Dealing with Stress During COVID

May 28, 2020

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Dr. Gary Soffer discusses ways to cope with stress during the time of COVID-19

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00:02Hi everybody, I'm doctor software on
00:05the integrative medicine physician
00:06here at Smilow I've been asked to
00:08talk to you about a number of subjects
00:10in the field of Integrative Medison
00:12and how they might relate to Cove,
00:15it or quarantine an one of my favorite
00:17topics and I think one of the most
00:20important ones that we deal with this stress.
00:23So if you're anything like me,
00:25this process has been pretty stressful.
00:27You know, I'm working full time
00:29with their kids at home.
00:30My exposure to nature is.
00:32Limited and you're dealing with
00:34your own issues.
00:35I'm sure your exposure to nature
00:37is also been limited.
00:38Maybe you're dealing with illness or
00:40loss of income, or really loneliness.
00:43I mean, this process is been
00:45super lonely for many of us.
00:47You know, I like this.
00:49Think about stress in two
00:51ways is acute stress.
00:52Which are these big moments in our lives?
00:56Of pain of hurting English,
00:58but then there's chronic stress.
01:00These small moments throughout the day.
01:03Whether somebody cutting you off.
01:06And the way I like to think about it,
01:08I like to think about acute stress.
01:10Is these big rocks that we drop in these
01:12rocks are generally very identifiable,
01:14and sometimes they're a little
01:15bit easier to deal with.
01:17'cause we can focus on them.
01:18If you deal with them.
01:20But these chronic stressors throughout
01:21the day, or like little pebbles,
01:23you know when you grab a big
01:25Rock You feel the weight of it.
01:27You know you feel the burden of it.
01:30But as you grab these little
01:31pebbles throughout the day,
01:32you may not feel the weight
01:33of just a single one, but.
01:35They add up and we put them in our sock
01:37and they slowly slowly build in overtime.
01:40We feel the weight and we don't
01:42think about it in the same way.
01:45So it's really important that you
01:47learn and find ways to deal with these
01:50moments both as their happening,
01:52but also after their happening.
01:55You know,
01:56stress is so important because it
01:58impacts our health in so many ways,
02:01so it impacts our cardiovascular system
02:03needs. Things like hypertension.
02:04It impacts our immune system.
02:06It can really stress,
02:08can suppress our immune system.
02:10Um and it impacts are sleep.
02:13But really,
02:14over Ologist makes us feel lousy and
02:18exhausted and tired and burdened.
02:20So when patients come to see me,
02:22we talk a lot about coming up
02:25with a daily practice.
02:27So coming up with a habit or a pattern
02:29that you find is distressing is so
02:32important to kind of counteract
02:34these micro stressors that we
02:36feel throughout the day.
02:38So what is a daily practice?
02:40Well, first of all,
02:41it's daily right that makes sense,
02:43but more importantly,
02:45it's something that we do with regularity.
02:47We set aside the same time everyday
02:50to create moments for ourselves.
02:52We're not talking hours here really,
02:54just talking minutes just talking
02:56about giving ourselves just a
02:58small space of time.
02:59To reflect on our data reflect on ourselves,
03:02so for some people that's journaling for some
03:05people that might be a guided meditation.
03:08I can think about going out for a walk
03:11in nature, or doing yoga or Tai Chi.
03:15But giving ourselves these
03:17moments to decompress.
03:19It with regularity throughout,
03:21you know every day.
03:23So a lot of these things that I mentioned
03:25are actually available to you on our website,
03:28so I encourage you to go to our website
03:30and check them out and download the videos
03:33'cause they're free and there there.
03:35So. A lot of the things I just mentioned
03:39really deal with stress after they happen.
03:41How do we decompress?
03:42How do we sort of remove our struggles?
03:45But another important question is how
03:48do we deal with stress as it comes
03:51up when it's right in front of us?
03:53Do we get angry?
03:54Do we bottle up the feelings inside?
03:56Do we grab that little Pebble and we put
03:59in their back and let us weigh it down.
04:02And I think the tendency for most of us
04:05is just sort of kick the can down the
04:07road and think that will deal with it later.
04:10But we don't realize that we're
04:11actually dealing with it now and
04:13just unhealthy and unproductive way.
04:15So two techniques said I like to
04:18think of when I'm thinking about
04:20how to deal with stress as it comes
04:24up our mindfulness meditation,
04:27which is a specific type of
04:29meditation and biofeedback.
