109. Dr. Gladys McGarey: What 103 Years of Life Can Teach Us About Longevity

Nov 4, 2025

Dr. Gladys McGarey, a pioneering figure in holistic medicine and author, shares her incredible insights from 103 years of life. She emphasizes that true healing comes from love, purpose, and community, introducing her renowned 'Five L's'—love, life, laughter, labor, and listening. With anecdotes from her early life in India and a meeting with Gandhi, she highlights how compassion and energy shape well-being. McGarey encourages viewing setbacks as teachers and believes that nurturing the human spirit is the essence of medicine.

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INSIGHT

Medicine Needs The 'Holy' Dimension

McGarey observed that modern medicine focused on eradicating disease, missing the deeper healing dimension.
She defines true healing as integrating health, healing, and the holy—bringing love and life into medical care.

ADVICE

Activate The Patient's Inner Healer

Reach to the 'physician within' each patient by treating them with love and compassion to activate their innate healing.
Perform medical tasks competently but prioritize connecting with patients' inner healing capacity.

ADVICE

Choose Where You Spend Energy

Choose where to spend your energy and avoid dwelling on past hardships that drain you.
Turn attention toward light, love, and healing to replenish energy instead of depleting it.

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What if the real secret to longevity isn't found in science alone, but in how we choose to live, love, and connect every day?

In this special posthumous episode of EXTEND, I revisit one of the most meaningful conversations I've ever had — with Dr. Gladys McGarey, the 103-year-old physician known as the Mother of Holistic Medicine and author of The Well-Lived Life. Before her passing, Dr. McGarey shared a century's worth of wisdom on what truly heals us, from the inside out.

We talk about how she helped create the holistic medicine movement, the deeper meaning behind her "Five L's" — love, life, laughter, labor, and listening — and how energy, purpose, and community shape both health and happiness. She also shares powerful stories from her early life in India, her encounter with Gandhi, and how compassion became the foundation of her medical practice.

Dr. Gladys McGarey reminds us that medicine isn't just about curing disease — it's about nurturing the human spirit, and remembering that love itself is one of the most powerful healing forces we have.

We Also Discuss:

(00:00) A Century of Healing: The Life and Legacy of Dr. Gladys McGarey

(09:45) Growing Up in India and Meeting Gandhi

(20:23) How Holistic Medicine Was Born, and Why It Still Matters

(25:32) The Physician Within: What True Healing Really Means

(27:20) Energy, Purpose, and the Secret to Staying "Alive" at Any Age

(33:55) Turning Setbacks into Teachers: Finding Growth in Pain

(37:46) Why Community Is the Medicine We're Missing

(43:54) The Vision for a Healing Village, Where Love and Life Lead Medicine

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Learn more about Dr. Shah:

Website: https://www.drshah.com/

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Learn more about Dr. Gladys McGarey:

Website:https://gladysmcgarey.com/Instagram: @livingmedicinedr