Why the name Pando?

Pando is a Latin word that means “I spread; I grow”

Pando, also known as The Trembling Giant, is a grove of quaking aspens located in Utah, USA. Pando has been deemed the largest and dense organism ever found (spanning 107 acres at nearly 13 million pounds).

The magic of Pando, what really amazed me is that a simple look, Pando looks like a big colony of different trees, when in reality is the single biggest organism on Earth. This means that all the trees are genetically identical and share the same root system. The organism expands laterally from the same parent root.

How old Pando is? (The grove, not the practice). It has been estimated that it’s over one million years old; which makes it also the oldest biggest live organism on the planet.

Why called the Trembling Giant? The quaking aspen receives that name for its leaves because even a gentle breeze can produce a beautiful fluttering sound. When multiplied by more tens of thousands of trees in Pando, the special sound can really touch us and give us a “real sense of life to the ancient, dying, trembling giant”

Unfortunately, according to specialist Paul Rogers (Utah State University), the grove is in danger: the regenerative roots of the organism that are responsible for Pando’s resilience are under attack given the status of the environment.

Pando Counselling and Psychotherapy was named this way as a beautiful metaphor of humanity: we seem to be all different (and we are in many ways); however, our roots, what makes us humans, our most vulnerable humanity is shared. We are all people who need to be loved, valued, and needs to connect to others to survive and thrive. We all have the same emotional needs, and we all strive for meeting those needs. We are all doing our best to live meaningful and fulfilling lives and relationships. I believe that, as the Pando grove, when we connect to our shared humanity, supporting one another in our resiliency, we can make it possible.

Source: Altas Obscura: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pando-the-trembling-giant