May 29, 2025

Watch for Free Bill Moyers 5-Part Documentary Series Healing and the Mind

In 1993, journalist Bill Moyers created a five-part documentary series looking to explain aspects of the mind-body connection and ways it can be applied in alternative healthcare. This series won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series and had a lasting impact on new ways people thought about healing and health. Two of the parts of the documentary are available on Vimeo, which you can check out here:

Healing and the Mind: Healing from Within

Bill Moyers investigates the connection between peace of mind and physical illness in this documentary that takes a look at the innovative work of Jon Kabat-Zinn and Dr. David Spiegel. We follow Kabat-Zinn as he leads a group of every day people dealing with chronic pain in guided mindfulness meditation at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Moyers also delves into a study Dr. Spiegel conducts with cancer patients on the emotional benefits of group psychotherapy. Both Kabat-Zinn and Spiegel approach these concepts of inner healing with a mainstream medical training background, but are open to finding new ways to help their patients heal, cope, grieve, and live with the stress of serious illness.

Healing and the Mind: The Mystery of Chi

In this hour-long episode of Bill Moyers’ Healing and the Mind series, Moyers travels to China to discover healing power of Chinese medicine and the mystery of Chi. Moyers is joined by Dr. David Eisenberg who served as the first U.S. medical exchange student to the People’s Republic of China and spent over 10 years there. Dr. Eisenberg teaches Moyers about Chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture, Chinese massage, tai chi, chi gung, martial arts, and the ideas of Taoism. Learn about Chinese medicine and health practices that have been around for thousands of years.

The other three parts of the documentary you can view on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting:

Healing and the Mind: The Mind Body Connection – Moyers talks with physicians and neuroscientists about how emotions affect the brain and body.

Healing and the Mind: The Art of Healing – Moyers explores further the art of healing with doctors, therapists, and patients.

Healing and the Mind: Wounded Healers – Moyers visits the Commonweal Program for treating cancer in a holistic manner with a support system of cancer patients.

If you want to explore Moyers’s programs further, you can view a collection of over 800 programs in the Bill Moyers Collection on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting website:

Browse Over 800 Video Programs in the Bill Moyers Collection on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting