by my tribe—doctors! My journey to motherhood, and the miscarriages along the way, brought me a Divine tribe. You can find a tribe anywhere Spirit resides, because that’s where I S Swe UE connect with others—through our hearts. When you no longer heart connect with your tribe, when you no longer resonate with your tribe’s collective heart, you’re dead to the tribe and the tribe is dead to you: the telltale sign that it’s time to move on.

IS THERE A TRIBE YOU NO LONGER HEART CONNECT WITH BUT FEAR LEAVING? I feared leaving my doctor tribe, but maybe I wasn’t really leaving that tribe, just carving out a new NO . 02within a tribe. I wanted to tribe find doctors who were curious about Spirit and who wanted to explore how being healthy spiritually—how becoming multisensory to see, hear, feel, and know the Divine—heals them and those they serve. Sometimes we have to leave a tribe to follow our heart’s desire, wherever that takes us. As we follow our hearts, we re-evolve. We deepen our relationship with our Self, our Soul. We find other tribes along the way. Tribes that connect with our heart. Spirit tribes.

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SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO LEAVE A TRIBE TO FOLLOW OUR HEARTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DESIRE, WHEREVER THAT TAKES US. AS WE FOLLOW I S S U EWE NO .RE-EVOLVE. 02 OUR HEARTS,

WE DEEPEN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR SELF, OUR SOUL. WE FIND OTHER TRIBES ALONG THE WAY. TRIBES THAT CONNECT WITH OUR HEART. SPIRIT TRIBES.

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HERE COME THE

fear bombs I S S U E NO . 02

I began to explore practicing spirituality within medicine. If parents in my practice were open to angels or God, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d bring them into the conversation. I never felt a pushback, but rather a sense of relief. I felt everything would be all right. My resistance lowered. Work became easy and fun, but I was behind closed doors. I was still in my spiritual closet inviting those who were interested into a private sacred conversation. More time passed. More journaling with Spirit led me to receive the divine information that as a medical doctor I was to teach other doctors about spirituality. Whoa! My persecution fears mounted BIG time! I envisioned teaching on

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stage and ducking the verbal daggers doctors threw at me. Nice, NOT!

it. I’ll share my spiritual journey. All of it. Even with doctors. Full transparency, angels and all.

My heart broke open during a meditation at a spiritual conference with Gabby Bernstein, New York Times best-selling author and speaker. She wanted us to envision our audience and asked, “Who are you speaking to?” My audience appeared before me. I could see them clearly ISSUE for the first time and they weren’t throwing daggers at me! They were heart-centered physicians and practitioners who wanted to hear the message I was delivering: to bring Spirit to medicine for health and happiness; to strengthen our sacred gift of intuition; to balance our head-smarts with our heart-smarts; to bring in divine support on a regular basis, not just when someone is dying, because Spirit is the part of medicine where healing resides. Tears streamed down my face. As soon as I saw my audience, I answered the call. Yes! I’ll do

Divine Grace.

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Within three days post-conference, I felt under attack. Major fear bombs. “You’re going to do what?” said my best friend, seriously concerned about my reputation and safety. “You’re a medical NO . 02 doctor.” In other words, what right or authority did I have to teach spirituality? Formally, none whatsoever. But everyone is a spiritual being living a human experience, and when we share our spiritual experience with others, we teach it! We are all spiritual teachers. Every. Single. One of Us. After another intense soul-to-soul dialogue with my best friend, we didn’t speak for three months. Our relationship felt dead, as if what connected us, what kept us alive, had been severed. When you answer your spiritual calling,

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it’s sure to ruffle a few feathers, especially from those who LOVE you MOST. We broke. There’s a Japanese art form of repairing broken objects with gold. “Rather than hiding something that’s broken, it aggrandizes it, saying that something that I S S U E NO . 02 has a history, that is not perfect anymore, is more beautiful and more valuable than something which has no history.”—Barbara Bloom. There’s beauty in brokenness and imperfection.

