My vision, my healing philosophy and my passion for life have grown from more than 20 years as a practitioner in the healing arts, and from the personal evolution that has come on my healing odyssey with debilitating arthritis, and later, stage 4 cancer. I have emerged from both of these challenges healthier and happier than ever before.

I’d like to think I’m living proof that health challenges can present wonderful new opportunities in life – if – we open ourselves to such a possibility. To offer a personal example: severe inflammatory arthritis ended my exciting and rewarding career as an officer in the US Marine Corps. Yet now I answer an even more fulfilling calling as a holistic doctor and author, helping others heal and discover the gifts to be found on their own healing journeys.

For much of my adult life, I experienced ups and downs with arthritis. It first showed up early in my Marine Corps career when I was young and fit, and felt immortal. As a Marine, of course, my initial response was to fight the disease. I was determined to defeat what I believed was an external invader. Over the course of many years in pain, I tried everything – conventional medicine, alternative therapies, various diets, meditation, yoga, you name it – trying to kill that beast. Well…in the end, I ‘lost’ the fight, and the Marines sent me home. That was a tough one. I loved serving my country as a Marine.

After that I became a Doctor of Chiropractic and began to develop a more positive and self-empowering mindset. I discovered that Spirit has already given us the most important and powerful gift: Life! I embarked on a healing path that has been not only physical, but also a journey of the soul. In 2000, just a few years after I had been medically retired from the Marines, I was a chiropractic intern on a “Clinic Abroad” trip to India. On one especially long and busy day of providing care to people in a remote farming community, I had a beautiful revelation. Because of the language barrier, I was unable to communicate verbally with the people I was serving. Before long, a message shimmered into my mind that I then mentally conveyed to each of them: “You are a being of beauty and perfection.”

Since that incredible moment in India, that has become my most important message to every person I serve. It is the starting point from which we work together to reveal the light and life that glows within everybody as their deepest and truest essence. It’s a simple and empowering truth that changes lives.

Another new thought process that emerged as I cared for my clients in my private chiropractic practice was: “Empower your potential, not your problems.” That new consciousness raised my level of vibration and – over time – I was able to transform myself into a triathlete and marathon runner. The story of my healing journey with arthritis has been chronicled in A Book of Miracles; Inspiring True Stories of Healing, Gratitude and Love by Dr. Bernie S. Siegel.

On my journey to that healing miracle, I discovered something I never expected. A healing miracle is within reach of everybody. Yes, even you. Growing, healing and thriving are simply a matter of reconnecting with our core essence and expressing the vitality that is within each of us.

My first book is the award-winning Oby’s Wisdom! A Caveman’s Simple Guide to Holistic Health and Wellness. The book’s principal message is that healing, health and well-being come from within. One simple phrase encapsulates that important concept. And it’s the very foundation of healing, health and well-being: “Turn your health inside out.”

My journey has taught me the importance of embracing health challenges – even the most severe – as opportunities for deep healing and growth. And that has led to my forthcoming book. Stay tuned for more on that…

As an award-winning speaker, I always seek to deliver a powerful and beneficial message in a lighthearted, entertaining context. In 2013, I had the honor of presenting a talk at TEDx Spokane entitled, “Change Your Story, Change Your Health.”

I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 2001, and have been inducted into the Pi Tau Delta International Chiropractic Honor Society. I also hold a B.S. degree in Psychology from the University of Idaho. My lovely wife, Cricket, and I are lovers of Nature and the great outdoors. Along with our fuzzy feline companions, Kitty and Aiki, we feel blessed to live, love, work and play amid the towering pines, majestic mountains and sparkling lakes of the Idaho panhandle.

Watch my TED talk: