Diana Cantu-Reyna, RN - United States

Abstract of the presentation

Cultivating Self: Integrating Spiritual, Cultural, and Ecological Wisdom to Transform Healthcare Providers and Systems

Co-authors: Dr. Bhaswati Bhattacharya, MD (Cultivating Self, Advisor), Indy Rishi Singh (Cultivating Self, Executive Director), Dr. Charles Trinh, DAOM (Cultivating Self, Program Director)

Branch: Other (Ecological Medicine)

Recording

Cultivating Self was founded in 2018 by an ICU nurse who experienced the hidden toll of modern healthcare on its providers—compassion fatigue, burnout, and moral injury. In a system where clinicians are expected to heal others while disconnecting from their own needs, this program began with simple yet profound interventions: therapeutic yoga, nature walks, sound therapy, self-care workshops, and nutrition planning. It has since evolved into a formal Fellowship that empowers healthcare professionals to integrate spiritual, cultural, and ecological wisdom into both their personal well-being and patient care. Cultivating Self does not approach these practices as “alternative” or secondary to conventional medicine. Instead, it works from within the mainstream, uniting these worlds to form a more complete model of healing.

Fellows engage with practices drawn from global healing systems—such as energy medicine, chakra theory, biomagnetic fields, astrological sciences, and the bridging of emotional and spiritual selves. These tools are not watered down for acceptability. When cultural and spiritual practices are diluted, their essence—and their power to heal at scale—is lost. Cultivating Self restores these practices with integrity, ensuring they remain sources of meaning, connection, and transformation.

The program is grounded in the philosophy of Ecological Medicine, which views personal health, community wellness, and planetary stewardship as deeply interconnected. By tending to the healer’s internal ecosystem, Cultivating Self fosters resilience that radiates outward—to patients, families, and entire healthcare systems. This is medicine as it was meant to be: compassionate, integrative, and whole. By restoring the healer, Cultivating Self contributes to healing the system itself—one clinician, one community, and one sacred act of care at a time.

Please note that some of the texts also include machine-generated translations.