Mindarma

This short  practise accompanies week 2 of Mindarma's Self-Care September Webinar Series with Dr Sadhbh Joyce. 

This mindful self-compassion practise accompanies week 1 in the Self-Care September Webinar Series with Dr Sadhbh Joyce .

 Our next guest on the Mindarma podcast is Dr. Peter Baldwin, a clinical research fellow and clinical psychologist at The Black Dog Institute. Peter is an expert on burnout, a poorly understood condition that has received growing attention during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While burnout is not a diagnosable mental illness, it is having a major impact on workers in occupations as diverse as healthcare, emergency services, legal, journalism, childcare and teaching.

Indeed, Peter manages a Black Dog Institute service that is allowing Australian health professionals to remain anonymous when seeking help for burnout or mental illnesses such as depression and PTSD. The service -- called The Essential Network -- has been running for two years and has already been accessed by 10,000 health workers.

Interviewing Peter is Dean Yates, who we’re delighted to share has re-joined us as host of the Mindarma podcast.

 We hope you enjoy the episode. 

Our next guest on the Mindarma podcast is Leona Tan.  

Leona  is a Senior Research Officer in the Workplace Mental Health Research Program at the Black Dog Institute and a PhD Candidate at the University of New South Wales. She commenced her PhD in 2020 with the aim of investigating how behavioural interventions can prevent the development of trauma-related mental disorders in first responders.

She has authored notable publications on workplace mental health many of which have been published in top-tiered scientific journals. Her research has influenced organisational policies within local first responder organisations and has been referred to by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the development of specific guidance points for workplace mental health in high-risk groups. Her excellence in research has been recognised by numerous competitive awards including the 2021 John Raftery Early Career Award for Research in Traumatic Stress.

Prior to her career in workplace mental health research, she worked in organisational consulting where she provided workplace advisory services while living in Malaysia as well as in the U.S. 

Leona is also an experienced yoga teach and has delivered mind-body training to communities, workplaces, and first responders in the U.S. as well as in Australia.  She is currently completing her PhD  on how mind and body interventions like the practise of yoga can prevent the development of trauma-related mental disorders in first responders.  

The tradition and practice of yoga has a rich and vibrant history which originated in ancient India over 6000 years ago - although truth be told it may well be older than this.

  The practise of yoga is deeply connected to ancient Vedic philosophy and the spiritual traditions of hinduism, buddhism and Jainism. In the 1950s, 60s and 70s, teachers from India brought yoga and meditation practises to the west and it’s popularity as a holistic approach to nourishing and supporting overall wellbeing has grown steadily ever since. 

 For Leona and I, Yoga is certainly one of our shared passions and we have both witnessed the tremendous positive impact this practise has had on our own wellbeing as we as well as those we have been fortunate enough to shared this practise with over the years.  

While there are many aspects of yoga from pranayama (focused breathing) to Bhakti (devotional practise), in this podcast Leona shares specific research insights on the psychological benefits of yoga asanas (postures performed during a yoga practise) and  the practise of meditation. 

We hope you enjoy this interview with brilliant  and insightful Leona Tan. 

Dr Scott Teasdale is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Postdoctoral Research Fellow with UNSW Sydney, within the Mindgardens Neuroscience Network in Australia.

As a clinical dietitian and researcher, he helped build a dietetic service (as part of a broader lifestyle program) from pilot to routine clinical care across a mental health service in Sydney.

Dr Teasdale currently focuses on a broad range of real world effectiveness and implementation research that aim to reduce the health disparities experienced by people living with mental illness.  In this interview Scott shares his research insights on the relationship between nutrition and mental health.  We hope you enjoy the podcast.

Resources and research mentioned in this podcast:

International Society of Nutritional Psychiatry

Food and Mood Centre Australia

Mörkl  et al.,  (2021): An Apple a Day’?: Psychiatrists, Psychologists and Psychotherapists Report Poor Literacy for Nutritional Medicine: International Survey Spanning 52 Countries.

Watkins et al., (2020): Keeping the body in mind: A qualitative analysis of the experiences of people experiencing first-episode psychosis participating in a lifestyle intervention programme.

