Holistic Bonfire

Suruchi Saini, MA, LPC, CCTP, TMHP, CYT

Mental Health

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~Using Sense of Sound to De-Stress~

Suruchi Saini, MA, LPC, NCC, CCTP

Continuing from last week, sharing a little about our five senses and how to use them as tools in our daily life. Today I am writing about the sense of Sound.

As part of human evolution, our ancestors have relied on the sense of sound to protect themselves from the multitude of dangers. Today, we can use the sense of sound to protect ourselves from the epidemic of 21st century – Stress.

Music helps but not always:

Most of us enjoy music but not all of us are aware how music affect us. We may think that our favorite music always helps us, but not necessarily. It might stimulate us when we need to calm down, or it might slow us down when we need to be active.

A quick trick for you:

While listening to a song, pay attention to the lyrics and the feelings they bring. Then move your attention to the instruments being played in the background. Once you begin to hear the instruments distinctly, follow any one of the instruments for next few minutes. This simple trick will reduce your immediate stress, relax your mind, and help you focus on the matter at hand. It’ll be like a quick meditation. Sounds fair?

Brain imaging shows that music stimulates parts of the brain (2011 Drexel University study) and helps in reducing anxiety and stress!

Few more ways of using sense of Sound to de-stress, take time out to:

  • Listen to the birds in the morning or evening hours
  • Listen to music with various sounds of water (rain, waves, waterfalls, fountains etc.)
  • Listen wind-chimes playing in soft breeze
  • Play an instrument

Music has been an important part of our history, and is equally important in our present. However it is very important to understand how we are feeling and the kind of music that will help at any particular moment.

Some of my personal favorites for different purposes:

  • Om meditation – for deep connection
  • Before I go by Yanni – for relaxation
  • Tibetan bowls – for self-reflection
  • Requiem by Mozart – for creativity
  • Santoor by Shiv K. Sharma – for pleasure
  • Gayatri Mantra chants – for empowerment

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain”- Bob Marley

Next week I’ll share about our sense of smell (Olfactory) to de-stress.

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~ When stressed, use your five senses ~

MSG_Flowers

Today and in next few blogs, I am going to share about how to use our five senses to get some immediate relief from stress.

Stress has become so common these days that we don’t even think twice before using this word in all situations, so much that even our 10 year olds have started using it. It has become part of our daily vocabulary. It was not like this until a few decades back. We were more aware of our thoughts, actions and behavior. Of all the wonderful progress that we have made, also came emotional numbness (of senses). When we don’t experience our senses, we feel partially absent from our own lives and eventually from our family & friends’ lives as well.

Although Yoga philosophy teaches detachment form senses is important for better self-control, yet we need to experience them fully first and then to learn detachment and self-control.

Our five senses – touch, taste, sight, smell, and sound are powerful tools that we carry everywhere with us. We have access to them as needed. “The access” could be a little bit of a challenge though, especially for those of us who are very busy; conditioned to spend our day a certain way; used to ignore our mind and body’s messages.

So how do we start using our senses to gain control? Let’s take an example. Imagine we are in office overloaded with work. We want to focus on the work but can’t maybe because of racing thoughts, feeling anxious, or simply overwhelmed etc. Recognize those feelings and take a time-out by using one of the senses to reduce the stress/anxiety. Let’s begin with the sense which has the closest relation with brain, the sense of sight. Try one or more of the following by:

  • Looking at pictures of a loved one or any inspirational person. Sounds familiar? Yes, it still works
  • Remembering (or if we are too busy then writing and carrying with us) five favorite events/memories from the past and reliving them with our eyes closed when stressed
  • Noticing and counting 8-10 things in our surroundings
  • Looking at something beautiful (pictures, flowers, scenery, stars, moon, birds, babies etc.)
  • Surrounding ourselves with white or yellow color (objects)
  • Watching sunrise or sunset
  • Sitting in a room full of bright light or sitting under clear sky
  • Watching TV for few minutes (I am not a fan of TV but watching it for a few minutes might give us a break and distract us from the problem)

Above are a few examples of using our sense of sight to calm us down within few minutes. Once we achieve the calm state of mind, it makes it easier to refocus and continue.

Try this technique and let me know how it worked for you. Will be happy to answer any question.

Next week I will write how to use sense of smell and touch.

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SAMHAJ’s Annual Picnic

SAMHAJ_Picnic

SAMHAJ is the South Asian Mental Health Association of New Jersey. Under the gracious leadership of Ms. Aruna Rao, for last 15 years it has been actively providing support, education and advocacy for South Asians affected by serious mental illness.

SAMHAJ provides:

  • “Support for families and individuals affected by mental illness through support groups, and referrals to bilingual and culturally competent mental health services. We offer a supportive environment to help you and your family to learn to navigate the often complicated mental health system. Our South Asian staff and volunteers speak Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Gujarati, Konkani, and Marathi.
  • Professional guest speakers are invited to speak at educational workshops and lectures on issues that are important to your family’s journey towards recovery. Workshops cover subjects such as psychiatric medication, social security disability, rehabilitation and vocational training, coping with caregiver stress and anxiety, children’s mental health and many more topics.
  • Workshops for mental health providers, other social service agencies and schools seeking to learn more about the rapidly growing South Asian community in New Jersey in order to provide culturally competent services.”

