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Stuck or Free

I started this blog about 4 years ago when I had left Scripps, was starting a private practice and wanted to express my frustration with the medical world while exploring what I felt needed to be future directions for health and healing. I wanted to market my new practice which was specializing in long visits that explored the whole person in relationship to their physical condition. I was proud, naive but optimistic.

Today, I feel much the same way. I now have opened a clinic, Pando Health Groups, specializing in group visits for chronic and stress-related disease. I found one-on-one visits, even if longer than the "system" usually allots (7-15 minutes) were not as powerful as what I had experienced with group medical visits in their power to connect people, bring them out of isolation and guide them to real and lasting change.

I believe from the depth of my being that isolation and separation are the real enemies which create disease, illness and suffering.

While there is ample research supporting this point, the medical system does not pursue this avenue with the vigor I think it should. Yes, the world is changing. Yes, there are health systems which do group medical visits. However, the driving force is always efficiency, profit-seeking and managing the masses in a more productive way.

What I aim to create in this life is what I have witnessed in other cultures where the profit motive is not as strong and the interconnection of people is valued above all else. Much of the third world is like this but some of the first world still retains this value system. I have witnessed this kind of caring, interconnection and power in the human spirit and it is spectacularly beautiful. It does occur in America but it is hidden in the forest rather than singing from the trees. We hear about this kind of care in advertisements (often about health care companies) and see it in movies but it does not permeate our existence. Rather it is the exception NOT the rule. This can change.

I may still be naive but I am also still proud and optimistic. The world IS changing for the better and community, connection and the immense capacity of love and understanding to heal is still very present.
While these values may not make for the ideal business model (where profit is the primary goal), these values are what make the world go round and hearts sing.

While I focused on getting people "unstuck" in my previous practice, I am now shooting higher -- real freedom. By creating and valuing a path to true, heart-felt connection, Pando Health Groups will help our clients (and hopefully our world) find health from inside, from the place where life and love begin. These both find their roots in our hearts and souls and the bodies that shelter this core of our being. It is a different target but a similar goal -- helping people be truly well.

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