Rosenbaum et al., (2020):  Changing health workforce attitudes to promote improved physical health in mental health service users: Keeping our Staff in Mind (KoSiM).

Teasdale et al., (2017): Solving a weighty problem: Systematic review and meta-analysis of nutrition interventions in severe mental illness.

Teasdale et al., (2016): A nutrition intervention is effective in improving dietary components linked to cardiometabolic risk in youth with first-episode psychosis.

 Tony Walker ASM  is the Chief Executive Officer at Ambulance Victoria. Tony is a Registered Paramedic with over thirty-five years’ experience working in a range of senior clinical, operational and leadership roles within the ambulance sector. Over the past six years he has led significant transformation at Ambulance Victoria to improve the health and wellbeing of their workforce and the response they provide to the community.  

Tony also holds an adjunct appointment as Associate Professor in the College of Health and Biomedicine at Victoria University and is a Fellow of the Australian College of Paramedicine. Tony is also a Non-Executive Director of the Emergency Services Foundation, the Australasian Council of Ambulance Authorities and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.  

Tony is a recipient of the Ambulance Service Medal (ASM) for his contribution to the development of ambulance services at a state and national level .  He has also been awarded the Australian Resuscitation Council Medal for his significant contributions to improving resuscitation practice and outcomes. He was recently a finalist for the Australian Mental Health Prize in 2019 in recognition of his work in improving paramedic mental health and wellbeing. 

 When it comes to workplace mental health, Tony Walker is one leader who is wholeheartedly walking the talk. It was a pleasure to speak with Tony about his career as a paramedic and why protecting the mental health of his workforce is at the top of his agenda as a leader. We hope you enjoy this candid interview with the authentic and inspiring Associate Professor Tony Walker. 

A short mindfulness practise that supports you in feeling grounded, calm and aware.  

Our next guest on the Mindarma Podcast is  Scientia Associate Professor Simon Rosenbaum. Simon works at the School of Psychiatry at the UNSW in Sydney, and is an honorary fellow at the Black Dog Institute. Simon’s research focuses on physical activity, mental illness, sport for development and global mental health. Simon has worked with a variety of groups including youth, veterans, emergency service workers and refugees. Simon has published over 180 peer-reviewed publications including a textbook titled Exercise-Based Interventions for Mental Illness. He is most certainly one of the world’s leading experts in the field of physical activity and mental health. 

Simon serves as an elected national director of Exercise and Sports Science Australia, he is the President Elect of the Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and he co-chairs the Olympic Refuge Foundation’s think tank on sport and humanitarian settings. 

He has led international research and capacity building projects, including working in the Rohingya refugee crises in Bangladesh. Simon is an incredibly passionate and genuine person and I am truly delighted that he took some time to share his research insights and wisdom with us. We hope you enjoy the podcast.

A short mindfulness practise to support you in reconnecting with a sense of inner clarity  and peace. 

As a track cyclist Anna Meares had a remarkable career. Anna holds the equal record for world championship wins, with 11 titles to her name. She is also the first Australian to win medals in different events over four Olympics, including gold in both Athens and London. For Anna another major career highlight came in 2016, when she was awarded the honour of being the flag bearer for the Australian team at the Rio Olympics. 

While the public has witnessed the many highlights of Anna’s career, in her autobiography ‘Now’ Anna shines a light on the challenges she experienced along the way. In 2007, Anna suffered a broken neck in a race fall, yet worked her way back to win a silver medal just seven months later at the Beijing Olympics. As she approached her final Olympics Anna would have to contend with serious injury, a marriage breakdown and the illness of her coach Gary West, who was later diagnosed with motor neurone disease. 

While Anna’s retirement in 2016 freed her from the relentless responsibilities of being a professional athlete, it also created many new challenges. In recent years Anna has forged new pathways towards a life of purpose, balance and joy.  We hope you enjoy this wonderful conversation with the humble and indomitable Anna Meares.

Read more about Anna's powerful story in her recently published autobiography "Now: sometimes the end of the race is only just the beginning".