Medical anthropologist Alberto Villoldo has studied the shamanic healing practices of the Amazon and Andes for more than 25 years. He is the founder of the Four Winds Society, which trains modern shamans in the practice of energy medicine. He directs the Center for Energy Medicine in Chile, where he investigates and practices the neuroscience of enlightenment.

In his mid-20s Villoldo was the youngest clinical professor at San Francisco State University, where he directed the Biological Self-Regulation Lab to investigate how energy medicine changes the chemistry of the brain. He soon realized that the microscope was the wrong instrument to answer the questions he was asking. Other scientists were already studying the hardware, Villoldo wanted to learn to reprogram the system.

He heard stories about people in remote parts of the Amazon who claimed to know such things. Recognizing this investigation would not be a part time pursuit or brief sabbatical, Villoldo resigned his post at the university and traded his lab coat for hiking boots and a ticket to the Rainforest.

Medical anthropologist Alberto Villoldo has studied the shamanic healing practices of the Amazon and Andes for more than 25 years. He is the founder of the Four Winds Society, which trains modern shamans in the practice of energy medicine. 

During his research with the jungle shamans, he discovered that his journey had been guided by his personal longing to become whole. He learned to transform old pain, grief, anger, and shame into sources of strength and compassion. 

He learned that we are more than flesh and bone—we are fashioned of Spirit and light, surrounded by a luminous energy field whose source is located in infinity. This energy field envelops every cell of our bodies, acting as a matrix that maintains our physical and spiritual health and vibrancy…it is up to us to recognize and work with this field to change the very nature of our being and heal ourselves.​

Medical anthropologist Alberto Villoldo has studied the shamanic healing practices of the Amazon and Andes for more than 25 years. He is the founder of the Four Winds Society, which trains modern shamans in the practice of energy medicine. He directs the Center for Energy Medicine in Chile, where he investigates and practices the neuroscience of enlightenment.

In his mid-20s, Villoldo was the youngest clinical professor at San Francisco State University, where he directed the Biological Self-Regulation Lab to investigate how energy medicine changes the chemistry of the brain. He soon realized that the microscope was the wrong instrument to answer the questions he was asking. While other scientists were already studying the hardware, Villoldo wanted to learn to reprogram the system.

He heard stories about people in remote parts of the Amazon who claimed to know such things. Recognizing this investigation would not be a part-time pursuit or a brief sabbatical, Villoldo resigned his post at the university and traded his lab coat for hiking boots and a ticket to the Rainforest.