I enjoyed reading this memoir that has self-help information included. As a nurse I really enjoyed the mix of science, spirituality, and alternative healing modalities in this book.

The potential of a life-changing book that sadly falls short.

I'm unsure if it's the way the information gets presented, or what the author envisioned, but as a whole, the book doesn't jive. The author goes back and forth in time to share their personal quest to find the seam between conventional medicine and 'sacred' medicine, such as shamanism, energy healing, and prayer. Rankin shares they spent 28 years learning both modalities; first as a medical doctor (14 years) then as an interested party in alternative therapies (14 years).

But then, the book sort of goes off the rails. Rankin shares the healing stories around the French town of Lourdes (fascinating), and then her personal experience visiting said location (reads like a personal journal). Finally, she ends with a list of staccato questions, offering zero answers or further insight.

Puzzled, I move on to the next section, thinking perhaps the abruptness of the section ending is merely the poor Kindle formatting in the review copy I received. Nope. This pattern continues on throughout the book: fascinating story, perhaps some conventional medicine touchpoints, a personal experience that (almost always) doesn't involve the author themselves requiring healing from (it's more like they're watching and journaling), then many questions, and boom, next section.

I kept reading for the fascinating starter bits, but went elsewhere for deeper understanding about the modalities I had little knowledge or prior experience with.

Sometimes, a book comes into your life at exactly the right time. This was the case for me and Sacred Medicine.

Sacred Medicine aimes to bridge the gap between conventional, Western medicine and a more holistic approach to health. Having recently suffered trauma myself, I found this book immensely interesting, and really helpful in finding ways to cope or to seek help to heal yourself.

I’ve highlighted quite a few passages and bookmarked some others that I’ll go back to time and time again. I loved how the book was a subtle mix of personal memoir along with self help.

I recommend this book to anyone suffering for a chronic health issues, recent trauma or diagnostic.

For some reason I couldn’t get into this book. I will try later to finish it. If so, I will update my review.

Sacred Medicine acts as both a memoir and guide through the middlegrounds between both science and spirituality, linking these often divided areas up to create a more well rounded idea of what it is to truly take one's health and well-being into one's own hands and create a balance that works for all facets of who we are. I happen to have appreciated this book for its honesty, education in many facets of healing and spirituality I hadn't been aware of, and clear calling to church of certain areas of both spirituality and modern medicine which catch us up and limit our healing such as spiritual bypass and the lack of integrated medicine. I would recommend this book to people interested in the serious work of healing but uncertain about where to begin, it can connect you with a lot of facets of self-work and discovery and offer some clarity on a world that can be very confusing.

This is a book I will return to and unravel part by part. It helped me think and learn more about different “intrinsic” medicines. I was particularly interested in reading about energy and its use in healing.
A well researched, well written book drawing on indigenous medicine , energy and how they have a place to complement trauma healing.

Thank you Sounds True and NetGalley for an ARC of this wonderful book.

Sacred Medicine A Doctor's Quest to Unravel the Mysteries of Healing by Lissa Rankin, MD. The author shares wisdom gained from Indigenous cultures, and the importance of our connection to nature and Earth. She even shares insight into shadow work as a means of healing.

The publisher’s blurb accurately describes this book, in which Dr. Lissa Rankin provides a well-balanced, easy to understand, and informative discussion of various healing practices. The book includes a combination of interviews, Dr. Rankin’s personal experiences, and reviews of relevant literature. The goal is to help the reader discover new ways to improve their likelihood of healing.

I really appreciated Dr. Rankin’s open-minded and openhearted yet skeptical approach to investigating these healing practices. She is clear about the differences between anecdotal evidence and scientific data. She explains some of the difficulties in trying to conduct scientific studies of certain healing methods. She also calls out some of the shady practices she’s seen and offers guidance in how to choose a trustworthy healing practitioner.

Along with her descriptions of various healing methods, Dr. Rankin provides suggested activities to give the reader a chance to explore these practices. She also provides notes, recommended reading lists, lists of healing sites, and her own websites and social media.

I recommend this book for those interested in biopsychosocial medicine, complementary and alternative healthcare, spiritual or energetic healing, and the placebo effect.

I was provided an unproofed ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review.

I first read Lissa Rankin when she published her book What's Up Down There in 2010. The tagline for that book was Questions You'd Only Ask your Gynecologist If She Was your Best Friend and reading it felt like meeting a new friend. She gives it to the reader straight and shares her experience and background freely and with generousity. As she has published more books, that friendship has strengthened.

She opens Sacred Medicine as the friend who has gone down a totally foreign path and from whom you sit across the table and listen wide-eyed to the tale. It isn't that you think she has lost her mind or that you've lost any respect for her. It's just that what she's telling you is so different than what you're expecting, you are in utter disbelief. The prologue details Rankin's experience with a severe dog bite and her healing through unconventional means (no hospital, no stitches, no skin grafts.)

