Wellness Minutes

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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Thank you for listening,

much metta,

Dr G

https://www.pranhwellness.com/

We'd love to hear from you, send us a text!

Support the show

Thank you for listening, 

much metta, 

Dr G

https://www.pranhwellness.com/

Last episode of Season 1, stay tuned for Season 2 - launching in 2021! 

I'd love to hear from you! write to me at [email protected] 

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 

1. 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
   
2.  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!
   
3. 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!
   
4. 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!
   
5. 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!
   
6. And finally, Show yourself compassion - it is the best way to connect with your own humanity and that of others.
   

We'd love to hear from you, send us a text!

Support the show

Thank you for listening, 

much metta, 

Dr G

https://www.pranhwellness.com/

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 

We'd love to hear from you, send us a text!

Support the show

Thank you for listening, 

much metta, 

Dr G

https://www.pranhwellness.com/

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

We'd love to hear from you, send us a text!

Support the show

Thank you for listening, 

much metta, 

Dr G

https://www.pranhwellness.com/

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

We'd love to hear from you, send us a text!

Support the show

Thank you for listening, 

much metta, 

Dr G

https://www.pranhwellness.com/

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/

We'd love to hear from you, send us a text!

Support the show

Thank you for listening, 

much metta, 

Dr G

https://www.pranhwellness.com/

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. 

We'd love to hear from you, send us a text!

Support the show

Thank you for listening, 

much metta, 

Dr G

https://www.pranhwellness.com/

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

We'd love to hear from you, send us a text!

Support the show

Thank you for listening,

much metta,

Dr G

https://www.pranhwellness.com/

We'd love to hear from you, send us a text!

Support the show

Thank you for listening,

much metta,

Dr G

https://www.pranhwellness.com/