Meet Gayle Randall of Randall Wellness Network

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gayle Randall.

Hi Gayle, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My entry into this world was simultaneously a great gift and huge trauma, beginning with fond memories of being in my mother’s womb, floating safely, comforted by her voice and constant heartbeat.

Then one day, a ripping sound near my body disturbed my environment, and my womb-space contracted precipitously as mother’s protective fluid flowed out suddenly. It was April 29; I was supposed to born June 15. This was very premature in 1952, and there was only one incubator available at St Joseph’s Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska.

I remember the pain and the loud noises, my mother’s screams and the bright lights. I also remember feeling so sick I could not tolerate it any longer. All my nerve endings felt like they exploded at once. I wanted out. A soft pink light of supportive energy appeared. I lifted out of my little body and moved towards the light and energy, and kind glowing beings of pure loving vibration that were within it. I felt happy and completely sustained by their presence. I wanted to be with them forever. They communicated love to me, the importance of compassion… and a future role of helping many people. My role.

They urged me to return to my body despite the pain. Shortly thereafter, I emerged into a bright light and a pain so bad I wanted to leave my body again. I heard the kind ones say, “It will be alright little one, stay, promise, care, love, compassion. You are here for a purpose and you will guide others for the benefit of all humanity and the planet.” The gift: knowing there is more than this reality and a first moment of my life that gave me a knowing, confidence, determination and purpose I have carried with me since.

I was born into this world to bridge people and medicines. That and my attraction to American Indian theology and philosophy led me to study indigenous medicines and peoples from an early age. During my senior year of medical school, we were offered the opportunity to work at an American Indian reservation and fill in for the doctor, who was going on vacation. This had a huge influence on my development. After saving a young woman injured in a propane tank explosion, I was invited into the tutelage of the medicine man and his wife. They gave me an understanding of holism and was taught to see people as a combination of body, mind, spirit and emotions. This was far different than the accepted western view of defining people by their disease or by what they’ve done in life.

I took this gift and other teachings of herbs and earth medicines when I moved to UCLA as a young intern in Internal Medicine, the first student from Nebraska accepted by UCLA. From the beginning, I saw my patients from a holistic point of view and treated them with compassion. I also listened to all they had to say. This approach differed from my colleagues and teachers, who focused mainly on the diseases from which their patients suffered, as opposed to the patients themselves.

I excelled in Internal Medicine and was recruited into gastroenterology. Even though I kept my sense of holism, I loved science. My group invented many things, including the technology to stop ulcers from bleeding without surgery. I was one of three physicians in LA and it’s four teaching hospitals at the time (UCLA, VA Wadsworth, Harbor UCLA and Sepulveda VA) that could perform and teach this technique. Now, all well-trained gastroenterologists are familiar with this technique. We changed history for the benefit of humanity.

I learned more tools from the Native and Eastern traditions and understood the spiritual purpose behind the healing. I incorporated them into my practice at the UCLA Digestive Diseases Center. The word got out, and a long line of patients formed to seek alternative care. Many came only after standard medicine failed them, their problems sometimes unrelated to digestive systems altogether. Our patients had reached a dead end—from a Western medicine point of view. I realized this while coordinating The Healing Connection, a photodocumentary and the first integrative medicine initiative at UCLA. We decided to branch out and look at the effect of adding other modalities to our patient’s treatment regimens.

In 1993, I “came out,” in a medical sense, when I teamed up with Dr. Emeran Mayer, a Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA and, decades later, the author of the New York Times bestseller Mind Gut Connection. We organized The Healing Connection, a groundbreaking documentary showing the power of combining Western, American Indian, Ayurvedic, East Indian and Chinese medicines. Not surprisingly, whenever any additional discipline was added, the outcome improved. Most importantly, it was the beginning of integrating medicines.

I also returned to treating in-clinic patients at the UCLA Digestive Diseases Center. I saw patients for as long as it took to address their problems. (I did not abide by the pressure to “see more patients in less time.”) My patients waited and did not mind for the most part, because when their turn came, they knew I would really listen to them. In my world, everybody is special. So is every person. Because of the sacred bond, I feel for my patients received what they needed.