Heartbreak hurts. I lost the way I loved and received love from my bestie. In time, the cracks in our relationship filled with understanding and forgiveness, light and love. We saw each other for who we

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“ONLY PASSIONS, GREAT PASSIONS, CAN ELEVATE THE SOUL TO GREAT THINGS.” —DENIS DIDEROT

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truly are—Spirit. We looked beyond our labels and titles, beyond our likes and dislikes, beyond our personal agendas. We dropped judgment and fear on the floor and picked up LOVE instead. I still miss the

a spiritual career within med-

connection we had; we’re re-

icine. Thankfully I didn’t give

connected but not in the same

in to this negative thinking.

way. It’s forever changed, but

My heart always wins because

there is a rainbow after the

my desire is HUGE. The divine

storm. New life.

within me yearns to spiritually

I S S U E NO . 02

I realized I WAS MY BIGGEST

OBSTACLE TO OVERCOME.

serve my tribe—doctors. It is my dream that the “heart” of

ME, MYSELF, AND I. I was the

medicine (intuition) be taught

one who screamed, “Don’t do

in medical school and resi-

this! You’re crazy!!!” My ego

dency programs alongside the

would give me all kinds of rea-

“head” of medicine (intellect).

sons why I should NOT pursue

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CHOOSING

love fear

OVER I S S U E NO . 02

HOW DO YOU OVERCOME YOUR EGO-LIMITED SELF? THE ONE WHO ALWAYS TELLS YOU, “NO, DON’T DO IT. YOU’RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH. YOU’RE NOT SMART ENOUGH. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?”

YOU CHOOSE LOVE OVER FEAR, OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

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YOU SUIT UP WITH YOUR LOVE ARMOR EVERY DAY. RAIN OR SHINE. I S S U E NO . 02

You flex your LOVE muscles through action. I hired a coach, found a spiritual director, amped up my meditation practice, and started a running conversational prayer with the Divine. I journaled A LOT. It’s a PRACTICE.

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Flexing your love muscles through daily practice suits you up to face fear bombs. LOVE is your armor. It shields you from your own fear bombs (ego) and fear bombs from others. Though it is common to want to blame others for standing in your way, it’s really about doing the hard work of growing yourSelf bigger than your ego-limited self. You suit up with your LOVE armor every day. Rain or shine. That’s not to say you don’t feel (anger,

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jealousy, hate, self-loathing) and fall. You fall, but you also rise UP and LOVE again. It’s a practice. Stand. Fall. Rise up. REPEAT. Choosing LOVE over fear— growing yourSelf bigger than your ego-limited self—is a fulltime job! Choosing love can be uncomfortable. Letting go, saying NO, setting boundaries can be hard work. What made this hard work easier

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for me was knowing WHY I was doing it in the first place. Though my ego (E-G-O) screamed to edge God out, I knew God was at the heart of the matter. I knew that being a medical doctor was somehow my salvation. Even though I saw myself as sorely underqualified, I knew that Spirit called me to continue the spiritual movement within medicine. I decided to do a fun little exercise on YouTube. I went back

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to August 28, 1963, and watched Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. give his “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Watching him—Spirit move through him—inspired me to dig DEEPER into my “WHY.” “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood … I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

H E H A D A D R E A M . W H AT ’ S M I N E ? I S S U E NO . 02 After listening to Dr. King, I picked up my pen and filled in the empty lined pages of my journal with my dream as a medical doctor: “I have a dream that children are seen for the messages they bring, not the problems they have. I have a dream that we see dis-ease and suffering and other so called ‘problems’ less as problems and more as opportunities for our growth as a united ONE. I have a dream that we see each other as ONE rather than separate—that his ‘problem’ is my problem, her ‘success’ is my success.” It went on for pages … “I have a dream that we finally see ourselves as God sees us: perfectly healed. I have a dream that we see more Spirit in everything. I have a dream that Spirit becomes each of our driving forces—that every man, woman, and child lives life from the heart, inside out. I have a dream … that just by BEing with each other, we feel God’s very presence and are healed.”

HE HAD A DREAM. WHAT’S YOURS?

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I S S U E NO . 02

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WHAT IS YOUR WHY?

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STIR YOUR SOUL I S S U E NO . 02

STEP 1 Get yourself into a quiet, comfy space. Grab a cup of tea and a warm blanket. Get still. Quiet your mind. Inhale. Big EXHALE. Open your heart and WATCH MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. GIVE HIS “I HAVE A DREAM” SPEECH on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Don’t skip this step! This 17-minute, 28-second video will stir your soul. Promise.

