Chronic Stress, Anxiety? - You Are Your Best Doctor! | Dr. Bal Pawa | TEDxSFU

Summary

In this inspiring talk, a physician turned patient shares her journey of recovery from a life-altering accident. She explains how chronic stress can lead to serious health issues and introduces the 'BMW' meditation technique: Breathe, Word, and Mind. This practice helps activate the vagus nerve, promoting rest and digestion, and ultimately transforming her life and the lives of her patients. The speaker emphasizes the power of the mind-body connection and encourages everyone to become their own best doctor by managing stress.

Takeaways

• 🚗 The 'BMW' stands for Breath, Word, and Mind, a meditation technique to help manage stress and promote healing.
• 🐕 Stress can cause a 'fight-or-flight' response, which is useful in acute situations but harmful if experienced chronically.
• 🚑 Chronic stress can lead to various health issues such as heartburn, headaches, hypertension, and even serious diseases like diabetes and cancer.
• 🧠 The autonomic nervous system controls the body's stress response, and it can be managed through techniques like the BMW meditation.
• 🌪 The vagus nerve is a key component of the parasympathetic nervous system that helps to calm the body and counteract stress.
• 🏥 Even medical professionals are not immune to stress-related health issues, as illustrated by the speaker's personal story.
• 🤔 Mind-body connection is crucial for health; stress affects both mental and physical well-being.
• 🧘‍♀️ The BMW meditation technique involves deep breathing, muscle relaxation, and focusing the mind to achieve a state of calm.
• 💊 Medications can provide temporary relief, but addressing the root cause of stress through techniques like BMW meditation can lead to long-term healing.
• 📚 The speaker's personal transformation and healing were achieved through a combination of research, practice, and the application of the BMW technique.
• 🌟 The BMW meditation technique can be a powerful tool for anyone, including patients and medical professionals, to manage stress and improve overall health.

Q & A

What is the fight-or-flight response?

The fight-or-flight response is an acute short-lived stress reaction that occurs when faced with a perceived threat, preparing the body to either confront or flee from the situation.

What are the negative effects of chronic stress on the body?

Chronic stress can lead to heartburn, headaches, muscle tension, hypertension, gut problems, sleep problems, high anxiety, and low sex drive. It can also contribute to serious diseases like diabetes, depression, heart attacks, and even cancer.

What is the autonomic nervous system and its role in stress?

The autonomic nervous system is the part of the nervous system that controls bodily functions such as heartbeat and digestion. It revs up in response to stress, preparing the body for the fight-or-flight reaction.

What is the role of the vagus nerve in the autonomic nervous system?

The vagus nerve acts as a brake in the autonomic nervous system, promoting the rest and digest response, which slows down bodily functions and helps the body recover from stress.

How can the mind-body connection affect health?

The mind-body connection can significantly impact health. Chronic stress can lead to physical ailments, while relaxation techniques can promote healing and improve overall well-being.

What is the significance of the speaker's car accident in the narrative?

The car accident led to severe injuries and chronic pain for the speaker, causing her to experience firsthand the devastating effects of chronic stress and the necessity of mind-body healing techniques.

What is the BMW meditation technique mentioned in the script?

BMW meditation stands for Breath, Word, and Mind. It is a three-step relaxation technique involving deep diaphragmatic breathing, muscle relaxation, and focusing the mind on a single word to reduce stress.

How did the speaker's approach to medicine change after her accident and study at Harvard?

After her accident and study at Harvard, the speaker shifted her medical practice to integrate mind and body, focusing on empowering patients with tools like the BMW meditation technique to take charge of their health.

What was the outcome for the speaker after practicing the BMW meditation technique?

The speaker experienced significant improvements in her physical and emotional health, allowing her to come off all medications and regain a sense of wholeness and healing.

What advice does the speaker give to individuals dealing with stress?

The speaker advises starting a daily BMW meditation routine, even if just for ten minutes, to help manage stress and improve overall health.

How does the speaker define the role of an individual in managing their own health?

The speaker defines the role of an individual in managing their own health as taking charge and becoming their own doctor by understanding their stressors and reactions, and using techniques like meditation to mitigate stress.

Outlines

00:00

🚗 Introduction to Chronic Stress

The speaker begins by using a vivid analogy of Oprah giving away cars to illustrate the sudden and acute stress response known as 'fight-or-flight.' This is followed by an explanation of how chronic stress can lead to various health issues such as heartburn, headaches, hypertension, and even serious conditions like diabetes, depression, heart attacks, and cancer. The American Medical Association is cited to emphasize the prevalence of stress-related symptoms. The autonomic nervous system is introduced as the body's engine that activates during stress, and the modern-day triggers are contrasted with ancient threats to highlight the constant state of fight-or-flight many people experience today.

05:01

🚑 Personal Experience with Stress-Induced Illness

The speaker shares a personal story of a car accident that led to severe and chronic pain, exhaustion, and depression, affecting her both personally and professionally. Despite being a physician, she found herself overwhelmed by the stress response and the physical toll it took, leaving her unable to care for her children or patients. This narrative serves to humanize the speaker and to emphasize the profound impact of chronic stress on one's life.

10:02

🧘‍♀️ Discovering Mind-Body Medicine

The speaker recounts her journey to recovery through mind-body medicine, which she learned about at Harvard Medical School. She explains the concept of the vagus nerve, which is responsible for the 'rest and digest' response, counteracting the fight-or-flight mode. The speaker's skepticism, grounded in her scientific training, led her to conduct her own research, which confirmed the benefits of relaxation techniques. She developed a simple three-step meditation method—breath, word, and mind—which she practiced diligently to achieve healing.

15:04

🌟 Transformation Through Mindful Meditation

The speaker describes the transformative effect of her meditation practice, which not only helped her heal but also allowed her to help others. She emphasizes the importance of starting the day with mindfulness and shares a success story of a patient who used the meditation method to overcome stress and achieve academic success. The speaker concludes by encouraging everyone to take charge of their health by becoming their own doctor, using the BMW meditation technique to manage stress and promote overall well-being.

Keywords

💡Fight-or-flight

The fight-or-flight response is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. In the video, it's mentioned as a short-lived acute stress reaction that can save a person from immediate danger. However, chronic activation of this response due to excessive stress can lead to various health issues, such as heartburn, headaches, and hypertension.

💡Chronic stress

Chronic stress refers to prolonged periods of stress that can have detrimental effects on health. In the video, chronic stress is described as a state where the body lives in a constant fight-or-flight mode, leading to physical and mental health problems. The speaker emphasizes the importance of managing chronic stress to prevent the onset of serious diseases.

💡Autonomic nervous system

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is part of the peripheral nervous system that regulates involuntary body functions, such as heartbeat, blood pressure, and digestion. In the script, it's highlighted as the 'engine' of the brain that revs up during stress, causing the fight-or-flight response. The speaker discusses how chronic activation of the ANS can lead to health issues.

💡Vagus nerve

The vagus nerve is a cranial nerve that plays a critical role in the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting the 'rest and digest' response. In the video, it's described as a 'break' for the autonomic nervous system, helping to calm the body down and counteract the effects of stress. The speaker's personal experience with activating the vagus nerve is shared as part of her healing journey.

💡Rest and digest

The 'rest and digest' response is the opposite of the fight-or-flight response and is associated with the parasympathetic nervous system. It is activated when the body is at rest and helps with digestion and relaxation. The video emphasizes the importance of engaging this response to counteract the negative health effects of chronic stress.

💡Mind-body connection

The mind-body connection refers to the interaction between an individual's brain and their physical body. The video script discusses how stress affects this connection, leading to physical symptoms and diseases. The speaker advocates for using the mind to manage stress and improve health, thus strengthening the mind-body connection.

💡Meditation

Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique, such as focusing their mind on a particular object, thought, or activity, to achieve mental clarity and emotional calmness. In the video, the speaker introduces a meditation technique called BMW (Breath, Word, Mind) which she used to overcome chronic pain and stress.

