Dr. Dan's Story

Hi, my name is Dan Engle and it's my calling to co-create with others an intentional practice of sustainable living.

I live in Patagonia, Arizona where I am the Medical Director at the Tree of Life Spiritual Rejuvenation Center. I work both as an MD and as a holistic health and whole person healing counselor for a wide variety of clients. This is the evolution of my practice. The theraputics applied for helping clients achieve vibrant health include fasting and raw food nutrition, energetic psychology, spiritual practice, vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, homeopathics and superfoods. I see this as an integrative and sustainable approach to medicine, and continue to research the synergistic benefits of a living systems perspective on wellness.

I whole-heartedly believe in the power of personal transformation and the wisdom of Spirit to provide us the necessary learning opportunities to maximize our re-awakening and achieve our fullest potential.

Here's My Story:
I began my medical training in the traditional allopathic medical model just weeks after a major injury. The break to my neck (C5 to be exact) in a diving "accident" served as a blessed healing and learning opportunity. Though, it was not until much later that I would come to understand how wonderfully non-accidental this divine orchestration was and how it served to fundamentally shift my world view. In shamanic practices, such a blow to the crown of the head (which is how I after jumping 15 feet into thigh high water) is done purposefully so as to "crack the cosmic egg" and open to the infinite.

After starting medical school in a "halo" device and beginning the journey of formalized medical education, I consistently found myself searching outside the box for a more inclusive, health oriented, and self-empowered approach to wellness. I realized that Western medicine is primarlily focused on illeness and dis-ease rather than prevention and healthy living. In medical residency I expanded my exploration of this subconscious (and largely problem based) world-view, and turned towards the humanistic field of psychiatry. However, after completing extensive training in adult, child and adolescent and forensic psychiatry, I remained disillusioned with the "standards of medical care" and sought more.

I found the next key in Thailand through a major mind-body opening during an extensive cleansing program at The Sanctuary. Instead of the planned fun in the sun, island vacation, I was emphatically called to an 8 day fast and cleanse. I felt charged, totally alive and fully in alignment with my purpose. I felt more inspiration about healing and medicine than I had ever known. I submerged myself in their library of integrative healing resources and became happily inducted into the family of practitioners bridging complementary medical paradigms with Western medicine. I returned to the States completely committed to holistic medicine, with more excitement than education or supervision. In my zeal, I became rather imbalanced physically. Thankfully, this period fortified my resolve towards mindful balance. Since then, I have sought and experienced firsthand knowledge of the benefits of natural therapies. I have also spent years studying with and alongside wonderful healers using a wide range of health conscious practices.

Using myself as a test case for the power of natural healing was (and continues to be) the most authentic experiment for my transformation and development as a person, physician and spiritual being. My passion is engaging in the healing interface between client and Source, facilitating the clearing of limiting physical and psycho-emotional patterns and empowering others to become their own facilitators and healers.

Gratefully, the learning continues. We are all evolving constantly, mirroring the processes of change in our communities and on our planet. May we all thrive in our fullest expression of the Divine and return to our original blueprint of healthy sustainable living - whole, happy and well.

aho, mitakuye oyasin - to all my relations.