The Medicine of Flow: Conversation and Experiential Workshop on Effortless Healing

Cynthia Li, MD, is a physician who went from public health to integrative medicine and intuitive healing. She has practiced in diverse settings like Kaiser Permanente’s HIV/AIDS group, San Francisco General Hospital, St Anthony Clinic for refugees and those experiencing homelessness, and Doctors Without Border in rural China. When she developed a disabling autoimmune illness, she began studying with integrative and functional medicine doctors, environmental health scientists, holistic healers, and qigong masters. Her journey was featured in Dr. Kelly Turner’s Radical Remission documentary. She has also served as faculty for Rachel Remen’s Healer’s Art program at UC San Francisco School of Medicine. Since 2014, she has deepened her study of qigong, an ancient Chinese mind-body practice, and become certified as a teacher and healer. She is the author of a bestselling memoir, Brave New Medicine, and a new book, The Medicine of Flow (May 2026).

Serena is pursuing a life that remains attentive to the tenderness of a snail’s soft body and reverent to the miracle of its spiraled shell. She is a Chinese-American peacebuilder, storyteller, and community weaver devoted to the belief that intergenerational connection is vital for the future of our peace and justice movements. She recently completed six years as a Special Advisor in Design & Innovation to U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, bringing a spiritual and systemic understanding to the public health crisis of loneliness and isolation. She is a Zen chaplain-in-training and serves on the boards of CoGenerate and Commonweal.