YogaHub Interviews Glenn Wollman ~ Part 2

Continued from Part I of Glenn's interview…

In Emergency medicine, he dealt with the immediate crisis and saw humanity at its best and worst, which gave him a unique perspective of the human body and mind. Now, as a Medical Guide, he deals with the entire spectrum of health rather than just the immediate crisis, although there have been cases where he’s had to deal with a specific crisis. He recently had a client who had a seizure, so while his client was en route to the hospital, he worked with the client’s family, guiding them on how to ensure that his client would have the best medical care.

[post-img]For Glenn, being a Medical Guide means having the ability and compassion to help people regain their health, which includes preparing them for their healing and recovery, and assisting them in maintaining their health. For example, if someone is going to have a surgical procedure Glenn will guide them through the preparation, and after the surgery he will continue to work with them throughout their recovery. In addition to helping his clients deal with their own illness, he also guides them on how to deal with the illness of a loved one. Glenn is able to take a step back, look at the bigger picture and give an objective perspective, which will ultimately provide the optimum benefits to their health.Glenn is also a strong proponent of helping people maintain their health through Preparatory Medicine. He finds it invigorating and fun to be able to work with someone who’s perceived to be healthy and give them the tools to become healthier.

We asked Glenn what he would like to contribute to society with this newly specialized area of medicine. Glenn feels his contribution is in assisting people to have a better understanding of what their bodies are about and what the connections are to their mind, body and spirit before they get to the point of having to rely on the health care system. Once they are in the health care system, they need to know the proper way to choose a physician – if they have that option – and how to speak to the physician in order to get the most out of every visit.

The following three concepts best describe Glenn’s desire to contribute to society:

1) What a medical guide is and why it’s important to have one;
2) The concept of Preparatory Medicine rather than preventative medicine alone – where people have to be prepared; and
3) The concept of combinatorial medicine, which means that nobody has to be specifically boxed into one way of treating a specific injury or illness. There are many therapies that can be used in combination that can improve and enhance the outcome, and Glenn wants to make both clients and healers aware of this. Healers need to be aware of the many adjuncts that can be added to what they’re doing. For example, a surgeon can do a wonderful job at the surgical part but there may be other options that would be better for pain relief and healing, which might make the process flow more smoothly and make someone more willing to go through. Some people may decide not to take their medication because of certain side effects. By being guided to consider other options, they can still get benefits and not have to undergo a process that doesn’t work well with their system of beliefs.

[tip-fact]Glenn cautions that, although there are many ways to get information these days, not all of them may be accurate or true. Anyone can look up information on the Internet but that information may not be totally accurate or some important information may be left out. Many people may not necessarily discern this, which is why Glenn’s role as a Medical Guide is so essential. He hopes to educate people on a bit of anatomy, physiology and chemistry, thereby enabling them to help themselves to maintain or regain health and also refrain from things that are unhealthy.

Glenn is enthusiastic about sharing his practice as a Medical Guide with YogaHub through lectures (e.g. the Virtual World Conference), his blogs, interviews, newsletters, and various other creative aspects that haven’t even been explored yet.

Through the body of work that he is going to do with YogaHub over time, Glenn hopes to take people through medical school – not just western medical school but more like the “magical medical school” of many of the healing systems, which will enable people to look at things from a broader perspective in terms of their physical, emotional and spiritual health.

Glenn believes that every healer is some form of a medical guide, although he doesn’t know of anyone else who has given up their entire practice of medicine to just guide people. Everyone who goes into healing at any level wants to help people and do the best for them. However, he feels that healers are often limited by their own specialties (e.g. an orthopedic surgeon will think that surgery is the best form of treatment), even though more physicians are starting to learn more about integrative medicine and other practices such as acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine, etc.[b-quote]

Glenn sees his role as working in synergy with both the client and the healer. Many times physicians may not agree with alternative approaches so, with the client’s permission, Glenn can have a doctor-to-doctor discussion with the physician to explain from a medical viewpoint how certain approaches can not only do no harm but can also benefit the client. So Glenn’s role is to keep the lines of communication open with everyone, thereby ensuring the best possible outcome.

Glenn explains that the difference between treating healers and him is that, as a Medical Guide, he no longer treats people, so he has no ego involved in what he’s doing and who he’s working with. He can work with an orthopedic surgeon or a traditional Asian medicine healer either in Los Angeles, Washington DC or in Bangalore. By not practicing medicine, he is not encumbered by his ego and he can therefore truly guide people toward what’s best for them.

Glenn believes that in the future there will be a specialty of medical guides, although he’s not sure when that will happen. The more he works in this field, the more he realizes that it really is a
necessity in medicine now.

Glenn ended our interview by thanking YogaHub and Christina for all of the wonderful work we do to promote so many good things in life. He noted that there’s a great deal happening in the world today that has a tendency to give a negative outlook of our species. YogaHub is a blessing because everything that YogaHub is doing is helping to regain balance in life and give it more equilibrium…
the Yin and the Yang.