Today we’d like to introduce you to Melinda Edwards.
Hi Melinda, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My journey from being a child of medical missionaries in Guatemala to my life as a mother, writer, physician, and founder of the nonprofit organization Living Darshan and the annual Awaken Through Autism conference has been quite colorful! From a young age, I experienced a pull to a deeper truth. This pull inward led me on a lifelong spiritual quest that included meditation, guidance from spiritual teachers, travel to India, and living in communities. Ultimately, my quest led to the discovery of the divinity in all and the realization that my daughter Saachi, who is on the autism spectrum, is my greatest teacher. From the time Saachi was born, I saw that she was living in a place of Oneness—the place we all come from but that we lose sight of in our day-to-day lives. I began to realize that her symptoms of autism, such as her sensitivity to sounds, bright lights, busy environments, and others’ emotions and states of mind, were all a physical manifestation of her exquisite sensitivity of heart and spirit. I saw that the traditional medical disease model often overlooks this deeper and more precious aspect of autism—and I realized that as I fully opened myself to the depth of her exquisite sensitivity, my heart opened more and more. So in this way, Saachi and my friends and patients on the autism spectrum have become my teachers. This more profound realization of autism gave birth to the 501c3 nonprofit organization Living Darshan and our annual Awaken Through Autism conference (www.awakenthroughautism.com). My life experiences also led to me write a spiritual memoir as a support for others on their journeys entitled Psyche & Spirit: How a Psychiatrist Found Divinity Through Her Lifelong Quest for Truth and Her Daughter’s Autism (soon to be published–for notification of publication, readers can sign up at www.melindaedwardsmd.com).
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My journey has most certainly not been smooth! During my teenage years, I struggled with an eating disorder. I engaged in intensive psychotherapy, diving inward to heal the emotional wounds that were the source of the symptoms. Later, I struggled with the intensity of medical school and residency training, even as I pursued my spiritual pull inward. Even later, I faced challenges as a single mom of a child with special needs, juggling motherhood, her special needs, the intensity of her therapy schedule, my work, and much more. Throughout all of this, my spiritual life continued to deepen with many wonderful insights but also with its challenges. But an intuitive knowing and an understanding that everything life brings me can be a doorway to a deeper opening of my heart kept me steadfast. When the vision for Living Darshan and the Awaken Through Autism conference came to me, there was a recognition that I was to bring these into the world and that Living Darshan would be giving voice to a deeper understanding of individuals on the autism spectrum and would help to shift the traditional disease paradigm of autism.
Thanks for sharing that. So, tell us more about your work next.
There are two aspects of my work in the world–my work as a physician with underserved patients and my work with Living Darshan, a nonprofit organization with a mission of deepening the understanding of autism worldwide. My work with Living Darshan includes an annual Awaken Through Autism conference in Charleston, SC, speaking engagements, partnerships with other organizations and businesses, and community events. Living Darshan is also planning to build a residential and retreat center for adults on the spectrum and others in Charleston, SC, that will be founded on our understanding that the symptoms of autism are a reflection of a much deeper sensitivity of heart and spirit and that these beautiful beings can serve as doorways for a deeper opening of our hearts, even as we all support each other in navigating this often not-very-sensitive world.
Are any books, apps, podcasts, or blogs that help you do your best?
Aside from my daughter, Ram Dass and Neem Karoli Baba have been spiritual teachers who have had a profound influence in my life. Eckhart Tolle, Tara Brach, Jack Kornfield, and Adyashanti have also greatly impacted my life. Many books by/about them and podcasts with them have inspired and supported my journey.
Pricing:
- Awaken Through Autism conference 10/6/2023: $35 Friends and Family Ticket/$85 CEU Ticket
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.melindaedwardsmd.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melindaedwards.md/
- Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/livingdarshan/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melinda-edwards-011228221/
- Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/livingdarshan/
Image Credits
Paul Alford Melinda Edwards