04:31So biofeedback is technology based.
04:34There are different programs online.
04:36Heart math is one example that you can
04:39go out and purchase some technology
04:42and what it allows you to do is
04:45learn how to control your Physiology.
04:48So whether that's your heart rate
04:50or the amount you sweat and it's
04:52worth looking into or some medical
04:55institutions offer it so it's
04:57worth asking your doctor about,
04:59but the other one that's free an I
05:02love dearly is mindfulness meditation.
05:05Now there's a lot that falls under the
05:07umbrella of mindfulness meditation,
05:08so I wanted to be very clear to
05:10you what I'm talking about.
05:12I'm simply talking about the act of
05:15sitting and focusing on our breath.
05:17Seems like a really simple idea,
05:20but it does take work and it does take
05:23commitment. So the idea is simple.
05:25It's just finding a chair or a
05:28comfortable seated position.
05:30Closing your eyes and just focusing
05:32on your breath.
05:33And some people like to bring that focus
05:36to the cold air coming into their nostrils,
05:39and the warm air exiting their nostrils.
05:41Some people like to focus on the
05:43expansion and contraction of their lungs,
05:45whatever it is,
05:47just simply focus on your breath.
05:49Anne, what inevitably happens
05:51after the first 15 seconds?
05:53Maybe even less.
05:54If you're anything like me,
05:56is our mind starts to wander, and that's OK.
05:59That's normal.
06:00You know,
06:00when people have experienced meditation,
06:02I think the biggest frustration
06:04they say is that I
06:06just can't focus,
06:07and it's expected that you can't focus.
06:11The idea is that you just bring
06:13your thoughts back to your breath.
06:16Try it out for a minute
06:18or two after this video.
06:19It's not as easy as it sounds,
06:22but just by giving yourself a minute or
06:24two and then slowly building overtime
06:26to 1015 minutes a day is a really,
06:29really nice way of training our mind.
06:32And that's what's so special about
06:34being human being is that we can
06:36train our mind that we can alter how
06:38we interact with our environment.
06:40We can alter how we interact
06:42with the people around us.
06:44Just threw some training and mindfulness.
06:46Meditation is a really nice
06:48way of doing that training.
06:50So we talked about.
06:53Dealing with it as it comes up,
06:55we talked about dealing with it afterwards,
06:58but we also have to think about the
07:00little things in our day-to-day life
07:02that are going to impact our stress.
07:04So environment.
07:05For one, you know.
07:07It's easy when you're quarantined
07:08to just let the Clutter Build
07:10and let's the stacks happen,
07:12but you know a messy room is
07:15going to lead to a messy mind.
07:18So try to keep your environment clean.
07:20Try to keep your environment in order.
07:24The Simple Act of making your bed
07:26every day can really have a profound
07:28effect on how you interact with the
07:30rest of your day little things.
07:32You know setting up some incense or
07:35mist vaporizer with some essential oils
07:37can have a really calming effect on us.
07:40The music in the sounds that we
07:42listen to you can have a really
07:44really nice impact on us as well,
07:47so putting yourself in an environment.
07:50That's going to temper some of the
07:53stresses that you feel throughout
07:55the day is really going to help.
07:57Another subject that I'm hopefully
07:59going to talk about in a future video,
08:02but one that I want to bring up
08:04right now is nutrition because I
08:06think during this time we're all
08:09relying on foods that we call comfort
08:12foods and what a misnomer that is,
08:14because yes,
08:15they might make us feel good immediately.
08:17Those carbohydrates in those fatty foods.
08:20But think about how you feel.
08:2215 minutes or half hour later,
08:24most of us feel miserable and
08:27exhausted and weighted down.
08:29So I want you to think about what
08:31you're putting in your mouth and the
08:32nutrition that you're giving your body,
08:34because that's really,
08:35really going to have an impact on
08:38how you feel throughout the day.
08:39So.
08:40The last and most important thing
08:43is just being kind to yourself and
08:47being kind to the people around you.
08:50Making a concerted effort to
08:52be gentle with yourself,
08:54be gentle with everybody who's going
08:57through the same frustrations as you are.
09:00Is so important and it's going to change
09:02how you feel about yourself and how
09:05you feel about the world around you.
09:07So thank you so much for taking the time to
09:10talk to me today and listen to me today.
09:13If you ever need anything or Department
09:16of Integrative Medicine is available
09:17to you and just please always feel
09:19free to reach out. OK, take care.