Designed by an Indian Clinical-Community Psychologist in the US, this podcast is designed by -and- for people who know stress, burnout and overwhelm but also long for sustainable ways to cope and be well. Short episodes, full of guided practices and short descriptions of why these wellness strategies work, this podcast is designed to get you thinking about ways to make wellness strategies a part of your everyday life. Each episode is an invitation to pause and take a deep breath.
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/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
Meetings can be such an important opportunity to practice our compassionate social skills. Take up space and share space! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
Recognize your humanity by recognizing your stress response at work --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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.) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
Reflecting on why this month of loving kindness and compassion was important and what's next on the Wellness Minutes! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
Reflecting on the hard work that goes into kindness and compassion --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
Continuing my reflections on depression and anxiety --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
Anger and spirituality can co-exist. Anger and compassion can co-exist. But could compassion help us also achieve what anger tries to? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
Curiosity about our feelings is one form of compassion . today I bring curiosity to health anxiety. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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"! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
An invitation to take time and space to digest your feelings when pandemic fatigue has already overfilled your plate of feelings! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
Allowing the 4 Elements to comfort us and hold us. Allow yourselves to be cared-for by the Universe in us and around us. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
A reflection on giving myself and hopefully "you" the permission to be imperfect. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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 about Breath 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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wellnessminutes/message
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