Finding the unfilled spaces in the whirlwind of daily life plays a critical part in one's ability to truly be present for and enjoy life as it enfolds. Mindfulness or consciousness is an age old practice in Eastern and Western cultures, with a long tradition of helping the mind and body heal. Join us as we discuss the psychological and physiological benefits of meditation with Dr. Joseph Semmes from True North, and learn how to begin our own practice with teacher Surya-Chandra Das of Rolling Meadows Retreat.

Listen on Sunday, August 19th, at 7am (WPEI Portland, 95.5 & 95.9 FM) & 12 pm (WLOB Portland 1310 AM/streaming wlobradio.com), download the Podcast or click the link below. 

Meditation: Dr. Lisa #49

Click here to read the article referenced in our "Wellness Innovations" segment, sponsored by theUniversity of New England.

Individual interviews with our guests are available here.

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Our first featured guest is Dr. Joseph Semmes of True North.

Dr. Semmes practiced Emergency Medicine in Northern Virginia for fifteen years, and is currently on staff at Mercy Hospital and the Maine Medical Center. He is True North’s Director of Research and gives talks through the Education Program.

Dr. Semmes serves on the Advisory Board of the Cancer Community Center, the Medical Staff Credentials Committee and Institutional Review Board of Mercy Hospital and is a corporator of the Hospice of Southern Maine. He is also a member of Maine Medical Center’s preventive medicine taskforce and an advisory editor of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine.

Dr. Semmes’ special interests are helping care for cancer patients, the role of nutrients in cancer biology, preventing dementia and depression, evidence-based medicine and mind-body medicine.

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Our second featured guest is Surya-Chandra Das.

Surya-Chandra Das has taught retreats since 1990, having  studied with various teachers in this country and India.  He emphasizes the need for each individual to directly discover their own truth without dogma, ritual or technique.   Surya supports and encourages students to let go of striving and becoming; to increase their capacity to live with conscious awareness of the wisdom of body; to be present for conditioning from a non-judgmental and somatic reference point, allowing us to live from the natural joy, ease and openness of Being.  Surya and Patricia Brown are the founders and teachers at Rolling Meadows Retreat in Brooks, Maine.

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Join us next Sunday, August 26th for the next Dr. Lisa Radio Hour & Podcast. Our topic will be "Healing Companionship," with Jacob Watson, founder of the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine, and actor & musician Jon Patrick Walker.