Annual Picnic

SAMHAJ celebrates many events throughout the year. During the weekend of 8/2/15, SAMHAJ members came together to participate in the annual picnic in a serene park in East Brunswick. It was a beautiful day with the Sun shining; subtle wind blowing; trees dancing to the wind; birds chirping; and all of us catching up with each other under the clear blue sky and fresh air.

During the picnic we enjoyed Indo-American food; songs; quiz; games; jokes; mental health related information; and few wonderful experiences of members so far for the year 2015. Many new talented members joined us as well!

The whole group was a healthy combination of people in various age groups; members in recovery; care takers; professionals and well-wishers. The common denominator was the feeling of one big family in which all members are motivated to work towards the common cause to the best of their abilities.

I can’t help to think about the event in context of my favorite Yoga Philosophy and Neuroscience. I bet the vibrations (Yoga Philosophy) that were being released by everyone under the blue sky were powerful, positive and full of compassion! Going by the Neuroscience, I believe everybody was releasing the “happy chemicals” like Dopamine and Serotonin during those hours!!

Overall another stimulating and satisfying experience with SAMHAJ group. I am already looking forward to the SAMHAJ Holiday Party in October/November!!

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Mindfulness for Healthcare Professionals

Suruchi at St Peters

One more time I had the opportunity to conduct a Mindfulness and Meditation workshops as part of Cardio Metabolic Institute (CMI) team, at St Peter’s Hospital and their Family Health Center in NJ. Met a group of professionals who work hard and give their best to every single patient they interact with directly or indirectly every day.

In the workshop, some of the participants shared that they have been practicing some form of meditation and mindfulness “to keep ourselves calm” and stable at work as well as home. Still there was a great enthusiasm to learn more tools and techniques that Yoga and Mindfulness practices offer. Some of the tools we discussed in the workshop:

  • Using our five senses daily, especially during and after any form of distress
  • Listening to your gut feeling more often, especially when confused
  • Following 8/8 rule which means minimum eight hours of sleep and eight glasses of water/day to keep mind and body stable, and prepared for daily stressors
  • Meditating regularly for overall health, and early recovery from daily distressing situations
  • Pressing you face with your warm hands and/or hugging yourself
  • Using white/yellow lights as per the need and many other tools.

Even though this appears to be a list of simple to do things, our mind and bodies need intense work to make them part of our lives and that’s where I help my clients.

It is very important for a healthcare professionals to stay calm and in control during any moment of distress because in those critical moments, they are not only helping their patients but are also role modeling for everyone else involved!

During the workshop, the participants performed three different kinds of meditations and whole body muscle relaxation. We followed with discussion on how Neuroscience has been providing evidence about benefits of daily meditation in bringing positive changes in our mind/body chemistry which play an exceptional role in keeping our mind as stable as a calm river, without any ripples.

In the end, I must admit that representing CMI, and presenting to this group was very satisfying. I always wanted to do something for the fellow professionals. Being part of the huge healthcare system, I am aware of the daily challenges, especially when it comes to expressing compassion for clients/patients while a professional herself is having a bad day. That demands enormous energy and strength. So hats off to all those professionals who, in spite of their own stresses,   provide care to their clients with a smile!!

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SAMHIN

SAMHIN_June 2015On June 14, I had the opportunity to attend “Family Day” in Edison along with two dedicated Psychiatrists – Dr. Vasudev Makhija and Dr. Prakash Amin, representing SAMHIN. South Asian Mental Health Initiative and Network (SAMHIN), is an initiative founded by Dr. Vasudev Makhija to reach out to the South Asian population to educate them about the importance of appropriate mental health and the resources available.

SAMHIN, was formed in 2014 to address a broad range of mental health needs of the growing South Asian community nationwide, beginning with New Jersey. It’s Mission statement is:

  • Educate, engage, and empower the South Asian community to promote mental health literacy.
  • Serve as a resource to provide consultation to health care policy makers and health care delivery facilities.
  • Increase collaboration between existing mental health organizations that address specific aspects of mental illness, increase awareness of the existence and roles of these organizations, and decrease fragmentation in services provided to the community.
  • Promote and conduct research on mental health to serve the South Asian community in the U.S.
  • Develop a searchable database of South Asian mental health care providers, social services, and mental health resources to improve access to mental health care.
  • Overcome stigma of mental illness.
  • Explore ways of making affordable treatment services available.

During the event, people from all walks of life asked us questions regarding the organization and the ways to take care of themselves. I must say that in the past few years that I have been attending events like these, I have seen a change happening. More and more people are inquiring regarding mental health and self-care. Over the years, generally people have become more open to accept the fact that external help is needed, and have started to reach out for the same. This is a positive change and which gives a lot of hope!!

Also, it was very encouraging to see that many guests showed their gratitude towards SAMHIN and few of them also volunteered to help the organization in spreading the word.

At the event, there was also plenty of food; rides for kids; music etc. Overall it was a beneficial and fun filled family event. I am glad that every year it takes place in Edison, around same time!!!