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TAKE ACTION STEP 2 Now pick up your pen, grab some paper or a journal, and fill that I S S U E NO . 02 blank space with your dream. WHAT CLOSET ARE YOU AFRAID TO COME OUT OF? Grace yourself with your divine dream. HE HAD A DREAM. WHAT’S YOURS? Give yourself space. Breathe. Get brutally honest with yourSelf. Give yourSelf permission to be who you already are. Dig DEEP. Try your best not to hide. No one needs to read it but you. This is Soul work. Sacred stuff. Specificity matters. If nothing comes, keep asking, “He had a dream. What’s mine?” Again, “He had a dream. What’s mine?” Let it out—your dream deserves to be heard. WRITE IT DOWN. ALL OF IT. Let your feelings fly. Let them move through you until you’ve written every last word. NOW PAUSE. Inhale, EXHALE. Read your dream back to yourself. HEAR YOURSELF SPEAK YOUR DREAM in ALL its glory and messiness. When you finish reading it, ask

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yourSelf: “Why do I have such a dream?” Keep asking yourSelf: “Why do I want what I want?” Ask it a hundred times until your truth answers back. Don’t judge yourself if nothing happens.

PATIENCE IS A PATH TO WISDOM. I S S U E NO . 02 TRUTH WILL EVENTUALLY ANSWER YOUR CALL. IT JUST MIGHT TAKE A WHILE. It may happen when you least expect it: while you’re vacuuming, taking a shower, going for a run. TRUST. You’ve planted your WHY seed and when you’re ready to hear the answer you will, LOUD and CLEAR. You’ll know it when it hits you. You’ll exhale. Total relief. Tears of joy. FREEDOM. This is what Spirit calls YOU to do. COME OUT OF YOUR CLOSET. FOLLOW YOUR HEART’S DESIRE AND LIVE YOUR DREAM.

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YOUR HEART COMPASS After listening to Dr. King and filling page after page with my dream, I asked mySelf, Why do I have such a ISSUE dream? The answer came loud and clear, so I wrote that down too: I am an illuminator. My soul’s purpose is to bring more light, more love into this world. If I shine my light brightly, I will help more children live happier, healthier lives and I will pass peacefully with a heart FULL of

love. Ahh. I got it. Be bright, be brave for the children. And how best to do that but by illuminating a path for NO . 02 those who serve children? I am not meant to illuminate a path that says, “Do what I do,” but instead a path that says, “DO WHAT YOUR HEART CALLS YOU TO DO.” WHAT IS YOUR HEART CALLING YOU TO DO?

“LISTEN TO THE MUSTN'TS, CHILD. LISTEN TO THE DON'TS. LISTEN TO THE SHOULDN'TS, THE IMPOSSIBLES, THE WON'TS. LISTEN TO THE NEVER HAVES, THEN LISTEN CLOSE TO ME... ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, CHILD. ANYTHING CAN BE.” –SHEL SILVERSTEIN

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DR. SUE'S

"I HAVE A DREAM"

I have a dream … as vessels of divine that children are spirit and therefore seen for the mesour bodies and our sages they bring, minds as our temnot the problems ples: what we think they have. I have a and feel, what we dream … that we see dis-ease and eat and drink, what we say and do, suffering, and other so-called prob- will determine what we manifest in lems, less as problems and more as this world. I have a dream … that opportunities for our growth as a we manifest more love. What our united ONE. I have a dream … that world needs is more LOVE. I have a we all see each other as one rath- dream … that we see more Spirit in er than separate—that his problem everything. I have a dream … that is my problem, her success is my Spirit becomes each of our driving I S S U E NO . 02 success. I have a dream … that we forces—that every man, woman, connect more with our hearts, and and child lives their lives from their less with our minds. I have a dream heart, from the inside out. I have a … that healthcare practitioners see dream … that each of us sees the health within every dis-ease. I have Divine within ourselves and trusts a dream … that we see less of what’s it more than anything else in this “broken” and needs to be fixed and world. I have a dream ...THAT EACH see more of what’s already perfect- OF US SHINES THIS DIVINE LIGHT ly healed. I have a dream … that we BRIGHTLY FOR OTHERS AND ALL finally see ourselves as God sees THE WORLD TO SEE AND FEEL. us—as love, as light, whole, complete, exactly as we are right now, Why do I have such a dream? I am healthy and happy. I have a dream an illuminator. My soul’s purpose is … that just by being with each oth- to bring more light and more love er, we feel God’s very presence and into this world. If I shine my light are healed. I have a dream … that brightly, I will help more children one day healthcare will be care of the healthy—health care, not sick live happier, healthier lives, and I will pass peacefully with a heart care. I have a dream … that we FULL of love. treat ourselves and our children

