Authors

Talking with Judith Orloff, M.D.

Intuitive healer and university psychiatrist Judith Orloff, M.D. talks to us from a Portland, Oregon, hotel about the audio of her latest book, POSITIVE ENERGY. “It’s been amazing. I feel like I’m being lifted by a wave of positive energy everywhere I go.”

POSITIVE ENERGY is a practical guide for people who want to reclaim their vitality by using their senses and intuition. “I wrote this book because there’s so much negative energy in the world now. People are walking around tired, dragged out, depressed, low energy. . . They don’t know how to handle all the negativity, and they accept this low-energy state as normal.”

Dr. Orloff teaches that life choices can be guided by our subtle reactions to what gives energy and what takes it away—such things as the look and feel of fresh foods, our reactions to exercise, or the feelings we get standing near someone or staring at the ocean. This kind of sensing, especially in the quietest moments, is strongly connected to artistic inspiration: “Creativity is about connecting with the amazing flow that can come through you.”

As a clinical faculty member at UCLA, Dr. Orloff considers herself a traditional medical doctor. “But I expand to incorporate intuition, senses of energy, and senses of spirituality in the healing process. I believe in every aspect having a vote in our healing, not just traditional medicine.” Healing and healthy living, she says, requires learning to become aware of the vital life force—“something that healing traditions for millennia have valued.”

During her childhood, Dr. Orloff’s intuitive gift did not always feel like a gift. After going through a rebellious phase and dropping out of college (not a popular choice if your parents are physicians and you have 25 medical doctors in your lineage), she received encouragement from a therapist: “He was the first person who ever told me I had to incorporate my intuitions into my life to become healthy and whole.” Then a dream told her she needed to go to medical school “to get the credentials to legitimize intuition and energy in medicine.”

Now Dr. Orloff feels grateful for the life she has—teaching to eager audiences across the country, living on the Pacific Ocean, and staying both busy and relaxed. “I have a private practice one day a week, and then I teach workshops and balance that with writing books and having a private life--and doing nothing near the beach.” What she teaches is working for her.—Thomas WalkenOCT/ NOV 04
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