Wellness Minutes: Recent Episodes
Dr. Gee
In a world full of demands and stressors, especially while living in limbo, what good can possibly come from rest? Come find out. Accept this invitation to take a deep breath, ground yourself into the present moment and learn different coping skills to not only survive, but thrive despite stress. Designed by a Psychologist in the green card backlog in the US, this podcast is designed by -and- for people who know a thing or two about limbos!
After some reflection, I decided to close this season. Will return with season 5 when my needs and those of others come into alignment again!
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Bringing mindfulness to the ecosystem at your workplace and how it makes you question your worth and your abilities.
Read more here in this beautiful blog piece: https://sagewellnessctr.org/2021/06/imposter-syndrome-what-it-is-what-you-can-do-about-it/
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Meetings can be such an important opportunity to practice our compassionate social skills. Take up space and share space!
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Reconsider that "working lunch"! Take a mindful break of at least a few minutes to eat your lunch or snack, drink that glass of water or slowly walk to the rest room. What better way to practice mindfulness/ embodied awareness than by listening to the body's natural signals?
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Recognize your humanity by recognizing your stress response at work
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What is mindfulness and what does it have to do with Karmayoga? Heck, what's Karmayoga? An episode reflecting on the fine art of good effort without getting hung-up on outcome. I draw upon the work of Swami Tyagananda, the author of "Walking the walk: The Path of a Karmayogi
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Day 2 of 21 days of Mindfulness at Work. Felt quite scatter-brained today and had to push myself to come to the present moment using my breath and nudging myself to focus on one thing at a time. (FYI- also check out an older episode of mine called Wandering mind is an unhappy mind, it's a good companion to this episode.)
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The phrase "Work-Life balance" implies a separation between work and life. But isn't work a part of our life? Also, how we do one part of our life impacts how we "do" other parts of our life. So bringing mindfulness to our work is one way to pursue wellness in general. Join me for Season 4, 21 days of reflecting on mindfulness at work.
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Reflecting on why this month of loving kindness and compassion was important and what's next on the Wellness Minutes!
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To contrast with my busy, "can do - will do - yes absolutely" attitude, I decided to dedicate one day of the week to slowing down and giving myself permission to do nothing. It has been interesting! Hear a little bit about it!
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Reflecting on the hard work that goes into kindness and compassion
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Remembering a line by Chief Seattle, I reflect on the importance of taking care of ourselves. I also reflect on the wisdom of Adrienne Maree Brown ("Pleasure Activism") who reminds us how the world can only gain from our happiness.
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When you take care of yourself- your health and wellness can have a positive impact on others. If you don't refill your own cup but keep offering your cup to others- everyone loses from your ultimately empty cup.
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Continuing my reflections on depression and anxiety
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The most common experiences of profound psychological distress - Depression and Anxiety - are not personal failures, they are the mind and body's response to unrelenting stress. This episode names these two experiences and invites you to reflect on them with compassion.
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Reflecting on how to help yourself decide whether to seek professional help, how to recognize you have gone from stress to STRESSED OUT and how a therapist could help.
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Sunday Blues - like any other feeling - are feedback to us. In this episode, we reflect on Sunday blues and what we can learn about our feelings from the poem Guest House by Jalaluddin Rumi
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Sometimes disconnecting from the phone seems like the best way to reconnect with reality. The concrete reality, not just the manifestation of reality (aka deluge of information) our internet-connected devices throw at us.
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Anger and spirituality can co-exist. Anger and compassion can co-exist. But could compassion help us also achieve what anger tries to?
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This is what happens when I have a super busy day and then end up in a Spiritual study group meeting and then wonder - do other people think about this too?
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Immigration, regardless of the motivation behind immigration, comes with such a string of losses. This episode is a reflection on what that grief can look like
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Recognizing the invisible work we do in our professions and in our homes and communities.
Read the poem I referenced: https://pollycastor.com/2019/05/11/invisible-work-poem-by-alison-luterman/
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The inner critic forgets we are doing our best and the best way to improve ourselves is through reinforcement in the form of kindness and compassion. In this episode I reference the work of Carl Rogers, one of the founders of the Humanistic movement in Psychology and discuss a few ways I have changed my self talk to defuse the inner critic.
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Curiosity about our feelings is one form of compassion . today I bring curiosity to health anxiety.
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Plants can teach us so much and give us so much. Hope you get a chance to reflect on how to plant these seeds of hope in your life. Here is a video from one of my favorite plant parents on YouTube, Garden Up: https://youtu.be/G-w2gpbyGaM
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The difficult and sometimes highly unbearable feeling called Fear remains my achilles heel. It incapacitates me and makes it very hard for me to focus, don't know about you! In today's episode I speak a bit about fear and what I have learned from my teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk from Vietnam who sought asylum in France after being exiled from Vietnam. His teachings about sitting with our fear (accessed through the Plum Village Youtube channel) correlate well with what the neuroscience has to say about the power of breath and focussing on the present moment as being an important antidote to the overwhelming experience of fear.
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Human civilization has "evolved" to prioritize the brain over the body, much to the detriment of our own holistic health as well as the health of our planet. Today's episode is a reflection on how compassion towards our body is a helpful and concrete tool to practice self compassion.
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How do you talk about this big topic in just 5 minutes? Come listen and find out.
And for further information, check out this book (available on Kindle) called Anxiety: Overcome it and live without fear by friend and colleague in India, Psychologist Sonali Gupta.
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Practice the skill of mindfulness by reminding you to pause and bring yourself into the present moment. Tune into today's episode to learn one way to bring your mind and body to the same moment.
Essentially, learn how to pause the auto-pilot and nourish the "human pilot"!
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Our Rage, frustration, anger, irritation rise frequently during periods of crisis and these feelings (and us, when we feel them) deserve as much attention and compassion as any other time. As an activist, I have firsthand experience with the profound benefits of both loving-kindness-compassion as well as rage-anger-frustration. In this episode, I invite us to notice how all feelings are feedback and our meditation practice can help us develop an attitude of observing those feelings so we can choose actions based on our wisdom instead of unprocessed anger/ shallow joy.
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Focusing on positive and helpful emotions such as loving-kindness and compassion can seem like a denial of stressful realities. Today's episode is a bit about why those emotions aren't about denial but about responding to crisis in a way that are helpful rather than stressful.
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Much gratitude to Kaira Jewel Lingo, a meditation teacher I have heard many times including this morning at the Wisdom and Emotions Summit (Keynote address by His Holiness Dalai Lama!!). Her list is based on scientific evidence and is fairly easy to practice on a daily basis: Hope this episode gives you something to think about and also practice!
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Can you imagine being truthful in response to the question, "am I doing enough?". Self-compassion helps you acknowledge all your demands and your human limitations alongside helping you recognize that every tiny kind and compassionate gesture makes a difference. Extend compassion to yourself and others to help yourself keep walking.
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An invitation to take time and space to digest your feelings when pandemic fatigue has already overfilled your plate of feelings!
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When the going gets tough, don't pressurized yourself to feel better. Hold yourself and help yourself put one foot in front of the other.
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Allowing the 4 Elements to comfort us and hold us. Allow yourselves to be cared-for by the Universe in us and around us.
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Stress and suffering make our mind and body constrict and tighten, here is an invitation to help them get space to un-clench and un-tighten
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invitation to join me for 30 days of breathing together, pausing together so we can show up as the Compassionate Presence our families and communities and the world needs right now
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A reflection on giving myself and hopefully "you" the permission to be imperfect.
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Amishi Jha , a Psychologist at the University of Miami talks about Breath Awareness practice as a “foundational workout for the brain’s attention system”. This guided practice is inspired by her words as well as the words of countless other mindfulness practitioners I have followed over the years!
See Dr. Jha's Ted Talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQzvNIIMayo
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This episode discusses meta-awareness, knowing where our mind is AND what our mind is doing. Richard Davidson, a Professor of Psychology at University of Wisconsin-Madison, spoke about ‘meta-awareness’ as one of four pillars of wellbeing. Also, this paper by Drs Killingsworth and Gilbert shares some fascinating insights about why "a wandering mind is an unhappy mind". (http://www.uvm.edu/pdodds/files/papers/others/2010/killingsworth2010a.pdf)
Amishi Jha, a Psychologist at the University of Miami, talks aboutBreath Awareness practice as a “foundational workout for the brain’s attention system” and this episodes invites you to think about ways to incorporate breath awareness to improve your overall skill of meta awareness. Stay tuned for the companion episode - a guided practice to facilitate breath awareness.
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Do you know a part of nature that we frequently forget to acknowledge? Ourselves!
Our body is such an astounding mix of cells - chemicals - electrical activity through our nervous system. We often forget we ARE nature -- nature isn’t just out there, it is in here. And today’s body scan meditation is an invitation to sit with the experience of being one with nature
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I have noticed I often live my life and do things with a tremendous sense of urgency. I don’t always stop to ask myself if something can wait a few minutes. I treat most things as “now - now- now” . I don’t know about you - but I officially realised this sense of hurry and urgency around everything is NOT sustainable. It is extremely stressful and my brain has gone into the habit of trying to do a lot of things at once. So the part of my brain that is responsible for rest and digest needs much more help. So today’s episode is about things you can do to help your brain rest by taking a pause throughout the day.
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This is a guided meditation inspired by the work of Tara Brach, read more here : https://www.tarabrach.com/meditation-the-rain-of-self-compassion/
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Self-compassion involves treating yourself the way you would treat a friend who is having a hard time. According to prominent self-compassion researchers, psychologists Kristin Neff and Chris Germer, self-compassion involves three core elements that we bring to bear when we are in pain: kindness towards ourselves, recognizing our common humanity that everyone makes mistakes and feels pain, and mindfulness, that is observing the present moment, our current thoughts, feelings and experiences without judging ourselves for having them. The more compassion we express towards ourselves, the easier it becomes to be compassionate towards others.
Stress triggers a fight-flight-freeze response. So you can feel elevated heart rate, butterflies in our stomach and muscle tightness. Have you noticed how during moments of stress- an internal critical voice can turn on fairly quickly too, like an internal fight reaction ? And since our internal voice is always around, if this voice is critical it maintains our stress reaction and possibly even makes it worse. So developing a self-compassionate, friendly voice can actually interrupt the stressful critical voice. A self compassionate practice can help activate and maintain a calming response that softens the impact of stress.
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A companion to episode 23 and 24, this episode guides you to spend time with yourself through silence and reminders to notice the thoughts and sensations that naturally arise within yourself. Using words and a bell, it gently invites you to remain in the present moment without judgement and reaction.
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In episode 23, I spoke about the lizard brain, mouse brain and the monkey brain. This episode (episode 24) is about Understanding how different parts of our brain can work in harmony is something that you can figure out once you become curious about your stress responses and you start learning to observe your stress instead of automatically acting on your lizard brain’s impulse that tells you to fight - flight or freeze. Instead, you have the option to observe and not react to that impulse. Instead you can choose an action that works better for you. One way to get better at observing without reacting? Mindfulness-based meditation. So today’s episode is about wellness through meditation.
Also check out this episode's companion episode (Guided Practice: Mindfulness-based meditation)
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Understand the why of Wellness by understanding the How of Stress.
Long story short - this episode is to help you understand the 3 parts of our brain that work together to help us function. Wellness practices can help these three parts function in balanced ways -- check out this episode to understand how!
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As the host of Wellness Minutes, as a Community-Clinical Psychologist and as an activist, I have an eye on your wellness as an individual and also as part of this huge civilization called the human civilization. So at the start of this new year, as we take this brief pause between Season 1 and Season 2, I wanted to send out my warmest wishes to each and everyone of you on this first day of the New Year. Treat this episode like a New Year meditation on compassion and a gentle invitation to join me in riding the waves of this ocean called life. So here goes, I’ll speak slowly and I invite you to breathe and let these sincere wishes sink in. On this day and every day, this is the wish I have for you,
During times of change, may you find an anchor within
In times of confusion, may you find clarity,
Amidst chaos, may you find the space to breathe
In moments of meaninglessness, may you keep your hands busy,
May your rage give you a sense of purpose,
In the face of fear, may you find courage,
In times of inertia, may you find movement,
In moments of restlessness, may you find peace,
May your exhaustion signal the permission to rest,
During periods of uncertainty, may you find beauty in the present moment.
During moments of sorrow, may the world meet you with tenderness,
May you be well, may you be joyful, may you be free.
Thanks for listening.
I'd love to hear from you, write to me at healingwaters786@gmail.com
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Last episode of Season 1, stay tuned for Season 2 - launching in 2021!
I'd love to hear from you! write to me at healingwaters786@gmail.com
Stuff I mention in this episode:
a. This Inspiring quote by Viktor Frankl (author of Man's Search for Meaning) whose work has contributed to my wellness manifesto : "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
b. Top takeaways from season 1 where I revisit from ideas I have shared in previous episodes
- Our nervous system is divided into two parts - the sympathetic nervous system that makes us run and the parasympathetic nervous system that makes us rest. We overuse the run-run-run system and we have to find ways to strengthen our rest-rest-rest system so we have a balance of stress and recovery. Check out episode 1 : Breathe for more on that
- Strengthen your parasympathetic “rest and digest” system by integrating activities that promote psychological - physical, social and spiritual self care. Do check out my episode about self care bingo!
- Refreshing Sleep, regular meals and physical activity are the three pillars of health and also strengthen the parasympathetic nervous system - please integrate them in your life. I did an episode about sleep and another one about physical activity if you want to check it out!
- Mindfulness practices are very well-researched for their positive impact on health plus they are backed by the ancient wisdom of many cultures. So whatever floats your boat - research backed strategies or spirituality or the words of mental health professionals -- mindfulness practices check all those boxes. Do listen to my episodes about mindfulness!
- Make room for your feelings - acknowledge your feelings and the impact they have on you. If you can’t name it - you cannot understand it and if you cannot understand it, it will continue to secretly influence you whether you like it or not. To know your feelings - start with noticing the sensations in your body when you are in different situations. Our body reacts faster than our mind and not only is the body incapable of lying, the body keeps the score of how much stress we are experiencing. I did episodes about feelings and also body scan meditation- check those out!
- And finally, Show yourself compassion - it is the best way to connect with your own humanity and that of others.
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While attending to the outside world - whether it is taking care of the needs of your family, your friends, your boss or your patients and clients, you are consistently activating your sympathetic nervous system - which is like the accelerator in your car. Inserting pockets of slow driving, cruise control or coming to a complete stop is a way to prevent your car from overheating.
To contrast against this constant sympathetic nervous system activity, we need to consciously activate our parasympathetic nervous system throughout the day by inserting tiny pockets of self care activities. Artist and therapist Alyse Ruriani created this wonderful tool called Self Care Bingo: https://alyseruriani.com/collections/all/products/self-care-bingo-download (also available on her instagram page).
Self care can be the anchor you hold onto in order to stop yourself from getting swept away by the crises life throws at you.
Other resources mentioned in episode:
The Checklist Manifesto, by Dr. Atul Gawande
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As human beings, our mind is full of thoughts and we don’t always realize that we spend a lot of time with thoughts that are mere stories - they are not true. I recall the serenity prayer from Stoic Philosophy, which goes like this
“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference”. That wisdom is something that has felt worth striving for. We worry about things we cannot control and we are passive when faced with things we could control. By practising mindfulness you can better at distinguishing between what is within the zone of influence / control and what is not.
If you look at the ocean you notice that the surface of the ocean has a lot of activity - waves, foam, ripples due to the wind. The deeper below the surface you go, the calmer it becomes. Similarly inside each one of us is a stillness that is unperturbed by passing events and is full of wisdom. Mindful presence, to me, has been about connecting with that stillness.
To practice mindful presence, try this guided meditation by Tara Brach, Phd :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZPgWSyYOlY
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I remember the time I would travel in crowded trains in Mumbai - years ago, when I still lived there. I recall how careful i had to be to hold onto something so I didn’t lose my balance while the train was moving. I learned the fine art of engaging my core muscles so i could be still even on a moving train, I had to find a way to sway with the movement of the train but not lose my balance. The last few weeks, months, years have occasionally felt overwhelming like those crowded, fast trains. This has made me curious about practices that can help us hold-on to our sense of calm and peace despite what life throws at us. It isn’t about learning to ignore things - it is about learning to ride the wave. So this episode is about the concept of “equanimity” - the word for mental calmness and evenness of emotion, especially in a difficult situation.
Resources:
Jack Kornfield - 20-minute, Equanimity meditation https://youtu.be/fIa81_406gA
Tara Brach - talks about Equanimity and introduces you to something called Duck Meditation https://youtu.be/5R7-RUUSDhQ
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I occasionally use the term “mindfulness” and today I thought I would do an episode about what I mean when I talk about mindfulness. Mindfulness has its origins in different spiritual traditions. In Hindi we use the word “dhyaan” and there are other words for mindfulness in different languages. Mindfulness practices in the health research field have been influenced by a variety of Buddhist traditions but they have defined mindfulness in ways that are stripped of their spiritual connotations.
For my work as a therapist and for purposes of this podcast, I define mindfulnessness using as bringing attention to the reality of the present moment, without judgement. Dr. Jon Kabat Zinn (Founder of Mindfulness-based stress reduction) defines mindfulness as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally”
More resources:
MBSR: https://palousemindfulness.com/
https://www.tarabrach.com/
https://jackkornfield.com/
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our senses can play such an important role in not only recalling memories but also getting our mind to focus regardless of what is going on. So today’s episode is about using our sense of smell to coach our mind to focus plus get the natural benefits of aromatic herbs.
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As we approach winter in the US, the plant and animal kingdom prepares to hibernate. I feel aware of the limited opportunities for humans to hibernate. Our minds and bodies remain active regardless of season. When the periods of heavy workload are more intense than the periods of rest, we end up experiencing burnout.: a state of mental and physical exhaustion from being switched on - all the time. In the triangle of thoughts - feelings and behaviors, your behavior might seem the same to an outsider but your thoughts and feelings might reflect the burnout. So this is an episode discussing burnout - hope you find it helpful!
Additional Resources:
Podcast by Dr Brene Brown - Unlocking Us.
https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-emily-and-amelia-nagoski-on-burnout-and-how-to-complete-the-stress-cycle/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/burnout
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I had never heard of the november holiday called “Thanksgiving” before I moved to the States - the first 2-3 years that I witnessed Thanksgiving in the US, I simply treated it like any other American holiday where all my American friends spent time with their family and I simply took time off work to catch up with either more work or go shopping since my family is overseas. Over the years, I have developed my own rituals around this day. Quite typical of adapting to US culture, I have picked up something new and combined it with what I knew. So today’s episode I will use the November holidays as an opportunity to discuss the concept of acculturation-the process of sharing and learning the cultural traits or social patterns of another group
More about acculturation at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acculturation
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Every living species has a super power - plants that absorb moisture even in the desert, animals that outrun other animals and humans have the capacity to think and problem-solve, we can think to the point of exhaustion. I recall a vacation where I spent the entire time thinking and planning my work schedule in my head! I wish I had practiced what I am discussing today: ways to get some distance from our thoughts and stop drowning in them. Spoiler alert: We may not be able to stop our mind from generating thoughts, but we can change how we respond to those thoughts. Tune-in to hear how! Additional Resources: https://www.tarabrach.com/ https://jackkornfield.com/ Mindfulness Daily - a free program for a limited time! https://www.soundstrue.com/products/mindfulness-daily#5db32b65e502d
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I have realized there is a direct correlation between my stress and the number of chips/cake/cookies I eat in one go. In case you were wondering, I can eat 5 chips at once - like a sandwich - when I discuss USCIS. I think I feed that part of me that feels helpless and sad. But I realize I feel better only if I do both things - name my feelings and comfort myself. So today I thought I’d do this episode on comfort eating and mindfulness. I know I’m not the only comfort-eater out there!
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"How does that make you feel?" is probably the most cliched question associated with therapists. I feel a little self-conscious whenever I ask people how they feel - so in today’s episode I’ll talk about why this is an important question that each one of us can ask ourselves.
Movie recommendation: Inside Out! Website recommendation: https://do2learn.com/organizationtools/EmotionsColorWheel/colorwheel/EmotionsWheel13.html and And if you are in the mood to geek out, read the work of Dr. Paul Ekman and his team!
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When we run out of conversation with ourselves and others, is there a way to reconnect, especially with family members - here or overseas? What if there could be a talking ritual that could have health benefits and also keep us engaged with each other - especially when each day appears similar to the next one? I have an idea and I hope you will stick around to listen!