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AN INTERVIEW WITH

JERI DYSON, MD Jeri Dyson, MD, is an adolescent medicine physician who specializes in sexually transmitted infections, intimacy, and relationships. In her current position as President/CEO of Dyson Consultants Worldwide, LLC, Dr. Jeri devotes her full time to national and global programs as a corporate adviser and transformational lecturer for audiences of all ages. Dr. Jeri has a way of making difficult concepts simple. She is the resident medical adviser for Black Entertainment Television’s (BET) Rap-It-Up HIV/AIDS Campaign and host of Dr. Jeri Speaks, an internet radio talk show. In 2015 she launched the live workshop series “Get Your Life,” where she helps adults learn to thrive again by “Pursuing Their Purpose with Passion!” She is author of An Apple a Day Keeps the Drama Away. Her next book, House of Hormones, will address the issues of family members at different stages of life living under one roof. Covering everything from puberty to geriatrics, with menopause and MANopause in between, it is sure to be a page turner. Dr. Jeri is a native of Washington, DC, and currently resides in the Washington metropolitan area. www.drjeridyson.com

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DID YOU ALWAYS KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE A DOCTOR? I knew I wanted to be a doctor when I was eight because I had asthma and that landed me in the doctor’s office a lot. At eight I thought it was the physician who made me better, not so much the medicine.

DID YOU ALWAYS KNOW YOU WANTED TO DO PEDIATRICS?

hours without food. I would faint by the end of each surgery from plummeting blood glucose levels.

THAT WAS THE END OF YOUR SURGERY CAREER? Yeah, that didn’t work. When I was asked by a friend’s mother what else I might like to do within medicine, I said, “I like teenagers.” She asked me, “Have you considered adolescent medicine?” That was the beginning of the turning point in my career.

No, I initially wanted to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. DR. SUE: HOLY COW! Exactly. As a kid I told everybody I wanted to be able to wear scrubs all day with those little head things and a mask. In my mind that’s what doctors did. Even my family supported me and bought me a model of a heart. It wasn’t until I got to medical school and started doing surgeries that I realized that because of my fast metabolism I couldn’t stand for longer than four

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YES, WHEN I MET YOU IN RESIDENCY YOU WERE TOTALLY INTO ADOLESCENT MEDICINE. Exactly. I knew I had to get through pediatric residency because I wanted to be an adolescent medicine doc and run the Dyson Adolescent Clinics. During my adolescent fellowship I discovered the joy in teaching young people and adults about sex, sexuality, and infections. During my STD fellowship

at the CDC in Atlanta, I was asked to do a lecture for some high school students. It went off like fireworks! Years later I heard about an opportunity to work at a hospital in Florida with teenagers infected with HIV. My role was to create an adolescent clinic and treat the physical, psychological, and emotional issues faced by perinatally infected kids who were now teenagers and young adults. I accepted this opportunity and shortly after was introduced to Black Entertainment Television’s (BET) Rap-It-Up campaign. I was asked to be a panelist. That was the first time I actually spoke to a number of kids who really didn’t care if they contracted HIV. It wasn’t until I did that panel that I realized that this was my passion: to educate young people about the seriousness and long-term consequences of their decisions.

DID YOU TRAVEL WITH THE RAP-IT-UP CAMPAIGN? I didn’t hear back from them for about a year. I went on with my life and relocated back to the DC

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area. Soon after, I got a call from BET asking me if I would be interested in being on live television. I thought, Heck yeah, I’ll do that!

WERE YOU SCARED AT ALL? Not really. The ways we respond energetically to fear and excitement are the same—the butterflies, the sweating. When I felt nervous I would tell myself it wasn’t fear I was feeling but extreme excitement.

Right. Working on live TV was very exciting. It was a little unnerving at first, but the producers and hosts always made it easy for me. I love running my mouth.

No. The majority of what I did with BET was on a volunteer basis. I feel like we all have an obligation to serve our community with our gifts. What better way for me to serve than through a media corporation that was in the homes of millions of teens—my target audience. I didn’t work for BET. I worked for the Department of Defense in Bethesda for five years.