💡Endorphins

Endorphins are neurotransmitters in the body that function as natural painkillers and mood elevators. The video script mentions that practicing the BMW meditation technique can stimulate the production of endorphins, which can help alleviate pain and promote a sense of well-being.

💡Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles. The script discusses how the BMW meditation technique can help stimulate the production of melatonin, aiding in better sleep patterns and overall health.

💡Serotonin

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that contributes to feelings of well-being and happiness. In the video, the speaker explains that meditation can increase serotonin levels, which can help combat depression and anxiety.

💡BMW meditation

BMW meditation is a specific technique mentioned in the video that involves focusing on breath, word, and mind to achieve relaxation and stress reduction. The speaker shares her personal journey of using BMW meditation to recover from a car accident and transform her life.

Highlights

Experiencing acute short-lived stress, like almost hitting a dog while driving, can trigger the fight-or-flight response.

Chronic excessive stress can lead to various health issues such as heartburn, headaches, hypertension, and sleep problems.

75% of all the symptoms doctors treat can be traced back to excessive stress, according to the American Medical Association.

The autonomic nervous system is responsible for the body's stress response, which was crucial for survival in prehistoric times.

Modern stressors like fear of failure and rejection can keep the body in a constant state of fight-or-flight.

The vagus nerve acts as a brake for the autonomic nervous system, promoting rest and digest.

Consistently applying the brakes, or managing stress, is crucial for health.

The speaker's personal story of a life-altering car accident and the subsequent chronic pain and stress.

The realization that traditional medicine was not healing the speaker physically or emotionally after the accident.

The introduction of mind-body techniques as a potential solution to chronic stress and pain.

The speaker's career transition to studying mind-body medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The three-step BMW meditation technique (Breath, Word, Mind) to activate the vagus nerve and promote relaxation.

The transformational effect of the BMW meditation on the speaker's own life, leading to healing and a new outlook.

The speaker's transition from skeptic to believer in the power of mind-body medicine.

The creation of a clinic integrating mind and body approaches to empower patients.

The story of Michelle, a patient who used the BMW meditation to overcome stress and succeed in medical school.

The importance of taking charge of one's health by becoming one's own doctor in managing stress.

The practical application of the BMW meditation technique for daily stress management.

The long-term benefits of daily meditation for overall health and well-being.

The potential for mind-body techniques to improve emotional and physical health, as supported by neuroscience.

Transcripts

[Applause]