The Healing Connection, along with the amazing people with whom I connected through it, became the foundation of my future as a pioneer and innovator in medicine, and the practice of Integrative and Functional Medicine. My American Indian teachings and immersion into many healing modalities shaped me into the medical futurist I am today. The practice of healing from numerous disciplines has been key to my successful unique healing approach. This passion to integrate alternative with conventional medicine led to my appearances on NBC-TV, speaking about the power of combining medicines, then hosting the Consensus Conferences for naming and defining Integrative Medicine at Miraval Life in Balance, Tucson, AZ, where I was appointed Integrative Medical Director.

Subsequently, I was recruited to Rancho La Puerta to become Executive Director of Integrative Medicine to further spread these innovative ideas. I also began to write Soul Doctoring: Heal Yourself Heal The Planet, which Dr. Emeran Mayer described as “a truly holistic manifesto” when it was published in early summer 2022. (www.amazon.com/soul-doctoring or wwwdr.gmrandall.com/content/soul-doctoring-the-book)

It took me 25 years, from the time I first received a vision of how to write what became Soul Doctoring at a Vision Quest Ceremony led by my teacher, Joseph Rael, of the Tiwa and Southern Ute people. However, Soul Doctoring presented my background, my ways of treating the whole person while accessing more than 25 different healing modalities, and my work and vision for healing ourselves and taking the big step we all need today — healing our communities and the planet. Golden Globe-winning actress Olivia Hussey Eisley (Romeo and Juliet), who I helped cure of breast cancer, said, “She has a true understanding, knowledge and love of the alternative healing practices, which is the path I have chosen. I will forever be grateful to her.”

Along with a deep commitment to the health of humanity and the planet, my purpose and course has been to elevate individual and group consciousness, as reflected throughout my work and in my holistic manifesto Soul Doctoring, Heal Yourself Heal the Planet.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I spent my growing-up years in Nebraska, largely in the company of horses. From age 2, when I snuck off to a nearby meadow and found instant comfort with the horses there, I’ve had an affinity for horses. I communicate with them and they with me; we help each other, a bond I’ve carried through my life. Today, my animal soulmate is Tatanka, a proud and vibrant stallion and my horse for more than 20 years who lives up to his Sioux name.

In order to keep my mind off of purely horses, my parents introduced me to swimming. I excelled at swim lessons and loved the team spirit and water. Beginning when I was three, they set up an exhibition lane for me during the home swim meets. My brother Gary and I lived in the swimming pool during the hot Nebraskan summers. I was a tomboy, always in competition with my brother, who was five years older. By the time I was 12, my shoulders were broader than most men and I stood almost six feet tall. I broke the Nebraska state age-group record in the breaststroke and felt destined for the Olympics. Unfortunately, I developed severe swimmer’s ear infections, which ended my competitive career. Several gifts helped form me into a capable confident woman who understood team work and how to let go of things that were no longer serving me. Big lessons for a young woman passionate about her endeavors.

So I turned my attention back to my horses and actually began to generate a money-making business out of my passion for riding and training horses. It was my first time of being an entrepreneur. Soon, a young man could no longer keep his gelding, Sugarfoot — so I talked my Father into buying it for me. He made me agree to a condition—one of several he used to try and control me. He wanted to teach me the value of money, and more importantly, make sure I learned the value of hard work. He sensed the spiritual, sensitive nature in me, thought it unseemly for my future, and figured some tough discipline would help me grow out of it. It was common of fathers of his generation: he had a picture of how his daughter’s life would go, I was to fit into that box, and if I didn’t? He’d try to bring me around to his way of thinking. Well, I didn’t fit, and I had another path to walk out of his reach to understand – and mine, at the time.

His attitude stunned me at first, but I quickly moved into action. I wanted that horse, the freedom it provided and to reestablish that deeply spiritual connection I felt with horses.

A year later, at the age of 15, I began working in a local hospital as a nurse’s aide, earning 75 cents an hour. Not only did I need to pay for stall rent, but I needed to think about good clothes, an essential in high school— especially Westside High, also known as “Hollywood High” because of its upper middle–class student body. Showing up without a brilliant wardrobe was a sure ticket to the “out group.” Even though it hurt my feelings to be unpopular because of my clothes, I knew clothes did not make a person.