This is the opening for an exploration through alternative healing modalities. There is a lot of talk of energy healing from a few different angles. This certainly isn't a book for everyone, but for those who are open and curious, it is food for thought and a long walk with a trusted friend.

Truly a joy to read, highly recommended to other who find interest in topic of this matter. It not a must read / have on my shelf book for me but may be for someone else

Like having a pen-pal who writes you letter from every step and stop of her journey in her search of healing,, searching a bridge between conventional and alternative medicine, finding oneness, a unity of complimentary partners in a holy marriage within.. Each chapter shares a story and hands a souvenir to keep and treasure, to use and explore within your self., `Each chapter speaks to your soul, your scars longing for healing and your sparks eager to shine on your own path and part of healing.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this non-fiction, self help style book.

The main themes within this work include:
⁃ Wholistic, integrative, natural healing
⁃ Challenges western medicine and traditional healing modalities
⁃ Energy flows and blockages, moving chi or prana and restoring balance
⁃ rituals of healing and spirituality that are culturally based
⁃ Physical body meridians, chakra energy flows, auras and other energy circuits
⁃ Benefits of grounding and being in and with our outdoor environment/nature
⁃ Having a positive health focused attitude, an empathetic and compassionate outlook, staying grounded
and defining boundaries
⁃ The idea that we are not passive in our healing journey, but active participants
⁃ Trauma and ACEs and how these affect our psyche and mental health

I think I was more excited for this book than what it actually delivered. I found it to be very wordy in sections and while it did offer some rituals/activities, I felt I would’ve liked more in the actual healing modalities. That being said, what was offered, in amongst the long text was interesting and resonated.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this eARC.

I know this book is written from a medical doctor and is researched but at times it edged on the mumbo-jumbo. it was a bit too spiritual for my liking. However I'm sure others will enjoy it.

Sacred Medicine is a book to support your journey in understanding the inner you. The author is supportive as they enlighten and empower the reader to explore their inner insights to open up the door to allow communication to take place within and externally on the healing journey.

I enjoyed reading Sacred Medicine. The author, Lissa Rankin, MD, has spent a lot of time exploring health and illness, why some people get sick while others heal. She went on quite a quest to understand and explore questions about health and healing.
This book is a travelogue of sorts, and she shares some valuable experiences and insights along the way. After a long while in traditional medicine, I appreciate that she was open to experiencing other forms of alternative healing that aren’t mainstream.
The author shares wisdom gained from Indigenous cultures, the importance of our connection to nature and Earth, and she evens share insight into shadow work as a means of healing.
What I like most about this book is the information is not presented as an either-or; instead, healing combines allopathic medicine with alternative medicine, and it’s not one size fits all.
As a medical herbalist married to an allopathic physician, this is one I will buy for myself and will recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 4
Pace: 2
Enjoyability: 3
Ease of Reading: 3

I quit after 48 percent for it being very very much into psychologization. It went into the topic of spiritual bypassing and if you were doing that you might be prone to illnesses that are generally not fixable with conventional drugs.

This book is a little gem for all those seeking to improve their knowledge in medicine, alternative medicine, and natural remedies.

The author has worked half her life in traditional medicine, and the other half with the more unconventional side of it, what is called "alternative" or "light" or "natural" medicine. The power of this book is here: she embraces both sides of medicine and acknowledges that we need a mix of both, a balance, and that each one of us is different and needs our own adapted care.

Throught little bits of her own historyn she analyzes situations, ways of working and explains why this or this would work in a particular case.

I read it as a student in computer science, so I am not "related" to medicine at all, and it was kind of hard on me, I didn't feel that concerned because I am not that involved in medical decisions. The only I do is take thyme infusions when my throat hurts, and take contraception.
But if you are a medecine student, of a doctor of any kind, or working in an hospital as a nurse or whatever, this book would be great for you. It is enlightening, and not categorizing at all. The author does not confine you in a single ideology, or way of working; she teaches you to discover what works for you and/or your clients.

This is a scientifique book; it is serious and wekk written and documented.

This is such a fascinating book! The author begins by telling her own story of healing, and then goes on to share many many ways and practical suggestions for incorporating the sacred into the medicine that we give ourselves on a daily basis. I love that she incorporates group healing and shadow work into her “medicine“ and also ideas such as social justice and how that is good medicine for us as a community. I have previously read her books Mind Over Medicine” and “The Daily Flame” and really resonate with her beliefs and teaching.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"Sacred Medicine: A Doctor's Quest to Unravel the Mysteries of Healing" is my introduction to the world of Lissa Rankin, MD, a New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed physician, activist, speaker, visionary, and mystic.

"Sacred Medicine" is built upon key questions that I believe most of us, and certainly the healers of the world and those who seek healing, ask on a regular basis - When it comes to healing from illness and injury, how is it that some people do everything right and stay sick, while others seem to do nothing extraordinary yet fully recover?

How does faith healing work—or does it?

