Donnie Yance is an internationally known master herbalist and nutritionist. He is the author of the book, "Herbal Medicine, Healing and Cancer" and "Adaptogens in Medical Herbalism"
“If you don’t have the whole spiritual thing, I don’t think jazz is complete…I don’t think it’s worth producing.” Jimmy Heath
My passion for healing and my passion for jazz music infuse my life’s work, so much so that I cannot imagine one without the other.
Continue reading “Musical Musings: Jazz, Genes, and Healing”We are excited to announce the release of Donnie Yance’s latest CD, Heaven Awaits, featuring nine original compositions, plus a special bonus song, Hope Alley, produced for Donnie by legendary musician and friend, Gino Vannelli.
Click here to see a video of Donnie and band members performing and hear about the inspiration behind this CD.
Continue reading “Heaven Awaits CD by Donnie Yance”As we transition into fall and winter and COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations rise dramatically, it’s clear that the virus isn’t going away any time soon. Although the promise of a vaccine is on the horizon, there’s no certainty as to its long-term effectiveness and many are concerned about the safety of its contents.
I continue to find compelling information that supports the use of natural medicines such as medicinal mushrooms, elderberry, and vitamin D against infections, as well as new facts and insights into how COVID-19 spreads and what populations are most vulnerable and why. All of this supports my belief that there is a great deal we can do to obtain robust health and build our immunological defense against pathogens, and thereby significantly reduce our risk of contracting the virus and the dreaded complications associated with it.
Continue reading “New Data on COVID-19 and Promising Research on Natural Medicines”
As a passionate home chef, I can’t imagine cooking without a full array of herbs and spices. And as an herbalist, I can’t imagine creating a health protocol without the use of herbs and spices. Fortunately, culinary and medicinal herbs are often one and the same. As Hippocrates said: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
As an herbalist, nutritionist, jazz musician, and chef, I find that food preparation and cooking is similar to combining herbs for medicine or composing music. Home cooking is a creative endeavor, and the reward is a delicious and healthy meal that can be savored with family and friends.
Continue reading “Herbs and Spices as a Path to Health and Wellbeing”“When one tries to rise above nature, one is liable to fall below it.”
– Sherlock Holmes
Exploring ‘Sherlock’s Corner’ of Mederi Medicine
From a wholistic perspective, cancer and other complex diseases require a deep investigation in several areas and involves the layering of various lenses, both macro and micro. Aptly, the Mederi Medicine approach has been greatly influenced by the problem-solving methods of the fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. This is why I refer to the investigational component of Mederi Medicine as “Sherlock’s Corner”, to pay homage to Holmes’ logic.
Of equal relevance to the exploration, collection, and analysis of data in medicine is the understanding and application of hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the science and method of interpretation, the process that helps us determine what is most relevant when considering the information within the context of a patient’s life story, which involves communication and relationship. Dr. Drew Leder explains that “Clinical medicine can best be understood not as a purified science, but as a hermeneutical enterprise: that is, as involved with the interpretation of (methodological) texts.” He suggests that the hermeneutics of medicine can be broken down into four text categories: “the “experiential text” as the patient’s experience of the illness; the “narrative text” as the history of the illness; the “physical text” as the objective examination of the patient’s body; the “instrumental text” as the construction by diagnostic technologies.” The information generated, when pooled together, can be useful in developing an understanding of the underlying disease, as well as a treatment plan. Leder further suggests that: “Certain flaws in modern medicine arise from its refusal of a hermeneutic self-understanding…in seeking to escape all interpretive subjectivity, medicine has threatened to expunge its primary subject–the living, experiencing patient.”[1]
Continue reading “Exploring ‘Sherlock’s Corner’ of Mederi Medicine”
“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love”
October 4th is the day set aside each year to celebrate the life of St. Francis of Assisi. He was a kind and gentle man, with no aspirations to become a priest. The simple truth is that Francis was too humble to desire the ranks of such a vocation. Through his life and his teachings, St. Francis taught me that our destiny is not to think in terms of having a career or a job. Instead, we should think in terms of a vocation and a mission where we can be free to “be” as God desires us to be.
Continue reading “Celebrate the Life and Example of St. Francis of Assisi October 4th”