WHEN YOU DID THE LIVE TV WITH BET, WAS THAT THE ONLY JOB YOU HAD AT THE TIME?

TELL ME ABOUT THE PROCESS OF LEAVING THAT POSITION, BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND THAT IT HAD ITS CHALLENGES.

IT WAS A MINDSET SHIFT FOR YOU?

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It wasn’t that it had challenges; my life schedule was being overloaded. I had a full load of speaking engagements, including Rap-It-Up, while I was seeing patients forty hours, five days a week with the Department of Defense. The work with BET was the part that gave me life, the part that kept me up at night thinking of other creative ways that I could change the world. I was not loving the day job but it was financing my dream. I was more creative, happier, and healthier when I was engaged in my volunteer work. I realized I was stretching myself too thin and something had to give. Spiritually and emotionally, I just knew the clinical job was no longer right for me. I knew I could reach a larger number of teens outside of seeing them one by one. People

would often ask if I left because I was sued or if something bad happened. No, it was simply time to shift. I found that once I got lined up with destiny, lined up with purpose, and was energetically where I was supposed to be, my body showed signs of the change. Extra weight I was carrying fell off, my skin cleared up, and I was sleeping better. People don’t understand the significance of being true to yourself and lining up. You’ve got to line up with what you are supposed to do and be who you are created to be. As soon as I turned in my letter of resignation, I got a call from the health attaché for the South Pacific Region, Dr. Carlos Williams. He told me he had been working on getting me over there and that finally everything was in place. He asked me, “When can you leave?” I said,

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“Do you know that TODAY I turned in my letter of resignation?” Once everything was cleared the State Department took me on a world tour. Resigning when I did allowed me to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right people, doing the right thing. It is imperative to be in place. People need what we (all of us) have to give the earth. When you are out of place, there are people who are suffering because you, only you, can give them what they need. I wake up with a sense of gratitude now, and I think about all the blessings that are bestowed upon me and how I’m able to really live the life that I was created to live. It helps me stand in awe of— DR SUE: EVERYTHING. Yes. It’s amazing. It’s a faith walk.

YOU ARE LIVING YOUR PURPOSE! LOVE IT! WHAT DO YOU DO FOR PLAY? As physicians we are trained to work until we are about to faint. I’m learning that life is about doing

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what you are created to do so that work and play feel the exact same. My play includes a lot of travel, downtime to center and rejuvenate, family time, exercising, and making sure I drink a lot of water. I’m learning to not feel guilty on days when I wake up, take my shower, and put on a fresh pair of pajamas. Some days I enjoy watching old movies all day and I’m okay with that.

THAT’S AWESOME. WHAT’S THE JERI DYSON DREAM?

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As crazy as it sounds, I still want to develop that Dyson Adolescent Clinic but it’s going to look totally different from how I originally imagined it. It has morphed into a life center where the young people there can learn about their emotional IQ, understand their role as global citizens, and more. When you look at the nonverbal outcries of today’s youth, they need a place they can be heard outside of a jail cell, especially the African American youth. This life center will create a space where teens are able to talk through things and tap into their life’s purpose. It will be staffed by adults who can give back and inspire our youth. In my imaginings it doesn’t look like school or a clinic. It’s a nourishing, cultivating, creative, beautiful environment where adolescents learn to thrive.

I GOT GOOSIES! BASICALLY YOU’RE BREAKING THEM OPEN SO THEY CAN FEEL THEIR HEART CONNECT WITH THEIR LIFE PURPOSE. YOUR

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WHOLE WORLD CHANGES WHEN YOU TAP INTO THAT. Yes. Eternally, forever for the better.

DR. JERI, THAT’S SO AWESOME. IS THERE ANYTHING THAT HOLDS YOU BACK? I would be dishonest if I told you that every day I’m walking on sunshine. (laughs) In answering the call to live my fullest life, there are moments when I question my choice, but God has really placed a number of people in my life, including my parents, who are able to talk me through the vicissitudes of life. I have my “what-the-heck-am-I-doing” moments, but when I breathe through them and stay true to the path I have chosen, God sends me signs that I’m walking in the right direction. It is my belief that when I’m on purpose, when I’m doing what I need to be doing, I’m going to be taken care of. The only thing that really holds us back is us. We limit ourselves in ways that no one else ever can.