let's pretend that I'm Oprah and all of

you are getting a brand-new car a BMW

whoo

you're excited you rev up the engine and

you hit the road you're enjoying the

ride and suddenly a little white poodle

jumps right in front of you you panic

the dog panics you're going right Yeah

right and just when you think you're

gonna hit the dog or crash into the

ditch you slam on your brakes swerve and

shoot the dog scampers off but you're

left shaking what just happened you just

experienced an acute short-lived stress

called fight-or-flight sound familiar

now imagine if your body lived in this

state all the time chronic excessive

stress leads to distress heartburn

headache muscle tension hypertension gut

problems sleep problems high anxiety low

sex drive sound familiar

as I can tell you the American Medical

Association also reports that an

astonishing 75% of all the symptoms that

doctors treat can be traced right back

to excessive stress as a researcher and

as a physician I see these symptoms and

eventually these symptoms lead to

serious life-threatening diseases

diabetes depression heart attacks and

even cancer

there is an undeniable mind-body

connection

when it comes to stress and disease but

today I'm going to show you how to use

your mind to stress proof your body by

becoming your own best doctor but first

a little anatomy 101 like a car your

brain has a little engine and it's

called the autonomic nervous system and

this autonomic nervous system revs up

when there's stress and that's great

when we had to run away from external

dangers like saber-toothed Tigers that

fight/flight reaction was important but

nowadays those prehistoric Tigers are

replaced by tigers that roam in our mind

fears fear failure fear of rejection

loneliness a toxic boss busy to-do list

you can't run away from those fears in

their mind they're with you all the time

so what happens your body goes into

fight-or-flight all the time becomes

your new norm your default option your

engine is revving up all the time and

your gas pedal is stuck so what happens

you're bombarded with stress hormones

cortisol adrenaline and they wreak havoc

with your body the more stress the more

you get sick cause and effect but wait

the autonomic nervous system has a break

it's called the vagus nerve but unlike

that other Vegas what happens in this

Vegas doesn't stay there

this Vegas runs from your brain all the

way and it wanders this nerve collection

wanders to all the different organs in

your body and it does the opposite of

fight-or-flight

it's called rest and digest it slows

everything down so it's taking you out

of that survival brain into your calm

cool rational brain much better for your

health but the problem is we don't apply

the brakes consistently and I know this

too well both as a doctor and as a

patient at age 32 I wasn't perfect but

my life sure was I'm married to an

adoring man

an optometrist who si is only for me

we've moved into our brand-new home we

have two beautiful children and one more

on the way and I'm doing something I

love delivering babies and keeping

families healthy life is good one rainy

Vancouver evening I've just finished

delivering a baby I'm heading home the

baby is a nine pound beautiful future

wrestler big boy you should have seen

the mother tears of joy streaming down

her face and it's the best part of my

job I get to share that joy and I

couldn't wait to get home and hug my two

children when I walked through the door

they say that your life can turn on a

dime and mine turned in my prime out of

nowhere a speeding truck rams into my

little white sedan the impact catapults

me and my car into oncoming traffic in

the other lane

screeching tires crunching metal

smashing glass and sirens screaming and

lights flashing

and the paramedic is asking me questions

how old are you what's your name and

then total blackout when I wake up I'm

now a patient in the neck brace in the

same hospital that I just left as a

physician a few hours ago but this time

I'm the one who's getting poked and

prodded x-rayed and examined that

role-reversal very scary and sobering

that accident

ruined seven years of the prime of my

life I was left with debilitating

injuries to my neck shoulder fractured

ribs collapsed lung my chronic pain

exhaustion I couldn't sleep I lost my

baby I was sad depressed

and on top of that I was woken up with

nightmares because my autonomic nervous

system was revving up all the time I was

reliving the accident over and over and

over again I couldn't look after myself

how could I look after my children or my

patients my medicine cabinet was

overflowing with drugs you name it I had

it but I was not healing physically or

emotionally at age 39 I I felt like I

was 59 and my dreams and careers were

washing away if you've ever had a

serious setback and you've been down in

that dark place you know how it feels

hopelessness and despair but I had to do

something my crushed shoulder meant I

couldn't deliver babies anymore so as a

career transition I signed up for a

mind-body course at the Harvard Medical

School and dr. Benson

was a leading researcher there so one

day after class I approached him and I

said dr. Benson I've been suffering for

seven years after an accident I've had

multiple surgeries I've seen so many

different specialists I've tried every

kind of medication but I'm still not

getting better

could your research help me he said

definitely bout

chronic pain and chronic stress

triggered the autonomic nervous system

you are living in constant

fight-or-flight you can't heal in that

state you have to turn on your vagus

nerve rest and digest but how he said

look stress is automatic but relaxation

is not you have to relax your diaphragm

relax your muscles in your body and

repeat a word put the three together try

it what have you got to lose

and you know he was right

I had nothing left to lose at that point

I had everything to gain so I returned