What’s behind the phenomenon of spontaneous remission—and is this something we can influence?

Can we make ourselves miracle-prone?

Dr. Rankin spent the better part of a decade exploring these questions and the world of sacred medicine at large. The result, this book called "Sacred Medicine," transcends the description that it's been given and become a rather unusual beast of a book. "Sacred Medicine" is simultaneously a rather stunningly nurturing book while also, with equal passion, being relentless in its confrontation of those who would do harm in the name of sacred medicine.

There are moments when it practically feels like Dr. Rankin is cooing in your ear. There are other times when you can't help but feel like she's tearing down the idolatrous temples of sacred medicine where those who heal often stroke themselves with cult-like adoration and self-interest.

The truth is that "Sacred Medicine" is not the book that I expected and the truth is I think it's even better than the book as it's currently marketed and that I expected.

Dr. Rankin is refreshingly honest about a variety of things that for me enhances her credibility.

For example, Dr. Rankin writes openly about her own privilege and ability to travel the world exploring the many types of sacred medicine. Dr. Rankin has both the time and financial means to globe-hop, a privilege that gives her access to a deeper, more immersive exploration of these issues.

It reminded me of a feature doc I once viewed that was your usual inspirational healing doc about a young man who'd been diagnosed with ALS and who worked hard to maintain a quality of life. However, as the doc continued I became troubled by simultaneous images of his ability to travel the globe seeking out gurus while also applying for Medicaid. Given the extensive nature of his medical bills, I didn't doubt his financial need. I just knew that he came from a family of privilege and this family afforded him the opportunity to do things your usual Medicaid recipient couldn't possibly do. I desperately wanted that acknowledged in the film yet it never was acknowledged.

Rankin, on the other hand, is fully aware of her privilege and yet, also refreshingly, not apologetic about it. It's an important part of the foundation of this book and I appreciated that Dr. Rankin acknowledged it.

While the word "privilege" is often used condescendingly or even as a weapon, in Dr. Rankin's case it provides access to a world provides the roots for contemporary sacred medicine. Dr. Rankin's ability to access the very people, places, and things that are the roots of these practices helps to shed light on the benefits and risks, the wonders and the flaws of these practices, those who develop them, and those who practice them.

Dr. Rankin seems acutely aware of the extraordinary vulnerability involved in a person's having reached a stage with illness where there is seemingly no sense of tangible hope. There are a myriad of times here when Dr. Rankin comes off as that friend we all want to have - the fierce protector who both nurtures and challenges, nurtures yet empowers with knowledge and practical tools and skills.

"Sacred Medicine" strikes me as a bit of a literary cousin to the more evangelical-tinged Kate Bowler book "Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel." Both authors have a remarkable ability to weed out fact from fiction and to discern truth amidst a sea of illusion. Both authors are neither completely dismissive nor utterly embracing of the worlds they explore and, as a result, both authors write with exceptional intelligence yet also tenderness.

Tenderness. If you know me, you know that's my favorite word. It's a word I thought of often throughout "Sacred Medicine." As a paraplegic/double amputee with spina bifida, and one who recently lost even more of my left leg, my life has been devoted to creating a world of tenderness through my own work in creating a more peaceful world for every child. I've long associated trauma and illness, a relationship that is explored by Dr. Rankin in ways that are surprisingly devoid of victim-blaming and judgment.

I will never forget going to a faith healer and being told that if I "believed" enough, my feet would grow back.

Obviously, they never did. I did, however, get restored my sense of wholeness...a miracle itself that seemed to completely escape this agenda-driven, abusive faith healer.

At times, I felt like "Sacred Medicine" detoured away from its stated mission as certain sections are immersed more in biography/memoir than a quest to unravel the mysteries of healing. Yet, I also can't deny that by book's end I was appreciating the ways in which Dr. Rankin was able to cohesively quilt a tapestry of personal experience, intellectual pursuit, and wellness advocacy.

With "Sacred Medicine," Dr. Rankin takes us around the world to meet the healers, gifted and flawed, and to explore their practices and their worlds. She takes us on a pilgrimage of sorts, providing us a glimpse into a world that most of us will never experience directly. Dr. Rankin accessibly investigates the science of healing and dives into very cutting edge of trauma research with precision and clarity. She explores indigenous cultures with a reverence and respect rarely found among trained physicians and illuminates certain practices she herself has found particularly effective in empowering our own capacity to heal.

She does all of this with, well, tenderness.

"Sacred Medicine" is a remarkably hopeful effort yet not in an "I've got your answers" kind of way. In fact, Dr. Rankin makes a remarkable effort to avoid such an approach. Instead, Dr. Rankin serves as a guide as she helps us unravel the mysteries of healing and gain better skills to protect ourselves in our healing journeys and to explore the healing practices that will most empower our lives whether we're perfectly healthy or considered terminally ill.

"Sacred Medicine" may not be the book I expected, but it's much more and I'm incredibly glad I read it.