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WHAT CAN YOU DO WHEN YOU GET TO THAT FEAR PLACE? HOW DO YOU GET YOURSELF QUICKLY OUT OF IT? When I find I’m getting into a crazy place, I remind myself I am being taken care of. It doesn’t matter how crazy it looks—I’m always taken care of. I remember Abraham Hicks saying something to the effect of, “Before you let that snowball develop into a big avalanche, just stop it and cut it out early.” That takes practice, and it takes recognizing those feelings when they show up.

RECOGNITION AND PRACTICE. WHO ELSE DO YOU LISTEN TO BESIDES ABRAHAM HICKS? Even though I've grown up as a Christian, I don’t have a core group of spiritual leaders that I follow. I do listen to thought leaders and spiritual leaders but I have learned to closely evaluate their words and weigh them before sim-

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ply ingesting those words as truth. Leaders who stimulate me to think on a global level are the ones I appreciate the most. Sometimes I’ll just watch YouTube lectures and teachings, and other times I just open up the Bible and read it. For me, a lot of times it is just getting quiet and shutting that voice inside of me down so I can hear the voice of God.

DO YOU JOURNAL? I definitely journal. I’m telling you, the way my mind is, I’m all over the place. I used to call it attention deficit, but now I understand the fluidity of my mind. We creative types have minds that move and flow like a river. I used to have three journals that I wrote in simultaneously. The energy was all over the place. I have learned to laser focus my attention and my writings.

I CAN RELATE TO THAT FLOWING RIVER! ANY DREAMS OF PEOPLE YOU WANT TO MEET? I definitely want to meet and have an extended talk with Oprah. My desire is to work with Michelle Obama in an effort to create global programs for young women.

I CANNOT WAIT TO GO TO THE DYSON ADOLESCENT LIFE CENTER GRAND OPENING. Life Center. Dream Center. I don’t know what I’m going to call it yet. It’ll hit me when it’s time. Yeah, it’s going to be amazing. It’s just … Whoa. I just got goosebumps thinking about it.

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“I have my ‘what-the-heck-am-I-doing’ moments, but when I breathe through them and stay true to the path I have chosen, God sends me signs that I’m walking in the right direction.” —JERI DYSON, MD

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he more I step into my divine Self as a medical doctor, the more I am saved—not persecuted. How ironic! The more I follow my heart’s calls, the more my Spirit expands and my ego shrinks. With my heart as my compass, it becomes easier to do what Spirit calls me to do: explore spirituality within medicine. Even when my ego is screaming, “STOP. This is crazy!” I keep walking. I keep seeking spiritual health. I’m curious about how spirituality fuels our well-being, how using intu-

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ition in medicine heals the healer and those she serves. A dozen years ago, I asked a question and heard the answer: being a medical doctor is my salvation. Living from my heart is saving me from living an ego-limited life. Is my life as a medical doctor “deliverance from sin and its consequences, believed by Christians to be brought about by faith in Christ”? I’m sure many would say no, but I believe Jesus and

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I are finally in a relationship. We ONLY MEDIATOR, BETWEEN are communing. As I share my HUMANITY AND GOD. There journey of finding my way by fol- are many pathways to God. For lowing my heart, “Of course Christ is unique. But who is not unique? I can feel Christ’s presence. My reSocrates, Muhammed, the Buddha, you, and I are all lationship with unique … the notion that Christianity provides the only Christ didn’t hapway of salvation and all other religious traditions are of pen in church. I no use … excludes dialogue and fosters religious intoldeveloped my erance and discrimination … Understanding and love relationship with Jesus through are values that transcend all dogma.” —Thich Nhat Hanh living my heart’s desire to explore spirituality with- some it’s Muhammed, others in health. I BELIEVE JESUS IS Buddha, or maybe it’s a wise man ONE MEDIATOR, NOT THE named Socrates.

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To be spiritually healthy, you give yourself permission to become a multisensory being and lean into a divine conversation with an invisible dimension that lies within “OUR FAITH you and withNARRATIVES MUST in other Spiritual beings. You open BE PROTECTED, your heart to see, AND WE MUST hear, feel, and REMEMBER THAT know Spirit, so you can intuitively NO PERSON IS perceive your life ORDAINED TO as it unfolds. We JUDGE OUR all use different words to refer to DIVINITY OR TO Spirit. I use SpirWRITE THE it and heart most STORY OF OUR often. Divine and SPIRITUAL God less often. Maybe for you the WORTHINESS.” word is Soul, Love,

Grace, Holy Spirit, or something else. Words don’t matter. YOUR INTENTION TO CONNECT TO YOUR OWN SOUL, AND A FORCE GREATER THAN YOU, IS WHAT MATTERS.

