Q+A with 102-year-old Dr. Gladys McGarey

Dr. Gladys McGarey is 102 years old and is still practicing as a doctor. Recognized as a pioneer of the allopathic and holistic medical movements, she is a TEDx speaker and a founding diplomat of the American Board of Holistic Medicine. Dr. McGarey lives and works in Scottsdale, Arizona, where for many years she shared a medical practice with her daughter. She currently has a medical consulting practice, maintains a healthy diet, and enjoys a good piece of cake every now and then. Her book THE WELL-LIVED LIFE: A 102-Year-Old Doctor's Six Secrets to Health and Happiness at Every Age, will be released on May 2nd.

Here’s a brief Q+A with Dr. McGarey - who flips the narrative - showing us it’s not about living life, but turning towards the life within us.

1. Please share something you’ve learned in your 102 years about living life to the fullest.

“Every minute counts. Some of the most important things that happen to us quickly, we hardly know they are happening. But when we are in the process of paying attention, we’ll see them. The most miniscule things can change our lives. When I was in Wellsville, Ohio on call, caring for thousands of people day and night, I would return to my son Bob, who was 18 months old, sitting on the front steps. I would pick him up, take him to my rocking chair and he would pat my shoulders and I could return to being myself in my home. This was a life changing moment I recognized by being present.”

2. How has the change in medicine over the last 60 years affected you?

“Completely. I don’t see medicine as a war against disease. I see medicine as reaching for life and love. My medical training was at Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia. I started medical school in September of 1941 and World War II started in December. The war in medicine we were fighting after the official war ended was disease, pain, and suffering. Now I choose to see medicine as a way to live through these processes and become more aware of who we, as human beings, are. It was a paradigm shift in consciousness.”

3. What did Gandhi teach you about love when you met him in your childhood?

“Gandhi taught me that love is real. I spent hours trying to unpack the word “love” for this book so that it would be understandable. People have been trying to explain love for years in songs and poems, but I finally realized there aren’t words to use that are adequate. Anyone who has not experienced love does not know what it is. It is like asking a blind person to understand what the color green is. How do you explain something they have never experienced? You do the best you can until you can truly live.”

4. How daring and different was the idea of holistic medicine when you first tried to popularize it?

“People said I was a witch doctor and didn’t understand science. I developed this practice as a woman, but this also counted against me. The whole concept of holistic medicine was new. Developing this practice, it took two years to figure out the spelling to communicate the big “H” principles, health, healing, and holy. Little things like that are important but they take time to understand and work with. The idea of holistic medicine was something we were trying to get across but people often wrote us off for being too ‘woo woo’ or outside of the box for medical care.”

5. What’s wrong with the old adage about conserving your energy as you get older?

“If you try to conserve your energy as you get older, it won’t work. Life doesn’t work that way. If you stop using your energy and being aware, your energy dies. Life can’t live without moving so we must be able to move our consciousness in such a way so life can continue. If we are going to be alive we have to move, change, and live.”

6. In your words, what is “the juice” in life and why do we need it?

“Our juice is our essence. It’s what makes us human. It’s the individual part of us that is not like anyone else. In the whole world, no one else could be you. It is getting in touch with the true humanity in each of us. That’s where healing is and that’s where the stem cells are, in the bones of our being.”

7. How do we mobilize when we are feeling impossibly stuck?

“Sometimes it’s done to you. Sometimes you get mobilized by the world around you and what your life is doing. Even those times we must accept as real. But we won’t be mobilized if we are not looking for it. If you are actually looking for having an awakening or something new, that is important.”

8. How does contributing to a community contribute to our own wellbeing?

“We as humans need each other, if we don’t have a community. You can live in the Himalayas, and I know people who do, that have a community because the villagers around them will bring food and resources. They have their own angelic community. It’s almost impossible to live without a community. You can live by yourself but create a community that feeds your essence. I needed my son Bob on the steps of myself coming home after a hard day at work. We need to feed each other and be fed by each other. It’s love that does that. It’s like breathing in and breathing out. You breathe in the love from other people, you breathe out love to other people. Our world can’t function without this duality, the in and out.”

9. In your 90s you decided to take on a new ambition to become a writer. What led you to this decision?

“I had a lot of things I wanted to say. I had written articles and people kept asking me questions. Someone finally asked if I could write a book and I thought, I could do that. My first book was in 2000 and from then more books came.”

10. Can you unpack the foundational 5 Ls for us?

“The first two Ls are life and love, and they are one unit. Life as it is, is like a little seed. You can have a seed in a pyramid for thousands of years, and then give it some water and love and it will start to grow. Life can’t grow without love. Love is what activates the shell so that life can begin. Like the sperm and the ovum. Life and love are a unit. The third L is laughter. Laughter without love is cruel and vain. But laughter with love is happiness and joy. The fourth L is labor. Labor without love is drudgery. For example, I have too many diapers to change, I’m too tired, or I have to go to work. But labor with love is bliss. It’s why I became a physician. It’s why a singer sings or a painter paints. The fifth L is listening. Listening without love is empty silence but listening with love is understanding. These 5 Ls really are a starting point for understanding some of the things that we are really working towards.”

11. What is a piece of advice you would give your younger self?

“Trust yourself.”

12. What’s something anyone can start doing tomorrow to live life to the fullest?

“Keep living. Be aware of the fact that you are actually breathing in and out. The sun comes up and life is real. Life and love are the two most important things that are alive. It’s the awareness that pops into your head when you are looking for it. It’s delightful, sometimes you have thoughts that mean nothing or ones that can change your whole life. You just have to be aware.”