to Vancouver with renewed hope and

determination but my science based

training evidence-based medicine made me

very skeptical so I had to do my own

research study after study confirm that

relaxation techniques definitely slowed

down this automatic autonomic nervous

system but more compelling was the

neuroscience that showed when you do

mind-body medicine and connect this you

get remarkable dramatic improvements in

your emotional and physical health I was

convinced I've got to take this so I

combined the research that I did with

the relaxation techniques I learned from

dr. Benson and I made it very simple I

said three steps that I could do breaths

mind and word BWW meditation

so that was gonna be easy I started I

got up in the morning and I started to

routine found a quiet small comfortable

space started with deep diaphragmatic

breath then two minutes in I would relax

my muscles and I remembered what the

research said relaxed muscles slow down

your autonomic nervous system and very

tense diaphragm tense muscles do the

opposite fighter flight the second thing

the mind that was more challenging

especially when you have chronic stress

and you have chronic pain it's going

thought thought thought thought I had to

slow the mind down I had to go and be

with in that moment and just be present

I realized what a powerful force the

mind has over the body because the mind

is inextricably linked to your autonomic

nervous system state of mind equals

state of body so when I went quiet when

in the moment that meant being mindful

not letting my past thoughts my future

thoughts hijacked me had to stay there

and it helped when I focused on my

breath third thing I had to repeat a

word he said repeat a word so I chose

the word home because it rhymes with

home and I was so desperate to come back

to my pre-accident body and reclaim my

home so I would start breathing putting

the mind into it putting the breath into

it focusing and every morning I created

a routine ten minutes in the morning ten

minutes in the evening and soon I was

able to get to one minute little mini

meditations throughout the day

and then I started to feel a shift my

body was changing my brain was producing

endorphins natural painkillers melatonin

a sleeping pill that is just natural and

serotonin a natural antidepressant

within a few months the skeptic

scientist

had her proof I was off all my

medications I felt whole

I felt healed I felt I had a new mindset

and a new outlook what was supposed to

be a career transition course at Harvard

turned out to be the most radical

transformation of my life today I'm

closer to 59 but I feel like I'm 39

[Applause]

it was this BMW meditation and not

medication that transformed my life and

then helped me to transform the lives of

thousands of my patients since then I

completely changed the way I practice

medicine co-founded a clinic where we

look at mind and body integrating the

whole person empowering patients with

tools like this so that you're a part of

the solution the health solution I was

so inspired I wrote a book called the

mind-body cure because I truly believe

that every single one of us has an

innate ability to heal ourselves cure

ourselves when we provide the right

environment for the body breath mind and

word works this meditation works a few

years ago a young lady I'll call her

Michelle came to my office she was in

serious distress she said dr. power I

flunked my medical school qualifying

exam I'm a straight-a student and I

panicked and now my dreams of becoming a

doctor are crushed and she had a huge

meltdown size of Manhattan right there

in my office

her autonomic nervous system was so

revved up I calmed her down we breathed

through it and I said Michelle

meditation is the thoughtful act of

creating order in your body you need to

get your mind to control your autonomic

nervous system she went home she soon

started following the BMW meditation

steps reset her nervous system and came

back after few months guess what I got

95 percent of my exam Wow

that was fantastic but the best part

Michelle is now an integrative physician

and she is using BMW meditation for her

patients now does this mean that if you

meditate and I meditate we don't need to

see our doctors absolutely not you mean

we all need to see our doctors for

essential treatments but let's face it

if many of your symptoms are due to

stress

then the responsibility falls on you to

take charge to become your own doctor

right you know your mind the best you

know what your stressors are and you

know how your body reacts to them so

soon as you wake up in the morning and

before you touch that phone start start

if you're already doing some mindful

meditation great but if you're not

please start now because just ten

minutes a day will have profound and

huge benefits for the rest of your life

so when you get up get into your BMW

start with your breath deep inhales and

exhales then just focus your mind then

start a word repeat a word peace Oh amen

whatever resonates and ten minutes in

you will feel more calm more energized

and more refreshed the best part is when

you live like that and rest and digest

your brain is more calm cool and

rational and the biggest thing when you

learn to master your mind to control

your autonomic nervous system you have

ultimately become your own best doctor

right and you start seeing the

difference you feel better you heal

better because your stress hormones are

not wreaking havoc with your tissues you

start feeling more creative more

resilient more focused and when your

mind and body are connected you connect

better with others especially your

significant other and let's face it

stress is not going away all of us are

affected no one is immune to stress not

even Oprah

but you don't have to let chronic stress

and anxiety and setbacks cause you

distress so go ahead use your BMW to

bring you back home to health and

vitality and joy and enjoy the rest of

your ride

[Applause]