I attended a conference once where the instructor stood on stage and sprinkled pretend holy water on the audience. As —BRENÉ BROWN he did, he called out, “You are now deemed worthy,” over and over again. This might sound a little ridiculous but it was a profoundly therapeutic way to ingrain I am

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worthy into one’s BEing. It resonated deeply with me and many others in the room, I suspect because we carry shame and unworthiness around all the time, even about how we praise God. We feel shameful about how we choose to commune with the Divine. Or in my case, because I never quite felt comfortable in church. Every one of us is a spiritual being living a human experience. Each one of us is called to do great things—divine work. Quieting your mind softens your ego

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and opens your heart to hear what your Spirit (God within you) calls you to do. All you have to do is follow your heart’s desire. What’s the big deal? That should be a piece of cake, right? Yes … as long as you feel yourSelf worthy to do that great work and GET YOUR EGO OUT OF THE DRIVER’S SEAT. With passion as fuel you “become an instrument of God, you help the Soul of the World, and understand why you are here.”—Paulo Coelho

WHAT DOES SPIRIT CALL YOU TO DO?

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DR. SUE'S

FAVORITES

FOR BODY, MIND, SPIRIT

YOGI TEA Every Yogi Tea bag is like a fortune cookie with its yogiinspired message attached. It feels good! My favorite is ginger. I add a couple drops of liquid stevia for a sweet fix without the sugar. www.yogiproducts.com

W3LL PEOPLE Toxin-free cosmetics by an elite makeup artist, a cosmetic dermatologist, and a tree-hugging entrepreneur. Driven by the fact that our largest organ, our skin, absorbs about 80 percent of what we put on it, these natural warriors are on a mission to create super premium quality cosmetics without using the artificial chemicals found in most conventional makeup. My personal favorites include their mascara, foundation stick, and Bio Brightener invisible powder. www.w3llpeople.com

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THE DESIRE MAP BY DANIELLE LAPORTE

This part book, part workbook changed my life. Unlike most life-planning tools that focus on attaining something external, such as goals, results, and material objects, The Desire Map helps you harness the most powerful driver behind your aspirations: how you want to feel. Once you get clear on these “core desired feelings,” you create your goals. Then Spirit drives your material endeavors. “The external things you want to have and experience are in service to your heart and Soul.”—Danielle LaPorte Pure genius! www.daniellelaporte. com/thedesiremap

SPIRIT JUNKIE MASTERCLASS WITH GABRIELLE BERNSTEIN

Awaken your confidence. Live your purpose. This is the program where my heart broke open during a meditation when Gabby asked us to envision our audience. I could clearly see my audience for the first time and they weren’t throwing daggers at me! They wanted to hear the message I was delivering: to bring Spirit to medicine for health and happiness because Spirit is the part of medicine where healing resides. This is where I answered the call to share my spiritual journey with you. All of it. Full transparency. www.spiritjunkies.com

DOREEN VIRTUE Doreen Virtue, PhD, a former psychologist turned spiritual teacher, unveiled my angel world through her books, seminars, angel cards, and angel numerology. She’s a clairvoyant who works with the angelic realm and has appeared on Oprah, CNN, The View. Her live weekly radio show is on HayHouseRadio.com. “Joy is all there is. The rest is a preoccupation of the ego, unworthy of your holy mind.”—Doreen Virtue, PhD www.angeltherapy.com

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e C n E t Pa i is A

pAtH To

WiSdom.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;SUSAN McCREADIE, MD

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BALANCE YO U R B O D Y ,

QUIET

YO U R M I N D.

OPEN

YO U R H E A R T &

CO N N E C T W I T H S P I R I T. Health is balance. Live it SoulFULLY.

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“LISTEN TO THE MUSTN'TS, CHILD. LISTEN TO THE DON'TS. LISTEN TO THE SHOULDN'TS, THE IMPOSSIBLES, THE WON'TS. LISTEN TO THE NEVER HAVES, THEN LISTEN CLOSE TO ME...

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, CHILD. ANYTHING CAN BE.” —SHEL SILVERSTEIN

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