Resources: "Help Thanks Wow", by Anne Lamott See: https://www.amazon.com/Help-Thanks-Wow-Essential-Prayers/dp/1594631298/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2KLI4UKNH1ZG9&dchild=1&keywords=help+thanks+wow+anne+lamott&qid=1605733698&sprefix=help+thanks+wo%2Caps%2C281&sr=8-2 "Awe Expands People’s Perception of Time and Enhances Well-Being", by Melanie Rudd, Kathleen D. Vohs, & Jennifer Aaker See: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/awe-expands-peoples-perception-time-enhances-well-being
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We’ve been juggling a lot lately- as parents- spouses- children of aging parents- friends- professionals and homemakers. Especially right now, during this pandemic. When we are overwhelmed, we can get very critical towards ourselves for not doing more, not doing enough. Today's episode is an invitation to replace your self critical language with compassionate language that you’d use for a friend. Research shows a positive direct relationship between self-compassion and personal growth, we find it easier to acknowledge and learn from our challenges when we are self-compassionate. So join me - on this self-compassion break. The script for this episode is based on the self compassion break developed by Dr. Kristen Neff, her website: self-compassion.org is a treasure trove of resources to help you practice self compassion. Hope you will check it out!
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In our everyday lives we get more reminders to do more and not enough reminders to rest. How do we get the rest our body craves, whether we realise it or not? This is an episode to get you thinking more about getting more rest - everyday! For tips on sleep hygiene, check out: https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-After-Yourself/Sleep Hope you get the rest you need.
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Though we may know the importance of exercise, there are many things that come in the way. This episode gets you to think creatively about getting more exercise everyday! Additional reading: Dr Kelly McGonigal's book , "The Joy of Movement: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connection, and Courage"
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Have you noticed how often we are reminded to plan for our future either by saving money, or getting our immigration paperwork in order or planning our next holiday? What if we brought the same amount of energy into our health? In this episode, I encourage you to think about your self-care like money you put into your savings account, only in this case - your savings account is your long-term wellness!
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If you count the number of thoughts that go through your mind everyday, I wonder if you will be able to notice how many of those thoughts are either worries or attempts to solve a problem, imagining “what if” scenarios. Is it really possible to stop worrying given the amount of stress we experience in our lives? Let’s talk about some alternatives! Train the brain to scan for pleasure and create memories out of it!
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We are typically involved in "doing" in response to events around us, not realizing what feelings and thoughts bridge the relationship between events and our reactions. Since feelings can serve as a sensitive thermometer that measures how events around us affect us, naming our feelings can be one way for us to understand ourselves better. One step on the pathway to wellness is connected to understanding our feelings.
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So much to do and so little time! When confronted by a never-ending list of tasks and a sense of looming deadlines, the Pomodoro technique has been a boon! Doing 4 sets of Pomodoro i.e. setting a timer to facilitate 25 minutes of work followed by 5 mins of rest helped break overwhelming tasks into a series of sub-tasks. Plus, in the spirit of meditation, the 25-minute timer can help you nudge your brain to focus on the task at hand and not wander into thinking about other tasks. Notice how something as simple as a 25-minute timer can help you alter your relationship with this fleeting and precious entity called time. Read more here: https://francescocirillo.com/pages/pomodoro-technique
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The best time to manage a forest fire is to manage the first spark. Many of us have experienced how stress levels seem to go from zero to 100 in just a few minutes! And then no amount of breathing seems to get you to "feel relaxed". Helping yourself by noticing your stress levels at a lower level makes it easier to help manage the stress before it goes out of hand. Our bodies and behaviors are the most concrete ways for stress to show up The body scan method is to help you learn to observe your body so you can tune into signs of stress when they first show up. And help you address the stress early. Body scan is another form of grounding - instead of your senses, you are paying attention to your body. Of course, as always, breathe deeply while scanning. Knowledge plus practice for best results!
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Tuning in to your senses in order to focus on the present moment and thus strengthen your parasympathetic nervous system.
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Dr. Gitika Talwar, Phd shares the science behind the importance of taking a deep breath and why it's good to do that as often as we can.
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