Traditions

In Memoriam: Roland R. Griffiths, PhD (July 19, 1946–October 16, 2023)

By Erik Goldman

Holistic Primary Care honors the memory and legacy of Roland Redmond Griffiths, PhD, a visionary neuroscientist and psychopharmacologist who was among the leaders of the recent renaissance of serious clinical research on psychedelics. Griffiths died at the age of 77 of metastatic colon cancer on October 16, 2023, at his home in Baltimore, MD. He […]

Gladys T. McGarey: Wisdom from The Well-Lived Life

By Meg Sinclair, Publisher

Usually I’m a voracious reader.  I’ve always enjoyed reading and gobbling up books.  But this year it seemed I couldn’t get past more than a couple of pages of anything at any time. “The Well-Lived Life” –a new book by Dr. Gladys McGarey–had been sitting on my desk collecting dust for months. Finally, I picked […]

Ayurveda Meets Allopathy: Getting The Best of Both Worlds

By Charles Elder, MD, Contributing Writer

Are contemporary allopathic medicine and Ayurveda mutually compatible? Is it possible to merge modern biomedical science with ancient healing principles defined millennia ago? Is there any relevance in today’s medical clinic for a paradigm centered substantially around pulse diagnosis, or for therapeutics focused on behavior modification, herbs, mind-body therapies, and detoxification? Most importantly, what purpose […]

Reflections on the Psychedelic Renaissance

By Maya Shetreat, MD, Contributing Writer

Psychedelics have been hitting the headlines nonstop these days. The New York Times, and other major media, have run a slew of articles highlighting the promise of psychedelics for hard-to-treat clinical conditions like major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and addiction. Important discoveries are emerging from prestigious academic centers worldwide that have dedicated millions of dollars […]

A Field Guide to Massage Therapy Part One: Thai Yoga Massage

By Stacy Collier, LMT, CPT, Contributing Writer

Massage provides many benefits. In addition to simply loosening tight muscles, it can help calm the nervous system, improves range of motion, correct postural imbalances, reduce stress, increases self-awareness, improve blood flow, speed healing time, improve the appearance of scars, and much more.  But with so many different styles of massage now available, this field […]

Digestion, Inflammation, and Immunity: An Ayurvedic Perspective

By Charles Elder, MD, MPH

In recent years conventional biomedicine has begun to recognize that disruptions in the composition of the microbiome and the integrity of the gut lining are key factors in the pathogenesis of certain chronic disorders.  For example, we know that in celiac disease, exposure to gluten induces an immune response which in turn triggers inflammation. This […]

Diet, Inflammation, and Immunity: Modern & Traditional Perspectives

By Erik Goldman

Ayurveda–India’s 4,000-year-old system of medicine–can provide modern healthcare professions with many time-tested, lifestyle-based approaches to mitigate the burden of chronic inflammatory diseases that affect so many of our patients. In this free webinar, the core faculty members of the Maharishi International University (MIU)–the leading US ayurvedic training center–share their experience applying ayurvedic principles for improving […]

Cupping Therapy: A Modern Take on an Ancient Technique

By Stacy Collier, Contributing Writer

For thousands of years cupping therapy—the placement of special cups over areas of pain or restriction and creation of negative pressure (vacuum) to disrupt the stagnation–played an important role in medicine. This ancient practice spanned from Egypt, to China, Greece, Europe and the Americas.  Though most commonly used for musculoskeletal pain relief, the clinical applications […]