I chose Sugarfoot. He was only three when we bought him for $275—a steal. He quickly became the focus of my existence. Sugar was “green broke” when I got him, not knowing much. He was gentle, but I couldn’t ride him at first. I spent every waking moment I could with him. We became best friends. When I walked into the barn, he would nicker and toss his head with anticipation. We loved our time together.

As I entered medical school, then spent my time on the Sioux reservation – under the direct teachings of the Medicine Man and his wife, plus fulfilling requirements for my medicals – I learned more about the Native and Eastern traditions. All of the difficult lessons of my upbringing, which played out between my love of horses, my Dad and his expectations, and my realization I would have to work harder than anyone else to live the path I’d been chosen to lead, helped me so much in my practice at the UCLA Digestive Diseases Center.

Now, decades later, I’ve been able to bring all of these teachings, my work and my spiritual abilities together in every patient I see — and out to the world through my book, Soul Doctoring: Heal Yourself, Heal the Planet. It’s quite a circuitous journey for a girl born prematurely in Omaha to serve the planet like this from my Malibu base, but aren’t the best outcomes those that come from hard work, lessons learned, openness to new experiences, and our resolute connection to the source that feeds everything that lives?

It really comes to this: Everything begins with taking care of your body—and asking for help when we need assistance. For some, asking for help is easy: you know something I don’t, or have something I need, and you ask for it. However, for others, asking for help is the hardest thing in the world—especially when it comes to health. With these patients, I feel like I’m navigating an iron labyrinth. They are often afraid to reveal how much help they really need, for fear of revealing something “weak” or “dis-eased” within themselves. They keep their real wounds covered and hidden. Also, they might be embarrassed or not want to take responsibility for healing, which typically involves a lot of work.

How do we, as healers, doctors and health-care providers, turn around the patient? The key is to foster trust. It allows the patient to open up and reveal their weaknesses, which is a sign of strength. We need to show our patients we are there, so they know they are safe and can trust us with their secrets. Along with this comes the challenge of convincing the patient to let down her or his guard and ask for help when they need it—often, if necessary.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Randall Wellness Network?
Today, more than four decades after arriving in LA, and thousands of healed, happy patients later, I continue my Randall Wellness Network medical practice in Malibu, California, while hosting my popular podcast Soul Stories, in which I converse with guests from all walks of life and professions whose work is their life passion and soul’s purpose. All of my guests have inspired many in unique and meaningful ways. A profoundly moving and enthralling podcast experience, Soul Stories can be found on all podcast stations and is distributed by Buzzsprout. I am also continually sharing and teaching in person, zoom, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn, guest podcasts and zooms. My passion is to continue to share and soread knowledge to humanity about the crucial importance of regenerative and sustainable ways of life and health. Also how it is the interconnectedness of individuals, species and environment that will save the planet. From soil to biodiversity to spiritual awareness of soul purpose that is. our mission.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was a very athletic and spiritual child. Very connected to nature I was most happy with my animal friends and plants and all things natural. Climbing trees to watch my horse friends was one of my favorite activities. I grew up galloping in the fields with my horse friends until I could work out actually having and riding my own horses. I would take my time alone lying between the corn rows and waiting for what I found out later was the “corn maiden” to come and gift me with a magical visit. She was shimmering goddess with flaxen hair and regalia of plants would come and bless me and tell me all was well. Each time she came she shared some magic from the earth, like feathers or seeds. I felt so energized by her presence.

Pricing:

• Medical consultations are 500.00 for new patients.
• Medical consultations for follow ups are 250.00 dollars.
• Home visits are varied depending on distance.
• Healing ceremonies are 400.00 dollars.
• Telemedicine is priced the same as in person. Sometimes no charge.

Contact Info:

• Website: drgmrandall.com
• Instagram: drgayle randall
• Facebook: DrGayle Randall
• Linkedin: Gayle Randall M.D.
• Youtube: Gayle Randall, M.D.