Return To Health (Pando Health Groups)

While I almost continually speak of and encourage people to feel and get "connected" as the entryway to health and empowerment, I am realizing that I lose people with the concept of "connection". I am coming to see that while connection to others is absolutely vital to human thriving, it is actually a result that evolves out of developing and nurturing a connection to oneself. Disapproval and rejection of oneself is the block that stops human connection. We cannot connect fully to others when we don't truly and ongoingly accept ourselves. The voice of disapproval that rings in our heads is the block to connection. Acceptance and love for ourselves allows our hearts to open to our partners, our friends and our colleagues. This is the gateway to health, healing, power and the magic inherent in life. How to get to acceptance of oneself is the key question. Easy to say; hard to do. First is having the intention to end the war with oneself. Next is choosing in ac...

The following is Beck's recent rendition of David Bowie's classic song, Sound and Vision. It is a stunning presentation done "in the round" with a huge participating, multi-dimensional orchestra. To me, this IS connection. This is people coming together as one to create beauty. Enjoy! Sound and Vision by Beck

Quote from movie Coach Carter This is one of my favorite movies. Loving basketball is part of it but Samuel Jackson as a beacon of light is the real hook. I do believe that we are all "powerful beyond measure" and I also believe that as "we let our own light shine", we can change the world. I want to be part of this movement. Pando Health Groups is the manifestation of Kim's and my vision that the health and healing world (and the world, in general), can become a better, more loving place and that the entry point into that bigger and brighter world is through connection. Overcoming the overwhelming and overarching veil of fear is the first step. Allowing the world to know the "real" us, experience the "untethered" us and meet all of us allows the power out of its cage. Our fellow travelers provide the mirror and opportunity for us all to come back to our true power.

Check out this great TED talk: Sherry Turkle: Connected but Alone? This beautiful video cuts right to the heart of what Pando is all about. We, living in this modern age, are caught in a paradox. We have spectacular technology designed and made nearly universal for connecting us to each other and ourselves but we are becoming more alone, more isolated and more disconnected. While this style of living "works" for the pace and style of life that has become our world, it does NOT work for a huge portion of the travelers in this world. These people (which I would argue is the vast majority) crave and long for something deeper and much more meaningful than sharing information. There is and has always been a deep hunger for a deep and real connection with other humans and for our own selves. This is the issue at hand. This is the solution for SO many of the problems in our world including chronic disease management in the medical world. Can we face this reality and bring it t...

This is a powerful, yet scary article from the New England Journal of Medicine. The thrust of this article is that mental illness including depression and dementia are occurring more and more in the senior years. They have some solutions but my response to this is that we know already what prevents these conditions -- exercise and social engagement. To me, the solution is NOT in web based technology (as this is just more isolating). Creating ways to make true and real social engagement accessible and ongoingly fulfilling is the challenge. Additionally, making exercise pleasant, sustainable and rewarding is an absolute must. Lastly, providing a forum for seniors to feel connected to themselves as well as their worlds (including their future roles in their worlds) is required. Other societies do this -- so can we. These interventions are proven to work for preventing and reversing seniors' worst nightmares. The article does wisely point out that the solution is not in more geriatr...

Health and healing are very important goals. In my opinion, the reason these two goals are not often attained is that they are not well defined and, therefore, not easy to reach (a path cannot be followed because the ultimate goal is never clarified and kept in focus). Lack of clarity in the endpoint makes the process of getting there very difficult, if not impossible. In developing and documenting the Pando Method, our very first goal was to define health. We investigated many sources and explored many traditional and non-traditional definitions. What we found was that health, healing and well-being were very often talked about and sought after but very rarely (or never) actually defined clearly. Herein lies the problem of modern medicine and particularly primary care. We are pursuing a goal that is not clear or universally accepted. At Pando, we have started our venture with our own definition of what it is to be well. We define health as the combination of authenticity and aware...

I focus on connection as the doorway to both healing and empowerment. That is certainly a strong statement. Could it be true? Why? First, we can explore how the absence of connection (isolation, loneliness, obsession and rumination) leads to negative results and then lets get to the fun stuff -- how connecting makes humans come alive and thrive. As a doctor, I care for a wide variety of people of different ages, health conditions and personality styles. Of course, I see people when they are not at their best and oftentimes when they are at their worst (not many people go to the doctor when they are feeling great). When people are ill or injured, they tend to drift toward negative thinking either out of fear or just as a result of feeling physically poorly. In addition, sick or debilitated states also lead to isolation as the afflicted are in no shape to be having fun, maintaining social ties or expanding their horizons. This is a natural tendency that is universal. It also is like ...

I have been away for far too long. After years of researching, studying, learning and ceaselessly searching for a new and better path to healing, well-being and empowerment, I have set up my own shop with exactly these goals in mind. I have now come back to my core roots (my website/blog) to unveil the product of my quest. I have had a burning drive inside me since becoming a doctor to change and improve the paradigm of modern medicine to one that people can access easily, continually and forever. While the path has been bumpy and often dark and unlit, I believe I have gained clarity and perspective and am now ready to share with the world a systematized method for maintaining and regaining health and power. The method is helpful to anyone, of any age, at any stage of life. We have named it the Pando Method.  Our shop is called Pando Health Groups and is located in Solana Beach on Cedros Avenue -- a "happening" mecca of art, entertainment, fashion and fun. Our website is P...