"One cannot live in this world without the support of others". Okinawan proverb
Last week, I published my reference list of articles and books that have had the greatest influence on me and the development of our Pando Method®. So what is it about these select works that sparked my fancy and interest and made such a profound impact on my life and thinking?
I believe the common thread is that each reference outlines a path to individual empowerment as opposed to giving the power to someone else. Modern medicine's foundation is the doctor's power and expertise and patients being helped by the gifts of their healer -- medicines, surgeries, technology. This is great and we as a society are blessed to have at our disposal such a vast array of healing interventions.
However, what distinguishes the references on my list from classic medical literature is the power is given back to the individual to heal themselves. Dean Ornish, the Okinawa Program and the Blue Zones all reveal a lifestyle that leads to longevity and actual documented disease reversal (in the case of Ornish with heart artery blockages). The beauty of Ornish's work is the magnificent research that he has accomplished while instituting his very natural lifestyle program (please see his website The Spectrum for the latest on this amazing life enhancing and life prolonging research).
I have always tended to focus on the community/connection aspect of the multiple interventions (diet, exercise, meditation, yoga, spirituality). This likely is a reflection of my own personal, emotional longing for these powerful but difficult to define forces. The real truth is that health and longevity are a product of a multitude of factors (including good old-fashioned luck) but our internal feeling state is probably the unifying factor which drives all health-promoting activities (eating well, exercising, etc). In the words of Albert Einstein (taken from Ornish's Love and Survival):
"A human being is a part of the whole that we call the universe... he experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings , as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical illusion of his consciousness. This illusion is a prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for only the few people nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature".
It is this expansion of our selves beyond our selves that constitutes the community and connection that is so powerful a healer and so valuable to quality of life. This may be the fundamental missing link in America. Other cultures value social connection above all else. In Okinawa, they call it Yuimara. In South Africa, they call it Ubuntu (see Dr. Frank Lipman's website philosophies). It is a universal concept but less valued here in America, where youth, beauty and "rugged individualism" reign supreme.
In my opinion (and in the words of these great writers and researchers), this can be what changes lives. Ornish lists the research studies supporting the healing power of intimacy in Chapter 2 of Love and Survival. The authors of The Okinawa Program review the same dramatic results in their chapter The Healing Web. This data is powerful -- longer life and higher quality of life especially in later years. It is our time to heed this ground-breaking research. Learning from these lessons does not take a societal shift; it can be done by each person individually. It only takes the desire. A movement can begin whenever we are ready. This is our mission at Pando.
I'll continue the review of my favorite references all this week. It is the why of what we envision at Pando. A path to a better chronic care health system -- "A better way to feel better"®.
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