Neelam Pathikonda is a family medicine physician trained in lifestyle medicine and integrative medicine. She has a history of working in groups and has a masters in public health in community health education. She started off as a community organizer in the Bay Area where she worked with many non-profit organizations committed to social change in immigrant communities of color. She decided to answer a deep call for spiritual growth through meditation, Buddhist philosophy and Native American spirituality. She studied Ayurvedic medicine at the Kerala Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine. Through this, she began to move towards health and wellness. She went to medical school and moved to Southern California and completed her residency at Harbor-UCLA in family medicine. Neelam has always worked in Black and Brown communities, fighting for social justice through providing dignified healthcare. Again, seeing something missing, she became a diplomat in Lifestyle Medicine and then completed a two year fellowship in Integrative Medicine through the University of Arizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine where she was able to put her interest in “Eastern” philosophies and “Western” medicine together in a holistic health model. She is a founder of a BIPOC sangha in Los Angeles leading meditation circles in various spaces and has been trained in somatic leadership through Generative Somatics. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her wife, two children and her pet bearded dragon, Koral.