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Mind Wise
A newsletter at the intersection of mind, body, spirit, and the river that connects them all.
Don’t push the river.
I learned this the hard way. In September 2024, Hurricane Helene sent the Swannanoa River rising thirty feet through my community in Asheville, NC. Homes were destroyed. One neighbor drowned. Families climbed to higher ground and survived without power or running water for weeks. The river took what it wanted, then settled peacefully within new banks. We adapted. We’re still adapting.
I’m Dr. Ron Parks — psychiatrist, writer, holistic physician, and someone who’s spent decades wrestling with the very issues I write about: overthinking, gripping too tightly, and losing touch with the larger reality that exists beyond our limited headspace. I haven’t transcended these struggles. I’m still in them. But I’ve learned something about loosening the grip. I value using my experience and skills as an educator and consultant to help others with life issues and mental, physical, and emotional problems.
I’m specialty-trained in psychiatry, internal medicine, and preventive medicine; I am board-certified and have directed treatment programs and consulted for organizations. I’ve also valued the time spent at the bedside of severely ill or dying patients as they sought meaning and peace. The aim of my work is to integrate conventional psychiatry with lifestyle, spirituality, holistic medicine, and the perennial philosophies of East and West — not because they’re trendy, but because they saved my life as a child with polio in rural Maryland.
I was treated with both conventional and natural approaches by caring, informed healthcare providers when no single approach would have been enough.
Mind Wise is where I share what I’m still learning — about mental, physical, and spiritual health, yes, but also about flow, acceptance, and staying open to disruption. About what happens when you stop pushing the river and start trusting it. I write from years of personal and clinical practice and from the dreams and journaling that inform me about the broader reality and constraints of our mental constructions and narratives.
Topics I explore include spirituality and philosophy, integrative lifestyle psychiatry, nutrition and exercise, spiritual emergence, mindfulness and meditation, psychedelic-assisted therapy, and holistic psychotherapy. Not as categories, but as threads in a single fabric.
If you’re tired of choosing between pills and gurus — between reductionist medicine and wellness fantasy — this is for you. If you’ve ever been told to just meditate when you needed real help, or handed a prescription when you needed someone to listen, you’ll know what I mean.
Subscribe. Read. See whether it resonates. No pressure, no pushing.
The river knows its way.
— Ron Parks
Board-Certified Psychiatrist • Specialty-trained in Psychiatry, Internal Medicine, and Preventive Medicine • Author of COVID-19/Mental Health Crises: Holistic Understanding & Solutions • Publishes on his website at https://parksmd.com/
This newsletter provides information and perspective only, not medical or psychiatric advice. Please consult your physician for personal health questions.
Disclaimer: By using this newsletter/blog, viewers acknowledge that they have read, accepted, and understand the following terms and conditions: This newsletter/blog provides information and opinion only, not medical or psychiatric advice. The User’s responsibility is to direct personal medical or mental health questions to their primary care provider and specialty physicians. This newsletter/blog is not intended to do or provide medical advice or consultation. You are advised to seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health providers with any questions regarding a medical condition or problem.
The information and statements in this newsletter/blog are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or replace the recommendations or advice given to you by your primary or direct care providers. Your reliance on any information provided by Dr. Parks, content providers, or comment contributors is solely at your own discretion. You are advised not to disregard medical advice from your primary or direct care providers or delay seeking medical advice or treatment because of the information contained on this website. Management of serious mental or physical health problems should remain under the care and guidance of your primary care physicians, specialists, or psychiatrists.
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